Ghost Walk by Melissa Bowersock, Thorn of Plimouth by Catherine Hughes, Walking Out of This World by Stephan Ford

 

Ghost Walk (A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 1) by Melissa Bowersock 

Ghost Walk is the first book in Melissa Bowersock’s Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mysteries, an, at the time of this review, 49 volume Paranormal Mystery series about cop turned private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and her partner Sam Firecloud, a clairvoyant. Throughout the series, the two face human killers but also ghosts, demons, shapeshifters, witches, curses, vampires, zombies, and every other supernatural creature. Not bad for a series that began in 2017. 

The first volume, Ghost Walk is a creepy graphic mystery with strong character development and eerie passages that joins the natural world with the supernatural. It sets the stage with the duo meeting for the first time and having their first brush with the paranormal world.

Former LAPD detective Lacey Fitzpatrick learns that one of her former cases has been reopened. The burial site in which the unidentified Fairfax Stalker might have left his victims is found. Obsessed with the unsolved case, Lacey approaches the crime scene at the same time as Sam Firecloud. The clairvoyant uses his abilities to refer to names of victims that only Lacey and her colleagues knew. Lacey is intrigued and seizes the opportunity to reopen the Fairfax Stalker case and investigate a potentially haunted house with Sam’s assistance.

Unlike other books on the series, this volume is slight with the paranormal aspects. Mostly they are found through Sam’s visions and psychic information which are creepy enough. He sees the violent acts and hears the names in his head. In one chapter, he reveals the emotional and mental toll the vision takes on him and how it is overwhelming to constantly and unwittingly see and hear acts of violence. 

As a divorced father of two, Sam is aware that his gift has been a barrier in his previous marriage. Also, he has terrified his kids without meaning to. It is a gift that he has been given but at times it comes with a high price tag. Sam is trying to use his gift to make others’ lives better even if it makes himself uncomfortable and lonely.

This book cleverly flips the script in the skeptic/believer dynamic made popular by Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in the X Files. Lacey doesn’t necessarily believe in Sam’s visions but she is interested in pursuing this lead anyway. She is at a point where conventional means, deductive reasoning, eyewitness testimony, psychological profiling, DNA testing doesn’t work. She is willing to follow Sam’s visions because she has literally run out of normal options. Even a strange otherworldly lead is better than no lead at all.

Lacey is not in any position to counter the leads anyway. A scandal caused by her ex resulted in his arrest and imprisonment and her resignation from the LAPD. Because of this, she had been drifting along trying to figure out what she wants to do now that she has lost her purpose in life.

 The Fairfax Stalker case reignites that purpose to protect innocent lives, punish the guilty, and deliver justice to those who deserve it. It also reminds Lacey of the bureaucracy involved in police work and gives her other possibilities in law enforcement perhaps as a private investigator.

This is an eerie creepy Paranormal Mystery that gives two leads that are worth rooting for as they enter into the darkness of the unknown. 

Thorn of Plimouth by Catherine Hughes 

I received a free copy of this book through Betafide. 

Thorn of Plimouth (sp?) by Catherine Hughes is an affecting Historical Fiction novel about a woman accused of witchcraft in the Pilgrim community of Plymouth Rock.

Rachel, a midwife and healer, is on board The Fortune. She is among the many European immigrants who follow The Mayflower to live in the Puritan colony at Plymouth Rock. Rachel's obstreperous nature, Welsh upbringing, and knowledge of herbology makes her a target of suspicion on board. The suspicion increases after they land and a series of troubles results in public accusations against Rachel.

In many ways, this book is similar to one that I read last year, The Healer's Daughter by Myriana Merkovic which was also about a woman emigrating to 17th century North America, South Carolina this time, and is accused of witchcraft. It was one of my favorite books and was third in my list of Fantasy novels for that year. ( Sense of Home: The Land of the Great Lakes by N.Z. Kaminsky and Isemene and The Voice by Juniper Calle were the top two.) 

There are similarities between Thorn in Plimouth and The Healer's Daughter. Full disclosure, an argument about abortifacients is repeated almost word for word in both books. Some of their accusers echo each other including a haughty young girl and a hypocritical community leader using the trial to cover up their own lustful, vengeful, and avaricious deeds. Though those are no doubt based on the real accusers of the Salem Witch Trials who were largely young girls claiming to be afflicted and community leaders who used the trials to settle old scores. But the focus and tone of the two novels are very different.

The Healer's Daughter is a Historical Fantasy. It asks the question what if a person accused of witchcraft actually had those powers but weren't from Satan but instead an inherited gift from a polytheistic religion that worshiped the Goddess. It is a character study of a woman, Naida Galene, who is an outsider because of her beliefs, so she isolates herself into the woods to live in nature and communicate with her ancestors freely. The focus was on the protagonist.

This book’s primary focus is on setting both time and place. It is a more realistic Historical Fiction where Rachel does not have any special abilities but still invites scorn, gossip, and suspicion simply by her presence. It is an indictment against the religious paranoia that brewed and profited from the scapegoating.

This book captures the claustrophobic Puritan setting and how an outsider like Rachel functions within it. Their rigid Biblical interpretation causes them to cast doubts on a woman who has a dragon keepsake as a reminder of her half-Welsh heritage, red hair, buoyant ability to swim, and sharp tongue. All of these physical characteristics cause eyes to narrow and puzzled expressions turned towards Rachel's direction. To them, she looks and acts like a witch that their Puritan elders taught them to fear. 

Despite this, Rachel uses her natural kindness to help people even as they gossip and note unusual activity. She uses her healer and midwife abilities to treat sick people and in one stirring chapter deliver a baby on board The Fortune.

In Plymouth, Rachel is surrounded by attackers with very few defenders. They are anxious and fearful in a new place where survival and adaptability are not sure things. Puritanism discourages any sort of individuality or elaboration and holds a rigid outlook towards indigenous people and anyone who does not follow their views. 

The paranoia is made stronger by a few circumstances in which Rachel is at the center, particularly the death of a newborn that she delivered and a prank that resulted in her getting lost in the woods. She is rescued and aided by Keme of the Pauquunaukit tribe. 

The local Pokanoket tribe might have helped the Pilgrims during the time of famine (First Thanksgiving, remember?). However, many Puritans still fear the various tribes and equate them and Rachel with those fears and their own anxiety and paranoia about the Devil. Even when others come to her aid such as Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, the voices of the accusers are far louder and more active. 

That paranoia leads to Rachel's public ostracism, eventual trial, and eventual exile. A vibrant kind woman who used her training to help people around her becomes a pariah because of their rigid religious standards and is swallowed and destroyed by their own fears.

Walking Out of This World by Stephan Ford 

This review is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick.

Walking Out of This World is a predictable but comforting allegory about people caught up in the battle of good and evil personified by two peculiar beings.

While participating in one of their long walks, members of the Far and Fast Walks Society (FFWS) encounter Miles Miteby, a kind but eccentric stranger. He leads them to his enchanting home village where many of their issues are resolved. Unfortunately Miles isn't the only mysterious person watching them. There is also Lucifix who leads them down a torturous miserable path of their own making.

It's pretty easy to guess who Miles and Lucifix are and what they are supposed to represent to the human characters. However, Walking Out of This World has plenty of interesting characters, settings, and plot points that capture the Reader's interest. 

By far the most intriguing concepts are Miteby Arms (Miles’ home) and The Other Realm (Lucifix’s), Neither of them are ever called Heaven and Hell but it’s clear that’s what they are supposed to be.Miteby Arms is depicted as a quaint remote village that encourages connection and togetherness while The Other Realm is a hellacious urban nightmare that thrives on isolation and fear. The rewards of Miteby Arms and punishments of The Other Realm reveal much about the protagonists' characteristics and personalities.

The book is filled with characters being close to what they wanted and longed for but are then punished by their own follies and frailties. Miles and Lucifix represent the best and worst of the human experience. 

Classics Corner: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Still Relevant Classic of Scandal, Hypocrisy, Secret Sin, and Redemption

Classics Corner: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Still Relevant Classic of Scandal, Hypocrisy, Secret Sin, and Redemption




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Nathaniel Hawthorne was familiar with the concept of secret sin. He was a descendant of one of the judges of the Salem Witch Trials and even added the “w” to the last name Hathorne to disassociate himself from his ancestors. His mother's ancestors had an accusation of incest and were temporarily forced to wear an “I” on their clothing.


Even Hawthorne's writings are all about guilt and secret sins that are inside people. His short story “Young Goodman Brown,” features a young man who sees a witch's sabbat conducted by members of the community including his wife. While the story never tells us if the sabbat was real or a dream, it changes Brown's perception of the people around him and he suspects everyone in town of being in league with the Devil.

Another story “The Minister's Black Veil” also captures those themes. In that one, a minister covers his face in a black veil. The villagers are unnerved by the veil and can't convince him to remove it. The minister never reveals the reason that he wears the veil except on his deathbed, he says that he sees a veil on everyone's face. The story suggests that the veil is a symbol for the darkness and secrets that are inside everyone. The minister just chooses to bring his out in the open.


Hawthorne's best work, The Scarlet Letter covers those concepts of hidden darkness and secret sin and how they can either redeem a person or trap them into their own personal Hell.

In 17th century Boston, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a red “A” on her bosom and stand in the pillory for an hour every day. The reason for this is that even though she is married and she arrived in New England ahead of her husband, she had a child with another man. (The A more than likely stands for Adultery.)

Hester and her daughter, Pearl have to face a cold judgmental Puritan community and two men in particular. The first is Roger Chillingsworth who is every bit as warm hearted as his name. He is a physician recently arrived in town and is, surprise, Hester's husband.

The other man is the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, a young minister who wants Hester to open up to her sin and admit who is the father of her child. Though he shouldn't have to ask because, double surprise, he's Pearl's father.

Hawthorne's interest in guilt and secret sin manifests itself into his characters in interesting ways. While Hester is vilified by the community, she is able to reinvent herself. First, her A isn't just stitched onto her dress. It is embroidered and embellished, showing great care in her work. To support herself and her daughter, Hester takes up sewing and embroidery. While Puritans are legendarily plain dressed people, they were only human and didn't mind a little character once in awhile. Hester makes gloves for governors, dressing gowns for babies, and other accessories.

While no one in Boston would dare cross her path, invite her for tea, or even eject a particularly warm friendly hello to the woman, eventually they don't mind bragging to their friends that they own a Hester Prynne Original accessory.

Hester’s career shows her as an artist and an outsider. She can't openly rebel against her circumstances, so she puts all of her pain and care into her work. Note, she doesn't just wear the A. She embellishes it. She dramatizes it. As though she is revealing her creativity and originality under the conservative law abiding shell.

The other thing that Hester does during her long sentence is good work. While most people, myself included, would probably say “the hell with those people” and ignore them, Hester does not do this. Instead she gives medicine to the sick and counsels people who are lost and distressed. As an outsider, she has compassion for others and understanding for their plight. Ironically, she is stronger because of the isolation that she had to endure therefore has more empathy for those who are poor, sick, and alone.

In contrast to Hester, Dimmesdale’s turmoil is all internal. He has to act like a convincing minister and community leader on the outside, while he is tormented on the inside with his guilt of having been with Hester. Dimmesdale flagellates himself and feels shame burning inside his heart. He tells no one except Hester leaving his guilt to churn inside him.

As Heater grows stronger in her suffering, Dimmesdale grows weaker because of the hypocrisy he forces on himself. Ironically, it is only right before he reveals himself enough to stand in the pillory with Hester and Pearl that he gives the best sermon of his career as if in admitting his own guilt and double standard, he frees himself. Like Heater with her art, he has finally put himself forward with his art of public speaking to show his true self.

Dimmesdale's secret sin makes him prey for Chillingsworth who plays on his guilt and suffering thereby physically and mentally weakening him. Dimmesdale may long to seek repentance, but Chillingsworth does not because in his eyes, he did nothing wrong except marry a woman younger than him.

He is the Salem judge, the self-proclaimed man of God, the hypocritical politician, the Holier than Thou town's leader who judges the people under him while preying on their weaknesses. He is the man who cries loudest for punishment without admitting his own misdeeds and involvements which are often similar or worse than the ones that are public. Unfortunately, as is so often true he receives little to no retribution for his cruelty towards Hester and Dimmesdale.

The fourth character is the most unique of all: Pearl, the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is often described as a fairy or elf child as though she were a being outside of this world. Because her mother raised her as an outsider, she is free to express herself in ways the other characters do not. Her mother dresses her in the beautiful clothes that she makes instead of somber Puritanical clothing. She is bold and upfront where most Puritan children her age would be obedient and quiet. She asks questions such as “Why does (Dimmesdale) put his hand over his heart like he's in pain?” Because she lives outside of societal laws, Pearl is not beholden to them. She is able to argue and fight expressing the anger that her mother suppresses and articulating the sadness that her father hides.


Among the most intriguing developments about The Scarlet Letter is is how relevant this story still is. True, we are not likely to hang people for witchcraft or make people wear letters decrying their latest sin. But sex scandals are still the order of the day and now as then women are often held to a different standards than men. You only need to look as far as the headlines to see this.

In the recent sexual harassment accusations in the wake of Me Too/Time's Up look at how many men are accused of harassment. Okay look how many men who are tried, convicted, and found guilty. So far one: Bill Cosby. How many have either been given a light sentence or kept their jobs from entertainment to politics? How many women who have come forward are the ones who are shamed, vilified, put in hiding, and/or branded as liars or sluts “who were asking for it”?

There are still Hester Prynnes that are fallen women or are considered sluts or liars. There are still Arthur Dimmesdales who refuse to come forward when they need to but for whatever reason won't. There are Roger Chillingsworths who feign shock at the proceedings but hide their own misdeeds under cloaks of respectability. There are Pearl Prynnes who speak out and often are forced to bear the brunt of previous generations.

We really haven't moved as far as we thought from Hester's day.