Review of The Stitches on the Stone

Post by **Sarah Schmidt** » 29 May 2022, 22:30

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Stitches on the Stone" by Christopher J. Finn.]

3 out of 4 stars

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A mysterious river rock with stitches painted on its surface. A town with collective memory loss. Three people connected in ways they don’t understand. All this and more follow the plot of the fantasy-horror hybrid novel The Stitches on the Stone: Lauradelle’s Redemption, written by Christopher J. Finn.

Benjamin Watson is your run-of-the-mill teenager. He hangs out with his friends, Lucas and Mary, plays time-consuming games on his computer, and helps his mother, Samantha, out at her store, Stackhouse Sam’s Smokery, in his free time. Things start to go all wrong when Samantha starts to date Larry Tweedle. What begins as a mission to find out about Tweedle evolves into a fight against time when he and his friends discover something is extremely wrong with their town, Lauradelle. Edward Menzies, dressed as a pirate, has no idea who he is. All his actions are controlled by a fire in his gut, making him do questionable things. Janis Mayfair ropes her husband and friend into the hunt for a seemingly sentient stone. The collision of the three heralds catastrophe, uncovering a truth about their lives and the town in the process.

What’s going on? Who’s the villain of the story? Is there even a villain in the story? Mystery lovers are going to enjoy the build-up to the climax. Readers enter the story blind, knowing nothing about anyone or anything. As soon as you have a visual recovery, you open your eyes to find the landscape has smokescreen after smokescreen, foggy and inexplicable. Both the characters and the readers are left to make their way with one question after another popping up, having no answer in sight.

From the very first page, any interested reader will immediately pick up that this book is suited for only a mature audience. The protagonists are mostly adolescents and adults, but profane, sexual, and horror elements are present in large doses. The plot is gory and unforgiving, so let this serve as a content warning.

The ending of The Stitches on the Stone was not what I was expecting at all. Sure, Finn scatters clues aplenty throughout the novel. Does that make the story even a little predictable or my guesses even remotely spot-on? Not even a little bit. It was touching and left me with a lot to think about. Without revealing too much, the resolution of the story surrounds blame, redemption, forgiveness, and questions whether someone can truly change themself. I thought to myself that if Finn finished the story where it left off—no sequel, no further explanations—it would be the height of cruelty. I snuck my way over to Finn’s official website (where I found a nice image of the titular stone, for anyone interested) to find any news regarding a continuation of Benji’s, Edward’s, Janis’s and Larry’s stories but came up empty. My fingers are crossed for further instalments.

A mystery is good, but something unexplained keeps pricking my curiosity. Who’s Larry Tweedle, exactly? At the closing of the novel, he directs certain events and holds a mysterious power—be it supernatural, political, monetary, or otherwise is left up to readers to find out—that isn’t expounded on or even hinted at. His background is one of the main loose ends that need to be tied up.

This book seems to have been edited by a professional because of how well written it appears at first glance. That didn’t save it, though, from having a number of errors in the writing.

My rating for The Stitches on the Stone is three out of four stars, with one star being taken away on account of the mistakes scattered throughout the writing. This book, as stated in the third paragraph, is most suited to mature audiences. People who love a good mystery with antiheroes, pervading conflict, vicious cycles, and a heaping of suspense would also find it entertaining.

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The Stitches on the Stone
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Ruthwriter · Post by **Ruthwriter** » 31 May 2022, 07:04

I don't like horror books. but I like the clear presentation of the book as described by the review. I will love to read it anyway.

Sopulu Ezidimma · Post by **Sopulu Ezidimma** » 31 May 2022, 10:28

Thanks for the review. I find the book interesting and I wish to call their quest an adventure.

Ifesi · Post by **Ifesi** » 01 Jun 2022, 01:45

This review sounds interesting. The author did a nice job in presenting the book to be interesting and easy to understand. Thanks for an honest review. Looking forward to reading this book.

Firefox7 · Post by **Firefox7** » 01 Jun 2022, 03:12

Honestly i don't think this will be the first book of this kind that I'll be reading and i know u can never know what to expect .That is what makes these books so interesting . Personally predictable stories are very boring so i really love "the stiches on the stone" due to the mystery brought out by the review

Uwe Neufeld · Post by **Uwe Neufeld** » 07 Jun 2022, 06:04

Looks like the author is experimenting with caracters whitch have little to do the with the plott. What's wrong with the city at last? I'll have to find out.

Frank Mutuma · Post by **Frank Mutuma** » 08 Jun 2022, 03:00

Sounds like book to read. I love the hint of unending adventure. Am adding it to my shelf

Elenimo Chembe · Post by **Elenimo Chembe** » 12 Jun 2022, 12:48

I don't like the fact that the book has so much profane and sexual content.

Madu Abigail · Post by **Madu Abigail** » 11 Jul 2022, 09:47

From my experience, this book is going to be a great read. Although I'm not a fan of horror, so I'll pass. Thanks for this wonderful review.

NetMassimo · Post by **NetMassimo** » 24 Jul 2022, 04:38

Despite the flaws you pointed out, this seems like an engaging mystery. Possibly it needs a bit of "polishing" that includes proofreading. Thank you for your great review!