Winter Haven

Athol Dickson
Bethany House Publishers (2008)
ISBN 9780764201646
Reviewed by Nikki Pringle for Reader Views (5/08)


One day, Vera Gamble gets a call that she has waited 13 years for. A body has been found washed ashore on a beach in Winter Haven and the caller tells her the body is that of her brother, Siggy, whom disappeared when Vera was a little girl. Vera decides she must go to this tiny island off of the Maine coast and see for herself that the body is actually that of her brother, even though it doesn’t seem possible that a 15-year-old boy could have made his way from Texas to the northeastern United States thirteen years ago. Especially one that was autistic, fearful of being touched, and who spoke only in Bible verses.

After a long journey to Winter Haven, during which old visions of her past begin to resurface, Vera meets with the police chief and reluctantly goes to see the body. At first glance she is relieved to see it is not her now 28-year-old brother, Siggy. After another look, she is shaken to the core when she realizes that it is Siggy, and somehow, he has not aged in the 13 years he has been gone.

Vera searches for answers while struggling to keep her sanity on the small island where strange things keep happening that could be viewed as religious symbolism, the work of a darker force, or signs of mental illness. The mystery surrounding what really happened to Siggy, and the meaning behind Vera’s visions, are as thick as the unrelenting fog in one of island’s coves.

Vera feels she can trust no one in the tight knit Winter Haven community, not even Evan Frost, whom she has made a strong connection with, so she sets out on her own to solve the mystery of Siggy’s death and the unnatural sights and sounds that have plagued her during her stay. What she learns during her journey tests her faith in God, family, and love.

“Winter Haven” is marketed as a Christian book. While it does contain elements that certainly pertain to the Christian faith, it has an almost gothic feel that readers of other genres like mystery, suspense and the non-faith based supernatural would enjoy. Athol Dickson writes with a level of detail that is astounding. I found myself intrigued by the story and very interested to learn where the path Dickson was leading me down would end. This is a book that really makes the reader think and to question whether the easiest explanation is always the best one.

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