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The Glimpsing
Portia Childress is a former model who discovers that her playboy ex-boyfriend Jack is having an affair with her best friend Gabrielle. Enraged to the point of murder, she offers Jack the painting of a woman in a brilliant red dress. Soon a mysterious woman begins to haunt his bedroom, determined to lead him and his lover deep into a paranormal world of vengeance and murder.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2011
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212 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 25, 2016
**** 4 Broken Heart Revenge Stars ****
This book was like nothing I've ever read. My mind was blown by the direction this story traveled. If I can write a logical review, I will be surprised.
Portia's heart has been broken by a cheating man. Not able to overcome her heartbreak, she sets out to make him never forget the demise he caused her. Painting a gift, turns into a revenge Portia uses to create a world filled with blood and seclusion.
10 years later, Portia finally opens her heart to playboy, model agent Jack Parke.
Jack doesn't get feelings involved where women are concerned. Use them to feel good and goodbye when I am finished with you. His relationship with Portia is no different, only Portia is abstinent. This infuriates Jack because he is sure he can break her and get her to sleep with him, but Portia stands her ground.
Seeking revenge for never having sex with him, Jack ends up in the bed of Gabrielle, Portia's best friend.
Thinking they are hiding their affair, Jack and Gabrielle are clueless that Portia knows of their betrayal.
"The darkness is coming for Jack. The darkness is coming for Gabrielle. It's coming for them, just as it came for Portia."
When Jack accepts "the" painting Portia did so long ago, he never expects he is about to unleash a whole new world of vengeful darkness. His and Gabrielle's life is about to be shattered.
The fight for their lives has only just begun. This author takes you on a whirlwind of WTF!!
My head was spinning throughout this book. I am still left uneasy by this story. The possibility of such paranormal revenge is creepy. At this point, I am not sure what is real or not with this one.
Great job Mr. Black!!
This book was like nothing I've ever read. My mind was blown by the direction this story traveled. If I can write a logical review, I will be surprised.
Portia's heart has been broken by a cheating man. Not able to overcome her heartbreak, she sets out to make him never forget the demise he caused her. Painting a gift, turns into a revenge Portia uses to create a world filled with blood and seclusion.
10 years later, Portia finally opens her heart to playboy, model agent Jack Parke.
Jack doesn't get feelings involved where women are concerned. Use them to feel good and goodbye when I am finished with you. His relationship with Portia is no different, only Portia is abstinent. This infuriates Jack because he is sure he can break her and get her to sleep with him, but Portia stands her ground.
Seeking revenge for never having sex with him, Jack ends up in the bed of Gabrielle, Portia's best friend.
Thinking they are hiding their affair, Jack and Gabrielle are clueless that Portia knows of their betrayal.
"The darkness is coming for Jack. The darkness is coming for Gabrielle. It's coming for them, just as it came for Portia."
When Jack accepts "the" painting Portia did so long ago, he never expects he is about to unleash a whole new world of vengeful darkness. His and Gabrielle's life is about to be shattered.
The fight for their lives has only just begun. This author takes you on a whirlwind of WTF!!
My head was spinning throughout this book. I am still left uneasy by this story. The possibility of such paranormal revenge is creepy. At this point, I am not sure what is real or not with this one.
Great job Mr. Black!!
July 21, 2014
Every so often in the oh so populous world of kindle freebies one comes across something like The Glimpsing, something that sounds like it might at least be semidecent and turns out to be a total crapfest. This book is a paranormal romance with a very heavy stress on romance. If that's your sort of thing, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, this pompously overwritten, yet curiously bland and mind bogglingly cheesy and inane story with a cast of cardboards acting out a stunningly inferior take on The Picture of Dorian Gray has absolutely nothing to offer. The only good things here are that the author hasn't written before or since and that it was a relatively quick read. Nevertheless, it's 3 hours completely wasted. Caveat emptor.
July 3, 2011
The Glimpsing is an intriguing and haunting tale of revenge, love, hope, faith, courage, and the age-old battle of good vs. evil.
The author creates a very Twilight Zone atmosphere from the beginning of the book, with nods to Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Serling and Steven King. Although I wouldn't classify it as a horror story, it incorporates the psychological horror and suspense for which the above three are recognized as masters.
Portia Childress, brought up by a mother who has the ability to "glimpse", see into the world just beyond our world, wants the one thing she can't find in her relationships with men: true love. How she deals with this unfulfilled need is the center of this tale.
The mysterious painting reminds me of aspects of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and subsequent stories involving mysterious, "changing" paintings but this has its own unique flavor.
It is easy to identify with Portia's innocence and need but more difficult to understand where she went as result of it. Gabrielle, in spite of her own love for Jack, tries to remain loyal to Portia and to love her best friend. Jack's increasing feelings for Gabrielle only complicate the situation, bringing about some of the ensuing horrors.
My favorite character in this story, though a minor one was Jack's housekeeper, Janice. She has the wisdom to get an idea of what is going on after Jack first receives the mysterious painting, offers Gabrielle a way of dealing with her own guilt and ultimately is willing to risk dealing with something she is worried is beyond her ability to handle, because of her belief in doing the right thing.
This was a refreshing read, standing out among the current "horror" stories that I have read with its unique presentation of that battle between good and evil. Well worth the time invested in reading the book. Unfortunately because it would give away spoilers, I can't go into the details of the unique perspective presented in this story, but I think any fan of the horror/supernatural realm would enjoy the book.
The author creates a very Twilight Zone atmosphere from the beginning of the book, with nods to Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Serling and Steven King. Although I wouldn't classify it as a horror story, it incorporates the psychological horror and suspense for which the above three are recognized as masters.
Portia Childress, brought up by a mother who has the ability to "glimpse", see into the world just beyond our world, wants the one thing she can't find in her relationships with men: true love. How she deals with this unfulfilled need is the center of this tale.
The mysterious painting reminds me of aspects of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and subsequent stories involving mysterious, "changing" paintings but this has its own unique flavor.
It is easy to identify with Portia's innocence and need but more difficult to understand where she went as result of it. Gabrielle, in spite of her own love for Jack, tries to remain loyal to Portia and to love her best friend. Jack's increasing feelings for Gabrielle only complicate the situation, bringing about some of the ensuing horrors.
My favorite character in this story, though a minor one was Jack's housekeeper, Janice. She has the wisdom to get an idea of what is going on after Jack first receives the mysterious painting, offers Gabrielle a way of dealing with her own guilt and ultimately is willing to risk dealing with something she is worried is beyond her ability to handle, because of her belief in doing the right thing.
This was a refreshing read, standing out among the current "horror" stories that I have read with its unique presentation of that battle between good and evil. Well worth the time invested in reading the book. Unfortunately because it would give away spoilers, I can't go into the details of the unique perspective presented in this story, but I think any fan of the horror/supernatural realm would enjoy the book.
July 8, 2015
This book is great read. It's story is completely unique and is very classic horror. I loved it. The main character Portia is both evil and innocent. You will find yourself sympathizing with her, and condemning her at the same time. It reminds me of a new take on the Dorian Grey story. It's highly disturbing, and very graphic. The story follows a young virgin, Portia, who is mistreated badly by a series of would be lovers. The rejection and self-loathing that they drive her to causes a very interesting mental break with a scary curse of a twist. She has success and beauty, but cannot find true love. Her boyfriends' inability to love her costs them much more than they bargain for. Her final object of affection betrays her with her best friend. This is the catalyst for the climax of the story, which has everything from betrayal, sex, murder, and even redemption. I thought the writing style was wonderful, It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time, kind of like a lot of Stephen King's work. I'll be interested to read more of James L. Black's work.
February 6, 2013
This a great story for horror. It is not the vampire werewolves slasher type story. Not that I do not like those it is just that this is a great change of pace. The story moves along smoothy and the characters are well developed, especially Jack. I loved the ending and I am looking forward to more stories by this writer.
July 21, 2011
I really liked how the plot ending - I really did not expect it to end that way!!!
It kept me wanting to read to see what was going to happen next.
I also got this book free to review by the author.
It kept me wanting to read to see what was going to happen next.
I also got this book free to review by the author.
August 18, 2025
I got this book for free over a decade ago and forgot about it. I’m just now finding it again in my library and getting around to reading it and it’s good! It’s a fast paced, unique kind of story, very enjoyable. I like the author’s writing style.
April 25, 2018
Captivating story, interesting characters.. A bit too romance-y for me.
December 16, 2023
Very Well Written
This book was really enjoyable. It had a realistically creepy effect on me, quite scary. Easy to read too. Would happily read another of his.
This book was really enjoyable. It had a realistically creepy effect on me, quite scary. Easy to read too. Would happily read another of his.
May 16, 2013
So, it's not complete shit. Mostly, I think it suffers from sloppy writing. There is a passage that is repeated in the book verbatim with the inclusion of more details added on. Now, I do understand repetition and the reasons for its use in a novel, but I don't think it was done well in this case. Here we have Collin telling the story of Portia and the painting twice. It would have been more tension building, for me, if the author either told the story in one go, or didn't use verbatim what was said a chapter or so back and just recapped and.moved forward with the story.
Tree was a lack of consistency in the book that just stuck with me and annoyed me. They are things that an editor should have found; names being switched (in one instance Collin was talking about watching Suzanne die and referred to her as holly) and times being inconsistent (a meeting was supposed to occur at 2:30and then was referred to as taking place at 2:00. It wouldn't have bothered me so much but the author repeated the time so it made me think it was important, but it really wasn't.
The dialog was stiff and flat. It didn't feel like real people talking. It felt like very well to do posh British people from another century.
In terms of relationships, I didn't under stand what made Janice so special to everyone. I get that she is close to jack because she is his housekeeper, but I don't understand why she was so close to Portia and her mother. She even knew her mother when she was in the asylum. Some backstory on relationships would have been nice. Janice was written as very old guard but writing her as a housekeeper didn't solidify that station.
Perhaps we weren't meant to understand what happened to Portia when she attempted suicide. I couldn't get past it though. It compromised my enjoyment of the story. Was I reading a spooky ghost story? Was I reading a cautionary tale? Was I reading something evil from out of our world? There was bits from all and unless I knew what happened with Portia, the authors motives were lost on me.
I have been harsh here, but there are things I did like. I really liked the bones of this story. A creative and original idea. And there are moments of sheer beauty like where jack figures out why he is so stiff. Although that parti would make a bit shorter because I totally knew what had happened, most anyone would, and the prolonging of the story just made it annoying.
Would I recommend this? Not so much the way it is now. I feel like I just read a rough draft and would like to read the finished product.
Tree was a lack of consistency in the book that just stuck with me and annoyed me. They are things that an editor should have found; names being switched (in one instance Collin was talking about watching Suzanne die and referred to her as holly) and times being inconsistent (a meeting was supposed to occur at 2:30and then was referred to as taking place at 2:00. It wouldn't have bothered me so much but the author repeated the time so it made me think it was important, but it really wasn't.
The dialog was stiff and flat. It didn't feel like real people talking. It felt like very well to do posh British people from another century.
In terms of relationships, I didn't under stand what made Janice so special to everyone. I get that she is close to jack because she is his housekeeper, but I don't understand why she was so close to Portia and her mother. She even knew her mother when she was in the asylum. Some backstory on relationships would have been nice. Janice was written as very old guard but writing her as a housekeeper didn't solidify that station.
Perhaps we weren't meant to understand what happened to Portia when she attempted suicide. I couldn't get past it though. It compromised my enjoyment of the story. Was I reading a spooky ghost story? Was I reading a cautionary tale? Was I reading something evil from out of our world? There was bits from all and unless I knew what happened with Portia, the authors motives were lost on me.
I have been harsh here, but there are things I did like. I really liked the bones of this story. A creative and original idea. And there are moments of sheer beauty like where jack figures out why he is so stiff. Although that parti would make a bit shorter because I totally knew what had happened, most anyone would, and the prolonging of the story just made it annoying.
Would I recommend this? Not so much the way it is now. I feel like I just read a rough draft and would like to read the finished product.
March 3, 2013
I really loved "The Glimpsing" By James L. Black. It is a really different kind of ghost story. It is a weird and creepy story. I read this book almost a year ago and the story still pops into my head all of the time.
This unsettling tale has made me weary of certain paintings in my own house. Since reading this book I often look at paintings of people and wonder, what if.....
The story is about a very eerie looking haunted painting. This macabre story will stay with me for years, if not forever. This story is very usual. I mean that in a good way.
If you like a good ghost story then you will love this book. It is very rare that I would read a book more then once, but I reckon I will read this book again at some stage. I read a lot of horror/ghost type books, but this book really stands out in my head.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something out of the ordinary. Even now as I write this review parts of this book still haunt me......
This unsettling tale has made me weary of certain paintings in my own house. Since reading this book I often look at paintings of people and wonder, what if.....
The story is about a very eerie looking haunted painting. This macabre story will stay with me for years, if not forever. This story is very usual. I mean that in a good way.
If you like a good ghost story then you will love this book. It is very rare that I would read a book more then once, but I reckon I will read this book again at some stage. I read a lot of horror/ghost type books, but this book really stands out in my head.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something out of the ordinary. Even now as I write this review parts of this book still haunt me......
September 30, 2014
Hmm... I struggled to get into this book, nearly gave up a few times. Too much repeating in certain parts, I thought I had gone back some chapters. It did pick up and got me interested for a while, hence the 2*. By the time I wanted to give up again I was nearly finished the book so decided to stick with it. Sorry, just not my liking.
November 4, 2016
I was thoroughly impressed with this book! The beginning was a little confusing as to what was going on, but the ending ties it all together perfectly. Excellent writing and a fast paced paranormal thriller. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I would've liked just a bit more beef to the story... A few more details added.
September 24, 2012
This book contained some spooky passages. But it left me with an icky vibe. The story is obsessed with celibacy and fidelity, and the POV seems almost paternalistic to me at times. The women are all weak or evil. The men obsessed with sex.
Want to Read
January 23, 2013Downloaded a handful of freebies for the Kindle, this is one of 'em.
January 23, 2015
Excellent!
I loved reading this tale. Enough twists and turns to keep you wanting to find out which way it was going to go.
I loved reading this tale. Enough twists and turns to keep you wanting to find out which way it was going to go.
July 31, 2015
Very good book
I hadn't heard the term "glimpsing" used before in supernatural books, but I can see where it can be used to explain an occurrence.
I hadn't heard the term "glimpsing" used before in supernatural books, but I can see where it can be used to explain an occurrence.
December 8, 2015
Two worlds
It seems that there are two worlds; one merely glimpsed by those who can see. What evil lives inside her closet.
It seems that there are two worlds; one merely glimpsed by those who can see. What evil lives inside her closet.
April 29, 2014
I really loved this book. it was well written. I wish it would have been a little longer!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews