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Open Window: Truth from the Shadows
"...I offer this recommendation to all of our famous Maine Move over. Make way for Courtney Harvey. She will knock your socks off." - Joni Averill - Bangor Daily News"Harvey has written a poignant and compelling debut novel that flows well from start to finish. Not only has she crafted a story of the paranormal, but she has, though crafting characters that are quite believable and richly drawn, captured the pain that is often associated with the voyage of self-discovery on which we all must embark." - Paul Collins - Nashua TelegraphAlex Wells appears from afar as a typical high school senior, yet visions of the dead invade her mind in a way that is anything but typical. Nighttime visits from spirits are commonplace. Questioning her sanity, she struggles inside self-inflicted walls, hiding her secret from the world. As she comes to terms with her strengthening psychic abilities, the latest vision of a young stranger’s violent suicide has her spinning out of control. While attempting to take charge of her life, she is compelled to uncover his story, forcing her to face her own fears and follow him on his journey to seek redemption. As her family and friends watch her spiral into a well of despair, she refuses to give up seeking out his truth, no matter the cost. It may only be the new boy in school who can lift her from the depths of self-destruction, but he too has a secret to hide.This is a re-edited version of the original publication. Thank you to the readers for the feedback and support.Please look for "Open Shadows of Doubt" available NOW!
- GenresParanormal Romance
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2011
3 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 19, 2012
Loved it! Can't wait until the next one.....Everybody should read this book!
February 22, 2013
this book was great!! I hope there is a book 2 on the way!
March 3, 2013
Really good story! Enjoyed immensely!
February 26, 2014
~ Dark and sinister. A glimpse into the invisible pathway between life and the afterlife, and those gifted to be the voice for both.
From the onset, it's obvious Alex is struggling. She's edgy and self-conscious, yet does her best to hide both. The nightmares that have plagued her are only getting worse, to the point of truly scaring her. And she's come to realize they are not just dreams. Someone has been visiting her - someone who no longer lives on the earthly plane but has passed on. The author does a nice job of complicating this fact by allowing Alex to recognize that she is a medium. Since she was a little girl voices have rattled in her head. But really, they were spirits trying to get through to her. Even deceased relatives have paid her visits.
There are two big clinchers for this story's purposes: Alex's psychiatrist mother does not believe in physic abilities, which adds loads of teenage/parent tension. Although her younger sister knows of her gift and supports her, Alex struggles endlessly to hide it from her mother, showing some real character for a teen. (FYI - Her dad is involved, but mostly as referee.) The second is discovering that the spirit currently visiting her is linked to Erik, the new boy at school, and somehow Alex must figure out how to tell him without sounding totally insane. But darker forces infiltrate Alex's psychic space with each visit from this spirit. This adds a whole new realm of eerie and danger.
Harvey takes the reader on a journey of growth for both parents and teenager, how to accept and believe in each other. Then there's the other family, the one Alex must help by sharing what her invisible visitor wants to tell them. And don't think just because this invisible visitor, Alik, is off the growth and development hook just because he's now dead. Nope. He still has tons of growing to do - mostly self-forgiveness for the sins he committed while alive.
This is really a story about personal identity, self-growth, and acceptance of our imperfections. Whether alive or dead, we all have them and must turn them into positive springs of growth and contribution.
From the onset, it's obvious Alex is struggling. She's edgy and self-conscious, yet does her best to hide both. The nightmares that have plagued her are only getting worse, to the point of truly scaring her. And she's come to realize they are not just dreams. Someone has been visiting her - someone who no longer lives on the earthly plane but has passed on. The author does a nice job of complicating this fact by allowing Alex to recognize that she is a medium. Since she was a little girl voices have rattled in her head. But really, they were spirits trying to get through to her. Even deceased relatives have paid her visits.
There are two big clinchers for this story's purposes: Alex's psychiatrist mother does not believe in physic abilities, which adds loads of teenage/parent tension. Although her younger sister knows of her gift and supports her, Alex struggles endlessly to hide it from her mother, showing some real character for a teen. (FYI - Her dad is involved, but mostly as referee.) The second is discovering that the spirit currently visiting her is linked to Erik, the new boy at school, and somehow Alex must figure out how to tell him without sounding totally insane. But darker forces infiltrate Alex's psychic space with each visit from this spirit. This adds a whole new realm of eerie and danger.
Harvey takes the reader on a journey of growth for both parents and teenager, how to accept and believe in each other. Then there's the other family, the one Alex must help by sharing what her invisible visitor wants to tell them. And don't think just because this invisible visitor, Alik, is off the growth and development hook just because he's now dead. Nope. He still has tons of growing to do - mostly self-forgiveness for the sins he committed while alive.
This is really a story about personal identity, self-growth, and acceptance of our imperfections. Whether alive or dead, we all have them and must turn them into positive springs of growth and contribution.
March 11, 2015
Open Window is a marvelous book about a young teenager named Alex who goes to Bangor High School. In this book, she configures what it means to have a second sight. Alex has the ability to talk to, and see dead people. Would that freak you out? Alex has to learn to live with the ghosts haunting her everywhere she goes, even the bathroom! One night at the peak of night, Alex contributes her presence into a dream. This dream wasn’t anything like the ones she had been having previously, these were someone elses life. Alex had been taken into Alik’s life. Alik was Alex’s friends dead brother. Alik had committed suicide, now Alik had attached onto Alex, trying to get his message through, Alex got creeped out and went to her Aunt who also had the second sight of seeing dead people. Alex isn’t too sure about what to think of being able to see dead people, other than it’s drop dead freaky! While trying to manage her own life, Alex also has to start solving this young boy’s death and piecing together the clues that could help her solve this could get her closer to his brother. Alex knows Alik’s brother and they are starting to get pretty close. “It may only be the new boy in school who can lift her from the depths of self-destruction, but he too has a secret to hide.” I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, because the beginning was time consuming and took a while to get into, then the middle I absolutely didn’t want to put down, but the ending went back to being a little blan for me. I often found myself reading in the oddest places, the car, the grocery store, and even at sports events. During this book I would get goosebumps and think, what if this happened to me? What if you had nightmares all the time about someones death? Would you face them, or would you freak out from the pain?
May 31, 2012
Ever wonder what life would have been like for The Ghost Whisperer and Medium in high school. Courtney Harvey answers those questions. Congratulations to an up-and-coming local writer on a fine first novel. A little heavy on the continual angst-y internal dialog but the character is a teenager after all.
June 4, 2011
This is a fantastic read! It is a "I'm so glad it is a rainy Saturday kind of book" You will not want to put it down!!
June 4, 2012
Great book! Story just sucks you in and won't let you go. Good, solid characters you'll fall in love with!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews