Title: Carlyle’s Crossing
Author: Chris Quinton
Genre: Other Paranormal
Length: Novella (182pgs)
Publisher: Total E-Bound (13th September 2013) Available from 16th August 2013 with TEB VIP club.
Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Jubal must face a primordial evil with only an ancient flint knife, two ancestral spirits and Sal at his side. If he fails, more than lives are lost.
Jubal is the last Carlyle, and lives near Seattle, far away from his Abenaki ancestors. A letter from a lawyer draws him and his best friend, Sal, to Vermont and the town of Whitewater. Soon they are right in the middle of the old conflict that drove Jubal’s parents away just before his birth.
Whitewater is suffering and not just from the economic downturn. Unleashed by one man’s obsession to call back the spirit of his dead wife, and by the well-meaning but flawed actions of another, dark forces are bringing depression and hopelessness.
Jubal’s father had neither the talent nor the wish to attempt the task of driving back the incursion, but Jubal knows he has to try. He must find a way to reverse the process before the malaise spreads. But he has no knowledge, no training, just instinct – and Sal. Always Sal, who is rapidly becoming far more than a friend with benefits. The dangers they face are insidious, and more than their lives and sanity are at risk.
Reader Advisory: This book contains language some readers may find offensive.
Purchase Link: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2301
Review: Jubal has always been different, he has been able to see ghosts ever since he was a child but he doesn’t really have a clue about his heritage, his Abenaki heritage, and he soon discovers that his gift is much more important than he thought. A letter from a lawyer and a persistent spirit has Jubal and his best friend, Sal, heading for Whitewater and answers and they discover a family history and an old man with an obsession. Sal is just along for the ride, his relationship with Jubal has always been more than friendship, but it deepens further as Sal stands by Jubal’s side, as Jubal tries to drive away the darkness, which clings, to Whitewater because of an old man who wants his wife returned to him.
This is a great paranormal story that blends the Native American’s and First Nation’s into protectors of the flow between the spirit world and the living world. Jubal is drawn back to his father’s birthplace when a letter, an accident, and a break in seem to be too much of a coincidence. Sal and Jubal set off to discover what is going on and they go from f**k buddies to admitting their feelings for each other as they try to discover just what Jubal is supposed to do with the ancient knife his father had hidden. Jubal doesn’t know whom he can trust, but knowing Sal is there for him as he unravels the cryptic messages from his long deceased ancestor means more to him than anything.
Jubal and Sal make a brilliant couple, they have been friends since they were young boys and f**k buddies for a number of years but neither man has ever admitted to wanting more, until a journey to Whitewater brings them closer together than ever. The storyline is great although you are as much in the dark as Jubal, you can piece together what is going on quite well. We see the story unfold, characters come in to play at a good pace, and we do get one or two surprises along the way. The spiritual aspect of the story is great and the spirits are colorful characters, the easy acceptance of Jubal’s gift is wonderful but even Jubal and Sal become uneasy in Whitewater.
I recommend this to those who love spirits, grief-stricken old men, fighting the undesirable blackness, great characters, danger, discovering love, hot sex and a great confrontation and ending.