Nighthawk

by Marie Ventris, Kelly Barnes (Illustrator)

Evie Chevalier is a city cop with small town roots, focused on her budding career. But when her childhood friend goes missing, she returns to her hometown of Nighthawk, Washington to unofficially investigate the mysterious disappearance. The local police are uncooperative and seem to be hiding something, but before she can delve into their secrets, strange things begin happening in Nighthawk.

A cover of clouds moves over the town, shrouding it in perpetual darkness. The animals and townsfolk behave oddly. Fleeting shadows haunt her hotel room. And there is the crow with the single white feather that seems to follow her everywhere…

All of the signs point her to the town’s old mine, left abandoned from the pioneer age. As a child, she believed monsters lurked in the black tunnels, but she is too old to believe in monsters now. What she stumbles upon in her attempt to save her friend changes her perception of the world around her forever.

Genres: Fantasy

ebook

First published January 25, 2012

About the author

Marie Ventris writes horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. She was spawned in the black depths of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington state, and has since learned to live on land and behave like people. She is fond of crows, trees, and mythology. She is also neurodivergent and is a vocal autism advocate.

Her non-writing hobbies include painting, gardening, singing, and swallowing souls. Her husband/keeper is a redhead who also enjoys the occasional soul snack, and her young son is already set on world domination. Her cat does her edits.

Marie is still discovering the intricacies of “social interaction”, and truly values conversation via social media. She has great things planned and is excited to share her very normal and not at all warped stories with you!

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it hard to believe that this is book marks the debut for this talented wordsmith. Fans of the supernatural and magical will be completely at home in the carefully crafted layers of Nighthawk. Marie Frances transports her readers into an extaordinarily imagined and fleshed out world. A world where we have the immense pleasure of getting into her head through the words that are displayed on the page. Marie's ability to make you care and fear for these fictitious characters is utterly spellbinding. I love the fact that she didn't use chapters to break up the story as it made the story feel so much more compelling to me. I didn't feel as though I had an excuse to stop reading, just because I had reached the next chapter. By no means did I wish to stop, and I couldn't use something as mundane as a chapter break to leave this world and these characters that I'd grown to love. I cannot wait to see what types of adventures are in store for Evie and the other members of the Otherworld Society, but I know that I will be along for the ride.

[Chuck Messinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words cannot sum up my love for this book. I have to resort to high pitch squeals and giddy nail biting. Seriously loved this book and cannot wait for the sequel!

All the supernatural mystery thriller supernatural vampire changeling troll witch fairy story you can pack into one book!

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Read it in 2 days and am searching for Wishpool!!!
The story was great and the characters were believable. I love the creative side Marie took in telling of Otherworld inhabitants. Not your every-day run of the mill fantasy books.
If anyone can tell me where I can get the sequel, I'd be thrilled!!

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nighthawk was a great read. It’s about a woman named Evie , who is a cop. She learns of a missing friend and goes back to Nighthawk, Washington at the behest of the friends mother to help find him. The first part of the book is a bit slow, but its actually setting up a lot of what is to come. It's a story that spans generations of magical events. Once Evie goes into the mine, things change dramatically. My attention was totally swept away by the events that followed. The town is covered in clouds, and mystery. The local cops can’t help, this is supernatural. She is aided in her investigation by a special friend who knows what’s really going on. And it is really something! Fairies, vampires, zombies and others make their appearance. It’s a really fun rollercoaster ride read. Marie Frances has a wonderful writing style, and I can’t wait to read what she has in store for us in the future. I highly recommend this book.

[H.L. Reasby]

A solid first novel, the first third starts out a bit slow as the reader attempts to figure out what the focus of the novel will be. There's an initial sensation of 'everything but the kitchen sink' in terms of what's being included in the Otherworld aspects of the novel, as I was expecting more of the Native American mythology not the Celtic/European folklore we see. However once we begin getting explanations, it turns into a really interesting take on the fae.

Evie is an intriguing character, though my favorite, hands down, is Alastair.

I very much enjoyed the novel and am looking forward to seeing what Marie has in store for future tales!

[Morgue Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read my review of Nighthawk at
http://extollereblog.tumblr.com/post/...

You can read my interview with author Marie Frances here http://extollereblog.tumblr.com/post/...

Nighthawk made my top reads of 2012! http://sexanddeathpodcast.wordpress.c...

[Eleanor Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

The book flowed and made sense to the very end. The characters were brought to life real, you ended wanting to know each more. I couldn't wait to read each page and was sad the story ended, but happy there will be more novels continued. Thank you love this writer!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, to say the least! I love the research the author put into her book...places, people, history and mythology. She wove it all together into quite the spellbinder of a debut novel. I anxiously await the sequel!

[Brian Mcquay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a lot, and I look forward to the next one in series. It did remind me of another Washington writer Kat Richardson and her Greywalker series. Which isn't a bad thing, as I have enjoyed all of those books as well.

[phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wild ride!

This book takes you on a ride that goes on through the entire book. It starts out slowly , then picks up so fast that before you know it, you're hooked, It was hard to put the book down because you just had to know what will happen. It deserves a five star rating.

[Marie Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very different but refreshing style of mystery!

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I too find it hard to believe this is the first book for the author. I found the plot riveting.The characters were fascinating and well developed. I can't wait for a sequel.

[Jere · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story looses cohesiveness about half way through the book and then turns to become unbelieveable. The characters were not very well developed in the story.

[Anita Besr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

This book had a bit of everything and the author tied it all together very well. A must read. Look forward to a follow-up.