Tag: Supernatural/Occult Fiction

Book Spotlight: The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto

Joshua A. Mercier
***Originally posted on The Bearded Scribe on July 25th, 2013.***

Book Spotlight: The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto

Bonjour Beardies,

Yesterday, as you all know, The Bearded Scribe hosted a stop on a Blog Tour for Michelle Muto‘s title, The Haunting Season. Today I will be digging a little deeper into this Paranormal Fantasy, highlighting specific strengths of the author—strengths that writers should consider emulating in their own stories.

PURCHASE FROM ONE OF OUR #affiliatelinks BELOW:

{—PREMISE—}

Be careful what you let in…

THAT’S what the ghost of Jess’s grandmother had told her before she stopped seeing it. But after the death of her father, and not being able to see his ghost—or any, for that matter…at least not anymore—Jess decides the opportunity to be part of a paranormal experiment might just bring back her ability. It wouldn’t bring back her father, but at least she’d be able to say goodbye to him, in a way, something she was unable to do before his death.

Against her mother’s pleading, Jess decides to take part in the experiment. She travels to Savannah, Georgia to the notoriously-haunted Siler House—a house that has stood vacant for years—to join three others and Dr. Brandt, the parapsychologist running the experiment. Their presence at the infamous Siler House has resurrected a dark evil that threatens to claim them, and they soon realize some houses are meant to stay empty.

{—BOOK TRAILER—}

{—GEMS FOR WRITERS—}

1. CHARACTERIZATION...

MUTO does an outstanding job describing all the characters—alive and dead—and maintaining the characterization throughout the story. In addition, each character has a distinct personality—concrete and seeming to come to life straight from the page.

2. Supernatural Originality...

WHILE the abilities of the four main characters are not necessarily unique in and of themselves, the combination of the abilities and the author’s research and thought behind the pairings was obvious. Muto does a wonderful job with making the abilities believable, too, as they all have limitations—both physical and mental.

3. Characterization...

ALTHOUGH the physicality of Siler House was inspired from a real place (The Sorrel-Weed House), the historical plot behind the haunting of Siler House is completely fictional and of Muto‘s own creation. Fictional though it may be, there’s something spooky behind the haunted tragedy of Siler House; its darkness and believability leave a chill in the reader long after the last page is turned.

{—RATING—}

{—CONCLUSION—}

THIS title was well-written, despite some needed editing for common (but minor) grammar mistakes. The sexually explicit scene ruined the flow for me; and although the author kept building toward it, I think the story would have benefited more from this act being merely alluded to and not actually described in graphic detail. Other than that, the story structure was well-organized and masterfully crafted. The world in which it is set—reality-inspired, yet so fantastically eerie—was impeccably built. The Siler House and its grounds came to life, the characters and their many personality quirks shined, and the story was terrifyingly gripping. I would definitely recommend this to all my readers (at least the ones who are 17 and up).

Until next time—Happy Scribing!

Picture of Joshua A. Mercier

Joshua A. Mercier

MEET JOSHUA
Amazon Facebook-f Linkedin-in Goodreads-g Whatsapp Envelope

***The Haunting Season (2012), by Michelle Muto, is published by and copyright Autumn Hill Press.

VIEW ON GOODREADS

Book Spotlight: Eyes to See (Jeremiah Hunt Chronicles, Book One) by Joseph Nassise

Joshua A. Mercier
***Originally posted on The Bearded Scribe on July 22th, 2012.***

Book Spotlight: Eyes to See (Jeremiah Hunt Chronicles, Book One) by Joseph Nassise

GOOD EVENING, Beardies!

Many of you may remember my first ever Author Spotlight on my writing coach, Joseph Nassise. As a prequel to a follow-up Spotlight—this time complete with an interview—I am doing my first ever Book Spotlight on Eyes to See, the first book in Nassise‘s Jeremiah Hunt Chronicles.

PURCHASE FROM ONE OF OUR #affiliatelinks BELOW:

{—PREMISE—}

WHEN Jeremiah Hunt’s daughter, Elizabeth, is kidnapped without any tangible evidence, his world is shattered; the obsessive search for her whereabouts leaves everything else in his life—his marriage, his job, his friends—to come crashing down around him. In his search for tangible clues, his desperation leads him to the intangible—an arcane spell that is supposed to help him see what he has overlooked. Sacrificing his normal sight catapults him into a world of literal and figurative darkness—a world of spirits and entities that haunt him in his now-cursed life of endless night. When called upon by the police for his “paranormal” abilities, a string of gruesome murders uncovers clues about his daughter’s disappearance, a cast of unlikely friends, and unforeseen enemies.

{—GEMS FOR WRITERS—}

1. World Building...

YOU should have guessed I’d say it, but Joseph Nassise does a spectacular job of creating the obscure reality in which Jeremiah Hunt is doomed to walk. The colorless world—because of Hunt’s quasi-Faustian sacrifice—is populated with spirits, demons, and other entities of myth and legend that walk the streets of the novel’s Boston setting, all undetected by the city’s corporeal denizens, but all of whom can detect Hunt’s ability and are drawn to it like a beacon. Just as Stephen King creates written replicas of his (and my) native Maine with perfect prose and imagery, Nassise, too, does the same for his native Boston and its surroundings—all while adding an eerily believable layer of fantasy.

2. Historical Elements...

ONE of the things I loved about this book was its incorporation of historical elements (and in this case, specific to its region). This, in itself, ties in with World Building—in fact, I’ve mentioned it before in the World Building Series. Using the element of history as a writing device in urban fantasy is pure genius; it makes the world all the more believable, no matter how made-up the fantastical element is. It even makes you question history. The motives behind the witch trials that occurred in Salem may not have been what was originally believed, something this novel proposes. Curious? Read this book.

3. Point of View...

THIS element of writing is far-too-often overlooked. Although there are some passages that are in some other POV (perhaps even slightly weaker in comparison), Nassise does a stellar job with Hunt’s first-person narrative. Even the flashbacks are easy to maneuver through because of the tightly-written prose.

{—RATING—}

{—CONCLUSION—}

I don’t want to sound cheesy—or sycophantic—when I tell you that I had difficulty putting this book down. I had started and completed this book within a span of 30 hours—including sleep and meals—excitedly turning each page… a total, perhaps, of 10-12 hours actual reading time. If you are looking for an urban fantasy with a paranormal flavor that redefines the genre, look no further.

Keep Reading and Happy Scribing!

Picture of Joshua A. Mercier

Joshua A. Mercier

MEET JOSHUA
Amazon Facebook-f Linkedin-in Goodreads-g Whatsapp Envelope

***Eyes to See (2011), by Joseph Nassise, is published by and copyright Tor Books (Tom Doherty Associates, LLC).

VIEW ON GOODREADS