The Holland Suggestions

John Dunning

Nov 2013 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

Trying to connect with his daughter, a man is undone by a secret from his past in this novel from “a master” of suspense (USA Today).
 The first time he notices how much Judy looks like her mother, Jim Ryan is so surprised he nearly faints. Vivian was the most interesting woman he had ever known, but their relationship was traumatic, and seeing her every day in their daughter’s face sends a chill through him that he cannot understand. He is just getting up the nerve to tell his daughter the truth about her mother when a picture arrives in the mail that will change his life forever. It is an ordinary snapshot of a treacherous-looking mountain pass, but it stirs a powerful force deep within Jim’s unconscious and compels him to visit the quiet town in the photo. He proceeds as if hypnotized, risking his life and his family for an answer to the riddle that has corrupted his dreams.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: Love John Dunning's prose, but not as good as his book mysteries . PLOT OR PREMISE: A man receives a photograph in the mail and starts having weird dreams and compulsions to go to the spot in the photo, even though he has never been there. . WHAT I LIKED: The story has some interesting elements -- a mysterious past dealing with hypnosis, suggestion, regression, etc. Equally, he's a man trying to "recover" his life a bit, as his daughter starts to push back wanting to more about her absent mother. Finally, there are rumours of "gold in them there hills", stories of old wars, native tribes, miners, and tunnels. He is searching for a treasure that he feels compelled to find, but he doesn't know why. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: There are hints in a few places that is partly about memory, or perhaps even past lives, and as such, it seems like they're about to reveal that he's the reincarnated version of someone. I probably would have thrown the book across the room for the cheesiness if it had, but there are other parts that are almost as bad -- a finale with a series of weird action scenes that don't fit the characters, interactions with individuals that should be more compelling and urgent yet instead come of as "wait and see", and false and inaccurate tensions with snow storms. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.

About the author

DIVDIVJohn Dunning (b. 1942) is an American author of mysteries. Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, with his family in 1945. After failing to graduate from high school, Dunning held a series of odd jobs, first in Charleston and then in Denver, including work at a glass shop and at various racetracks, before taking a position as a copy boy with the Denver Post. He published his first mystery novel, The Holland Suggestions, in 1975, and went on to write several more books, including Denver (1980) and Deadline (1981)./divDIV /divDIVAfter a dispute with his publisher, Dunning quit writing to open a secondhand bookstore, Old Algonquin Books. He returned to the mystery field with Booked to Die (1992), which introduced the bibliophile homicide detective Cliff Janeway, who would go on to star in four more novels. Dunning is also an expert on old-time radio, and has published several reference works on the subject./divDIV /div
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