Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: You Can Save Me
SERIES: Carnival Of Mysteries – Multi-Author Series
AUTHOR: R L Merrill
PUBLISHER: Celie Bay Publications LLC
LENGTH: 381 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2024
BLURB:
From author R.L. Merrill comes the follow-up to You Can Do Magic, Winner of The Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers’ Choice award and Finalist in the North Texas Romance Writers’ Carolyn Contest.
Sixties folk singer Dane Donovan vanished from a desolate highway rest area in 1979. Forty years later, he’s found hitchhiking in the California desert on a cold winter’s night. He hasn’t aged a day, but the roadmap of scars he wears tells a chilling tale.
Veteran detective Walter Muse took over Dane’s missing persons case twenty years ago, but his haunting connection to Dane Donovan goes back to a peculiar run-in as a child with The Troubadour and his Talking Board at a traveling carnival. He receives a late-night call with Dane’s whereabouts and races to Laurel Canyon to see for himself whether Dane is real — or a ghost meant to taunt Walter and his somewhat precarious hold on his sanity. Walter’s carefully honed detective instincts are thrown out the window, however, when his obsession with the case develops into an undeniable attraction to the mysterious singer.
Dane is on a mission to stop a new killer hell-bent on picking up where Dane’s kidnapper left off, and Walter is determined to protect him, no matter the personal and psychological cost. They’ll have to rely on new friends and trusted colleagues as well as the power of a mystical spirit board to stop the killing, and have a chance at a real future together.
You Can Save Me is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries series. All books may be read as a standalone, but this book is a continuation of the events in You Can Do Magic. Recommended 18+ and TW for violence and mention of suicide of a family member.
REVIEW:
In the book You Can Do Magic – RL Merrill’s previous book for the Carnival of Mysteries series, Ryan and Kal promised Ame, the carnival leader, that they would help anyone from the carnival in need. They found Dane hitchhiking, and on a mission to stop a killer. Detective Walter Muse has dedicated his life to solving the mystery of Dane Donovan’s disappearance. His best fantasies and worst nightmares happen when he finds the man that has haunted his life.
There hasn’t been a story by R Merrill that I haven’t loved – and You Can Save Me is no exception. The imagination required for such a tale is astounding. The story begins with a thought-provoking poem and pulls you in from there.
The story is told in the first person from the viewpoints of Dane and Walter. Technically, it is on point, too. Worldbuilding gives enough to form a picture without going into minute detail. Paranormal events, or woo-woo as the characters call it, are features. After all, how does a person explain working at a carnival for forty years without aging a day? Other woo-woo events happen, too.
Dane hails from a time when music, drugs, sex, and rock and roll were intermingled. Yet, Dane was on the outskirts looking in and protected from the hard stuff. Hence, he has lots of memories of stars and their musical interactions. On the serious side is his mission. His journey entails adjusting to his new year of 2019 while a serial killer is out to get the one who got away.
Then there’s Walter. His association with Dane began as a child and stayed with him for a lifetime. What started as a case turned into more when he met Dane. Almost instant love – that had been years in the making. But, with a serial killer targeting Dane, there’s a conflict between personal and duty. So, what do you do? Bring in those you trust, which adds even more depth to an already stunning concept.
All the characters are well thought out and appropriate for their roles. Everyone from trusted friends, and colleagues, to family members, killers, and other associates was superbly put together.
You Can Save Me is a carefully balanced, intricately worked, and amazingly put-together tale of light, dark, paranormal, unhinged killers, violence, dedicated people, and a beautiful love story.
RATING: 
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