ARA Review by Meversgerd of Unspeakable Acts (New Edition)

[Meversgerd]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Unspeakable Acts (New Edition).]

---

3 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Though the novel Unspeakable Acts begins with a summary of how private investigators Doug and Scott McQueen started investigating the paranormal phenomenon, the storyline revolves around helping a young woman haunted by ghosts. After Charlie's live-in boyfriend's gentle and loving behavior turns demanding, she kicks him out. But the violence continues in ways she never would have imagined. A clicking sound sets off nightly sexual dreams involving a gray-eyed dark-haired man who becomes enamored with Charlie. That's the beginning of Charlie's disturbing hauntings. Charlie, at her wit's end, seeks the help of McQueen investigations. What happens next is both sweet and terrifying.


Doug and Scott, along with their friend and psychic, Sheila into searching for clues and possible links between the old, renovated mansion and Charlie. Their first visit to Charlie's house leaves no doubt that the house itself holds horrible secrets, both physical and emotional. Two more ghosts show up, adding to the mystery of the house and its past occupants. When Charlie encounters a woman, who gives her a strange message, during a short reprieve from her haunted life in a nearby park, she realizes there is more to the story than the house.


Complications arise when the team learns the hard way about ghosts' ability to take possession of the living. No one is safe from the influence of the entities surrounding the house. So, when Charlie and Doug fall in love and Sheila and Scott rekindle an old love, this creates double the angst between the characters because of what they must do and endure to figure out the goings-on inside the disturbing house.


As the investigation continues, an old friend ends up dead while Sheila experiences many moments of lapsing into the past, threatening her life. What she sees prompts the gang to come up with a plan of action before more people end up murdered by ghosts who appear both physically and emotionally as strong as they are violent. Piece by piece, a picture of an intense love triangle begins to emerge as does Charlie's link to the house and the ghosts wanting to own her.


The story left me wanting to know more about Scott and Doug's parents. The prologue is more like an outline of their history rather than meat and potatoes of their lives. The falling-in-love aspect seemed rushed. Adding a bit more burn and resistance to the foreplay will make the conflicts between characters pop.


I give this novel a 3 out of 5 because, although the story premise itself is intriguing, I encountered a few fixable obstacles that make a fluid read-through difficult. A few more proofreading sessions are advisable. At times, I don't know who is speaking due to the lack of transition of characters speaking during certain dialogues and sometimes during the description of characters. Having to go back and reread a section disturbs the suspense aspect of the story and causes a substantial break in focus when piggybacking the characters' emotions.

***
View Unspeakable Acts (New Edition) on Bookshelves