The Voices at the End of the Road by Twyla Ellis

Release: July 20th 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Zimbell House Publishing
Source: RABT Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Kobo

The Whitfield Estate is hidden deep in the Big Thicket outside of Soda, Texas. This reclusive family brood amassed their oil and timber fortune over four generations, and now that it’s been done, they have become painfully aware of how isolated and broken they are as a family.
Tessa Nettles, fresh from college, becomes the estate manager. But her main role is to help the youngest Whitfield, Caroline, have a more normal life. She has been cloistered away at Whitfield for the whole of her first fourteen years. Now, her oldest brother, Grayson, wants to make a happier life for her than he and their brother, Travis, had.

But first, he will have to deal with the strange lights that fall from the sky over the Trinity River and their connection with the mysterious voices at the end of the road. The voices of entities that have secretly been Caroline’s only friends her whole life. Are these ghostly entities dangerous? Will they want Tessa gone from Whitfield?

Will Old Gullah Woman and Preacher Man be allowed to stay on in the rundown river cabin, stirring up the waters and calling down the mysterious lights? Or will the Whitfield matriarch run them off, even after their Gullah potions kept her husband alive two years longer than the doctors could have?
Will Tessa bring harmony to the estate, or set off a competition between the brothers that has the potential to destroy the Whitfields completely?

About the Author:

Twyla Ellis is a descendent of pioneers who came to Texas in the 1840s, while Texas was still a Republic. She grew up roaming the dense pine forests in the Big Thicket around Livingston, Texas at the homes of her grandmother, great-aunts and uncles, and cousins. Her family was one of the found¬ing families of Livingston, and her great-great-great grandfather was the first city treasurer in the eighteen-forties.

She fell in love with the haunting feel of the Thicket, its sounds and sights and smells. Moreover, her goal is to make people aware of the mystique of this novel part of Texas.
Besides, she holds a degree from Howard Payne University and has taught English and Music, and has been a member of NEA, TSTA, and TETA. She was a statewide officer and conference speaker with TETA (Texas English Teachers Association).Twyla has run her own children’s party and event planning business, Parties by Twyla, as well as Remembrances Antiques and Gifts in the Houston area. She is certified in computer graphic design and free-lances in her spare time. .

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The Voices at the End of the Road Review:

“The Voices at the End of the Road” is a suspenseful mystery of mysterious lights, bewildering characters, and a spooky mansion and was a fun read.

I have not read the previous two books from the series, but I assume that we can read these books as a standalone since the storylines are not connected. I liked “The Voices at the End of the Road,” and it gave me vibes of the classic haunted house story.

The author wrote some pretty distinctive characters in the story, and some of them were memorable. Tessa is the protagonist, and I enjoyed her in the lead. Moreover, she forms a beautiful bond with Caroline, and I adored how protective she was towards her. However, the fascinating characters were Old Gullah Woman and Preacher Man. It was interesting to see how they connected to the mysterious lights and the conflicting relationship with the Whitfields.

The author also adds some scary moments to add to the mystery that surprised me. Some moments unnerved me, like when they hear voices in Caroline’s room, when the team sees the rocker rocking, or when Tessa finds the work boots and screams. Even Leviticus gave me the creeps at times.

However, I felt the author included many people on canvas, and some of the subplots did not materialize. Moreover, even characters like Travis and Grayson did not add much value to the plot.

Apart from that, I found “The Voices at the End of the Road” to be pretty exciting and worth reading. It sparked my interest to read the rest of the books in the “Ghosts of the Big Thicket” series.