3 out of 4 stars
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A fascinating tale of how one object can cause a century of problems!
Oak Eternal: A House Concealed by John Ploetz is a novel about the history of an ancient oak tree. The tree is in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the late 19th century, St. Paul was a rapidly growing town. The Native Americans struggled to adjust to the influx of white men taking over their region. The two cultures frequently clashed. The ancient oak tree was an important spiritual site for the Native Americans. Tensions between the groups escalated significantly after a farmer decided to buy the land and build his home next to the oak.
This information is discovered by our modern-day narrator, John Stogh. John is new to the neighborhood and unemployed. After an odd dinner with some of his new neighbors, John decides to do a little digging into the history of their home. His investigation becomes much more complex than he originally estimated. The more he learns about the house the more questions he has.
Since the farm was first built next to the ancient oak, the home has seemed to be cursed. Everyone who has lived on the land or has gotten involved with the people there has met a dark end. John finds details of grisly murders, mysterious accidents, and supernatural occurrences. At the center of everything is the oak tree. He must try to solve the mystery before he becomes another victim.
This novel was very entertaining. The mystery is immersive and pulled me in quickly. Once I got into the heart of the mystery, I couldn’t put the book down. The premise of the book was very interesting. It was a completely unique concept. The mystery wasn’t about one person or family. The mystery was about the power of nature and how our actions influence everything around us. The ancient oak tree was once a source of good in the area. However, its power became twisted over time. The evil behavior of the people who lived next to the tree turned it into a source of darkness.
One thing I really loved about this book was its focus on Native American culture. In my opinion, it’s a very underrepresented topic in our modern world. Oak Eternal describes the fascinating world of Native American spirituality and their attempts to assimilate into American society. It gives great insight on how difficult it was for the Native Americans to adjust to life after the white men moved in.
As much as I enjoyed the story, I had a lot of trouble connecting with the main character. I did not find him to be relatable. It didn’t make sense to me why he felt the need to lie and hide his identity as he conducted his investigation. The author gave several hints about the character's past, such as his former jobs and alcoholism. However, the hints never turn into anything more substantial. The lack of background information about the main character made it difficult for me to care about what happened to him.
The most disappointing part about this novel was the ending. The author intentionally left it open-ended. The book created so many mysteries and then never gave any specific solutions. For example, the narrator discovered half a dozen murders related to the oak tree. None of those murderers are ever revealed. This was a frustrating end after I had invested so much energy into those mysteries.
This book was not professionally edited. I noticed quite a few grammatical mistakes, especially run-on sentences. There were also a few occasions where the author used the wrong homonym. For example, he used the word “peeked” instead of “piqued”. These grammatical issues were not particularly distracting.
Overall, this was a fun and intriguing book. Due to the disappointing ending and the grammatical mistakes, I give this book a 3 out of 4 star review. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about mysteries and different cultures.
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Oak Eternal
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