Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Book Review - Jerome Peterson's The Haunting of Andrew Sharpai

The Haunting of Andrew Sharpai by Jerome Peterson
Published by: Eloquent
Book Provided by the Author
Publication Date: February 21st, 2010
Format: Paperback, 310 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Andrew Sharpai is haunted by the life he lost. Tormented by the lose of his love LaRae and his glamorous lifestyle in Vegas he flees to Idaho. There he spends his time either lost in a bottle or cooking at Denny's in a monotonous routine. Eventually Andrew realizes something has to give and he decides that perhaps a hobby to take him out of himself would be a good idea. Remembering a story LaRae had told him about Jesus being a gardener, he decides to sink his hands into mother earth and perhaps grow something. The winter is long and cold, but come spring he sees evidence of the new life he helped to bring forth and he is now bitten by the proverbial bug all thanks to Harry and his nursery. Racing back to tell Harry the good news he is drawn to a young woman working at the nursery, Iris Winkle. With her pentagram necklace and her freckled though shockingly scarred face, Andrew sees someone worth living for. His courtship of Iris soon starts, undeterred by her visible scars and her young daughter, Lily. But soon Andrew hears the rumors about Iris and her witchy ways. While most say that Iris is evil and her ex Devon even more so, Andrew just can't see Iris as anything but a good witch. Soon things start to get weird though and Andrew can't help but listen to the townsfolk and think maybe they were right. Could a woman with a pet crow named Elijah Corbu and an ex capable of bringing horrifying sounds on the wind really be the answer Andrew has been looking for since LaRae's death? Embracing Iris and her life they decide to flee Devon and his influences and desires, one of which is Iris's daughter Lily. Moving to Colorado they think that they have moved beyond Devon's grasp. But Devon's might is stronger than they ever thought and this time he isn't playing games. Death follows and Andrew has to make many choices, hoping that he chooses the right ones.

Jerome Peterson's characters are on a journey of discovery. They are constantly trying to evolve into better people. But he has a knack of showing how hard these choices are. You can't choose who you fall in love with, but you can question it. To have lost a love it is even harder to embrace new love when it comes. Andrew never stops loving LaRae because of Iris and Lily, he is constantly struggling with it. He is haunted by all that LaRae was. But with the added element of witchcraft, we not only have a haunting of the heart, we have a physical and psychological haunting as well. The way that Jerome writes his environments and characters they have a way of leaping off the page, wherein  you end up fully inhabiting their world. You believe in the magic and mystery of this world, whether or not you believe in magic in your day to day life. The struggle of the trio daily fighting with the unknown forces propels you through the book, making you detest the idea of placing it aside till you know the outcome. With the nebulous forces against them and Devon's designs on Lily, as well as the aspects of The Black Mass, I was strongly reminded of Rosemary's Baby and other fare of the sixties and seventies. This book has that iconic feel of good versus evil played out on a small scale with the same suspense that keeps you rushing to the end. Fans of the ongoing search and struggle of man as well as those who need a little mystery should pick this book up today, though it will be harder to put it down.

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