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Waking Hours East Salem Lis W Wiehl Pete Nelson 9781595549402 Books

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Waking Hours East Salem Lis W Wiehl Pete Nelson 9781595549402 Books

This book frustrated me. In large part not because of the story itself, but the sheer cross-genre/cross-marketing. For instance this book has been tagged as Suspense, Horror, Fantasy>Paranormal, Fantasy>Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Christian Fiction, and Thriller. Based on the book blurb, it reads like a horror with a mystery.

Quite frankly it doesn't feel much like any of those, except well, mystery.

first, I want to talk about the Christian element. It's barely there. Characters pray once or twice, they say they believe in God once, they mention church once. The biggest "Christian" element is the regular insistence that "everything happens for a reason". It's less destiny and more "God wants it to happen" "It's a sign" "it was meant for me".

As to the mystery: It mostly revolves around the murder, at least about 65%. As a procedural murder mystery I suppose that element is actually fine, and I don't have any complaint about that.

I would say 30% is romance, which is part of what frustrates me about the book. I wasn't under the impression it was romance, but it was just clear. The characters were so squeaky clean, so nice, had no real conflict going on with themselves - sure, Dani is unhappy with her parents' death, Tommy has a bad past but he's Over it. So they are sugary sweet and it grated on me.

Finally, the last 5% is implied supernatural elements, but it's so minimal I found it too frustrating. There's the impression of Something when a camera is viewed, dreams that are in sync among several people, talk of angels, but it's all mere suggestion - the supernatural elements have zero to do with the murder, and really amount to nothing. There's certainly no fantasy, no urban fantasy, and it wouldn't even amount to an X-File or any supernatural show. This frustrates me the most. The book blurb talks about Evil, EVIL, but there's just nothing there. It's Humans Doing Bad Things.

I personally thought this was going to be horror, that's what I expected going in, and I was sorely disappointed. I think the author needs to be clearer when marketing/writing the blurb, what the actual book is. The cross-genre element doesn't help it - as someone who doesn't like romance, I got 30% of what I Don't Like right off the bat, and while mystery is okay, I wanted horror, not mystery, so 65% didn't give me what I want, and quite frankly the 5% of "supernatural" was utterly not what I was looking for. So I got 0% of what I wanted, even though a little over half of it was "Okay" in my mind.

Maybe you will like those parts more.


Tags : Waking Hours (East Salem) [Lis W. Wiehl, Pete Nelson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <P><B>Welcome to East Salem. A deceptively sleepy town where ancient supernatural forces are being awakened.</B></P><P>A local high-school girl is found murdered in a park amid horse farms and the wealthy homes of northern Westchester County,Lis W. Wiehl, Pete Nelson,Waking Hours (East Salem),Thomas Nelson Inc,1595549404,Occult & Supernatural,Forensic psychiatrists;Fiction.,Murder;Fiction.,Paranormal fiction.,American Mystery & Suspense Fiction,Christian - Suspense,Fiction,Fiction - Religious,Fiction Mystery & Detective General,Fiction Occult & Supernatural,Forensic psychiatrists,Murder,Mystery & Detective - General,Paranormal fiction

Waking Hours East Salem Lis W Wiehl Pete Nelson 9781595549402 Books Reviews

Tommy and Dani are re-united after nearly 12 years apart after their graduation from High School--where Dani was able to resist Tommy's charms and the connection she felt at the homecoming dance. Now, 12 years later, they partner to help solve a gruesome and tragic crime--the shocking and gory murder of a local high school girl. The only suspects are other teenagers who were at a party with the girl; however, none of them claim to have known her well and none of them can remember what happened that night. It becomes apparent to Dani and Tommy that there is more to this case than meets the eye and that supernatural and spiritual connections can no longer be considered impossible. One thing they do know is that it would take a very disturbed and evil person to do what was done to Julie Leonard. Is it possible that the killer isn't even human? The case forces Dani and Tommy to evaluate everything they believe in and face the possibility that the murder that they are trying to solve may have a demonic connection to the unseen.

As I began reading "Waking Hours", I felt like the story that Lis Wiehl was most likely going for was very interesting; however, it didn't take me long to realize that she may have not been able to accomplish all of her ideas for this story. While the concept of demonic activity in relations to a murder was interesting, and her portrayal of the unseen was extremely creepy and, at many points, definitely scared me to the point to where I nearly stopped reading and strongly considered writing a review stating that I was incapable of finishing the book, it seemed as if, overall, nothing ever really happened throughout the story. The plot was weak and the ending was borderline intense and was over in an instant. I expected that with a story about demonic influences on a human, that the ending would be almost too much for me to handle; but as soon as the "intense" ending started, it was over within 2 pages. I think the story had a lot of potential if written by the right author; however, I think it may have been a little much for Lis Wiehl.

I did love the characters of Dani and Tommy. As a matter of fact, it was their characters that kept me reading and gave me the will to finish the book even though it creeped me out. Tommy is every girl's dream and I found that with every page, I wished more and more that he was real haha. The growing relationship between Dani and Tommy is very sweet but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who likes a good love story because that is just on the side. Someone who favors love stories would be more likely to not be able to handle the creepiness and the demonic aspects of the story.

Also, as a psychology student who has strongly considered forensic psychology several times throughout my education, I really enjoyed Dani's character as a forensic psychologist. If you like crime-solving stories and tv-shows that only focus on the solving of a crime but don't really go anywhere, then this is your kind of book. The crime-solving aspect was very interesting and it kept me wanting to know what happened next enough to keep me motivated to read; however, if you are looking for a well-developed plot, you won't find it in "Waking Hours".

Overall, I'd say I'd give the book 3 stars. I give it that because I did LOVE the characters of Dani and Tommy and I enjoyed the crime-solving--since I enjoy a couple of more comical crime-solving stories and tv-shows such as "The Mentalist" and "Psych"; and I could see myself as possibly reading the rest of the series for the characters and crime-solving; however, mainly it's because I try not to start a series and not finish it; so it's possible that you may see reviews for the rest of the series as they are released. Also, the last page (I can't provide information without a spoiler), only added more to the possibilities of the story line. Can Lis Wiehl salvage this story and do everything that she has most likely imagined for the story?

There are many authors much higher on my "to-read" list for now; so if I ever do pick up another book for this series by Lis Wiehl, hopefully she will have found a way to strengthen the plot.

*Thomas Nelson Publishing provided an advanced copy of "Waking Hours" in exchange for my honest review* Truth Be Told The Art of Story [...]
This book frustrated me. In large part not because of the story itself, but the sheer cross-genre/cross-marketing. For instance this book has been tagged as Suspense, Horror, Fantasy>Paranormal, Fantasy>Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Christian Fiction, and Thriller. Based on the book blurb, it reads like a horror with a mystery.

Quite frankly it doesn't feel much like any of those, except well, mystery.

first, I want to talk about the Christian element. It's barely there. Characters pray once or twice, they say they believe in God once, they mention church once. The biggest "Christian" element is the regular insistence that "everything happens for a reason". It's less destiny and more "God wants it to happen" "It's a sign" "it was meant for me".

As to the mystery It mostly revolves around the murder, at least about 65%. As a procedural murder mystery I suppose that element is actually fine, and I don't have any complaint about that.

I would say 30% is romance, which is part of what frustrates me about the book. I wasn't under the impression it was romance, but it was just clear. The characters were so squeaky clean, so nice, had no real conflict going on with themselves - sure, Dani is unhappy with her parents' death, Tommy has a bad past but he's Over it. So they are sugary sweet and it grated on me.

Finally, the last 5% is implied supernatural elements, but it's so minimal I found it too frustrating. There's the impression of Something when a camera is viewed, dreams that are in sync among several people, talk of angels, but it's all mere suggestion - the supernatural elements have zero to do with the murder, and really amount to nothing. There's certainly no fantasy, no urban fantasy, and it wouldn't even amount to an X-File or any supernatural show. This frustrates me the most. The book blurb talks about Evil, EVIL, but there's just nothing there. It's Humans Doing Bad Things.

I personally thought this was going to be horror, that's what I expected going in, and I was sorely disappointed. I think the author needs to be clearer when marketing/writing the blurb, what the actual book is. The cross-genre element doesn't help it - as someone who doesn't like romance, I got 30% of what I Don't Like right off the bat, and while mystery is okay, I wanted horror, not mystery, so 65% didn't give me what I want, and quite frankly the 5% of "supernatural" was utterly not what I was looking for. So I got 0% of what I wanted, even though a little over half of it was "Okay" in my mind.

Maybe you will like those parts more.