Book Review | Cusp of Night by Mae Clair

SALE Information

Cusp of Night is FREE

from February 20, 2020 until February 25, 2020 on Amazon Kindle and

Even Tide and End of Day are only $0.99 each this month (February 2020) only!

You can read Mae Clair’s post for more details.

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Book Description

The truth hides in dark places . . .
 
Recently settled in Hode’s Hill, Pennsylvania, Maya Sinclair is enthralled by the town’s folklore, especially the legend about a centuries-old monster. A devil-like creature with uncanny abilities responsible for several horrific murders, the Fiend has evolved into the stuff of urban myth. But the past lives again when Maya witnesses an assault during the annual “Fiend Fest.” The victim is developer Leland Hode, patriarch of the town’s most powerful family, and he was attacked by someone dressed like the Fiend.  
 
Compelled to discover who is behind the attack and why, Maya uncovers a shortlist of enemies of the Hode clan. The mystery deepens when she finds the journal of a late nineteenth-century spiritualist who once lived in Maya’s house—a woman whose ghost may still linger. Known as the Blue Lady of Hode’s Hill due to a genetic condition, Lucinda Glass vanished without a trace and was believed to be one of the Fiend’s tragic victims. The disappearance of a young couple, combined with more sightings of the monster, trigger Maya to join forces with Leland’s son Collin. But the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she comes to a hidden world of twisted secrets, insanity, and evil that refuses to die . . .

Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Jumping into paranormal suspense is a significant leap for me. I don’t like horror. I don’t get a thrill from being scared. So I was a bit nervous starting Cusp of Night. What if it is too scary? Gives me nightmares? Or worse?

Cusp of Night is an incredible read. It is suspenseful but never once even steps a toe over the line into horror. Did I get chills and goosebumps? You bet I did and more than once. But I was never scared and never once hid under the covers.

What I Loved

I loved the characters – all of them, even the more nefarious ones. My favorite character, however, is Maya, the main character. If I were a character in the novel, I would be Maya. Healthily skeptical but open to possibilities, she is mostly concerned with getting to the bottom of the mystery and stopping the murderer. She has gumption when she needs it but is never foolhardy. And, as an aside, she works at the local library – with books – enough said.

The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, whether you are back in time or in the present. Both storylines are compelling, captivated my undivided attention, and worked seamlessly to tell the tale. Sometimes having two different but related storylines intertwining can be confusing, but in Cusp of Night, it balances out well and makes perfect sense.

I love the use of the little known blood disorder, Methemoglobinemia, that causes people who have it to appear blue. I enjoy learning about oddities that I might have never heard of otherwise, and it provided an intriguing layer to the story that brought it full circle at the end.

The setting is both familiar and eerie at the same time. I love the small-town setting with all of its everyday small-town drama. The eeriness of the night works perfectly in this story, and it is an eeriness that you can only experience in a place where everything shuts down for the evening.

To Read or Not to Read

Be prepared to take on all three books in the series because you won’t be able to stop after book one. You will, without a doubt, want to read them back-to-back.

Find out more about Mae Clair

Visit her WordPress blog site: From the Pen of Mae Clair

Twitter: @maeclair1

Official author website: https://maeclair.com/