{"id":11837,"date":"2018-07-02T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=11837"},"modified":"2018-07-02T14:28:35","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T18:28:35","slug":"review-the-anomaly-by-michael-rutger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-the-anomaly-by-michael-rutger\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Anomaly by Michael Rutger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"11838\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-the-anomaly-by-michael-rutger\/anomoly\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/anomoly.jpg?fit=315%2C475&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"315,475\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"anomoly\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/anomoly.jpg?fit=315%2C475&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11838\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/anomoly-232x350.jpg?resize=232%2C350\" alt=\"\" width=\"232\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/anomoly.jpg?resize=232%2C350&amp;ssl=1 232w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/anomoly.jpg?w=315&amp;ssl=1 315w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 85vw, 232px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Anomaly-Michael-Rutger\/dp\/1538761858\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1530120216&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+anomaly+michael\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Anomaly\u00a0<\/em>by Michael Rutger<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Grand Central Publishing (June 2018)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>352 pages; $17.38 hardcover; $13.99 e-book<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Davcrkt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dave Simms<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every once in a while, a book comes along to remind you how much fun reading can be. Thrillers usually fill that void pretty well. Add in some darkness, and opening the covers can feel like a rollercoaster ride designed by Rod Serling when arguing with Clive Barker.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read through to the end of this review for a shocker&#8230;please.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anomaly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is that book that takes the reader by surprise. Publishers&#8217; descriptions rarely hit the nail on the head; in this case, it did. A combination of <em>The X-Files<\/em> with Indiana Jones fits nicely. Except for the protagonist. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nolan Moore isn&#8217;t quite an archaeologist. He&#8217;s definitely not a doctor. Yet he loves his history and conspiracies. He and his boss promote a YouTube show that examines the mysterious unexplained legends of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nolan takes his team of misfits into the Grand Cavern to search for something that may have been discovered in 1909. The team does indeed find something &#8212; something much more real and interesting than ever touched upon in his shows. People begin to show who they really are, and no one is a throwaway character until the true plan is revealed &#8212; and appears to doom Nolan to become a permanent addition to the canyon. What they find is as advertised. Mulder and Indiana would have a field day here, as would Stephen King.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The trick to this book is the storytelling. It&#8217;s solid &#8212; much more solid than with typical first-time novelists. The prose is lean and the lines move in waves that keep the reader hypnotized. The twists truly are maze-like in their construction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And then&#8230;the reveal. Michael Rutger is not who he claimed to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He&#8217;s Michael Marshall Smith, the master behind\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spares,<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Straw Men<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intruders,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and so much more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was going to be recommended as one of the best books of the year in any genre before the author revealed himself. After that, it was confirmed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anomaly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is that good. A true ride that won&#8217;t take long to finish. Another secret? Rutger\/Smith will be back for more.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Anomaly\u00a0by Michael Rutger Grand Central Publishing (June 2018) 352 pages; $17.38 hardcover; $13.99 e-book Reviewed by\u00a0Dave Simms Every once in a while, a book comes along to remind you how much fun reading can be. Thrillers usually fill that void pretty well. Add in some darkness, and opening the covers can feel like a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-the-anomaly-by-michael-rutger\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: The Anomaly by Michael Rutger&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80],"tags":[715,1500,79,1499],"class_list":["post-11837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-dave-simms","tag-michael-rutger","tag-reviews","tag-the-anomaly"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin 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