Dead Roots

The Analyst #1

by Aubrey Wood

Thomas Bell is an analyst for the Department of Paranormal Study and Defense, where he goes toe-to-toe with the invisible supernatural threats that pierce every layer of society, and covers up every trace of their presence. His estranged ex-wife, anxiety and depression, and persistent memories of childhood trauma serve as constant obstacles in his struggle to stay sane in the face of the impossible. Though substance abuse and casual sex will keep the inner demons at bay, the real ones just find more and more to prey on.

A routine arrest-and-exorcise op goes awry, and Tom must escort the entity to Japan, where it’ll be handed off to Harold Saldana—the man with all of Japan’s supernatural trafficking under his thumb. Hosting the demon is professional medium Shinichiro Keda, and Tom is suspicious of this soft-spoken freelancer, especially when it seems that he and Harold have something of a history.

Meanwhile in the small town of Orchard, West Virginia, a terrifying presence has taken root. When Tom arrives to track down a missing girl, he comes face to face with a horror from his past, adding yet more to his psychological balancing act. Something will have to give, and soon—and Tom is afraid it’s going to be him.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Fiction, Ebooks, Amazon, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2012

Reviews

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!


This was a fast paced horror tale that I ripped through in a couple of days.

I found the premise of the story to be interesting but the execution of it only so-so. The author definitely succeeded in giving the reader a fast paced adventure, but I found the character development to be lacking. I'm not sure if I was supposed to like Tom, the main character, but I really didn't. Same with his partner Artie, his boss Maggie and their Medium, Keda. I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't like them, but I didn't. One other thing I didn't like, and this was completely personal, was all the damn smoking going on. I just quit smoking on Tuesday and it was very difficult for me when someone was lighting up on every other page.

Overall, I did enjoy this story. While I do think it could have been better, I also think it could have been a lot worse. It was very well edited, which is nice to see with an independent author, and the writing wasn't bad either. The problems I had with this book were solely my own and another reader might like it a lot more than I did. I will say that this book had the perfect setup for a sequel, which I believe is already available. At this point, I am not sure if I will read it or not.

[Emmanuel Colvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great psychological horror novel from a promising author. It reminded me of the X-files by way of Silent Hill. The plot and main characters drew me in and I finished this within one day! If you're a horror fan, I definitely recommend.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the second book in this series first and liked it and so decided to take a chance on the first book. While I liked this book it did not really grab me as the second did. It may have been that the characters had more time to be refined. I like the premise of the story because it is kind of different from anything I have read in the past. The story is alright but kind of confusing in a lot of ways because it seems to meander a lot until it arrives at its final and true destination. The dialogue is decent for the most part but can be kind of stiff and almost childish in some places.

Tom Bell is an Analyst, a federal agent who protects American citizens from the supernatural entities that become violent and out of control, and covers up every trace of their presence. His estranged ex-wife, mental illness, and persistent memories of childhood trauma serve as a constant obstacle in his struggle to stay sane in the face of the impossible.

This did not grab me or get my attention right away but it did eventually pull me into the story. Mainly because there was some decent action from time to time. There were some problems with word usage and grammar throughout but it could be ignored for the most part and skipped over. There is some harsh language along with drugs, alcohol, and sexual content. Most of it is rather mild though I guess it could offend some, so be aware.

[Kayla Bashe · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was pretty rad. there weren't enough girls in it but I liked how the protagonist had flaws instead of just being Generic Hero Man. also the creepy stuff was creepy instead of just trying to be creepy. that was rad, too. read this book if you thought twin peaks could have used more walking corpses

[Therin Knite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot

Tom Bell hunts down paranormal entities for a living. Working for a government organization dedicated to exorcising malevolent entities from innocents, Tom finds himself chasing down a demon known as Aki. When his takedown of Aki goes awry, Tom ends up being forced to accompany a medium, Keda, who’s charged to hold Aki at bay inside himself, to Japan. At first, Tom thinks his stay in Japan may be enjoyable — their host, Harold Saldana, offers to take them out on the town. But everything quickly goes downhill — Keda almost loses control of Aki, Tom almost loses his life force to a succubus, and Tom and his friend/colleague Artie nearly get shot to death by the yakuza.

Anyway, Tom finally finds himself free of the Aki business and heads back to the States. But when you have demons possessing people, things never stay mellow for long. Tom ends up on a case in West Virginia, where one missing girl has suddenly blossomed into about 50 disappearances in the course of a few months. Tom, with Artie and Keda in tow, investigate the mysterious small town of Orchard — only to find that the entity taking over is the same one that tormented Tom in his childhood.

A monstrous, tree-like creature known as Akebara.

Tom’s mission quickly begins to fall apart as Akebara’s influence on the town grows stronger. It abducts and absorbs innocent townsfolk into itself, replacing them with monstrous copies who attempt to destroy Tom and crew. When the local police officer helping Tom is taken by the demon, Tom is forced to follow her into Akebara’s lair, where a showdown years in the making takes place. Tom manages to come out on top thanks to some help from Artie and Keda, but the Orchard is decimated, never to recover from the major losses.

Case finished, Tom thinks he’s out of the woods. But then the host to the succubus that tried to kill him in Japan shows up to apologize, unwittingly revealing startling information: after a vicious argument, Keda took Aki back from Harold Saldana. And that is very, very bad.

-cue sequel-

The End.

____

My Take

There were a lot of fresh ideas in this story. The government agency fighting supernatural entities thing wasn’t that original, but I liked that there were different roles assigned to agents and that they all contributed differently. It wasn’t just a team of guys shooting things — although there was plenty of shooting.

I will warn you, there is a certain level of gore in this book that may put some people off. Of course, if you like gore, this is just the thing for you! But, yes, point is, this is a rather gory paranormal horror novel. Lots of death and destruction and creepy things going on. That didn’t bother me. I thought it went well with the demon concepts; I’ve never seen possession depicted in any way similar to the way it’s depicted in this book.

So, conceptually and thematically, I thought the story was great.

That being said, let’s talk about writing.

____

Writing

Here are my issues with the writing.

Pacing. The beginning was very good, but I feel that the pacing stumbled a bit around the start of the second third of the book. There was a lot of activity jam-packed into the first third, and then it suddenly dropped off, gradually picking back up as the second phase of the plot took hold. Once it got back its feet, though, it stayed there, maintaining that great fast-paced terror show that a lot of horror employs.

Description. I thought the description of the actual horror material was very good, but I found it a bit lacking in other departments, especially when it came to transitions. There’s some non-linear stuff that goes on — flashbacks and what not — as well as some time skips, and it’s not always entirely clear what’s going on until you get pretty far into the section. So, pretty strong on the genre line but a bit weaker on the general stuff.

All in all, a bit of a mixed bag.

____

Is It Worth Reading?

If you like gory horror? Sure. Paranormal fiction and don’t mind gory horror? Sure.

____

Rating

3/5

[Tatiana Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visceral, creepy, and a great story. The writing is a touch clunky in places, but I felt like the world and character-building were more than solid enough to make up for this. I felt like the author's pacing hit a bit of a snag around the 15-20% mark, but then the story picked up and carried me breathlessly through to the end. There are some genuinely horrifying (and TENSE) scenes in Dead Roots, and as a reader with a vivid imagination but a weak stomach, I had to put it aside twice because of the imagery in these scenes. Still, this isn't because Woods resorts to shock value or sheer in-your-face gore, but rather due to the vivid picture painted with his words.

The characters are solid.  I enjoyed the protagonist, Tom, and sympathised with his struggle to keep his mental faculties intact despite the fact that half of the evil being done in this novel seems targeted at his psyche.  Artie and Keda, who play secondary but absolutely critical roles, are sharply-written and well-characterised, even if I did end up wrinkling my nose at how often the former 'chortled'.  And then there's Heather, who provides a perspective I think most readers will empathise with as she's the "outsider" who is learning about the supernatural entities of the world the others already know about -- she gets some of my favourite lines in the book (literally every page I screencapped because it made me giggle has a line of her dialogue on it):

"What the fuck," Heather screamed, slamming her fist against the steering wheel repeatedly. The horn sounded with each strike. "What the God damn fuck. God damn it. Son of a bitch. Fuck!"
Heather bent down to one knee and gripped her pooch's head with both hands. She pulled the dog's face forward to kiss him. "Shut up, stupid," she cooed. "So stupid. Why you gotta be so stupid?"

Although I managed to nab this book on a free promotion, I'd more than happily have paid for it, and I look forward to purchasing the sequel. I highly recommend this novel to fans of horror, urban fantasy, and noir themes.

[Dragoonfliy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to stumble across an online giveaway of this book and it's sequel (Blood Mother) on the internet. I'm really glad I did.

This is a book that's not at all for the faint of heart or squeamish. It's gross and creepy and weird and all sorts of good things if you're a fan of horror, both of the gross-out blood kind and of more subtle, psychological horror. Part of what I enjoy about this series is it meshes the two types of horror well. Someone on the internet compared it to Silent Hill, which (from what I've played of Silent Hill 2) is a pretty thorough description of the combination of body horror and views into the decay of the pitiful human mind that Dead Roots gets.

Imagery-wise this book is wonderful. Orchards filled with corpses, snake bodied death spirits, massive eyeballs creeping out of people's mouths, it's all here in gory detail. And the characters, while kind of assholes, grow on you.

My only initial issue was that the initial part of the book was a little difficult to get into, but it's necessary considering the sequel. While this is a book that can be read and enjoyed on it's own Blood Mother really strengthens the sections in Dead Roots that I was a little confused about initially.

[Thomas Kaytt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the words of one of the main characters: "you've seen the movie The Exorcist, or maybe Men in Black?"..."Put the two of those together, and that more or less describes our line of work." Dead Roots is part police drama and part fantastic macabre horror in a world where a secret federal agency keeps evil spirits at bay and hidden from the unsuspecting general public.

This is an impressive freshman effort by the author, making sense of the complex supernatural mechanics it presents while investing in characters who are, if not exactly likeable, engaging and understandable. I get the feeling that there is more than a little bit of the autobiographical inside some of the characters which, to me, made the read all that much more engrossing.

Can't wait to read the sequels.

[My Name Is Legion, For We Are Many · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty darn great!

I have to completely agree with most of the reviewers; this book is very good. The author is very talented and has perfected creating a great horror novel while maintaining a sense of humour. I had to stifle many a midnight outburst of laughter to keep from waking my partner! The meat of this book, a government agency developed to police paranormal entities, is not only unique but brilliant as well. I look forward to reading more of this author's work soon.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wood collects threads throughout the genre and brings them together in this well written tale. For most of the book, I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoy it immensely, but there were times when something would lose it's flow. These times were few and far between however and I look forwards to his next work.

[Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I got a sense of what in the world was going on, the story started to flow well. I feel that you have to read some way through in order to really understand what is going on in the beginning. I particularly enjoyed the whole bit once the crew got to Orchard - creepy! I feel that I will eventually read the rest of the series.

[Lotus · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahhh wtf!!! i wanna know whats gonna happen need 2nd book now. I loved this book a great free kindle book, took me by surprise, I also really loved the word choosing and how descriptive the scenes are.

[Heather Seaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was about paranormal activity (I clearly missed something in the description!), so I didn't think I would really get into it, but I definitely did! Great story and character description. I would consider reading more of the Thomas Bell series.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you pick up free books, clinkers are bound to happen. This book was a real clinker. I didn't finish it. The plot was so silly and was taken so seriously, i just couldn't take any more. One star is more than it deserves.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review at http://www.heathermcnamara.net/2013/0...

Awesome horror book. One of a kind villain. Woman positive. Visceral, action-packed, unique.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange story.

[Beth]

FREE ON AMAZON 10/03/14

[Sandy Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't care for it, too convoluted

[Cathy B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick entertaining read, full of suspense, twists, and other-worldly entities. I wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars - not quite a 4 but better than average.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

This was a good book. The writing was easy to follow. It was easy to visualize the surroundings and the characters were relatable. I found it easy to put down and pick up which kept my rating a point lower than if it had been difficult to stop reading. The story was very enjoyable and I could see how it has easily turned into a series.

[Daniel J. Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted at: Daniel J. Weber Creates

There be demons in and out of mind...

Mature-content Rating: R (Disturbing scenes, extreme course language, and sexual content)

What if demons didn't lurk in the corners, filling our nightmares with images of terror, but instead walked among us. What if they walked in our skin? If you could see these demons for what they really are, the nightmares of your childhood becoming reality, what choice would you make? Fight, or flee? Thomas Bell chose the former.

Dead Roots is the story of a man haunted by dreams, images from his past bleeding into his present nightmares. Instead of running from his own demons, he faces the real ones on the supernatural plane, protecting society, covering up any trace of their presence. At least, that's his job. To Thomas Bell, they are indeed real.

The Good:

Brian Geoffrey Wood drops the reader into the action right from the opening scene. The words turn to phrases, then to paragraphs, then to pages, and before the reader is aware they are sucked into the world of Dead Roots. Wood has a wonderful ability to weave culturally important elements into the action and dialogue, letting the reader grow in knowledge as the story he is telling flourishes. No passive voice or extensive amounts of dialogue are needed to "inform the reader" about how the world works. Wood has designed characters that talk to each other as regular people would, in a culture all of their own.

Thomas Bell hunts demons by day, while facing his own at night. Instead of being grazed over, his dreams come to life, popping with realism, his psychological turmoil growing into monstrous word-crafted demons in the reader's head. His nightmares are filled with imagery, setting the scenes with an explosive flavour of delight, like biting into a juicy fruit (or perhaps a rotten fruit. His dream are nightmares, after all...).

Wood uses some quick point of view changes throughout, jumping around the action to keep things moving. Instead of leaving the reader in confusion, or slogging through over-description during intense action, this stylistic choice keeps the pacing up. It also adds suspense. There is nothing like having one character black-out after being punched, or loosing consciousness as they fall into a lake, to get the heart racing like a runaway train.

The Bad:

Some of the scenes end just to jump days later to a place and time unknown to the reader. This, in short, leaves the reader scratching their head, wondering how the story got from the last scene to the next, and questioning what happened in between. One particularly drastic jump in the middle makes the book seem like a new plot has been introduced - the old plot being left on the sidelines. The missing "connecting" scenes make it feel a bit disjointed.

There are small portions of over-description when dealing with the magic system. Instead of showing how it works, Wood opts for describing it. Mostly, this does not get in the way of the book's feel as a whole, but takes away from some of the magic (no pun intended).

Conclusion:

Dead Roots is a decent book and is, for sure, worth your time. Despite a few pacing issues, Wood delivers a gloriously dark tale of horror from the mind of a psychologically tortured soul while he fights other truly tortured souls. If you do not have a stomach for gross images, or are put off by sexual content and lots of profanity, you should give this book a pass. However, if you like to read about the darkness that lives inside and outside of us all, this book is for you.

[Jagged · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting.

I don't know, it was kind of hard to follow. Scenes would switch and I'd have no idea what was going on.

I didn't care for Tom. He's a hard character to like. He's really boring, morose, mundane--even though he has a very interesting job.

I didn't really grasp what the roles were for Operators or how that even worked. I wasn't entirely sure how Analysts worked either. The only job I understood was that of the Medium.

Even though this had some creepy moments, I wasn't really impressed with it. Akebara was an interesting entity, but I don't think it was really done justice, either. The lack of a motive really throws me, as well. I just had a really hard time connecting to the story and understanding what was taking place.

It's not a bad story, I just spent the majority of it trying to figure out what was being shown and told to me by Wood. It isn't articulated in a way that I resonate with, I guess.

I might read the next one.

[Natasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book...haven't been too much scared but I like the world the author created...the idea of demons and fighting them either buy pushing them into a medium (even though I didn't really understand what happens when he gives him over to the next medium) or they just fight them and destroy them. Completely new idea of these demon huntings...I have to admit when Tom came to the Orchard I was spooked there. Too bad that Heather had to finish that way.
I'm definitely going to read the second book.

[Kiley Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This shot right to the top of my favorite books list, a horror novel that wrapped me up in a gripping story with nightmarish visuals but left me craving more. The ending literally made me yell at the book, yell at the friend who gave me the book, and throw it on the bed. Then I got the sequel. Try it, I could sing praises forever but reading is the only way to experience it.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea, could have been written better. Tom works for a branch of the government the deals with supernatural entities. It had good build up, but the end came all of a sudden and left me wanting more (but not in a good way). Some of the twists were seen a mile away, while other things, like a basic description of acronyms you'll use, are left alone for your to try and figure out.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. When two investigators happen upon a town they realize this is the place they need to be. They specialize in the supernatural and they find out that this town has been a little off for a while now. People are dissapearing. As they talk to people and search for missing persons everything just gets weirder and weirder. It is a good book just outside of the norm.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horror isn't usually my thing, so neither was this - read it because Neil Gaiman re-tweeted him, and it was cheap. But it was fun, and happily modern, with a noir feel.

[Kriss · Rating 5 out of 5]

review coming soon. one of the best series read this year

[Kriss · Rating 5 out of 5]

BY far on of the best horror eerie I've read this year and in long time. Full review coming soon

[Babette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found a new author! Today is a good day. I've already picked up book 2.