Keris talking about Australian authors the other day has inspired me to dig out Jessica Adams's The Summer Psychic for a review - she's Australian, you see. And this book also ties nicely into our summer special (ongoing 'til the end of this month, peeps).
The Summer Psychic is Jim Gabriel, an Aussie resident of Brighton who gets visions when he looks into any expanse of water (although his favourite method of fortune-telling is peering into water in the bucket from a child's bucket-and-spade set - well, why not?)
When local reporter Katie Pickard is sent to interview him about what will happen in the following year, she's skeptical to the point of being uninterested. Until Jim makes a surprising prediction: next summer, he and Katie will get married.
But Katie promptly falls in love with Pete, local musical hero (with more than a touch of the Pete Dohertys about him) and they embark on a whirlwind, if not always that romantic, relationship. Meanwhile, Jim's predictions start to come true, and the paper Katie works for stitches him up with an untrue and unkind exposé. And Jim's colleague Courtney, a witch, seduces Katie's boss and causes all kinds of unpleasant things to start happening.
The book is full of quirky, strange characters, most of who (except Courtney) have an odd kind of charm, but I didn't really believe in any of them. When Katie falls in love with Pete, we're told about it rather than shown her love develop (or given any reason for her falling or such a waster - she's may be on the rebound from a tragic relationship, but still...) Things seem to happen in rather jumpy scenes rather than there being any kind of sophisticated progression.
One thing I was hoping for was some kind of explanation of Jim's powers, but it was all a bit wishy-washy, 'we can't possibly know how it works'-type stuff, which frustrated me. I couldn't really buy into it and I found the book's conclusion a bit sudden and the storyline rambling. Unimportant dialogue was extended and important stuff rushed over.
It's not all bad, though - Katie is an endearing narrator and Adams can write, I'm just not sure about her ability to hold a story together over the length of a novel. I'd like to see her have a go at a story with a far less complex conceit, 'cos for me, this one fell flat.
Rating: 2/5
Like this? Try An English Psychic in Hollywood by Lucinda Clare.
