The Trickster by L.G. Miles and Amy Miles

by L.G. Miles and Amy Miles

A good short story about three older children who find themselves caught in a supernatural struggle they didn't expect. A good story-line children and young teens should enjoy, a tale of curses, ghosts, and hidden spaces. How often young people like to take a dare to prove their loyalty or bravado. The Prologue sets the scene in 1905 for dark magic, goosebumps and things that go bump in the night, not to mention a fabulous dragon staff that is not all it seems. Strange things are happening in the woods at night. What is the hooded man doing with his steel and artifacts? Someone is watching him when he should run for his life.

Jumping to present day, something strange is happening at the museum. The staff has been found and is about to be revealed the next day...or will it? In the meantime, who is playing tricks on the night watchman? Who or what is the Trickster? A school group is scheduled to go on a field trip to the museum the next day, but on the next day the museum has been taped off as a crime scene. What could have happened? Three young people make a deal to visit an old mill with a long history when they learn that the dragon staff is missing and ghosts are believed to be haunting the old mill house, one a ghost clown at that. Will they be able to hide their fears? Will they find the staff or will they be defeated in their attempts to access every part of the house, tunnels and all. Fun and creepy, a good read for kids, and by a young person according to "About the Authors" at the end of the book.

Heckel Casey by James Koch

Published by Imajin Books

Portent of things to come? "Heck" of a thriller!
The ultimate fight of good against evil. The world is not just poised on the precipice, it has gone over the edge. It is the age of destruction and evil reigns. James Hoch has written a fast-paced thriller of fear, horror and despair as the world collapses. But from the very beginning, there is a trickle of hope in very few, not extinguished. Is it enough to save what is left of the world?

This was a gripping piece of thriller fiction, one I found difficult to put down. Reminiscent of life in the Twilight Zone, part reality, part macabre, part paranormal, it comes with a message. The signs are all there in our real lives today. The outcome remains to be seen. The collapse is already hidden in the shadows of reality. The author has taken that shadowy present and shaped it into a terrible future that is fiction...but will it become fact?

The search by one man, Heckel or "Heck", for any sign of normalcy left in the world. One man walking, who as a boy, was somehow protected from the seduction of evil, and he isn't the only one. They exist, he has only to find them, people untainted by evil, and find them he does after walking for about a year. He finds them in various small-holds, isolated homes around the country and in burned out small towns. We must believe that there are others in other countries playing out the same game. Like any hero, Heckel has an odd sidekick, a cat he calls Jerky. Jerky seems to have adopted him, and is a unique protector, giving warnings of something not right ahead.

Faith and God play a role in the later encounters, angels strengthen the souls and bodies of these people, aiding in their fight against supernatural demons. This is not to say the book is a tome of religion, but belief and faith in the good in humanity.

Fiction at its best, fascinating plot, amazing characters, and fulfillment of promise...but will it last and which will it be: Good or Evil? Enjoy the book, I did.