Apparitions

Apparitions #1

by Raven Bower

Hunted by a killer who knows no mercy.br/br/Stalked by the vengeful dead.br/br/Caught between reality and visions...Bailey fights to piece the puzzle together before it crashes down on her. Is the man staying in her boathouse friend...or foe? And what part does he have to play in the macabre game unfolding around her?br/br/Under the shadow of the murder's blade Bailey strives to discover the truth using faith and arcane knowledge. While at the same time the fury of the scorned dead creeps ever closer...br/br/br/br/Bailey stopped swimming forward and turned back to the boat, treading water to stay afloat. "What is it, boy?"br/br/Thor never went into barking fits while they were on the lake. He'd usually wait patiently for her. On occasion, he'd lap up the cool water. Other times, if she'd been in too long by his estimation, he'd jump in himself and swim with her.br/br/Pulling her wet hair off her face with her hand, she squinted at the water between her and the boat.br/br/Strange.br/br/A stringy mass floated just at the surface of the water, barely visible under the light blanket of swirling mist. It looked like a clump of thin seaweed. The lake boasted a few species of aqueous plants, so a mass of them rising wasn't all that discomfiting, not nearly enough to have caused such a reaction out of Thor. Until she realized...br/br/It was moving.br/br/The warmth leached out of her. The floating mass steadily struck a course towards her. That was...impossible. There wasn't enough of a wind to cause anything but the slightest ripple in the water. It was an enclosed lake with no currents. Seaweed didn't move on its own. Unless it wasn't seaweed at all.br/br/It moved closer.br/br/Andy found the spare oars under the seat of the second rowboat just as Thor had started barking out on the lake. He cussed and roughly pushed the boat from the dock.br/br/Why couldn't she have a motor boat?br/br/He plunged the wooden oars into the water and paddled. He hadn't manually propelled a boat in years. Thankfully, it was an ability that, like riding a bike, came back quickly after a few moments.br/br/He could see Bailey - frozen, her eyes glued to the surface between her and her boat. He was too far away to see what she was looking at without his binoculars, and he didn't want to stop rowing to pull them out. Better to get there in time and deal with a surprise than get to her too late. He'd already let down Erika. He couldn't stand by and let Bailey be harmed. She turned suddenly and started swimming towards the opposite shore. Her movements were strong, determined and frantic with none of the fluid grace she'd had earlier.br/br/He paddled harder, faster.br/br/He pulled alongside Bailey's boat, grabbing the towline and tying the two boats together.br/br/"Quiet." He glared at Thor.br/br/The dog's deep, guttural barks resounded across the lake and ricocheted off the trees, increasing their volume beyond what his ears could handle. The dog refused to stop. He kept right on at it, staring ahead of them, eyes fixed between them and Bailey. The coat on his neck bristled upwards, nails screeched and clicked on the boat as he pranced in place.br/br/Between the added weight of the dog and the drag of the second boat, Andy's progress slowed. Pumping his arms ever faster, he was able to close the distance. As he did he saw a dark, writhing clump floating...no...not floating...moving directly behind Bailey, going right towards her.br/br/He opened his mouth to call out a warning.br/br/br/br/She jerked under the water.br/br/A cold hand clamped onto Bailey's leg, sharp nails gouging deep into the flesh of her calf. Pain radiated up her leg clear to her waist. Rushing water cut off her yelp, flooding her mouth and nose as she was yanked downward, the thing hanging on to her leg like a lead weight. She gagged on the influx of warm, gritty lake water that forced its way down her throat. Panicked, she flailed towards the surface. She could see the glimmer of the morning sun pierce through the fog and dance on the ripples of the surface. A pale, crystalline light that faded as it reached down towards her.

Genres: Thriller, Paranormal, Horror

298 pages, Nook

First published May 25, 2007

About the author

I'm the author of three book series:

Apparitions series (supernatural suspense / horror)including: Apparitions, Wendigo and Rags Beneath (2012)

Vengeance series (urban fantasy): Primal (2012), Smoke (2013) and Dead Moon (2014)

and the Weeping Dark series (fantasy): Bleeding Edge (2012/13), Sorrow's Gate (2013/14)

Plus the fantasy novella, Nymph's Lair (2012)

I also enjoy writing scripts - the script for Apparitions has been optioned for a feature film!

I live in Michigan with my husband, four kids, two hell hounds and our cats of doom and chaos.

Reviews

[James Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a tired and true measure of how good I think a book is— if I finish a book over the course of two or three nights then the book falls into my must read category and Apparitions fits that bill.
This debut novel by Raven Bower is a wonderfully crafted supernatural/horror story that is sure to keep the reader up late into the night. Reclusive author Bailey Khane has a secret, something much scarier than missing a writing deadline, she is visited by spirits of murder victims and only by writing down the details of their murders can these wayward souls find solace and move on in peace. But evil forces have discovered her hiding spot from the world and other “things”, and they want to destroy her or anyone else in their way.
This hair-raising story raises an interesting question—what is scarier, supernatural evil or human evil? Because Apparitions is not only about paranormal monsters but it is also a story of the evil that lurks in the worst of us.
I really enjoyed Ms. Bower’s book except for the fact that I have a pond in my backyard that I enjoyed swimming in from time to time. Unfortunately after reading her book it will be quite some time before I take a dip into the water. Readers will understand why.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bailey Khane is an author of novels that tell the stories of young girls that are murdered heinously. What people do not know is that the novels are the real stories of these girls who appear to her as apparitions. Their spirits are wanting Bailey to find the murderer.

Andy Bennett is a private investigator who has read at least one of Bailey's books. The book in question is so accurate in the description of the murder of his sister, Erika, that he believes that Bailey had something to do with the crime.

Bailey lives alone in a cabin on a lake in White Sands, Michigan, and surrounds herself with silver and any other weapon, including a guard dog, Thor, against evil.

The real source of this carnage comes from a very unexpected source and that is really part of the real pull of this story.

This book is really for the reader of horror. Raven Bower does a really good job of creating a novel that keeps you reading and her use of language is top-rate. I hope that she continues writing in this genre. We need more women writing this kind of novel.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. This is a genuine effort by a first-time author with obvious talent. As an editor, I was a bit disappointed to note the spelling, grammar and sentence structure errors but not enough to lose interest in the story as a whole. I found the characters to be well fleshed out and the struggles faced to be both believable and realistic, despite the question of whether or not ghosts do or can exist. In addition, I thought the story was quite original and entertaining. As an avid reader and fan of multiple genres, I can say that this is definitely worth the time to read for anyone looking for a good thriller, mystery, paranormal romance, or ghost story. There's something for just about everyone, and most will find themselves glancing over their shoulder at least a time or two while reading. I'm interested to see what the author comes up with next.