Official Review: Vengeful by AJ Parnell
Posted: 11 Jan 2021, 19:28
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Vengeful" by AJ Parnell.]
Luke stepped between his students and a shooter, trying to save them, and got critically shot himself. He became depressed, blaming himself for not saving more students, and started seeing a counselor, Abigail. They dated secretly after he fell in love with her. Emily, a young woman who survived the shooting, also felt guilty and became suicidal, thinking the whole situation was her fault. Because Luke had been trying to help her, Emily called him one day to tell him goodbye before she died. Unfortunately, he got there too late and witnessed her death. Distraught and confused, he rushed to Abigail’s office for comfort. Anticipating a backlash for dating a patient, she coldly accused Luke of stalking her, placed a restraining order against him, and then secretly suggested suicide to him.
After surviving an overdose of medications prescribed for pain and anxiety, Luke begins encountering five different ghosts, including Emily’s. They inform him that their deaths were all orchestrated by Abigail, and they want revenge. She will have to pay for her deeds before they can move on. After being hounded constantly by them and fearing he will lose his mind if he does nothing, Luke decides to kidnap Abigail, transport her to the desert, and get her to acknowledge her crimes. He hopes this will appease the ghosts and let them depart. The psychological battle begins as Abigail tries to convince him he is hallucinating, and Luke reasons with her to admit what she has done. Meantime, the police are searching for Abigail.
Vengeful by AJ Parnell is a chilling crime drama with supernatural elements. This is the first story in the series; the next five books are prequels with each novel telling the story of one of the five ghosts. Although the ghosts are an important aspect of this novel, the details focus mostly on Luke and Abigail. Consequently, this is a standalone book with most of the pertinent questions answered by the end. It is fairly short, comprising only 177 fascinating pages. The author’s prose is descriptive, easy to understand, and difficult to put down. Imagination is shown in a plot that progresses in unexpected ways.
I enjoyed Luke’s character. He represents a good man, determined to make a difference in this world, proven by his willingness to risk his life for his students. You could sense his despair and his loathing to do what is asked of him. Abigail’s character is more difficult to fathom in the beginning. Did she just make unfortunate mistakes? Was she truly an evil person? Or did Luke suffer a mental breakdown and is now hallucinating because of his grief? The answer becomes quite clear as the story unfolds. The plot encourages the readers to ponder how far they would be willing to go to stop someone they believe to be wicked, especially without evidence to convict them in a court of law.
Regrettably, there were several grammatical, punctuation, and formatting errors. Although these were not very distracting, there were too many to give it a perfect score. Because of this, Vengeful achieves a rating of three out of four stars. Being very suspenseful with an imaginative plot, it deserves better than two stars.
I enthusiastically recommend this book to readers who appreciate crime dramas and psychological thrillers with paranormal aspects. Sensitive readers should be aware there are profanities and violence in the story.
******
Vengeful
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Luke stepped between his students and a shooter, trying to save them, and got critically shot himself. He became depressed, blaming himself for not saving more students, and started seeing a counselor, Abigail. They dated secretly after he fell in love with her. Emily, a young woman who survived the shooting, also felt guilty and became suicidal, thinking the whole situation was her fault. Because Luke had been trying to help her, Emily called him one day to tell him goodbye before she died. Unfortunately, he got there too late and witnessed her death. Distraught and confused, he rushed to Abigail’s office for comfort. Anticipating a backlash for dating a patient, she coldly accused Luke of stalking her, placed a restraining order against him, and then secretly suggested suicide to him.
After surviving an overdose of medications prescribed for pain and anxiety, Luke begins encountering five different ghosts, including Emily’s. They inform him that their deaths were all orchestrated by Abigail, and they want revenge. She will have to pay for her deeds before they can move on. After being hounded constantly by them and fearing he will lose his mind if he does nothing, Luke decides to kidnap Abigail, transport her to the desert, and get her to acknowledge her crimes. He hopes this will appease the ghosts and let them depart. The psychological battle begins as Abigail tries to convince him he is hallucinating, and Luke reasons with her to admit what she has done. Meantime, the police are searching for Abigail.
Vengeful by AJ Parnell is a chilling crime drama with supernatural elements. This is the first story in the series; the next five books are prequels with each novel telling the story of one of the five ghosts. Although the ghosts are an important aspect of this novel, the details focus mostly on Luke and Abigail. Consequently, this is a standalone book with most of the pertinent questions answered by the end. It is fairly short, comprising only 177 fascinating pages. The author’s prose is descriptive, easy to understand, and difficult to put down. Imagination is shown in a plot that progresses in unexpected ways.
I enjoyed Luke’s character. He represents a good man, determined to make a difference in this world, proven by his willingness to risk his life for his students. You could sense his despair and his loathing to do what is asked of him. Abigail’s character is more difficult to fathom in the beginning. Did she just make unfortunate mistakes? Was she truly an evil person? Or did Luke suffer a mental breakdown and is now hallucinating because of his grief? The answer becomes quite clear as the story unfolds. The plot encourages the readers to ponder how far they would be willing to go to stop someone they believe to be wicked, especially without evidence to convict them in a court of law.
Regrettably, there were several grammatical, punctuation, and formatting errors. Although these were not very distracting, there were too many to give it a perfect score. Because of this, Vengeful achieves a rating of three out of four stars. Being very suspenseful with an imaginative plot, it deserves better than two stars.
I enthusiastically recommend this book to readers who appreciate crime dramas and psychological thrillers with paranormal aspects. Sensitive readers should be aware there are profanities and violence in the story.
******
Vengeful
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
