Alright – I’m not dead. There was a storm in my little corner of the backend of beyond and it took down the cable lines, along with a big chunk of the power lines. Power was back up in a flash but cable is still not. I had to go way out of town to find a public wifi so I could let everyone know I’m not dead. No idea when my net connection will be back but in the meantime rest assured that I’m working on “Toxic Ash.” In the meantime I’ve written a few reviews (no net has cleared up lots of time for reading) and I’m going to be scheduling those as well as the rest of the formatting series to go live while I’m away. First up: “Daisy Madigan’s Paradise.”

I’ve been checking out more paranormal books of late – because I love the hells out of them. This time I picked up “Daisy Madigan’s Paradise” by Suzy Turner, a short novella about a young woman whose mysterious powers manifest shortly after the death of her mother.

They say it’s easier to write a teenage tale when the lead character is an orphan, especially if you can make there orphaning especially tragic, which I saw somewhat happen here as Daisy’s mother dies within a few pages of the book and her father abandons her right as his wife’s bedside. Tragic, most definitely but not exactly well written.

Lots of things are hinted at in this little teaser that never get explained which I suppose is the point, the author hopes you get drawn in with enough curiosity that you’ll come back for the full novels. Unfortunately the teaser that’s attached at the end of this (teaser) novella doesn’t really tie in with the novella at all, making it seem like any questions you have about poor Daisy’s fate either won’t be answered in the novel’s it’s pimping – or will be answered in such a diminished capacity that the character you’ve already been through so much with is nothing more than a sideline.

Not exactly a great way to make me want to stick around.

There is hope at the end of “Daisy Madigan’s Paradise” which is nice. It made me feel alright leaving Daisy where she is without going further in to try and solve the mysteries that the book dangled in my face like a carrot on a string. Our time together was fun but I feel it’s time to part ways with this particular series.