My Book Reviews

Category: Supernatural

  • In Darkness Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish

    In Darkness Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish

    In Darkness Shadows breathe

    In Darkness Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish.

    Release: January 19th, 2021 
    Format: Hardcover
    Publisher: Flame Tree Press
    Source: Amazon
    Find it at Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N.

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    You’re next…

    Carol and Nessa are strangers but not for much longer.

    In a luxury apartment and a modern hospital’s walls, the evil that was done continues to thrive.  Albeit, they are in the hands of an entity that knows no boundaries and crosses dimensions – bending and twisting time itself – and where danger waits in every shadow. The battle is on for their bodies and souls, and the line between reality and nightmare is hard to define.
    Through it all, the words of Lydia Warren Carmody haunt them. But who was she? And why has she chosen Carol and Nessa?

    Finally, The answer lies deep in the darkness…

    FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018, the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

    About the Author:

    Cat first started writing when someone thrust a pencil into her hand. Unfortunately, as she could neither read nor write properly at the time, none of her stories actually made much sense. However, as she grew up, they gradually began to take form, and, at the tender age of nine or ten, she sold her dolls’ house and various other toys to buy her first typewriter – an Empire Smith Corona. She hasn’t stopped bashing away at the keys ever since, although her keyboard of choice now belongs to her laptop.

    The need to earn a living led to a varied career in sales, advertising, and career guidance. Still, Cat is now the full-time author of several supernatural, ghostly, haunted house and Gothic horror novels and novellas, including The Garden of Bewitchment, The Haunting of Henderson Close, the Nemesis of the Gods trilogy –Wrath of the Ancients, Waking the Ancients, Damned by the Ancients – The Devil’s Serenade, Dark Avenging Angel, The Pendle Curse, Saving Grace Devine and Linden Manor. Her short story, ‘Miss Emmeline’s Mirror,’ recently appeared in the anthology Haunted Are These Houses.

    She lives north of Liverpool with her longsuffering husband and black cat.

    When not slaving over a hot computer, Cat enjoys rambling around stately homes, circles of standing stones, and traveling to favorite haunts such as Vienna and Orkney.

    Website | Twitter | Goodreads

    In Darkness Shadows breathe Review:

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    I love reading books by Catherine Cavendish, and she is now one of my favorite authors to turn to for supernatural horror! She writes her stories in such a compelling manner that will hook you to the storyline. Moreover, she creates the haunting atmosphere beautifully and adds twists and turns till the last page. 

    “In Darkness, Shadows Breathe” is a fine addition to the author’s work, where we get into the world of ghosts, hauntings, possessions, time-travel, and lobotomies! The story takes place in a haunted hospital setting, which in itself sounds terrifying. Two storylines take place, one with Carol and the other with Vanessa. While both these stories initially feel disconnected from each other, the author eventually deliciously connects them. While I found Carol’s storyline to be eerie because of the hauntings she experiences, I was glued to Vanessa’s storyline too. Nessa is a strong protagonist, and I enjoyed how she tries to take charge of the situation and find out what is happening at the hospital. Similarly, this story’s villains, Arabella and Dr. Franklyn are terrifying, even if they appear limitedly. Also, the author wrote Agnes very well as you don’t know what her intentions are. 

    Many moments stood out for me in the story. For instance, I loved the scenes where Vanessa meets Agnes and gets visions of Lydia. Even the moments where Carol sees her apartment ransacked terrified me. On a side note, I also loved the numerous book references the author provides. If anyone whispers “You’re next” to me over the next few days, I’m going to freak out!  

    Overall, “In Darkness, Shadows Breathe” is a treat for those who are in the mood for scary, supernatural horror. 

     

  • She Sees Ghosts by David Fitz-Gerald

    She Sees Ghosts by David Fitz-Gerald

    She Sees Ghosts

    She Sees Ghosts by David Fitz-Gerald

    Release: October 29th, 2020
    Format: Paperback
    Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
    Source: HF Virtual Book Tours
    Find it at Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N

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    A blazing fire killed her family and devoured her home. A vengeful demon-haunted her. Ghosts of the Revolutionary War needed help that only she could provide. A young woman languished, desperate to survive, and teetered on the edge of sanity.

    Mehitable grew up in a freshly tamed town, carved from the primeval forest. Family, friends, and working at the mercantile filled her days and warmed her heart. For Mehitable, life was simple and safe, until tragedy struck. When her family perished in their burning home, she retreated into a world of her own making.

    As a young girl, she had seen glimmers, glimpses, and flickers of the spirit world. She closed her eyes. And she turned her back. Mehitable ignored the apparitions that she never spoke of, desperately hoping they would leave her in peace. Altogether she was mistaken.

    While, grief-stricken, Mehitable withdrew from the human world. Ghosts were everywhere. They became bolder. She could no longer turn her back on the spirit world. Her friends feared for her survival. Besides, nobody understood her. She would have to find her own way.

    Fans of TV’s Ghost Whisperer and Long Island Medium will especially love She Sees Ghosts. This historical novel features memorable characters and delivers bone-tingling, spine chilling goosebumps. It stands on its own and it is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series by the award-winning author of Wanders Far―An Unlikely Hero’s Journey. David Fitz-Gerald delivers a historical novel with a bittersweet ending that you won’t see coming.

    Would she save the spirits’ souls, or would they save her? Only time would tell.

    About the Author:

    David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. If you’re looking for the atheist activist author by the same name, keep looking—this book is definitely not for you! After a chaotic day as a business person, Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past.

    He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. Also, he is an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprised when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing. She Sees Ghosts-A Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series.

    Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Bookbub | Instagram

     

    She Sees Ghosts Review:

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    Firstly, I loved how the author incorporated history with fiction. I always love stories where I feel I have learned something new. In this instance, the stories that John relates to the family about General Amherst and Fort Ticonderoga was just fascinating. It made me research more on the topics after I finished the book.

    Similarly, the author also writes the characters nicely. I liked Mehitable as the lead. The scenes where she realizes what happened to her family were gripping. I also loved the camaraderie between Mehitable, Polly, and Reuben. The author makes Mehitable realistic where she sees the two and wonders how her life would have taken a turn if she was with Reuben instead. Another person that fascinated me was Destiny. Even though he appears only in the latter half of the story, he had an emotional impact on me through his wisdom.

    Moreover, the author takes us on a journey with this group to experience what it is like to live during the Revolutionary War era. Apart from the supernatural element of Mehitable’s powers, the author makes the story down to earth and realistic. He writes the landscape naturally where you feel like you are living the adventure with the characters.

    Probably my only minor criticisms of the story are how the pacing rushed at times. In the beginning, the story progressed nicely. However, in the middle, once the three settle down, the story sped through at times. The timeline skipped a few years between paragraphs and changed the tone of the story. 

    Apart from that, this was a gripping novel. I highly recommend it if you are in the mood for pleasant historical fiction with a supernatural touch.

    Giveaways

    One lucky reader will win the Grand Prize Giveaway which includes a candle, Coffee Mug, chocolates and a signed copy of She Sees Ghosts!

    Other Giveaways:

    1 Coffee Mug
    3 Paperbacks
    5 eBooks

    The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on December 26th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

    Enter the Giveaway

    Book Tour Schedule:

    She Sees Ghosts

    I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on She Sees Ghosts by David Fitz-Gerald Blog Tour hosted by HF Virtual Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

     

     

  • The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

    The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

    The Women in the Walls

    The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics
    Released: September 27, 2016
    Format: Hardcover
    Publisher: Harlequin Teen
    Source: Amazon
    Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle,

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    Lucy Acosta’s mother died when she was three. Growing up in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods with her cold, distant father, she explored the dark hallways of the estate with her cousin, Margaret. They’re inseparable—a family.

    But her aunt Penelope, the only mother she ever knew about, tragically disappears while walking in the woods surrounding their estate. Then Lucy finds herself devastated and alone. Margaret has been spending a lot of time in the attic. She claims she can hear her dead mother’s voice whispering from the walls. Her father shuts her out emotionally . So Lucy watches helplessly as her cousin’s sanity slowly unravels. But when she begins hearing voices herself, Lucy finds herself confronting an ancient and deadly legacy that has marked the women in her family for generations.

    About the Author:

    Ever since she was little, horror books and movies intrigued Amy. She grew up in a small mountain town in Arizona, and  sustained herself on a steady diet of Goosebumps, Fear Street, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books before discovering Stephen King in her mother’s bookshelf.

    Amy lives with her husband, their two precious squidlings, and an old gentleman cat by the name of Frodo. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, crafting, and playing games across many platforms.

    Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

    The Women in the Walls Review:

    The story writing is good for most of the part. And I enjoyed the steady pacing of the storyline that had me engrossed throughout. There are some cleverly designed plot twists , but some of these twists had gruesome details that made me cringe. While I didn’t have any issues with the grisly details, the only part of the writing that I found puzzling was the consistency in the setting. In some parts of the book, it felt like the story is taking place a long time ago, but then in some scenes, the characters curse foul language and use the internet etc. which I thought didn’t fit well with the setup.

    The depiction of characters are good , and I enjoyed the conflict between Lucy and Margaret. In fact, I liked Margaret’s character more than Lucy, as she seemed truly psychotic and on the edge, and I had no idea what she would do to Lucy. I also enjoyed Vanessa’s character, and wished that she was involved more in the book. While I didn’t have any issues with Lucy as such, I thought the girl was whiny and suicidal and not that strong to be the main character in the book.

    There was disappointment towards the end of the book, mainly because all the revelations provided were not very clear. Also, the pacing seemed rushed, and the author didn’t provide closure to the storyline. It was as  though Amy Lukavics got tired of writing towards the end, and just wanted to finish it somehow. Considering the good narration of the story  for most of the book, I wish it had ended with the same consistency and a better explanation for the events.

    Overall, this was a pretty good book to read, but one that is easily forgettable.