Welcome to the Christmas Book Fair and today some stories that come with a paranormal element for readers who love a little ghostly influence in their books.
They are all books that I have read and can recommend too.
The writer today is John W. Howell with a review for his paranormal thriller Eternal Road –
About the book
James Wainwright picks up a hitchhiker and discovers two things 1. The woman he picks up is his childhood sweetheart, only Seventeen years older. 2. He is no longer of this world.
James began a road trip alone in his 1956 Oldsmobile. He stops for a hitchhiker only to discover she is his childhood sweetheart, Sam, who disappeared seventeen years before. James learns from Sam falling asleep miles back caused him to perish in a one-car accident. He also comes to understand that Sam was taken and murdered all those years ago, and now she has come back to help him find his eternal home.
The pair visit a number of times and places and are witness to a number of historical events. The rules dictate that they do no harm to the time continuum. Trying to be careful, they inadvertently come to the attention of Lucifer who would love to have their souls as his subjects. They also find a threat to human survival and desperately need to put in place the fix necessary to save mankind.
The question becomes, will James find his eternal home in grace or lose the battle with Satan for his immortal soul and the future of human life with it? If you like time-travel, adventure, mystery, justice, and the supernatural, this story is for you.
A recent review for the book
I don’t normally read books about the paranormal, but I found John Howell’s Eternal Road to be an irresistible read for the way it addresses the question of life after death. The premise of the novel is that there is life after death, but our eternal home is not predetermined at the moment of death. We need a guide to find it.
Setting out on the eternal road is James, a young man who has just died in a car accident. He is still driving his prized 1956 Oldsmobile when he unwittingly crosses over and meets his spirit guide hitchhiking on the side of the road. He doesn’t recognize her as the classmate who disappeared without a trace at age seven. Sam, short for Samantha, is the first inversion of expectations in this highly original novel: she is older than she was in life.
Sam leads James on a quest for his eternal home. The quest includes time travel to both the past and the future, interaction of the dead with the living, and the solution to the mystery of Sam’s disappearance all those years ago. Along the way are plenty of plot twists that kept me turning the pages. As well, Lucifer and various emissaries put in their appearance at the most inopportune times for James and Sam.
I particularly enjoyed the world-building in the novel, which took the form of the “rules” for being dead. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that addresses the large questions of life and death in such an engaging and entertaining fashion. I highly recommend Eternal Road: The Final Stop. Your wheels will be turning from the first page to the last!
Other books by John Howell
Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and :Amazon UK – Goodreads:John Howell Goodreads – Blog: John W. Howell. com – Twitter – @HowellWave
The next book with a paranormal element is Ghostly Interference (The White Rune Series) by Jan Sikes
About the book
Jag Peters has one goal in his quiet comfortable life—to keep his karma slate wiped clean. A near-miss crash with a candy apple red Harley threatens to upend his safe world. He tracks down the rider to apologize properly. Slipping into a seedy biker bar, he discovers the rider isn’t a “he”, it’s a “she”, a dark-haired beauty.
Rena Jett is a troubled soul, who lives in a rough world. She wants no part of Jag’s apology, but even while she pushes him away, she is attracted to him. When he claims to see a ghost—her brother—can she trust him? And could her brother’s final gift, a magical rune stone with the symbol for “happily ever after” have the power to heal her wounds and allow opposites to find common ground—perhaps even love?
A recent review for the book
I don’t read love stories and took a chance on Ghostly Interference because the story included bikers and a ghost. The story flowed smoothly and I was hooked before reaching the end of the first chapter.
It begins when Jag, an IT nerd, nearly hits a biker with his car. He is a strict believer of Karma and wants to keep things on the straight and narrow. Jag chases after the rider and finally locates the Harley parked outside of a biker bar; the rider, Rena Jett, turned out to be a ‘drop dead, gorgeous, biker babe’ with an attitude. It was clear right from the start that they were from different worlds, yet, something attracted them to one another.
Shortly after this encounter, Jag sees a ghost – he’s seen others in the past. Turns out this ghost is Rena’s deceased brother who was recently killed in Afghanistan. It soon becomes clear that “Sam” wants Jag to help Rena get through her nightmares and trust issues of her abused and tormented upbringing while raised in the Foster Care system. But there was something else Sam needed to say to her…
As readers meet other characters, the love between Jag and Rena grows. There are several ‘hot’ sex scenes in the story but the author doesn’t turn it into a pornographic exhibition, and it is nicely done.
There are many surprises uncovered in the story as well as some ‘sit on the edge of your seat’ suspense. In Ghostly Interference, everyone gets their wish – except for Rena’s boss – and lives happily ever after. Well worth a chance and highly recommended for those who want to see what real love is like.
Head over to buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
A small selection of books by Jan Sikes
Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And : Amazon UK – Website: Jan Sikes – Goodreads: Jan on Goodreads – Twitter: @rijanjks
And the third book is a paranormal thriller by JP Mclean – Blood Mark.
About the book
What if your lifelong curse is the only thing keeping you alive? Abandoned at birth, life has always been a battle for Jane Walker. She and her best friend, Sadie, spent years fighting to survive Vancouver’s cutthroat underbelly. That would have been tough enough without Jane’s mysterious afflictions: an intricate pattern of blood-red birthmarks that snake around her body and vivid, heart-wrenching nightmares that feel so real she wakes up screaming.
After she meets the first man who isn’t repulsed by her birthmarks, Jane thinks she might finally have a chance at happiness. Her belief seems confirmed as the birthmarks she’s spent her life so ashamed of magically begin to disappear. Yet, the quicker her scarlet marks vanish, the more lucid and disturbing Jane’s nightmares become—until it’s impossible to discern her dreams from reality, and Jane comes to a horrifying realization:
The nightmares that have plagued her since childhood are actually visions of real people being stalked by a deadly killer. And all this time, her birthmarks have been the only things protecting her from becoming his next victim.
Blood Mark is the first in a brand-new paranormal thriller series by JP McLean, author of The Gift Legacy series and whose writing has been described as “. . . deftly crafted, impressively original, and inherently compelling from first page to last.”
A recent review for the book
What an exceptional psychological thriller with a paranormal twist from the author of The Gift Legacies! J P McLean is an amazing writer and story teller who has moved from a quality series to this extraordinary new book that has kept me awake at night. New readers should be allowed to discover the fate of Jane Walker and her birth marks for themselves, so no spoiler alerts here, just the knowledge that they will not be disappointed. I have read all of the author’s books and to be honest she just gets better and better – where do you go from perfection? Wherever that is I’ll be there. (Pat McDonald British Crime Author)
Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And:Amazon UK
Also by JP McLean
Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And : Amazon UK – Follow JP Mclean on : Goodreads – Website: J.P. Mclean Author – Twitter: @jpmcleanauthor – Facebook: JP Mclean
The final book today which is set during the Second Anglo Boer War A Ghost and His Gold by Roberta Eaton Cheadle .
About the book
After Tom and Michelle Cleveland move into their recently built, modern townhouse, their housewarming party is disrupted when a drunken game with an Ouija board goes wrong and summonses a sinister poltergeist, Estelle, who died in 1904. Estelle makes her presence known in a series of terrifying events, culminating in her attacking Tom in his sleep with a knife. But, Estelle isn’t alone. Who are the shadows lurking in the background – one in an old-fashioned slouch hat and the other, a soldier, carrying a rifle?
After discovering their house has been built on the site of one of the original farms in Irene, Michelle becomes convinced that the answer to her horrifying visions lie in the past. She must unravel the stories of the three phantoms’ lives, and the circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths during the Second Anglo Boer War, in order to understand how they are tied together and why they are trapped in the world of ghosts between life and death. As the reasons behind Estelle’s malevolent behaviour towards Tom unfold, Michelle’s marriage comes under severe pressure and both their lives are threatened.
A recent review for the book
A Ghost and His Gold is a complex read with dual timelines more than a hundred years apart. Author Roberta Eaton Cheadle initially starts in modern times with Michelle and Tom, who host a dinner party in their home with work acquaintances and friends. The events connecting the timelines are the Second Anglo Boer War in South Africa between the Boers and the British. During the party, they begin playing around with a Ouija board. That’s when things start to go off the rails as they discover they are sharing their house with ghosts.
Two ghosts, Pieter and Robert, encounter each other on opposing sides during the war. Pieter, a Boer farmer by trade, and Robert, a British soldier, make brief appearances in the home. Michelle is the only one who can see them. Haunting the house as well is a poltergeist named Estelle. She is Pieter’s daughter from his first marriage, a secret unknown to her until much later on. She harbors resentment and anger for men, in particular. Despite having evil intentions, I found myself empathetic toward Estelle for all of the horrible things that happened while she was still a girl. While her father is at war, Estelle lives with her stepmother, Marta, and her two stepsisters. Marta is easily the least likable character in the book because she shows no love toward Estelle and blames her as the victim of a sexual assault.
Estelle plots her revenge toward Tom, as he has a dark past.
Tom is another villainous character who seeks redemption for a sexual assault and murder that he commits. Estelle hates Tom and haunts him in his dreams, and attempts to harm him physically.
The history of the war was somewhat complicated to follow, but Cheadle has done her research in writing this book. She includes many footnotes and sources for her information.
One of the more intriguing elements of the book was that Robert, Pieter, and Estelle couldn’t move on to the other side until they showed forgiveness and understanding of each other’s positions and points of view. This is not a light read by any means, but it kept my attention throughout. Readers gain a sense of how horrific life was in the concentration camps.
A small selection of other books by Robbie and Michael Cheadle and as Roberta Eaton Cheadle.
Read the reviews and Buy the books : Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Robbie : Goodreads – blog: Robbie’s Inspiration- Twitter: @bakeandwrite
Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you will be leaving with some books for a gift for yourself or someone else at Christmas… thanks Sally.
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