Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Gideon-Alex Gordon

Gideon
Alex Gordon
Harper Voyager, Jan 6 2015, $14.99
ISBN: 9780061687372

In rainy Seattle, Lauren Reardon grieves the death of her fiftyish father John less than a year after her mom Angela passed away.  Cremating him like they did her mom, Lauren goes to the family house to collect receipts that John’s financial advisor Frank Welles requested.  There she finds The Book Of Endor, written in Gideon, Illinois during the year of the Great Fire of 1871.  Inside is a photo of her dad as point guard for the Gideon team but his name is listed as Matthew Mullins and apparently he was a witch descending from generations of witches.

Confused she turns to her BFF Katie who in turn introduces her to Dilys the spiritual expert.  However soon after their meeting, Dilys dies in a car accident.  Needing the truth Lauren heads to Gideon where most people make it clear they want her to leave immediately.  The one exception to her unwelcome arrival is a malevolent spirit that has haunted the town with a thirst to rejoin the living since innocent Nicholas Blaine was burned at the stake in 1836.

Gideon is a taut horror tale, in which the supernatural seems natural due to the way the witches’ deploy their paranormal power, the vigilant deer in the headlights visitor, and especially Blaine’s obsessed spirit.  Filled with suspense and a critical historical anchor, subgenre fans will relish visiting this haunted town.


Harriet Klausner

No comments: