Divine Sanctuary by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Published by Imajin Books
Cover design by Ryan Doan

I loved the first two books in the Divine trilogy, I am thrilled to be reading this, the third and final book. It is also with sorrow at leaving behind the characters that Cheryl Kaye Tardif has given us. This book can be read as a standalone but reading the first two will enhance the experience.

The Prologue takes us into the past of Jasmine or Jasi as she prefers, the main character, as a recurring dream, vision or could it be a ghost, always featuring the same girl but this girl ages with time. First seen in Jasi's closet as an abused child, now she appears anywhere, anytime.

Jasi is a member of the PSI branch of the CFBI. This special branch is comprised almost entirely of agents who have psychic abilities of various types. In Jasi's case, she is a Pyro-Psychic, able to feel what a pyromaniac feels as he kills by fire, her skills brought to the fore when she smells smoke. Thus, she has to approach a suspect fire after breathing pure oxygen to keep from contaminating what she is smelling. Her team works as a tightly-knit group, each with their own abilities...except Brandon who is an arson expert and brings his own set of skills to the table.

A heart-wrenching call from a friend sends the team out in search of a missing woman, a well-known reporter who has been out of touch for five days. She had been investigating a story about missing women, and had gone incognito into the 'Sanctuary.' The premise of the Sanctuary is to rescue the homeless and downtrodden, but does it? It seems very much like a cult. The leader appears to sincerely believe what he is doing is helping people. But does he? Is he really the sincere person he seems to be?

Jasi's group has free reign to search the grounds, in fact she and Brandon are even given the use of a cottage in the compound. Granted, many of the women act afraid to talk to them or else flatly refuse to, but the team has no trouble talking to most of them and they can't really find anything. The story revolves around trying to find a foothold to learn about so many missing women who may or may not have been at Sanctuary.

But secrets may be buried deeper than anyone imagines, even the members of Sanctuary. A horrific murder has taken place within the compound, supposedly the result of accident, but Jasi has seen something different, another in the group, Natassia who is a Victim Empath and 'sees' what the victim's last sight was agrees with Jasi. The body in the walk-in furnace, was it really an accident? The shattered bones discovered, are they really from bears hunting other animals?

I love the author's way with expression, description, and energy in her books and this is no exception. These people come alive. Through the PSI group's interaction with their special gifts the search moves outside, their psi-impressions have shown horrible and terrifying deeds very quickly a mind-blowing chase is on. The pace picks up to excruciating time-crunching as the horror of what is really happening begins to be realized.

With all the horror and life-threatening sport going on, with all the sorrow around, there is some good to come out of it all, almost missed but fortunately there is an overwhelmingly stubborn ghost in connection with the also stubborn Jasi, and the end of the trilogy is surprising and satisfying. I cried.

Raven's Blood by Deborah Cannon

Published by Trafford Publishing
Part four in this Raven Chronicles series takes the reader to ancient underground passageways in an attempted revival of an ancient dark Mithra cult. Jake Lalonde, half-Haida archaeologist is seeking his own truth of his heredity as a shaman and is caught up in a deadly fight for his survival. He is off the radar as far as his fiancé Angeline is concerned, and concerned she is. She is preparing to go to Europe to find him, his last known whereabouts place him in Rome. She is not aware of the other two people who are following her. Her deep knowledge and perception, of Jake, plus her gut instinct, says he is in trouble. A morbid discovery is found in Israel, when the body of the man Jake is to meet in Rome shows up in the truck that has arrived from Italy to take an iconic statue found at the site in Israel to Rome.

Deborah Cannon has gone deeper than ever in her latest book, mystic, full of twists and turns in plot, labyrinths, hallucinogenic mushrooms, visions, paranormal, Mithraic Mysteries, thrills and chills, if you like unusual mysteries you've found the right book! The action clings to the rails at full-speed. The characters are strong and unique. Deborah's previous books in the series have taken the reader to Tonga, the San Juan Islands in the US, and Haida Gwaii in Canada.

What Angeline learns when she finds Jake terrifies her. He is not himself, and appears to be spellbound by Sophia Saveriano, an archaeologist earlier laughed out of the academic community and now bent on proving her theories with Jake's assistance, but she is unlike anyone Angeline has ever met and seems ethereal. Who or what is she? She is everywhere and nowhere, she's like a will-o'-the-wisp. Who is the man from "Interpol" who followed Angeline and keeps turning up in strange places? What is happening to young men in Rome who disappear? Are the gruesome discoveries related?

The author has outdone herself in a story I couldn't put down. A great read. For anyone interested in Haida lore, ancient mysterious cults, the paranormal and thrillers, this book is for you. I was enthralled from beginning to end. A real winner!

Stunt Road by Gregory Mose

 Reviewed for "ReviewTheBook"

Gregory Mose takes the reader on a whirlwind ride into the world of the obscure, enlightening, mystic, and colorful world of Horokinetics. Never heard of Horokinetics? Oh, you will in this book, and enjoy the journey. Unemployed Pete McFadden, along with his old college friend and mathematician Emily, and childhood friend and psychologist, Susan take on a project thrown out almost as a challenge by the person Pete has been trying to get a job interview with. He is promised an interview if he can produce a program "as good as" astrology but based on science, a program which he and his friends have successfully produced based on pure math. Something profound, dedicated, prophetic and insightful.

When his challenger reneges and doesn't even return his calls, Pete is devastated.  He takes a long drive up into the mountains, gets out of the car and gives in to memories and self-deprecation over his apparent latest folly.  He is so deep into his thoughts that he doesn't realize he is not alone. A man on horseback has come up the trail behind him.  Both begin to talk and it appears that both are soul-searching and currently unemployed.  Jake does not laugh at Pete's program but seems very interested in it and soon has turned Pete's thoughts to positive ones.

The journey of selling his idea and program begins as Pete finds himself at a table with his program and Jake at a "New Age" fair, a place he never dreamed of being at any point in his life. The book begins to take on an entirely different, and yet still similar forward movement. Over the next several chapters there is mystery, suspense, mythology, corporate greed, mistrust, and many more elements and switches.  The author combines fractals, chaos and philosophies in such a fluid way the reader won't find the sometimes obscure words difficult.  The beginning of the book in particular is quite tongue-in-cheek humorous, but becomes more serious in later chapters. There is quite frankly a lot that can be learned about ourselves as a whole without effort within these pages. On the other hand, the book contains, and in some way combines, the unscrupulous with purity.

I've never read a book quite like Stunt Road.  It is fascinating, depressing, joyful, cynical, provocative and even deadly, all at one go.  Quite an undertaking for a first novel. The range of characters really breathes life into the story.  Without the strong characterizations, this would be a different book.  The ending brings to mind Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" and the lines

    "...Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference."

I am left to wonder, which road did Peter take when he came to the crossroad at the end of the book?  4 ½ stars