The Devil’s Whispers

The Devil’s Whispers

Within the pages of this novel, you will hear the voices of many who will endure horrific events that will change the course of echo their lives. Each one will experience visions, hallucinations and even hear voices that will seem demonic, a vision that will appear and disappear and you the reader will not be certain until the very end as to what is real and what is implanted in the minds of each voice that you will hear. The journal entries are explicit and the descriptions and the fears real, as the author takes us inside the minds of each journal writer, describing his /her encounters with people that they hope they never will see again.

Imagine being summoned to this castle to assist with the affairs of a dying lord. But told by the cart driver to remain where he is, Gerard becomes fearful and alights from the cart looming at his surroundings and his observations seem eerie, and at that point, I wonder why he even agreed to remain. Meeting the Lord in his deteriorating condition realize that he is not long for this world. He enters his chamber, and he makes a declaration about his daughter’s care and her appearance stubs him as he seems like he’s in a trance or under a spell when in her presence. As the Lord slips in and out of coherence and closer to death Gerard realizes he’s no longer a guest but a prisoner in this castle run by a servant named Maverick and an eerie and frightening butler named Jared. Locked in his room he needs to find a means of escape, but things get unsettling when Gerard realizes he’s no longer free. Visions come into his mind during the night, dinner and lunch are late and you wonder what might be added as he has visual problems, weaknesses and experiences hot and cold feelings and sees a woman that looks like Helena Mathers but is not. Throughout part one which is told in a specific timeline, he reflects his fears about not being able to hear or speak to his fiancé Raelyn and wonders if he’ll ever escape from his room. A way out but is it a real escape or just a method of allowing him to explore his prison room by room?

Imagine being summoned to this castle to assist with the affairs of a dying lord. But told by the cart driver to remain where he is, Gerard becomes fearful and alights from the cart looming at his surroundings and his observations seem eerie, and at that point, I wonder why he even agreed to remain. Meeting the Lord in his deteriorating condition realize that he is not long for this world. He enters his chamber, and he makes a declaration about his daughter’s care and her appearance stubs him as he seems like he’s in a trance or under a spell when in her presence. As the Lord slips in and out of coherence and closer to death Gerard realizes he’s no longer a guest but a prisoner in this castle run by a servant named Maverick and an eerie and frightening butler named Jared. Locked in his room he needs to find a means of escape, but things get unsettling when Gerard realizes he’s no longer free. Visions come into his mind during the night, dinner and lunch are late and you wonder what might be added as he has visual problems, weaknesses and experiences hot and cold feelings and sees a woman that looks like Helena Mathers but is not. Throughout part one which is told in a specific timeline, he reflects his fears about not being able to hear or speak to his fiancé Raelyn and wonders if he’ll ever escape from his room. A way out but is it a real escape or just a method of allowing him to explore his prison room by room?

Each time we hear his voice in each journal entry we hear the fear in his voice, the shivers and the heat building up within him and the odd visions of the woman.

Next we hear Raelyn and how hopeful she is about marrying Gerard but why hasn’t he answered her letters and who will she turn to for help? Her world shatters many times over when Gerard disappears , then her cousin Nathan comes to stay in her guesthouse adding more heartfelt incidents, chances in his behavior that frightened her, his physical and mental illnesses are alarming and how he alienated himself from her and the world terrifying. There is something in her small town that is destroying the minds of many as we hear from Nathan in his words about someone named Marie and her power over him which will strike terror with each reader. Next her best friend Jayda describes things she witnessed and the mutilated and horrors inflicted on the innocent pets and animals destroy family ties .

Sister Marion and Father Malcolm have a bond and she’s told to do tasks to stop what is happening. She meets with Raelyn and she hopes to uncover what might have happened to Gerard. Her friend Jayda and her husband Justin experience what happens to the animals and others relate on pages 154-155 what happens to the children. Children and men are dying, and mothers are complaining about newborns. What is Xana and how can this creature of extraordinary beauty cause so much pain? Xana has only one weakness her hate or repulsion for onions which explains why Sister Marion insists that people eat them daily. Fear and terror fill the days of Raelyn , Gerard, Nathan and the rest . It’s as if they are all linked in some way to this creature whose goal is to do more than take lives, but you control those that take them for her. When Raelyn becomes the object of death, Jayda comes in and they both take out the killer, Nathan. Then we learn of Justin’s fate and Jayda will not mourn him until she gets justice for his death. But Jayda finds herself at a funeral for a young man who was valuable in assistance to the British Navy, and she uncovers after talking with his wife that he was accused of theft by a trader who happens to be the same odd and elusive man , Mark Huddleston as seen by Raelyn and others knowing there is something sinister about him. The Constable in charge of this murder meets Jayda who shares information about Christopher Mathers , his father we learned sold his sole to Satan and the evil he performed. The constable shared more about how Mark was related to all the shipwrecks. Plus, we are reminded of Sister Marion’s words in her journal to Father Malcolm and we learn more about Ferdinand Elvin Mathers and that Helena is not his daughter but Christopher his son and an old woman is speaking to her and relates information about Xana and the onions. Then Raelyn thinks she’s attacked by this Xana and the scene is chilling. She is holding er cousins’ gift and it drops but does not break. Pages 172 -174 describes what she thinks happened with an attack and encounter with Xana.

Other secrets are revealed, and Ralph and Gerard are attacked, and the cart driver’s words are frightening as we hear what might have happened in the mansion to Gerard. Author Lucas Hault as cleverly created plots and subplots that intertwined and characters that experience encounters with the creature, different outcomes yet connected.

Behaviors change as Raylen does not respond to her husband, demands freedom, acts oddly and her clinic is closed as Jayda fears she should have listened to her dream or taken the results more seriously. But it gets worse with what happened to Sister Marion, a threatening note to Gerard and Cardiff is in uprisings and they’re goal to destroy anything, and anyone connected to Lord Mathers.

The author creates an ending that reminds us of a horror movie with so many evil beings. Raylen seems possessed by Xana and might be one of hers. Jayda tries to save Raylen; Mark is not who we think he is, and Ralph and Gerard and Father Malcolm have a plan to destroy all the evil, but will they all survive? What about the Xana will she overtake Raylen as her own? An ending that creates fear, some endings are final but some are new beginnings as the author draws the final battles to an end but who wins, who dies and with God’s love and help will evil be eliminated or is it too late. Can you hear the Xana, can you hear the cries and screams of her victims and her prey, can you listen carefully and beware of the Devil’s Whispers and hope they are silenced? The scenery is beautifully described, the fear and the violence you can picture in your mind and the hope that in the end all bad memories will fade. Enter their world at your won risk! For lovers of horror, fear and the unknown a must read.

Fran Lewis just reviews