The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful and Intriguing Supernatural Mystery
Review: "The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery" is a unique blend of suspense, mystery and the supernatural. Set in real and familiar Central Florida locations, including Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and the Orlando area, it also involves the small Spiritualist community of Cassadaga. Ev Chambers, one of the protagonists, is a 71-year-old "spiritual counselor and medium" and through him we enter the colorful and unusual world of Spiritualism. The author has an effective way of making the "otherworldly" seem perfectly plausible through his use of specific, everyday details. The other protagonist, Katie O'Hara, is a traffic reporter for a local Orlando television station. She is a very attractive character who becomes obsessed with finding out the truth of sister she never knew she had -- one who now seems to be reaching out to her from "the other side." A very good read.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Story with Interesting Setting
Review: The colorful Florida east coast locations create a very interesting setting for this exciting and suspenseful story. Of special note is the central role played by the small town of Cassadaga, a place largely inhabited by Spiritualists. Their belief in the continuation of life beyond the grave and their attempts to communicate with inhabitants of the "spirit world" are key elements in this mystery. I liked it a lot.

Rating:
Summary: Unusual Story of the Supernatural
Review: This book was especially interesting to me as it describes an area of Florida with which I was very familiar -- except that I had never been to the Spiritualist village of Cassadaga near DeLand. It was fascinating to read the detailed descriptions of this place and to see how the author wove this material into a suspenseful tale that involves the search for a dead girl's true identity and an attempt to bring a serial killer of young women to justice. I also found the two protagonists, a 71-year-old retiree and a young female TV reporter, to be very attractive and well-defined characters. I enjoyed this book very much.