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Nearly Departed by
Rook Hastings
 Woodsville is unlike other towns.
Night falls a little earlier there and seems to belong there. The
shadows are darker and denser than anywhere else and everyone knows
it is a place where strange things happen, even if they won’t admit
it.
Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but the town, Jay has some
theories on what is going on but won’t share them, Hashin sees
things that he wont talk about and Kelly’s demons are all a bit too
real. When something causes Emily to freak-out though, they all are
forced to come out of denial and face the supernatural world in
which Woodsville is immersed.
In a way the book seems to me to be an amalgam of the Blair Witch
Project, Most Haunted and certain episodes of Dr Who. It is also
interesting that the author decided to let readers know in the first
chapter that one of the main characters would die, like a 1970’s
health and safety video. From the descriptions of Woodsville and
some of the occurrences there, the town could be better renamed as
‘Weirdsville’ too.
The author constructs a dark world and touches on different theories
of what ghosts are. Rook Hastings also in the concluding chapter
will have readers thinking of what damage we are doing to the
environment that we may not realise or know about. It is a
captivating thriller that will have readers looking deeper into the
shadows
RRP $16.99
Published and distributed by HarperCollins Publishers
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Immortal Remains by Rook Hastings
 A
few things have changed since Bethan, Hashim, Jay and Kelly
found their friend Emily was a ghost. The friends have also
all changed since finding Emily’s mortal remains
For a start Hashim is now having nightmares of the ghosts of
Woodsville residents that are all too real, skipping school
and hanging out with kids from the estate, Bethan has posted
a blog asking for paranormal stories, risking ridicule,
while Jay isn’t interested in the geeky things that he used
to and looks like he isn’t sleeping. Are they the only ones
to notice the town has an army of angry ghosts?
And the strange occurrences in the town keep happening. Four
girls from the posh Riverbank school have been violently
killed in seemingly random but freakish ways and it’s not
long before Bethan and co are lured into investigating the
grisly case by a girl who is convinced she will be next. Is
it really just co-incidence, is it the work of the
Woodsville Slasher, or were the girls really cursed and
something more sinister is behind it?
Meanwhile Hashim is playing truant after having nightmares
which are all too real, Kelly is on the warpath and Jay is
trying to avoid someone much more close to home, himself.
Could it be that when Jay saw himself, it was a prediction
of his own imminent death? Some things haven’t changed
though as the four still are unwilling to discuss the
secrets and problems that each one has. Also, once again the
town nicknamed Weirdsville lives up to its moniker in this
great sequel to Nearly Departed.
It also seems that the town is even more dangerous for the
four friends since they found what happened to Emily and her
mother. Then there is the feeling that something is not
quite right with Charlotte, the Riverbank girl that asked
for their help.
Immortal Remains is a captivating and haunting paranormal
thriller leading readers deeper into the dark secrets of
Woodsville, a place where the ghosts of the dead not only
form a very real army but are recruiting for new members.
RRP $16.99
Published and distributed by HarperCollins Publishers
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