The Devil and Dayna Dalton

 Unrequited love can often take you down a dark and dangerous path. Using other men to fill a void because the one you pine for is unavailable, takes one young reporter off the beaten path and into the wrong arms of so many until something or someone changes it all in a sinister and powerful way that is is unexplainable and dark. The daughter of a woman considered white trash and stigmatized by her mother’s reputation. Choices often define the person in the eyes of others and sometimes these choices place you in a direction that leads you to a darker place. Dayna is so taken with Clay that her vision becomes clouded and she uses other men to fill the void but this will change when she’s called to do a story on a man who died in the town and she is drawn into a situation where she thinks she sees wolves, hears a voice that controls her actions and becomes part of a darker and sinister world or realm. Seeing wolves and meeting this red -eyed stranger who saved her from this animal in the woods and then winding up in the hospital . Her perspective changes and she begins to see and hear things but is she hallucinating or delusional? JB Straton dies and her obituary will go on page one if she writes it but rather than going home from the hospital she retrieves her go and winds up in the woods and drawn to this the voice.

Even in the hospital when Clay’s wife is her nurse you feel the undercurrent of hate towards her and the doctor seems unfeeling, ambiguous about his diagnosis and feelings toward Dayna and then it all changes. She hears a voice feels his presence and her whole world and existence changes with his steely appearance and his magnetic draw he overpowers her and all she has are the lingering memories of an encounter in the woods and the changes within her outer appearance and even how she touches her skin and her clothes. Why dies she yearn more and what draws her to the animals and becoming connected to the earth? Left behind was a cloak proving he was real. Each animal she meets brings out another emotion and fear. Added in the praise she received for the obituary written except she can’t remember even being at her computer to write it or send it in. Will she admit that when Howard her boss is over the top with praise for her?

Then harsh realities set in every time her mother calls and degrades her, belittles her and any real questions about her father go unanswered.

Dayna was haunted by the memory of the dead deer, strange dreams of the man with the awful eyes, her body’s betrayal, her mother’s rebuke, the obituary written when she was not home and Mrs. Sweetpeas odd behavior. What role did she play in the unusual things happening and the strange thoughts? Clay her was lifeline and longing but who was the face that captured her, left a cloak and made her wants more. The author tempts is with each chapter heading and the quotes related to the devil. Was she possessed and owned by him? Did the Devil make her do it? Was she seeing him?

Overpowered by Mrs.Sweetpea and her insinuations and the fact that she knows Dayna’s every thought and desire frightens her, angers her and the warnings she gives her starling revelation about her being The Chosen One but for what and whom and why? Red iris is haunted her vision and her mind.

A harsh betrayal and a truth becomes a reality and Mrs.Sweetpea orchestrated the end result and just who is this mysterious man and is he really the Devil? How is he able to lure Dayna into his path and will she give into his wiles and wishes or escape before she’s destroyed?

Things change and images emerge and Dayna has to face her future or her fate. Where will she wind up and what is the identity of this man and why did Mrs. Sweetpea get involved and where will it take Dayna? “You can hide from the devil he’ll always find you.” Did he find Dayna or is this her imagination it’s like an episode from the Twilight Zone or the XFiles. Filled with chilling scenes, paranormal experiences and a reporter whose life changes because of a promise made to someone and a bribe by another. Who knows what’s next for Dayna! The Devil and Dayna Dalton just what is her final fate? Author Brit Lunden once again takes us to Bulwark where the unexplainable happens and often becomes a reality.

Fran Lewis :just reviews