The Supernatural Enhancements
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A mesmerizing novel...what begins as a gothic ghost story soon evolves into a wickedly twisted treasure hunt in The Supernatural Enhancements, Edgar Cantero's wholly original, modern-day adventure.
When twentysomething A., the European relative of the Wells family, inherits a beautiful, yet eerie, estate set deep in the woods of Point Bless, Virginia, it comes as a surprise to everyone—including A. himself. After all, he never knew he had a "second cousin, twice removed" in America, much less that his eccentric relative had recently committed suicide by jumping out of the third floor bedroom window—at the same age and in the same way as his father had before him . . .
Together with A.’s companion, Niamh, a mute teenage punk girl from Ireland, they arrive in Virginia and quickly come to feel as if they have inherited much more than just a rambling home and an opulent lifestyle. Axton House is haunted... they know it...but the presence of a ghost is just the first of a series of disturbing secrets they slowly uncover. What led to the suicides? What became of the Axton House butler who fled shortly after his master died? What lurks in the garden maze – and what does the basement vault keep? Even more troubling, what of the rumors in town about a mysterious yearly gathering at Axton House on the night of the winter solstice?
Told vividly through a series of journal entries, cryptic ciphers, recovered security footage, and letters to a distant Aunt Liza, Edgar Cantero has written an absorbing, kinetic and highly original supernatural adventure with classic horror elements that introduces readers to a deviously sly and powerful new voice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An inheritance from a reclusive cousin brings 23-year-old student A. Wells and mute adolescent Niamh Connell from Europe to the Virginia countryside of 1995, where a missing butler, complex encryptions, and enigmatic letters hint at sinister doings. Catalan author Cantero (Valvi) employs visits with inquisitive neighbors, isolated high voltage readings, and increasingly frightening dreams and manifestations to suggest the presence of supernatural elements, although many of these events evoke stock haunted-house props. A.'s musings about the nature of the supernatural provide a rationale for Cantero's title: the mysteries of existence remain, no matter how one tries to explain the inexplicable. The merging of the otherworldly and the mundane, however, breaks down when a long explanation of a secret society's aims and history overwhelms the plot and paves the way to a deus ex machina conclusion.
Customer Reviews
Excellent and Original
I couldn’t put this book down.