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Friday, January 30, 2015

#Review: Asylum by @Danawrite (Ghost Echoes Book 1) #PNR #ghosts



Blurb:

The voices of the past are alive behind the iron gates of Bremore Asylum. Can Rachel and Matt deduce its secrets before it's too late?
When Rachel agrees to take the job investigating the disappearance of a fellow ghost hunter at Bremore Asylum, she is totally unprepared for the sexy and stubborn psychic debunker Matt Rutledge to be a part of the package. Can these two opposing forces find the answers behind the asylum's crumbling walls before they become the newest victims to the asylum's grim history?


Excerpt:
    Rachel narrowed her eyes. What little hold she held on her frayed temper snapped. Self-doubt flared, but she stamped it out as quickly as it came.
    "What's that supposed to mean?" She stepped forward, hands clenched into fists, her foot brushing against the luggage. Her hoodie slid off the suitcase and flopped unceremoniously into the dirt.
    "We haven't even started on the project and you're trying to displace me already?"
Rutledge stepped back, surprise clear on his lightly parted lips. Lips she apparently still wanted to kiss, damn his eyes. God, what was wrong with her?
    "My friend almost died because of a mistake I made. But you're already aware of that, aren't you, Mr. High and Mighty? Listen to me and listen good. I'm here because my grandmother needs me. I'm a damn fine ghost hunter, which you would already know if you bothered to see beyond what happened to Jeannie." She poked her finger into his chest and had the satisfaction of seeing him wince.
    Matt stepped back and held up his hands, a ruddy flush creeping up his cheeks. "Okay. I was out of line. Truce?" He bent down and carefully picked up her hoodie, handing it to her gingerly.
    "Thank you, Mr. Rutledge." Rachel snatched the hoodie from his hands and tied it around her waist with a firm yank. She didn't want to chance it falling in the dirt again and it was going to be a long weekend. At the rate they were going, it was going to be a full-on ice storm between them.
    A flash of humor crossed his face. "Do you think maybe you could call me Matt?"
    "That depends."
    "On what?" Matt cocked his eyebrow with surprise.
    "On whether you can stop dissecting me like one of your frauds."

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***Nona's review of Asylum***

    Who doesn’t love a ghost story? Even if you don’t believe in other worldly spirits, it’s fun to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the little chills running up your spine. This story features not only a spooky old building, but also a mysterious disappearance and a sexy conflict between dueling investigators.
    Rachel Winestock believes in ghosts and spirits. In fact, they are her livelihood. She is a paranormal investigator who’s been hired to investigate Bremore Asylum, a long abandoned hospital once used as a warehouse for society’s poor and unwanted, including unruly children and “disobedient” wives. This puts Rachel in direct conflict with Matt Rutledge, who is not only a skeptic, but a debunker of psychic phenomena. He not only wants to prove that Bremore is not haunted, but to demonstrate that Rachel is a fake. In spite of their opposing views, Rachel and Matt feel an intense attraction to each other.
    I loved how the characters in this story were placed in such delicious conflict. As they investigate the asylum where a previous investigator has disappeared, they discover they must work together not only to unearth secrets, but to save their own lives. Rachel is performing this task not just to salvage her career, but to earn enough money to rescue her beloved grandmother from a substandard nursing home. Rachel’s devotion to her grandmother made her a very sympathetic character.
    I liked Matt, too. He’s an honest man who works to expose phony psychics who take advantage of needy, desperate people (think a younger, more studly James Randi.) He’s clever and brave and ready to step into the hero role when danger threatens, but also secure enough to let Rachel take the lead when necessary.

    The story has plenty of twists and turns and more than one mystery must be solved along the way. There are surprises, too. When Matt and Rachel must deal with a very real person who wants to harm them, a ghost may be their only ally. I really enjoyed Asylum not only for the thrills and chills, but for the sympathetic characters and the sweetly sexy romance.

About the author:
Dana Wright has always had a fascination with things that go bump in the night. She is often found playing at local bookstores, trying not to maim herself with crochet hooks or knitting needles, watching monster movies with her husband and furry kids or blogging about books. More commonly, she is chained to her computers, writing like a woman possessed. She is currently working on several children's stories, young adult fiction, romantic suspense, short stories and is trying her hand at poetry. She is a contributing author to Ghost Sniffer’s CYOA, Siren’s Call E-zine in their “Women in Horror” issue in February 2013 and "Revenge" in October 2013, a contributing author to Potatoes!, Fossil Lake, Of Dragons and Magic: Tales of the Lost Worlds, Undead in Pictures, Potnia, Shadows and Light, Dark Corners, Wonderstruck, Shifters: A Charity Anthology, Dead Harvest, Monster Diaries (upcoming), Holiday Horrors and the Roms, Bombs and Zoms Anthology from Evil Girlfriend Media. She is the author of Asylum due out in October 2014.   Dana has also reviewed music for Muzikreviews.com specializing in New Age and alternative music and has been a contributing writer to Eternal Haunted Summer, Nightmare Illustrated, Massacre Magazine, Metaphor Magazine, The Were Traveler October 2013 edition: The Little Magazine of Magnificent Monsters, the December 2013 issue The Day the Zombies Ruled the Earth. She currently reviews music at New Age Music Reviews and Write a Music Review.

Follow Dana’s reviews:
Twitter: @danawrite

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for such a wonderful review Nona. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

    Best,

    Dana

    ReplyDelete

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