'The Damned'

During the Halloween season, there's nothing better than snuggling under a blanket and reading a spooky-scary book.  If you share a home with someone who has football on the television 24/7, you can always retreat to a hot bath or the bedroom.  That is, if you can stand the presence of....cats.  Yes, cats.  Mine have been a bit too present lately.  No matter where I rest, no matter how much I'm 'into' a book, my feline crew (a.k.a. 'The Evil Plan Bureau') always finds a way to distract me.

But not this time.  Although they tried every trick in the book (reaching over and putting a paw on a page, or grooming themselves on my stomach {a.k.a. 'The Cat's Dressing Room'}), I could not be distracted from my current read.

And it's a goodie.

Andrew Pyper, author of the soon-to-be-published novel, 'The Damned', has presented me with a story so full of intensity that I had the book beside me almost all the time.  But I didn't race through it.  I took my time, savoring every horror, every twist and turn.  I ran with the narrator into his adventures in the afterlife.

Yeah, the Afterlife.  You see, he died and came back.  A few times, in fact.  But he wasn't alone, and that's what made his next journey to the Hereafter a bit more meaningful.

Danny Orchard wrote a bestselling memoir about his near-death experience in a fire that claimed the life of his twin sister, Ashleigh.  Despite the fact that his book has brought him fame and fortune, he is not content, and he never will be.  His twin won't let him.

During her time on earth, Ashleigh was brilliant, beautiful...and a budding psychopath.  She terrorized her friends and family, and death has not changed her ways.  Haunting Danny for close to twenty years, she does not want him to finally enjoy life with his new wife and his stepson.  Ash is punishing Danny for being alive, so much so that she wants him to join her in her eternal hell. When he decides to end matters with his twin, he's prepared to sacrifice his life for those he loves...but will he make it back this time?

Author Andrew Pyper

Pyper is the author of the hugely popular novel, 'The Demonologist', and while I gave it a go, I couldn't get into it. But this new one grabbed my attention.  With a tight narrative and nerve-rattling scenes, it will astound you with it's simplicity.  It moves, it flows.

It will keep you under that blanket, reading.

And no cat will have the power to disturb you.







'The Damned' will be published by Simon and Schuster on February 10, 2015. You'll be able to find it at your local library and favorite independent bookstore.