Tag: fiction

The Amalfi Curse

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Sarah Penner

Haven Ambrose has found her way to Positano, Italy, to lead a team of archaeologists in researching sunken wrecks off the Amalfi Coast, a place rich in history filled with folklore of curses and witches. But Haven isn’t there to study history folklore or besides her research, Haven has a second more personal reason for participation in this expedition, before her father’s death, he, as a renowned nautical archaeologist himself died he made her promise to return to his last dive site where he believed he had found a lost trove of rare gemstones.  No one on Haven’s expedition team knows this; if they did, they would be sure to claim them for their own. 
Upon her arrival, Haven is immediately drawn into a mysterious incident: a yacht is ensnared in a whirlpool, collapses, and vanishes beneath the waves, taking most of the crew with it. Could this tragedy be linked to the fabled Amalfi Curse?
Now, for the second timeline, there is indeed a second timeline that occurs more than 200 years before Haven’s arrival. This is Mari’s story. In Positano, the women are stregheria- sea witches who protect their village from pirates, specifically the infamous Mazza brothers. Mari is the most powerful strega, and she is integral to the success of the protection spell. The only problem is that she longs to escape her home and run away with her American sea-faring lover to live a life away from the unpredictable sea. 
The two timelines are masterfully interwoven, keeping me engrossed and endearing me to both female protagonists. Yet, the portrayal of the female community and the potency of the stregheria truly captivated me. This novel had me delving into Italian folklore, sea witches, Positano, and the Amalfi Coast, sparking a desire to visit these places.
I wish a few plot points were fleshed out a bit more, and I would have appreciated a bit more backstory for a couple of the characters.
The Amalfi Curse is a perfect novel for your summer reading list.

Thank you to Netgalley and Park Row Books for the copy!

Blood on Her Tongue

~ Lisa Helm ~ 2 Comments

by Johanna Van Veen

This is the second novel I’ve read by Johanna Van Veen, and it just confirmed to me that she is, in fact, one of my favourite authors. I do not naturally gravitate to horror, but when I have, it is usually to authors such as her. Before you read this novel, be sure to read the forward; it does prepare the reader for what lies ahead. Yes, it is creepy, yes, it is bloody, but it’s also a whole lot of fun. This novel will keep you entertained from start to finish. In fact I was so intrigued that I read it in a day!

Set in what I believe to be the Victorian era, Lucy receives a very unsettling letter from her twin, Sarah. Sarah’s letter is incoherent, pleading, and desperate, and her handwriting is beyond agitated.

Sarah’s letter was soon followed by her husband’s letter, requesting Lucy come to Sarah’s assistance.

Lucy isn’t completely surprised by this; madness, after all, does run in the family.

When Lucy arrives, in an effort to discover the cause of her sister’s madness, she begins to read Sarah’s journals. These journals aren’t just a person’s recollection of the day’s thoughts and events; they are also scholarly in nature. It seems a body has been found on the property, but not any body, a Bog Woman wonderfully preserved centuries after her demise. Sarah’s obsession over the Bog Woman seems to have ignited her madness, so much so that we, the readers, start to believe that she may, in fact, be possessed by the Bog Woman’s spirit because soon Sarah ceases to be Sarah as Lucy has known her to be.

As with most Victorian stories, the male characters are far from appealing. For instance, Sarah’s husband is dismissive, condescending, and extremely narcissistic, which makes him an unsympathetic character. However, Van Veen does not paint the sisters as sympathetic characters either, but the characterization did get me rooting for them at the end.

This novel is highly atmospheric. It is gruesome, suspenseful, and quite humorous at times (to the expense of a couple of characters). I enjoy Johanna Van Veen so much because, despite the heavy themes, the plot is gruesome fun. If you are not a fan of body horror, maybe stay away from this one, but if you enjoy a good, gruesome, spooky tale, you’ll definitely enjoy Blood on Her Tongue. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the copy.

Haunt Sweet Home

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Sara Pinsker

Mara has been going through life thinking she is a nobody, a failure. There is nothing like a family Thanksgiving dinner to make her feel more like a loser, especially when her cousin Jeremy is there, Jeremy, who seems to have been born with a golden horseshoe up his butt. Unable to find a job that pays her bills, Mara takes a job (or did she beg?) with her cousin’s unique television show “Haunt Sweet Home”. Now, Haunt Sweet Home is not your typical home renovation show. It’s a show that not only films the renovation of a room or two, but also serves as a ghost hunter, recording any ghostly phenomena that happen to take place. The more frightening, the more significant the audience. 

As part of the filming crew, Mara has firsthand knowledge of the authenticity of the paranormal activity, but she is in no position to debate the ethics of the truth behind “reality TV.” Instead, she just does her job during the week and spends her weekends living out of a tent, attending to her wood carving, the only talent she acknowledges in herself. 

The book is written in first-person narrative and focuses more on Mara’s emotional development than the plot. Her personal running narrative is one of self-deprecation, self-searching and self-realization. Pinsker writes this narrative in a way that resonates with anyone who has ever felt insecure about who they are. Mara’s slow but steady realization of her strength is a journey many can identify with. But Mara does not come to this realization on her own; she makes a friend whilst on the job, someone who seems to know who she truly is, someone who appears to be just the right person to support her in this journey of self-discovery and growth, the only problem is, is this friend real or not?

This turned out to be a different “ghost” story than I expected. It is in no way scary; it is rather more of a story that is a running narrative of a young woman’s self-discovery and growth. A light, easy read but not scary or suspenseful. 

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for the free copy

The Maid’s Secret

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Nita Prose

Oh, how excited I am to be immersed again in the world of Molly the Maid. Molly is one of the most charming, engaging protagonists I’ve ever met. I desperately needed to catch up with her and her adventures. Thankfully, Nita Prose has graced us with another Molly the Maid novel, which is slightly different from the first two; in this third novel, we get to know Molly’s Gran Flora more intimately through Gran’s journals. Gran’s journal is a series of letters to her granddaughter charting her life as a young girl and ending with her on her deathbed. The reader quickly learns that Gran’s life is nothing like we suspected. Growing up in a family of wealth, Gran/Flora wanted for nought, but with this wealth came social obligations that Flora fought against. Flora was a bit of a rebel; she wanted to go to university instead of finishing school, choose her love (gasp!), and not be obliged to marry someone her parents deemed suitable. 

Gran’s diary holds not only the purpose of telling her granddaughter about her family history but also clues to the mysterious Faberge egg of Gran’s that just so happens to be in Molly’s possession. An egg that, for most of her life, Molly perceived as a mere trinket of no worth, but with the surprise appraisal from thMollly’srown and Beagle” (an Antiques Roadshow-esque event scheduled at the Regency Grand), she discovers that it is worth millions and she is thrust into the spotlight.

Just like the previous two books, this one is also a mystery—one that involves a great heist, the theft of the Faberge Egg! Molly and our friends Juan, Mr. Preston, and Angela, to name a few(because they really are our friends by now), all play a crucial role in solving the case. Their unique skills and perspectives add depth to the story, making the audience feel like they are part of the team. And with all this sleuthing, Molly has to plan her wedding!  

Nita Prose has a unique way of weaving the past and the present in a way that is engaging and easy to follow, with absolutely no errors in continuity. The book is written in alternating chapters of Gran/Flora’s journal and the present-day Molly adventure. This narrative structure adds depth to the characters and keeps the reader engaged. One could easily just read Flora’s chapters as a book in itself. 

Although my favourite chapters were those with Molly and the gang attempting to solve a crime, I did enjoy being immersed in Gran’s world and getting a fuller understanding of her backstory and what made her such a remarkable mentor for Molly. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the copy!

Sweet Fury

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Sarah Bischoff

I REALLY enjoyed this book. It was the soap-operatic suspenseful novel I needed to get me out of a minor reading slump. Told from various points of view, the reader soon realizes they cannot trust any narrator.

Lila Crayne is beautiful and brilliant. She is THE most sought-after actress of the moment. She has everything she could have ever wished for: beauty, fame, a handsome famous actor as a fiance and now the role of a lifetime. Lila and her husband are producing a feminist version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night” (a rendition I would love to read in real life). For Lila to fully envelope her character, she seeks therapy under the care of Johna Gabriel, who coincidentally has an infatuation with F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is told in the third person narrative with chapters in first person under the guise of Jonah’s private patient notes on Lila and Lila’s journal. Soon, forbidden attractions occur, secrets are revealed, and half-truths are believed, culminating in a shocking act of violence. 

I enjoyed this novel’s pace, plot, and finding very few characters with redeeming characteristics. Now, I want to go out and read Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the free copy

The Transaction

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

“The Transaction”

By Guglielmo D’Izzia

This novel makes me want to visit Italy. This novel also makes me NOT want to visit Italy. There are numerous dichotomous images and events in this novel that leave the reader unsettled.

Our protagonist is a man by the name of De Angelis. De Angelis is tasked with visiting a small town in Sicily to broker a real estate deal. Sounds simple? Nope. Whatever could go wrong does. The trip itself is filled with catastrophe with everything from a broken down train where the passengers have to walk in the scorching heat to the nearest town, to being attacked by feral dogs. All of this happens BEFORE De Angelis meets up with the people who have hired him. Not that it matters because these people have been murdered by the mafia on their way to meeting him at the train station. Of course, this crime leads the authorities to suspect our protagonist’s arrival in their town.

On this journey, De Angelis meets with all sorts of people of questionable moral character. De Angelis often struggles with doing “what is right”.

Although at times this novel is humorous, especially in the way our protagonist views the events he experienced, I couldn’ help but feel a sense of dread while I was reading.

This isn’t a long read and it moves at a fast pace. If you like suspenseful and atmospheric novels you will enjoy this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Guernica Editions for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.