by K.M. Montemayor

This story starts right in the heat of the action. A paranormal investigator team enter a property that has had no human residents for a long time but is infested with spirit entities, including a demon. The group leader pushes things because they have a television program and they are recording for the season finale, and naturally things go wrong. His best friend, the group psychic, becomes possessed by the demon.

The team includes a priest and holy water helps extricate the demon, but not without collateral damage. The friendship suffers turmoil and the psychic refuses to return to work with the team, though he promises to help vet a replacement.

The action in the beginning is fast and the characters are well fleshed out. This one grabbed my interest and held it at the start. It even got diversity in early, in the form of the psychic's over protective gay boyfriend. However, the following couple of chapters had me wondering if I had made a mistake.

Our introduction to the female replacement psychic started out with some misogynist antagonism followed by a lot of emphasis on ripped guys, including a big red flag, the word 'hawt' spelled that way. I became concerned that an exciting ghost hunting story was about to turn into a Harlequin Romance novel.

It also pushed believability on a few points, most notably that the first psychic suffers from clinical depression, followed by learning the group leader has a strict health regime because encountering sometimes malevolent spirits, including demons, requires extreme physical and mental discipline. A depressive would be an easy target for a demon, so what could they be thinking?

Apart from that, the gay character angle was pushed too far to fit into the story organically and soon began to look like an agenda. I'm all for diversity in characters but it needs to flow naturally.

As the story progressed, it became clear that the central plot was about the relationship between the new psychic and the group leader. Romance readers might like it for that very reason, but I had plucked it out of the Horror section with different expectations. The haunted house encounters also started to lose believability from the second one, which had too much 'hero wins all despite odds' to it.

The writing itself was generally good, but a little too dragged out. Repetitions about the leader's health routine and what he ate along with the psychic's continual unfavorable comparisons of her body type against the prettier women who were always around the group leader got too whiney for me to like her and Austin was too much of a control freak for me to like him much.

As I said, a Romance reader might enjoy this as the setting is more interesting than the usual cowboy/highlander/construction worker stuff, but it just wasn't for me. Giving it 3 stars because that first chapter told me the author can write. She just didn't write what I wanted to read.

The Spirit Thief was another random pick from the TBR. And it was a nice surprise.

The magic systems is an interplay between the magicians and the spirits they bond with and obey them. It was quite original. The ploys were not overly intricate, but that can be nice for a change.

It was a very easy read, a bit like a YA but without the seemingly mandatory romance (another plus). I am very curious to see where this series is going next.

Song of the Sea Spirit, Book 1 of Mindstream Chronicles by K.C. May is an intriguing book. Jora Lanseri has the uncommon skill to enter the Mindstream to witness any event in the past or present. She is starting her training as a Truth Sayer in the Order of Justice Officials. She is also getting ready to say goodbye to her friend, Boden, who is going to war. I gave it five stars because I found it intriguing.

Nuri had told Jora about a book called The Whispering Sea. Sadly the librarian believed it had been burned in a five-over twenty years ago. "Nuri's eyes widened and brimmed with tears. 'Oh. Oh, that's awful. My favorite book. That saddens me. Books from one's childhood are like dear friends.'

"'I know. I'm particularly fond of a few myself. I'm sorry about your book.'"

I look forward to reading the next Book, Call of the Colossus.

I received a complimentary copy from the author. That did not change my opinion for this review.

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Song-Spirit-Mindstream-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00K4JG6VE

Psych Square for Halloween Bingo!

Sarah Bennett has just been released from the 'rest home,' an exclusive psychiatric facility after the death of her mother.  Sarah was found with her mother's body at the bottom of a staircase with no memory of the event.  Sarah is the only suspect for the death.  Sarah returns to her California seaside home in the midst of World War II, refreshed but still with no memory of the night her mother died.  Sarah returns to a town that has changed with the war, the coastal town is now a military encampment, her father has published a novel and has found a new wife.  Sarah tries her best to return to normal, however, her new stepmother is definitely hiding something, her father's assistant, Zeke seems to be better at speaking German than he is at booking speaking engagements and Sarah's dreams are beginning to spill into reality.  Sarah's memory of the night of her mother's death seems to hold the key to piecing all of these mysteries together, but they are locked tightly away.  

The Spirit of Grace is a gripping historical mystery with added elements of paranormal and psychological suspense.  From the beginning, I was wrapped up in Sarah's character and circumstance.  She was someone who I could easily identify with- thoughtful, observant and brave, but I questioned her reliability as a narrator.  As soon as Sarah arrived back to her home town, the book took on a suspenseful tone.  Everything had changed in the year she had been gone, the war had infiltrated the town and her home had been overtaken.  Sarah seems to deal with all of this in stride and throws herself into trying to figure out the mystery of her memory while trying to uncover the motives of the new people in her home.  I was very interested in the paranormal parts of Sarah's life, how her dreams infiltrate her real life and why she can see ghosts.  There is some preliminary explanation, but I think this could be delved into further.  The plot takes several unpredictable twists and turns as Sarah finds herself trying to break up a German spy ring that is somehow connected to her mother's death and figuring out the truth between her father and his assistant Zeke. My only complaint was how fast the romance sparked with promises of marriage; however, like everything else, this also didn't turn out as predicted.  Overall, a multi-faceted historic thriller with many different twists.  I'll be looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.