Boy Meets Boy Reviews: F.E. Feeley Jr.

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Review: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley, Jr.

Can you hear it?

Whispering in the dark.

Secrets only the dark knows.

Joseph Moore, choir director for the First Baptist Church of Lenora, Nebraska, has secrets of his own. Terrible, lonely secrets. One that involves natural human desire. One that calls forth powers he cannot begin to understand. Both with the potential to destroy him and those he loves.

Now the world is changing. The darkness, the shadows, the ghosts, are closing in—and Joseph and his lover, Kevin, are being stalked by a merciless demon, hell-bent on possession.

Can you hear it now?

There in the dark.

It's whispering your name.

Every book I’ve read by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley, Jr. separately have been memorable, these two authors together brought my reading journey to another level. Hallelujah reminded me why I love to read, the all encompassing experience was overwhelming in the best possible way. I told the family they were on their own because I had book rapture happening and I would be unavailable for 374 pages, plus reflection time.

Hallelujah is quite a ride. There is a lot going on, a lot of themes, a lot of action, a lot of realizations, a lot. The authors balanced and tied everything together so perfectly the story never felt too busy or at loose ends. Every sentence and action had a purpose for Joseph and his journey.

There are many religious undertones (and overtones, if I’m honest) to Hallelujah. Religion is an integral component to the story and while the specific faith is personal to Joseph, the overarching theme is much more broad, encompassing the basics of good vs. evil and redemption and forgiveness.

Growing up in an agnostic household, I was able to understand everything in theory, but I’m sure I was missing some of the visceral reactions someone who grew up in a religious upbringing might feel. I googled and learned a lot, something I always appreciate from a book, and I can’t decide which background would be more beneficial when reading Hallelujah. I bought a copy for a friend (he’s no longer actively practicing any formal religion, but he did grow up in a faithfully religious household) and we’re going to mini bookclub this one.

There is so much more though too. If organized religion is not your jam, don’t let that keep you from Hallelujah. It’s part of who Joseph is in his core, and that part of him is clear and accessible to the reader. It explains a lot about the decisions he makes and the loyalties he keeps.

I could go on and on and on about specifics and characters, but you get the gist from the blurb and part of the beauty of this book is meeting each of the characters for the first time. Reading the evolution of the relationships and interactions is the meat of this book. Sure, the horror is most definitely real, and most definitely horrifying, but we know evil because we know good and the characters here are so humanly good. Not perfect, perfect is boring and a falsehood. But inherent goodness is real and a real part of this book.

Joseph. He’s so fully fleshed out, that I’ll remember him for a long time to come and he’ll make me reread this book. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him when the story was done, even though the story was done with all the bits wrapped up in a bittersweet package. After everything the group had been through I wasn’t sure how Hallelujah would wrap, or if it even could, but damn, the authors did an amazing job of ending the story and being true to each of the characters.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley Jr.

Authors Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley Jr., along with Other Worlds Ink, host today's blog tour for new horror fiction, Hallelujah! Learn more today and enter in $20 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley Jr. have a new gay horror book out:
"Hallelujah."

Can you hear it?

Whispering in the dark.

Secrets only the dark knows.

Joseph Moore, choir director for the First Baptist Church of Lenora, Nebraska, has secrets of his own. Terrible, lonely secrets. One that involves natural human desire. One that calls forth powers he cannot begin to understand. Both with the potential to destroy him and those he loves.

Now the world is changing. The darkness, the shadows, the ghosts, are closing in—and Joseph and his lover, Kevin, are being stalked by a merciless demon, hell-bent on possession.

Can you hear it now?

Warnings: violence. This is not a romance.

There in the dark.

It's whispering your name.

Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Giveaway

Kim and F.E. are giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this cover reveal and tour. For a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47103/?

Excerpt

“NO!”

Joseph fought against the hands on his shoulders. The room was sweltering, and all his strength had sapped away.

“NO!”

“Joseph, open your eyes! Open your eyes, dammit!”

He was being shaken, and despite his unwillingness, his eyes opened. Kevin’s face stared down at him.

“Fuck you. Let me go!”

Joseph pulled away and fell backward onto the altar steps. His attempt to break the fall caused his wrist to smart painfully, and he whimpered. His whole body shook; he felt sick to his stomach.

Kevin raised his hands in surrender. “What the hell, man? Who did this to you?”

“What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? You’re beat to shit. Did someone jump you?”

Joseph looked down and saw his scratched-up legs and swollen ankle. He scanned the sanctuary, half expecting the shadowed figure to be lurking somewhere nearby. But that wasn’t the case. All the lights were on, brilliantly illuminating every corner. There was no sign of the spirit who normally haunted the place.

“Who are you looking for?”

Joseph faced Kevin once again. “What? No one. What are you doing here?”

Although Kevin had been bare-chested at their last meeting, he was wearing a shirt now. Well, part of a shirt. It was an old Budweiser tee with the sleeves cut out and the sides wide open. When he moved, it revealed glimpses of his chest and flat stomach. Joseph felt his face flush as he averted his gaze.

“I was driving by and saw all the lights on and the door open. Figured the joint was getting robbed or somethin’. Then I found you wailing on the floor in…. Damn, dude. Look at your wrist.”

Joseph saw it was swollen. The memory of where he’d been flashed in his mind once more. The red-eyed gaze was burned into his memory.

But that had all been a dream, hadn’t it?

Please, Lord, let it have been a dream.

“Who did this to you?” Kevin repeated with a furrowed brow.

“Nobody. Look, I came back here because I thought I left something, and I fell. I must have banged my head or something.”

“You fell. Where? Into a war zone?”

Joseph snorted a laugh and looked up at him ruefully. “I don’t know what happened.” He hoped Kevin would leave it alone.

Outside, thunder crashed loudly enough to make them jump, and through the front door of the church, they could see the rain falling in torrents.

“Shit, my car windows!” Kevin took off running.

Joseph watched him go, Kevin’s ass bouncing as his long legs carried him out of the door. “Dammit,” Joseph muttered as he clenched his eyes closed.

He tried to get up, but as soon as he put weight on his ankle, it gave and forced him to sit back down.

What am I going to do?

Just then he saw the ghost once more. She was floating on the upstairs balcony, looking down at him. Her mouth was moving, and if Joseph sat really still, he swore he could hear her words, carried on the wind that howled through the open church door.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me

Let me hide myself in thee

He felt sadness wash over him. She wasn’t terrible to look at; in life she must have been quite beautiful. But he didn’t know how to help her.

“You must help them, cher.” Celine had said.

Kevin dashed in through the door. His jeans were soaked and his wannabe T-shirt stuck to his muscular build. “Well, we got two options.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“We could wait out the storm before I take you home, or I can haul your crippled ass right now into said storm and take you home.”

Joseph reached out his good hand to Kevin, who grasped it and pulled. Joseph lurched to his feet and, in trying to keep the weight off his swollen ankle, ended up clinging to Kevin. They were almost nose to nose, staring into each other’s eyes as they held fast.

Blood pounded in his Joseph’s head. “I gotta get home.”

Kevin’s long eyelashes fluttered once, twice, three times before registering what he’d said. Yet his hands didn’t move. The two of them looked as if they were on a dance floor waiting for a waltz to start.

“Yeah, let’s get you home. Here, lean on me.”

“I appreciate it.”

They moved slowly across the floor of the church.

“You gonna tell me who did this?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Crazy shit, man.”

Joseph nodded. “Yup. It’s been a hell of a night.”

They closed the door behind them, got into the car, and drove cautiously into the downpour with the windshield wipers slapping.

Five minutes later, the lights they’d forgotten to turn off went dark.

Author Bios

Kim Fielding

Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.

After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.

Author Website: http://kfieldingwrites.com
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/KFieldingWrites/
Author Twitter: @KFieldingWrites
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kfieldingwrites/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105707.Kim_Fielding
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/kim-fielding/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kim-Fielding/

F.E. Feeley Jr.

First and foremost, I am a husband to my wonderful husband, John. I am a father of our five-year-old German Shephard, Kaiser. I am an avid reader of Mysteries, Horror, and Suspense, and biographies. I am a gamer. My favorite ones are Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Trek Online, Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, and Civilization Five. I love to cook and I love trying new recipes (hint hint). I am an avid music junkie from POPular music to Opera, to Showtunes, Gospel, Rock, Rap, and Hip Hop. I am also a Poet – a lot of which is offered on this web page for free. And I do some gay fiction writing from time to time.

I love connecting with people. As an ex- fundi, I grew up in a world where there was this invisible boundary set down between me and the world around me. I felt more like an observer than an actual participant in that world. Since I’ve left fundamentalism – it has been my constant endeavor to be a part of the world. To be a part of humanity. And when I write my poetry or my books, I draw from the experiences of being raised in that environment as well as the experiences of tasting the bouquet of humanity I’d been denied all those years ago.

Author Website: https://fefeeleyjr.com
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/groups/170296487228770/
Author Twitter: @fefeeleyjr
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/f.e.feeleyjr/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6806438.F_E_Feeley_Jr_
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/f-e-feeley-jr/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/F-E-Feeley-Jr/

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding & F.E. Feeley Jr.

Authors Kim Fielding & F.E. Feeley Jr., along with Other Worlds Ink, reveal the cover of upcoming gay horror, Hallelujah! Don't miss the excerpt or giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card!

Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley Jr. have a new gay horror book out, and we have the cover reveal:
"Hallelujah."

Can you hear it?

Whispering in the dark.

Secrets only the dark knows.

Joseph Moore, choir director for the First Baptist Church of Lenora, Nebraska, has secrets of his own. Terrible, lonely secrets. One that involves natural human desire. One that calls forth powers he cannot begin to understand. Both with the potential to destroy him and those he loves.

Now the world is changing. The darkness, the shadows, the ghosts, are closing in—and Joseph and his lover, Kevin, are being stalked by a merciless demon, hell-bent on possession.

Can you hear it now?

Warnings: violence. This is not a romance.

There in the dark.

It's whispering your name.

Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Giveaway

Excerpt

Author Bios

Kim Fielding

F.E. Feeley Jr.

Review: Into the Gray by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Life after college is not what Aaron expected. Isn’t he supposed to have what he wants to do figured out by now? David never expected his marriage to be rocky, let alone about to end. How is he supposed to move on from this? December in Detroit is normally unforgiving, but an unexpected blizzard puts David and Aaron on a course toward each other. Despite the frozen ground and battleship gray sky, these men find heat together. It’s intimate and illicit, stretching what was supposed to be a one night stand into something more. Sometimes the touch of a stranger, however forbidden, is just what we need when we enter the gray.

I’ve been a big fan of this author’s stories since The Haunting of Timber Manor and if you haven’t read Objects in the Rearview Mirror, please do yourself a favor and go get it now. So, when I saw that he was writing an erotic romance I was anxious to get my paws on it and get his take. It was honestly what I wanted and expected considering how he writes and how much his style appeals to me. In short, I’m a big fan of this new venture and I plan on following along for every story he releases.

I love me some fluff now and again, but it can also drive me a little nutters because too much can just be too much. It just doesn’t read realistically to me and I have to take it in small doses. Now, give me some fluff with a side of snark, good natured ribbing and a willingness to acknowledge relationship roadblocks and I’m in. Into the Gray gave me all of that.

Into the Gray is a character driven romance between two lonely men who are both at crossroads in their lives. What starts as a one night stand turns into a snowed in weekend full of bonding both physically and emotionally. Reading about grinding of tingly parts is fun and I like fun, but when you add an emotional connection, the sex elevates to something so much more and Aaron and David have this connection in spades. Once you add in where they both were in their lives and their weekend together became even more meaningful.

Aaron is coming off a bad relationship and getting his bearings and David is in the process of divorcing his wife and is finally going to be able to live an authentic life. They both have a lot to navigate and a new relationship, in theory, is probably not ideal, but I have to take a sentence to say how much I appreciated the author making the idea of a new relationship an opportunity and not a burden.

Sometimes stories take the flux that characters are going through as a chance to have them deny themselves and the manufactured angst of it all can be distracting and I feel like those characters are cheated because of “reasons”. I don’t need extra angst, life has plenty as it is, and it’s the same for MCs (well, it’s usually more for them). Let them take their happiness in a meaningful way, let them talk about and acknowledge what they are going through and then provide one another with support and orgasms. THAT is what I love and THAT is what Into the Gray gave me.

Aaron and David complemented one another so well and it was obvious they were both smitten from the beginning. It started with them being all lusty with lust but when they were snowed in together for a weekend (and I do love the “snowed in” setup very much) and they got to know one another with no outside pressure or influence, just homemade chicken soup, baths, movies and cuddles. I’m a fan of all of those things and when Aaron and David do them all it’s even better.

I read that there could be more coming for Aaron and David and I can’t wait for that to be a thing. I really enjoyed the direction the story is taking and I hope to read more of these guys and meet new characters. Also, major love to the secondary characters, they are fully fleshed out and they added a lot with a minimal amount of page time which says a lot. I’m adding Into the Gray to my reread list, it’s my flavor of erotic romance and I’m anxious to read more.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: When Heaven Strikes by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Can love survive heaven’s wrath?

Artist Ted Armstrong lives a solitary and eccentric life. The survivor of child abuse disguised as religion, Ted has cut himself off from the world.

Then Ted meets Anderson Taylor, and it’s like being struck by lightning.

Anderson is a cardiac surgeon whose passion for his work has consumed him. He fears he’ll never find a partner—until he sets eyes on Ted. It’s happening fast, but both men know what they feel is right.

Confronted with an angry preacher, a scandal, and an act of God that threatens to destroy everything, their relationship will face its first true test.

This story is told in two parts. Part 1 is a dual POV between Anderson and Ted. Ted is an artist who is still healing the damage done to him by his fundamentalist Christian family. He is reclusive, and doesn’t want to put himself out there to be hurt by anyone. The most social he gets is when he does gallery showings to sell his art.

Anderson is a surgeon, and the story starts off with him as a child during a beach trip and his family’s reaction to him, while a storm blows through. It sets the tone of something dark and broody, and I was expecting something much more angsty than it actually was, based on that prologue.

Part 1 is the set up of Ted and Anderson’s meeting, and subsequent relationship. I enjoyed reading about how they met, and getting to know them. There is just enough collective backstory to understand why they are the way they are, and their reservations about connecting on an intimate level.

Part 2 introduces a fundamentalist preacher and his family. They appear briefly in the first part as door knockers, and this is about how their lives intertwine with Ted and Anderson at a later date.

This flip to entirely new character POV was somewhat confusing, but I wouldn’t call it bad. It set up the rest of the plot, and the overall message and resolution.

There were some things I found over the top. There is violence in this story, so reader beware. There is also a lot of homophobia from secondary characters. There is a tangled web to unravel and some mental illness thrown in for extra points. I’d say that the angst level turned up to the nth degree with a storm blowing in that mirrors the emotional storm that is plaguing the preacher and his wife and the lies they have lived with for most of their married life.

Being Atheist makes me view these types of stories a little differently than I imagine a Christian reader would see things. I appreciate faith based stories intellectually, but I don’t understand them the way I think I am meant to. I did enjoy the way this separated the fundamentalists from other Christian denominations, and that this was not a rejection of Christianity overall. God is very much present in this story, and it created an intellectual debate within my mind about what happens to create strictly fundamental cult like groups and how it is justified when hatred seems to be the driving force that fuels it. I thought that message came across strongly in this story.

Some minor editing errors that I was unable to overlook, but otherwise the writing was strong. This wasn’t hard to read, and only a small part dragged for me toward the end of the story.

I am certainly interested in this author’s other work and will be looking out for anything in the future.

Recommended for readers who enjoy religion in their stories, and those who are looking for something different in their MM romance.

I received a review copy from the author for an honest opinion

Blog Tour + Opportunity: The Haunting of Timber Manor by F.E. Feeley Jr.

F.E. Feeley is here today to promote his new paranormal mystery with a touching message on remaining steadfast even when facing a monolith.

Be sure to check out the writing opportunity too!

Regaining hope

During these moments of uncertainty, I look back into humanity’s shared history. People who survived during incredible moments. From 9/11, through the Holocaust, The French Revolution, to The Civil War and Slavery. There – always constant – maybe not always visible – hope cast its spindly threads and kept people alive.

And it’s during these great and terrible moments in humanity’s existence that a great leap forward happens either in technology or social awareness.

It’s sort of a like a mother giving birth. Through the pain, through the stretch marks, and the flirtation with death to deliver the child – the pain gives way to her hope that is placed in the squalling baby who now rests against her breast.

Sometimes those that are burdened with the pain of reality become the strongest defenders of their own hope, tried by fire, and rise to the occasion.

And then sometimes we fall.

We human beings tend to be myopic. We’re nearsighted. We only see things in relation to what and who surrounds us.

It’s hard to take a step back and see a broader picture unraveling around us.

When 15 terrorists turned airplanes into rockets and plunged them into the heart of our democracy – it was upward toward two burning towers we looked and kept our eyes. And underneath our gaze, firefighters and police officers – our hope- rushed toward their end. But now, when you see a fire truck I imagine somewhere in your brain you think back and understand who and what they are.

Hope. Constant. Strong. Hope.

Today is no different. Darkness seems to have won. But darkness itself is not a thing. It’s a lack of a thing – sort of like a hole in a shirt.

And when the light comes on, darkness is dissolved.

When you hear the worst things that can be said about humanity – remember the speaker isn’t speaking something containing a thing. Their words are harsh because they LACK a thing. Education, compassion, empathy….and a void is easily filled and often filled with fear.

Think of the fundamentalist be they an evangelical, Islamic, Judaic, or atheistic. Crazy isn’t relegated to the religious. Absolutism is a human characteristic.

They don’t have the most faith or the most truth, though they claim they do, they – in fact, they have the least. They’re loud, frantic, sometimes dangerous.

Because they’re empty and they have no hope.

The words, “I don’t know” are dangerous to them.

So, they try and take your hope away in myriad ways.

But hope slips passed and right through them. And should they even take a life – or several – hope solidifies around those left behind and all they’ve done is transfer that hope that existed once in someone to them.

And hope becomes stronger.

So, I can’t tell you how to regain hope. I can’t give you something you already have.

I can only point out to you that it still resides in you and those around you if you step back and look at the broader work being constructed around you.

In these days of uncertainty there seems to be so much anger in the air that one can cut it with a knife.

My hope has slipped like a transmission searching to cling onto its next gear in the past several months.

Things feel rough.

So, I crawl back into my mind.

I turn on the radio and sing.

I find a moment to take a breath.

I go and visit those I love whether in real life or in cyberspace.

And its then that I remember what hope, is. That slipped gear finds it’s spot and pushes me forward. Ever onward.

To me, hope is the first to come to the party and last to leave.

It’s a constant in our universe, and when times are good, hope is bountiful.

And when things are bad, hope is pulled taut and becomes steel hard and the one thing that holds us onto life.

Hang tight, baby. Hope is here. It always has been.

Blurb:

2nd Edition

Memoirs of the Human Wraiths

While recovering from the recent loss of his parents, Daniel Donnelly receives a phone call from his estranged aunt, who turns over control of the family fortune and estate, Timber Manor. Though his father had seemed guarded about the past, Daniel’s curiosity and need for family compel him to visit.

Located in a secluded area of the Northwest, Timber Manor has grown silent over the years. Her halls sit empty and a thin layer of dust adorns the sheet-covered furniture. When Daniel arrives to begin repairs, strange things happen. Nightmares haunt his dreams. Memories not his own disturb his waking hours. Alive with the tragedies of the past, Timber Manor threatens to tear Daniel apart.

Sheriff Hale Davis grew up working on the manor grounds. Seeing Daniel struggle, he vows to protect the young man who has captured his heart, and help him solve the mystery behind the haunting and confront the past—not only to save Daniel’s life, but to save his family, whose very souls hang in the balance.

First Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, 2012.

Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Series Memoirs of the Human Wraiths

Buy Links:
DSP
Amazon
B&N

About the Author:
Hello there, I am F.E. Feeley Jr, author of The Haunting of Timber Manor and Objects in the Rearview Mirror. Thank you for coming to view my page. I was born and raised in the city of Detroit where I graduated from high school. Afterward, I joined the military and now am a published author here at Dreamspinner Press. Married to the love of my life (John) who lets me write horror novels. I write about ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Well, the other things that go bump in the night. So, if you're not too scared of the dark, check out my books, I'm sure you'll like 'em.

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Review: Objects in the Rearview Mirror (Memoirs of the Human Wraiths #2) by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Memoirs of the Human Wraiths

Their new home on Frederick Street in Clay Center, Kansas, was supposed to give writer Jonathan David and his husband, clinical psychologist Dr. Eddie Dorman, an opportunity to enjoy married life. Jonathan has just released his first major bestseller, and he hopes to finally escape his traumatic past and find the quiet existence he has always craved. Eddie has taken a job at the Kansas State University psychology department, and they intend to begin anew.

They have barely settled in when the nightmare begins. Noises, disembodied voices, and mysterious apparitions make Jonathan’s life hell. Part of the house has decided to bare its teeth, show its jagged edges, and bring back the worst of Jonathan’s past. At first, Eddie cannot perceive the spectral events and fears for his husband’s sanity. When he’s also affected by the haunting, he’s unsure of what to do but refuses to be beaten.

Together, they seek a way to fight the forces trying to tear them apart. The world is a frightening place, but confronting their fears plunges Jonathan and Eddie into absolute horror.

This book is the perfect melding of a classic ghost story, a true love story and a psychological drama all wrapped up in an incredibly well written package.

Objects in the Rearview Mirror is ultimately a story about fear and what damage fear can do in both this world and the next. There are two stories going on in this book plus the house that brings them together. It starts with a heartbreaking prologue that tells the fate of Alan Pemberly in 1975. That alone had me hooked and the tale of Alan’s aborted homecoming sets up the connection between Alan in 1975 and Jonathan and Eddie in 2013.

Jonathan and Eddie are a married couple who have moved to Clay Center, Kansas to make a fresh start. It was refreshing reading about an established couple who are so obviously committed to each other. There are allusions to troubles in their past, but nothing that most normal couples don’t deal with for the most part. They do have a couple of major issues that set them apart though. Firstly, Jonathan has an incredibly painful past that Eddie, being a licensed clinical psychiatrist, had tried so hard to help Jonathan work through. The fact that Eddie is a mental health professional is a bit of a blessing and a curse. He definitely has helped Jonathan put the pains in the “rearview mirror” but that doesn’t make them go away. Secondly, the house they have moved to seems to have all the classic symptoms of a haunted house. Strange things start happening very subtly at first and the bumps in the night are written so well that the creep factor was perfect.

Turns out the house Jonathan and Eddie have moved into is the same house that Alan Pemberly grew up in. The painful upbringing of both Jonathan and Alan causes an unnatural connection to form between them and this is where the really great psychological drama comes in. Jonathan has been wandering for years, never settling and this is something that has been hanging over his relationship with Eddie for a long time.

“ . . . his lover wasn’t wandering toward something in the hopes of finding new and exciting things; he was wandering away from something that followed him like a shadow attached to his feet, always just a step behind him.”

When the supernatural starts happening at home it’s almost too easy to blame Jonathan’s past and how he deals with it. Being a psychiatrist it’s natural for Eddie to head that direction, Jonathan must be having some sort of breakdown, even though Eddie has witnessed some crazy events himself. Jonathan begins to doubt himself, Eddie begins to doubt himself and the fear of what all this means is driving a wedge between them. Jonathan could only ever show his vulnerability to Eddie and now showing that vulnerability felt like a threat to his sanity. Throughout though, I never doubted their love and commitment to each other and that made the fear more real, I was anxious for them. There were a couple of really painful conversations and damn if those didn’t hurt to read. They were completely realistic though and I think that’s what made the whole paranormal aspect of the story work so well.

The supporting characters really added to the story and next door neighbor, Maggie was a calming force and wealth of knowledge to them both. Jonah was quite the sage who was a later addition to the tale, but his conversation with Jonathan alone is worth a mention. He tells Jonathan,

“I am going to give you some fatherly advice: when this is over, when all this is done, stop looking backward. Life isn’t lived in that direction. Your future isn’t in that direction. It’s forward, out into the horizon ahead of you. Stop clinging to dead things – they’ll drag you down with them and will destroy everything you two have worked so hard to create. You’ve got a man in there that loves you. He’s in the here and now.”

The journey through the rearview mirror has to be read and I don’t want to spoil any of the uber creepy moments for you. I honestly could not put this down until I knew how the story would resolve and I was really impressed how it all came together. Heroes were made and happy endings were had, and they didn’t come easy, but man, what a ride.

The epilogue is a very sweet wrap up and gives a nod to the series here which I love because it means the author is planning on more stories. I loved his one too much to be done.

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Review: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley, Jr.

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley Jr.

Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding & F.E. Feeley Jr.

Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Review: Into the Gray by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Review: When Heaven Strikes by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Blog Tour + Opportunity: The Haunting of Timber Manor by F.E. Feeley Jr.

Review: Objects in the Rearview Mirror (Memoirs of the Human Wraiths #2) by F.E. Feeley Jr.