Warning Signs

by Sheila Englehart

After attending a seance a writer is able to see and hear some unsavory dead people, and one who needs real help. While trying to keep her business, her boyfriend, and her sanity, Kellan Brooks sets out to track down a skeptic with an urgent message from his brother who died twenty years before.

250 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2012

About the author

Sheila began her writing career in feature film scripts, switched to novels, and is currently working in nonfiction. All following metaphysical themes.

She reads practical tarot to help people get unstuck at their crossroads.

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kellan didn’t really intend to go to a séance, but it was hard to get out of it once her friend had brought her there. Besides, the experience might give her a story to ease her writer’s block. But Kellan and her friend both get more than they expect when they ignore these warning signs. This “spirit virgin” finds herself “typing at a rate of speed she’d never known herself capable” while a dead young man insists on invading her dreams. Meanwhile a film crew investigate life after death, and two storylines are set to converge.

In a small town where church-goers, and especially Kellan’s boyfriends’ mother, really don’t approve of the paranormal, Kellan’s growing insistence on the reality of what she’s seen, and the need to do something about it, soon leave her ostracized and alone. Author Sheila Englehart handles the conflict deftly and honorably, with pleasing quiet humor, touches of honest faith and doubt, and great characters with genuine concern for each other.

The plot’s intriguing. The lifestyles of TV host and house-cleaner are equally convincingly portrayed. And the story’s an enjoyable blend of urban fantasy with very thought-provoking real-world “warning signs.”

Disclosure: I was lucky enough to get a free ecopy of this novel and I’m just sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it.

[Steve Lindahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kellan is suffering from writers' block. She sits at her computer, hoping something will come, but she can't find her muse. She is like Mark in the play RENT, wishing for “one song to leave behind.” In her frustration, Kellan wishes for her story on a birthday candle (actually a candle she stuck in a Little Debbie snack cake when celebrating alone). Soon after that wish her friend Jade invites her to a séance where Kellan is pulled into a terrifying story that changes her life.

Warning Signs by Sheila Englehart is the story of a woman in her late thirties who is sensitive to paranormal activity and is sought out by Connor, a dead man, who needs her help. Connor wants her to contact his brother, Anthony, to explain the circumstances of Connor's suicide. He wants Anthony to finally get over the trauma and on with his life. He also wants to protect Anthony from the dark force behind his suicide.

This novel has some interesting characters: a few dead people, a villain known as a leech, and a Roman soldier with a British accent, among others. It also has some gripping moments for readers interested in the occult: a séance and the use of astral projection, among others. But what I found I liked the most was the way Englehart presented real world situations within the paranormal story. Much of the story is about the attempts of two brothers trying to reconcile. And there's another story woven into the plot, about the mixed feelings a woman can have when dealing with a man who loves her, but is overly protective. Englehart's characters are real no matter what world they're from. That's what gives her novel its heart.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul and White Horse Regressions

[Susannah]

A little bit 'urban fantasy', a little bit mystery; 'Kinsey Millhone meets paranormal underworld.' Intriguing & suspenseful, had me hooked until the end!! Great job, Ms. Englehart! http://www.sheilaenglehart.com/