Chosen

Line of Descent #1

by Paula Bradley

Due to a talent she has kept secret since childhood, Mariah becomes reclusive and shies away from lasting relationships. However, one night a man steps out of a hole in space, injects her with an alien substance and her secret – an extraordinary psychic ability – becomes enhanced to the degree that she now can telepathically find abducted children.

Her safe, anonymous world is shattered when one of her Findings is filmed, sold to a news journalist, and blasted on every news media for the world to see.

Chosen follows Mariah's ever-evolving life, both mental and physical. At first, hailed as a hero for her supernatural abilities – possibly a messenger from God? – doubt creeps into the minds of the populace when her ever-increasing talents causes a man to die. Can she be bought by the highest bidder? Can she control her ever burgeoning powers? Can she even be controlled?

Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction, Suspense

334 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2011

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not agree more with this review:

"Halfway through the book, it's reading like this:

Mariah: Hi, I have a psychic ability that lets me find kidnapped kids and heal people.
Everyone Else: Oh! That must be a gift from god. That's totally believable, thanks for helping us!

Um, seriously? Maybe one or two people would believe her and/or think it was a god-given ability, but everyone in the book? Um, yeah, I don't see that happening.

Having finished the whole thing, I have to say that this book is so bad it becomes hilarious. A christian-type book like it started out is one thing but then it seems like the author got bored with that and decided to go sci-fi instead and threw in some aliens. None of it makes sense by the end. Even considering I got it for free on my kindle, I would not recommend that anyone else get it. Ever. I have no plans on ever reading the rest of the series, it's just not worth my time."

Stupid, stupid, stupid book.

[Jessica Gauthier · Rating 1 out of 5]

if I could give it a zero star, I would.

Read the review on my blog. www.writtenmusing.wordpress.com

[Dustyloup · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Not for me. Did not finish. Thanks to the brave readers who made it all the way through, I think I might have enjoyed the end of the book more than the beginning. Aliens?!

[Ernie Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chosen

This was an awesome reading which actually be occurring right now, in this time sequence. It is mind boggling! God does move in many mysterious ways and we have no concept of the magnitude! I enjoyed the mystery!

[Cynthisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a Jew, I found this book to be extremely OFFENSIVE. It wasn't the main character joining a Christian church (even though she gives almost NO rationale for it happening) that bothered me. No, what offended me was that in the very first chapter, it's mentioned that the main character was Jewish but that she was "kicked out" of Sunday school for "asking too many questions." WHAT!?! How absolutely insulting. The author claims in the Acknowledgements to have consulted a Jew, but if so, she didn't ask him many questions. She obviously did NO research whatsoever into Judaism if she thinks the "too many questions" scenario is even remotely realistic! The absolute HALLMARK of Judaism IS its emphasis on asking questions! Also she makes an off-hand crack about the Jews waiting for the Messiah in that same chapter, which struck me as bizarre because Messianism is NOT particularly a part of modern Judaism. So, again, I don't know who she consulted but she has a pretty ignorant idea of Judaism. And THAT is what I found so damn OFFENSIVE about this book that I couldn't stomach finishing it: Judaism is a CULTURE as much as it is a religion, so even if the main character stopped going to shul (synagogue), she wouldn't stop seeing herself as a Jew. Yet, at least as far as I read (I admit, I was so turned off by this author's ignorance that I didn't get very far at all), this author acts like the character's Judaism is completely irrelevant! She makes it seem like its was just a matter of quitting one church and joining another! Or, like deciding what restaurant one will go to for dinner that night. As shallow as shallow can be! Is that a Christian thing? (I tend to doubt it, I think this author is just THAT bad.) I was so insulted by these things, that I wasn't even AS bothered by the author's cute trick of having her feel "so welcomed" by the local Christian church she ends up going to. (But, news flash for the author: not only do synagogues HAVE choirs, but BTW many of our prayers are actually "sung" EVERY time we say them! Just as we "sing" (chant) the Torah aka Book of Moses aka part of the "Old Testament" as Christians later called it.) Well, I've wasted enough time on this tripe. I love a good paranormal tale, I'm bummed this one was so lame I couldn't give it a go. I'm curious to know if anyone else had problems with this book on religious grounds (or otherwise?) Shalom, lol!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mariah swallows almost two dozen Restoril pills with the intention of killing herself. She is stunned when she wakes up the next morning, very much alive. However, something happened to her while she was sleeping, something she refers to as the ‘visitation.’ As she confides what happened to her friend, he thinks that this was something miraculous and prompts her to talk to the minister of his church. Michael, the minister, also thinks that this was God’s doing, a miracle. And soon Mariah finds a new home in the church along with singing in the choir. A short while after the ‘visitation’ another unusual occurrence happens that leads Mariah on a psychic sort of journey to find a kidnapped victim. When these psychic like episodes continue Mariah really does not believe that God is behind these events after all….

My Thoughts:
Well, I can definitely say that this book is unique and I have never read anything like it before. It was a good story that kept me interested most of the time, but there were some parts that didn’t fit, and some things that were missing. For instance, Mariah tries to kill herself, and what happens? People think it’s a miracle that she survived, but no one addresses the problem of her wanting to end her life! I just couldn’t fathom it. If my friend tried to kill herself, even if I thought it was a miracle she survived, you better believe I would call a close family member and make her get professional help. Also, sometimes there were too many people for me to keep track of, and the friend that she confided in about her suicide doesn’t get mentioned a second time until so much later in the book that I didn’t remember who he was.

On to the positive; I cannot figure out what is on the cover of this book, and it really creeps me out, which I believe is the intention. As Mariah’s psychic abilities increase, she begins to have different sort of dreams, and some of them even made me scared reading them by myself at night. It takes some pretty good writing to have that kind of frightening effect on me. Also, as mentioned before, this story is definitely one of a kind. You’re not going to read it and have it feel familiar to you.

If you’re looking for a different sort of story, one that may frighten you at times, while at the same time keeping you wanting more, then you should give Chosen a try.

[Patti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the book and finished it. I do not know why. Perhaps I wanted to see how deep into ludicrousness the author could descend. Boy, she hit rock bottom. She is at the bottom of the Marianas Trench and no rescue is being mounted.

The book purported to be the story of a newly born-again Christian, a spinster, who suddenly and frighteningly begins to have visions of kidnapped children and the ability to find them. The FBI is at first skeptical and then helpful. As more and more children are returned home, the media becomes suspicious and outs her identity, which brings her to the attention of some predators of her own. That was the stated premise. The clumsily erotic love story, the government conspiracy and the aliens? Never mentioned. Surprise!

If I was not offended by the way my time was wasted, I might be amused by this book. After all, a story that mixes Jesus, child abductions, psychics, government conspiracies, sex and aliens sounds a hoot! And it might be, in the hands of Carl Hiassen or Kinky Friedman. Ms. Bradley is neither Friedman nor Hiassen. Instead, she is a lugubrious sort of author, very seriously pursuing each of her ridiculous plotlines in a convoluted and slow as molasses fashion. Her characters are one dimensional and poorly fashioned, and Ms. Bradley could benefit from keeping notes. This way, her descriptions of her protagonist's appearance might have some continuity.

Don't read this book people. If you have nothing else to read and you must read or die - riffle your wallet for old cash register receipts or business cards. They at least, will not strain your credulity and rot your brain.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mariah Carpenter had just taken a bunch of pills. She wants to commit suicide. Though, Mariah awakes to find that she is not dead. In fact, it seems that though the ordeal, Mariah has the psychic ability to communicate with children. Of course, these are not any children. These children have been kidnapped. It stated with Amanda. Mariah saw the news story on her and the next thing she knew, she was about to talk to Amanda and notify the police where Amanda was. Mariah soon becomes a celebrity. She is both praised and feared for her gift.

Chosen is the first book in the Line of Descent series. The next book is called Prophecy. I thought Mariah was an intriguing character. It was nice to watch her ability grow as the story progressed. As Mariah embraced her gift, she was able to do other things with it. The story moved fast. Though, I liked this book and Mariah’s ability. I would have liked the story to focus a little more on her gift. I got to see what Mariah could do but more as a passing glance than the focal point. Other than this little issue, I enjoyed the book. Chosen reminded me of a cross between the movies, Stigmata and The Eye.

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

At about the halfway point the book started to go downhill. At about the 85% point, I figured it might be the first in a serial with nothing resolved. I hate this. I read a lot of SERIES which feature the same person or people but the plot in each have a beginning and an ending, and I think the publisher has a responsibility to let the buyer understand it is an installment piece in a larger serial. I bitched about this recently with the latest Preston/Child Pendergast books. I mean, it is okay to leave an arc or two incomplete but the entire plotline? It's a money making ploy and as a reader, I am sick of it.

Beyond that, the book wasn't even all that good, and the writing was mediocre with odd details that made it clear the author was including extraneous material she knew nothing about. For instance, there are no "charges" nor "guilty/not guilty" verdicts in civil trials, not to mention people don't drink vodka and tequila together, so you can't just throw that out as a detail without explanation or some kind of comment or context about it's strangeness. So, in the end, I wasn't even left with enough to care about the next one

[jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read about 21 pages, and I don't think I can keep going... As far-fetched as some people might believe it to be, I am actually fascinated by the crimes shows that feature psychics and would love to understand the whole paranormal/supernatural realm, but I doubt I will this side of eternity. So that's what drew me to this book. I didn't know that it would have such a religious beginning... Not sure if the author is a Christian, but if she's not, she's awfully kind in the way she portrays every church member. That's part of what gets me, it just feels so fake. Granted, I know there are a lot of nice people in churches, and I know that everyone can seem pretty perfect in the beginning, but it's annoying enough when people seem perfect in real life; I don't want to read about it. And even the way Mariah's suicide attempt in the very beginning is handled... so weird and fake. I don't think I can handle the book for 300+ more pages. Maybe someday if I really want to give it another try, I will, but for now, it's getting archived. I'm very glad it was free.

[Rosemarie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, it says I read it. There's no option for couldn't finish it. I got about a third of the way through and had to stop. I was pulling my hair out! The only reason I got that far was because I thought the author had an intriguing plot line. However, I just could NOT get past the writing, which is in desperate need of major editing. It's like the publisher put out the first draft! The dialogue was not believable. All the characters seemed to speak with the same "voice" as the main character. The transitions were extremely poor or non-existent.

It's obvious I will not be reading any other books in the series. Reading is supposed to be enjoyable, not a chore.

One good thing: I have now seen in print so many of the things I was taught NOT to do as a writer. May I remember the agony I was caused and NEVER do this to any of my own readers!

NOTE: I think Ms. Bradley has potential as a writer, but she needs to learn to tighten up her story, give her characters more depth, create more tension, and edit-edit-edit!

[Jessica at Book Sake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story started with a great plot about a woman who develops psychic abilities and uses them to find children that are kidnapped. I wasn't bothered by the religious undertones, or the fact that the character believes that she has had a divine intervention of some kind. I could appreciate her using her talents to help these children, and I only wish that there could be someone out there that really could be an angel, as the kids believe her to be in the book. Her character was very interesting and her family dynamics and relationships were relatable and heartbreaking at times. I read the first three quarters of the book in one sitting and then things started to go a little off the deep end for me. From the author's teaser at the end I am hoping that the next book of the series might have a better explanation for certain events and story lines.

Reviewed by Gabi for Book Sake.

[Lorri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked on this book from the first chapter. Mariah swallows sleeping pills and then chases them down with a bag of M&M's- her go to food. She is then 'visited' by what some believe to be an angel. She wakes up with no ill effects at all and soon discovers that she has the power to communicate with children. After each episode or Finding, Mariah gets younger and healthier and finds that her powers are growing. The thing is, she is finding it hard to control her anger towards the kidnappers, even causing one man to have a heart attack.

One night while on her way home, Mariah is attacked and injected with something that makes her dizzy and about to black out. Her healthier body is able to reverse the effects and she gets away, warning those who did it that they better stay away or else...

[Lillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I marked this sci-fi, but I'm not really sure what it is. At the beginning, Mariah's psychic powers seem to come from God, and she converts from Judaism to Christianity. However, as the story progresses, her actions seem less and less Christian. The language is offensive, and she and the videographer who tapes her "Findings" move in together. Mariah starts to punish the kidnappers rather than just save kidnapped children, and she consciously tries to strengthen her powers. Then all of a sudden, aliens enter the picture. It's never clear where her powers come from or what she is supposed to do with them. A very confusing read—I kept hoping the story would make sense at the end, but it made even less sense.

[Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chosen is a cleverly-crafted and bewitching novel, which tells the story of Mariah Carpenter, who has spent her life trying to fit in and be accepted. Now she's received a boost to her small psychic powers, which she'd kept hidden since she was little in order to please her mother. I first thought, as I was reading, that this was a genre of book I don't normally read - but it's SO much more and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I enjoyed the characters very much, and while some of the twists I saw coming, they were written in such a way that it still made it fresh and new. I didn't want to put it down and I can't wait to read Prophecy! Sit back and let Chosen take you away to places you never dreamed...

Line of Descent series: Chosen (1), Prophecy (2), Revelation (3)

[Sue Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hummmm.....I hate to say that I so nearly didn't finish this book. People who know me well, can confirm that not finishing a book is something I never do. However, this was very close.
It didn't start off too badly, although i'nmn not that fond of religious books, but I was warned of this in a few reviews I had read. Putting that aside, I thought the p!it was quite interesting. As I got deeper into the story it got more and more sensationalized. In my opinion, the ideas could have been handled tons better and resulted in a 4 star story. I stuck it out to the end, but I must admit I was glad whgern it was all over.

[Kimberlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book was interesting and engaging. Somewhere in the middle, it seemed as if a new author took over. Interesting moments were entirely skipped and mentioned only like after thoughts. Then it just got plain weird. Sometimes I had to make sure I was still on the same book. A new chapter would start with new characters and no real sense of whether it would fit together with the main story. I was ready for this one to be over with, but I kept on since I had already read so much.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it was that I've just finished reading the Merry Gentry series and the contrast was just too much for me or maybe it was just this book. After the first couple of pages I found myself skimming the first sentence of each paragraph and not only getting the gist of what was going on but being able to keep up with the story. I really wasn't entranced with the quality of the writing, it was just a bit awkward.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not get into this. I'm not sure what it is. Mariah isn't someone I could really care much about, and really none of the other characters struck a chord with me. This book promises much excitement, and hopefully it gets better as it gets closer to the end. At this point in time, however, I couldn't get into it. I might try again at some point, as the premise is intriguing indeed.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh. Didn't like this book at all. Poorly written and then it just went weird. I am amazed I was even able to finish it, only to discover it's the first in an upcoming series. I definitely won't be continuing.

[Sonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still not really sure how I feel about this book. I read through the part in the beginning that seemed more like religious preaching than part of the story, and tried to see what happened, to find that the book ends without any clear answers.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This free download to my Kindle was okay; I thought that the premise was not that strong but I did like the fact that the main characters were "good" people, in spite of some of them "using" the heroine for their own purposes (career advancement).

The book had way too many typos :(

[MaryAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The earlier parts of the book were very entertaining. Once it got past psychic into alien, and once it became clear that there would be no resolution, just a lead-in to buying volume 2, then it became just a book to finish.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was free to download for Kindle and there was definitely a reason for that - it's rubbish! Muddled-up old tosh about Christianity, psychic powers and aliens. Plus it doesn't have an ending as it's the first of a trilogy, so a complete waste of time.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not finish it. It started out interesting, then it just seemed to get bogged down and more and more weird and I just didn't have it in me to finish it. It might be someone else's cup of tea though.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of religion, psychic powers and, for good measure, aliens. Totally far fetched plot with characters who display the emotional maturity of adolescent schoolgirls.

[Leesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aliens, seriously? Loved the Mariah storyline, but when aliens were introduced - yuck!

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Interesting story being told, makes you think. A cliff hanger ending, and I can't wait for the next one.

[Mary Beth Hanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought I liked it. ...when they started talking aliens, I checked out.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if i liked this book or disliked it. It was really boring though. And it was really long.