Release Day! Book Review and Giveaway: DECEPTION: A HAUNTING EMMA Novel by Lee Nichols. Two Winners for this one!

Title: DECEPTION: A Haunting Emma Novel
Author: Lee Nichols
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: ARC
ISBN:
978-1-59990-421-4 (PB)
978-1-59990-308-8 (HC)
Price: $9.99 (PB) 16.99 (HC) Pages: 310
Release Date: June 8, 2010

Lee Nichols has written several adult books since 2004. They were light hearted chick-lit fare. Now she's trying her hand at the young adult market and by the looks of things, she's quite good at it. Her first plunge into writing for teens is todays brand new release, DECEPTION. This is the first book in what is known as the Haunting Emma series. It's a trilogy and Emma is the girl you'll want to follow throughout the saga. (Check out the author interview posted below). Let's take a look at the blurb on the book:

When Emma Vaile's parents disappear on a mysterious business trip, her life begins to unravel. The eerie visions she had as a child return, her best friend abandons her, and a new friend notifies social services that she is living alone. Enter Bennett Stern, her older brother's best friend and Emma's knight in J. Crew armor. Bennett whisks Emma away to New England to live in his family's museum-like mansion and attend Thatcher, an old-fashioned private school.


Emma  makes friends with the popular legacy crowd quickly and spends her free time crushing on Bennett. But the haunting visions are only getting worse. Emma has memories of Thatcher she can't explain--it's as if she's returning to a place she's never been. Bennett finally confides that he and Emma are ghostkeepers, people who can communicate with ghosts. He's been keeping Emma close to protect her, but now Bennett needs her help tracking an other-worldly murderer.



A common complaint in young adult fiction today is the absence of parents in the story. This is revealed in the first sentence of DECEPTION and admittedly, I thought: here we go again, but I was quickly pleased to discover this development is an integral factor and part of the great mystery to be explored in the book. It was not a lame excuse to get rid of authority figures, just so the author can have the freedom to let the kids do whatever they want. I already was developing a fondness for DECEPTION.

This is the first YA paranormal I've read that utilized ghosts as the supernatural entity. Personally, I haven't had much interest in ghost stories of any type, as I've assumed them to be without much substance--both figuratively and literally! But Ms. Nichols has made me re-think that assumption. Not only were the ghosts substantive, but some were down-right horrific, in a truly creepy, scary way. I was impressed with the author's ability to describe and relate the sense of horror to the reader. This is a true, creepy mystery. The last sentence of the book only leaves the reader hungry for more and wanting answers to the many questions. This does not mean the story didn't tie up nicely at the end. It did, but it's a story that clearly isn't over and much is still to be learned and explored.

For your chance to follow Emma on her creepy journey, become a follower if you're not already, leave a comment telling me what ghost stories you've read if any and leave your email so you can be contacted. That is all. Two winners will receive an ARC directly from the publisher.

My sincere thanks to Kate Lied of Bloomsbury Children's Books / Walker Books for Young Readers for making the ARCs available.

Giveaway ends Tuesday June 15, 2010


Only open to residents of the US at publishers request. No PO boxes please. Sorry guys.

Toodles!