Day: April 16, 2015
Review of ‘Jack’s Wager’
Jack’s Wagers by Wirton Arvel is a bilingual (English-Italian) fictional rendition of the Celtic legend of Jack O’Lantern and the origin of Halloween.
Arvel melds ancient Celtic myths and current cultural constructs in an amusing, yet informative, account of how a ne’er-do-well named Jack beat the Devil twice, and in the process discovered some profound truths about life and himself.
Takes some effort to read because the two languages are set side by side on the pages, but once you become accustomed to the layout, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable read. Arvel has a unique way of telling the story, adding a level of intimacy that I found interesting and entertaining, and shows Jack’s growth with each successive encounter with the Devil and with himself. He also makes the celebration of Halloween make a lot more sense than it did before I read this book.
It was well worth the effort and I highly recommend it. I give it four stars.
Introducing Author Michael Rivers
Bio
BESTSELLING PARANORMAL THRILLER AUTHOR MICHEAL RIVERS won 1st Place Runner up at The Paranormal Awards 2014 and has won Supernatural Book of the Year 2012.
Micheal Rivers is the pseudonym for Mike Baugham. His Cherokee heritage prompted him to honor his great-grandfather and write under the name of Rivers. He grew up near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His love of the sea and all it has to offer was the driving force of his first novel The Black Witch. As a child, he became aware of the supernatural world due to several experiences. A recognized authority as a paranormal investigator with more than thirty years of research, teaching classes and giving speeches provides his readers with some of his experiences woven into his paranormal thrillers. He is the lead investigator for the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers.
His works include supernatural thrillers, literary fiction and ghost story anthologies published by Schiffer Publishing. Micheal is a USMC veteran and served during Vietnam. The passions in his life are his wife, family, Boxer Delilah affectionately known as DeeDee, and the great outdoors.
Book Blurb
Verliege, a chilling paranormal and international crime mystery, begins at Arlette Mansion in the mountains of West Virginia. Prisoner and author Adrian Bolt was transferred there accused of the horrific murder of his wife. She was found brutally murdered by an antique sword. His conviction by a German court was as swift as the sword that killed her. Adrian had not spoken since her death …until… Dr. James Pellitere was able to break his silence.
A deal was offered to Pellitere. Traveling to Germany with a paranormal investigative team they searched for evidence that would clear Adrian and prove him innocent. While at the castle, Pellitere is confronted by the supernatural residents. A battle begins over the secret of the nine and a prophecy is in jeopardy of becoming unfulfilled.
Praise for Verliege
“I was reminded of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) and William Hope Hodgson’s accounting of the final voyage of the Mortzestus (1909), and the telling of Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolph Carter” (1919). Such is the narrative of this in comparison with these types of confessional stories. Like Gilman, Hodgson, and Lovecraft, the richness of dialog is not lacking in Rivers’s prose. The creatures of Verliege have some similarities with Tim Powers’s nephilim in The Stress of Her Regard, but without the vampiric tendencies. I hope the reader realizes that I am tossing out these comparisons to illustrate the depth of craft honed in Verliege. Rivers does not so much stand upon the shoulders of of these giants as he rubs elbows with them.”
– Amy K. Marshall, Staff Reviewer, Dark River Press
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