Review: Bad Cree – Jessica Johns

Bad Cree

Jessica Johns

Scribe

ISBN:9781922585653

RRP $29.99

Description:

In this gripping debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community, and the land they call home.

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too — crows stalk her every move around the city; she gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina — Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Travelling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams — and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside her?

My View:

Exceptional! Gripping! Compelling.

I was fascinated, entranced, wanted to learn more…this mystery was compelling.

I have seen reviews that describe this as horror – that made me rethink the read…whilst I was reading I was only thinking, mystery. It has some supernatural elements – which maybe could be considered more part of a cultural specific storytelling, mmm….”horror” didnt come to mind….but I guess some my read it as such.

For me this was a story about family, about culture, about progress, about greed, about grief, about coming home. However you describe this read it is compelling. This is an author to look out for.

Guest Review: The Lost Ones – Anita Frank

The Lost Ones

Anita Frank

HQ

ISBN: 9780008341213

Description:

Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…

 

Brenda’s Review:

I have just turned the last page of The Lost Ones and it’s up there with my top reads for 2019! Anita Frank has written an amazing story which kept me enthralled from the very first page.

It was 1917 and England was reeling from the impact of the war; Stella Marcham had returned home from her nursing position at the front after losing her fiancé and her grief was all encompassing. The fact that the family doctor wanted to commit Stella to an institution was partly what convinced her to join her sister Madeleine at the home of her husband, Hector’s family, Greyswick. Madeleine was pregnant; her mother-in-law was an imposing woman, and Madeleine would welcome her sister’s company.

The elderly Lady Brightwell and her companion, Miss Scott, along with the housekeeper, Mrs Henge, Cook and Maisie were the only permanent occupants of the old home. When Stella and her maid Annie arrived to join Madeleine, they immediately sensed the unrest and tremor of dark secrets in the walls, and it wasn’t long before the fear Madeleine felt rubbed off on Stella. But when strange, inexplicable incidents began to occur, Stella knew she had to find answers before her sister was harmed. What were the secrets that the house held – secrets that had been buried for the past thirty years?

The Lost Ones is a blend of genres – historical fiction with a mix of supernatural – and it worked extremely well. Anita Frank is a new author to me, and I’ll be looking at more of her work. Intriguing, breathtaking, heartbreaking, stunning – Some houses are never at peace Highly recommended. 5 stars.

With thanks to Harlequin Fiction AU for my uncorrected proof copy which I won.

 

 

Post Script: Of Fever and Blood – Sire Cedric

If you like your crime fiction spiced with a paranormal flavour this book is for you.

Of Fever and Blood

S. Cedric

Open Road Integrated Media

Publishers Square

ISBN: 9781480442221

Description:

This fast-paced, supernatural thriller is a race against time to defeat a deadly force.

Of Fever and Blood begins at the end of an investigation. Inspectors Vauvert and Svärta, an albino profiler, solve a series of sadistic ritual murders and the supposed culprits, the Salaville brothers, are killed in a standoff.

However, one year later, the killings start all over again, but this time in Paris. All forensic evidence point to the brothers, but how can that be?

Their investigation leads Svärta and Vauvert to Judith Saint-Clair, the deathly ill patient at a mental institution that also housed the Salavilles. They discover the incredible truth: Saint-Clair had manipulated the Salavilles into killing young women in order for her to accomplish magic rituals to stave off death. Nothing and no one will stop her from reaching her goal of eternal life . . . death is not an option.

My View:

It took me a littler while to get into this book, to get an understanding of the protagonists and feel invested in this story, perhaps it was because I felt the introductory chapters were perhaps more about descriptions – about the settings, the history, the crimes, rather than about the characters and I like a good character based read.

However the action quickly picked up the pace and I was intrigued with this paranormal/ crime/horror story. This was a complex narrative with plenty of plot twists, surprises and gore. This narrative is an interesting exploration of the secret and sometimes dark sides of our soul and asks the question – who/what do we see reflected in the mirror?  This is certainly one for the paranormal fans.

For more information about this author, his writing and a brief video discussion with Sire Cedric click this link:  http://www.openroadmedia.com/sire-cedric

PS You must check out this video – this guy has such fantastic hair!!!