Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Beyond the Veil
AUTHOR: S.C. Wynne
PUBLISHER: Blind Eye Books
LENGTH: 299 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2024
BLURB:
Being a psychic in the small seaside town of Fox Harbor is challenging enough, but winter months are brutal. Not that using his clairvoyant abilities to hunt down lost pets isn’t thrilling, but Lorenzo wouldn’t mind a tiny bit more excitement in his life.
Be careful what you wish for?
Things get more stimulating when the charismatic Dr. Ian Thatcher takes a romantic interest in him. Unfortunately, their promising evening takes a ghastly turn when an old man dies on Lorenzo’s doorstep, after warning Lorenzo his life is in danger.
Before Lorenzo can say “Give me my old boring life back, please” his home is ransacked, a fiery being tries to burn him to death, and he’s informed he’s the only hope to save the world.
REVIEW:
Lorenzo is a down on his luck psychic. While helping a client reach her aunt in an attempt to find a missing pet, Dr. Ian Thatcher accompanies her to the reading. He’s a total skeptic and frankly kind of a jerk. When the spirit doesn’t want to leave after a rather contentious conversation with the client, Ian touches him and the spirit finally relents. Ian is worried about Lorenzo though – he’s pale, his heartrate is elevated, etc.
Lorenzo next meets Ian at the hospital when he’s admitted for an emergency. From that point on, Ian takes a pointed interest in Lorenzo. He insists on taking him home from the hospital – which Lorenzo can’t wait for because the spirits in the hospital were making him really really sick.
Turns out that Lorenzo is a bit of a loner. He’s suffered a significant loss that has devastated him. He’s been really just surviving. When Ian keeps checking on him, he can’t just keep ignoring the attraction. But then an unexpected visitor shows up who seems to recognize Lorenzo and offers an ominous rambling and then drops dead in Lorenzo’s house. So the cops show up. Then his house is ransacked. More cops. Ian doesn’t believe Lorenzo when he shares what he thinks might be happening – that it isn’t being instigated by humans but rather is otherworldly.
Meanwhile other strange and violent events are happening in this small seaside town. Lorenzo is being pursued – he can feel it. Unexpected help steps in to save him when he’s confronted again by the otherworldy entity. Turns out people aren’t who they seem to be 😉
Well this was a bit of a surprise. I really like this story and the suspense aspect. As with most supernatural stories, there is a lot of buildup to the actual confrontation. There are many unknowns as Lorenzo and Ian try to figure out what’s going on and why Lorenzo is the hope for all. There relationship is a bit up and down and Lorenzo really doesn’t trust anyone, so there’s that little hurdle as well. My only niggle with this story is that the pace changes dramatically around the 70% mark and then it seems a little bit of a rush to the end. Ultimately though, it’s a spooky story that kept me engaged and anticipating what might come next. The romance was well done and didn’t overwhelm the action either. Recommended.
RATING:
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