Summary:

A Dry Spell is macabre, sometimes far-fetched, and ultimately chilling. We learn straightaway that Goodlands, North Dakota, the fictional setting for this preternatural epic, is not living up to its name. Despite its motto "A Good Little Town," there's nothing good going on in Goodlands.

A four-year drought has parched the earth, and turned once sanguine farm families suspicious. They're losing their land to foreclosure; their hopes have turned to dust. Despite the Farmer's Almanack prediction for a "wet, cool spring" and a wet August, it rains everywhere but on the wheat and barley fields of Goodlands.
In addition, there are some bizarre happenings taking place : cement driveways rupture; a gigantic oak falls through a plate glass window; water tank spigots vanish as precious liquid is lost. Banker, Karen Grange has been banished to Goodlands for past infractions (a tendency to max out credit cards in an accumulation of the unwanted and unworn). As manger of Commercial Farm Credit it is her unhappy task to inform families that they are losing their homes and, if the drought continues, she may lose the bank. With "some invisible umbrella hovering over Goodlands, and no scientific explanation for it," Karen summons a rainmaker.

My Thoughts:

The entire book is sometimes slow going, as descriptions of dryness and hoped for respite tend to be repetitious. The character of Tom Keatley, the rainmaker, was well developed and interesting. Actually the best one in the story line. What would someone be like whose main skill in life is bringing the rain? By comparison, many of the other characters are little more than names on a page. There is a little bit of an unexplained time warp in the novel that bothered me. Many of the opinions and attitudes were much more reminiscent of 1969 than the current time. None the less it is worth the time to read.

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One of the best books I ever read, years ago, and found it on my shelf clearing books out for a spring book sale. It was chilling and had a great pace, would recommend for everyone to read. ( )

Read this,, but didn't become absorbed in it. Was a long long book in my opinion. Not one of my favs.

I just couldn't get into this one. Sorry. ( )

I still love it despite re-reading it countless times. What's more to say. ( )