Going Under

The Oracles of St. Ambrose #1

by Jennifer M. Barry

Chase Bradford, king of New York City’s high school elite, is dragged to Nashville for his senior year at St. Ambrose Academy. On his second day, the Queen Bee is found dead in the school swimming pool. Chase isn’t surprised, since he saw a vision on the water’s surface during swim practice just hours before Cheyenne died.

Before Chase can properly freak out, he discovers snarky writer Natalie and narcoleptic computer genius Bryan also possess unusual abilities. The three must work together to discover how Cheyenne died and why…before the killer can get away with it. But Natalie and Bryan are from different social circles and pose a threat to Chase's elite status. High school politics are nothing new to Chase, but the psychic abilities are.

The list of suspects isn’t surprising, since few people actually liked the popular queen of the elite. Chase, Natalie, and Bryan follow every vision, every lead – even Cheyenne's own father – right up to the shocking end.

Genres: Young Adult

215 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2013

About the author

Jennifer Barry started her entertainment career on a stage but ended up behind a keyboard. The writer’s life is much better suited to her introverted nature, but she uses her opera training at karaoke on occasion. She lives in Nashville with her hilarious Irish husband, Liam, who’s found moderate Internet fame among Jen’s Facebook friends and blog followers.

Reviews

[Sandi Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery wrapped up in a coming-of-age, teenaged blushing-romance.

And it's the GUY who's doing the "I've got a CRUSH on her" thing, which I think is totally adorable.

Jennifer Barry weaves an interesting story with a deft hand in this YA tale. Chase, our hero, is our narrator as well. A transplanted Manhattan-ite, he's been relocated to Nashville and slides into the local Elite crew at his new school with ease.

But, that's not where he finds his true comfort zone.

Between startling shocks of prescience to the surprise of being attracted to a non-Elite type girl, Chase has some growing up to do WHILE trying to help solve a murder mystery.

NON SPOILER NOTE: I love the nickname Cinnamon and hope SHE finds herself enjoying it, too.

Hope there are more Oracles of St. Ambrose books in the works!

[Jules Goud · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book!

And man, was it good! A fabulous blend of murder, mystery, paranormal, romance and surprises!

At first, I thought that I wasn't going to like Chase. I mean, he is talking about social status and to me, the blurb sorta made it seem like that was all he cared about. However, I was wrong. Chase is actually a great guy and I enjoyed having the book from his perspective. He wasn't all the worried about social status (in fact, he hated most of the 'elite') but, more worried about disappointing Natalie and Bryan as he was supposed to be. I just just as appalled as he was with Savannah's behaviour so I'm really happy with him.

I was glad to see Natalie, a girl who wasn't afraid of the social status and who didn't care that the queen bee of the school was attacking her. It was nice to see a girl who was ok with herself and not willing to let anyone take that away from her. I'm really interested to know how she started to ride with Savannah and Madison to school.

I honestly found this book very unique. I loved how the mystery and paranormal really tied in nicely together. Sometimes, that can be disconnected, but in this one, it worked very well! I loved the idea of bringing in Orcales and the fact that Natalie and Bryan could all 'see' the future in different ways. It is almost like the three of them are given different clues and must find a way to make them fit with each other. With the mystery, they jumped from one theory to another theory meaning that it always kept you on your toes!

Really well done novel. I loved reading it! With the balance and the fact that it kept you on your toes, I couldn't put it down! Not at all what I was expecting and I'm excited to see where it will lead!

[Jane]

Going Under: The Oracles of St. Ambrose by Jennifer M Barry

4 Stars

When Chase moves to a new town with his father the last thing he expects is for a student to be murdered in the pool of his new school on his first day, but that is exactly what happens. And to make matters worse he seems psychically connected to the victim somehow. Realising that he is not the only person experiencing these new visions, Chase becomes friends with an unlikely pair, Bryan and Cinnamon.

Going Under is an unusual story with a mixed bag of genre; it’s a murder mystery with a paranormal twist wrapped in a coming of age drama! The three students attempt to solve the murder/accidental death of a fellow student by using powers they believe to have inherited from The Oracles, all the while trying to get around the social aspects of being in high school and mixing with the right group.

Chase is a likable character, he basically chooses to spend time and sit with the ‘not so popular’ kids, much to the disgust of the schools ‘new’ queen bee Savannah. Cinnamon AKA Natalie is a confident girl who doesn’t care what people say or think about her, and I think she has just as much of a crush on Chase as he does on her! The characters are relatable and have a realism to their personalities that makes the reader connect with them.

I found this book quite interesting and the ending had a nice twist that I didn’t work out in advance. It was an easy quick read that I completed over a couple of nights and would like to continue the series to see who the fourth member of their group is going to be and where their new found gifts will take them.

Copy supplied for review

[Ashley N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going Under is the first book in the Oracles of St. Ambrose series. Chase Bradford is new to Nashville, a recent transplant from NYC, and not at all happy about what he views as a serious downgrade in atmosphere and lifestyle. After swim team practice on his first day at St. Ambrose Academy, he see a vision of blood and death in the water. The next day, the head mean girl of the school is found drowned in the pool. Chase is understandably freaked out. Why did he have that vision, and why does he keep having other visions every time he is alone in the water? He discovers his classmates Natalie and Bryan also possess strange abilities that tie into his own. They form a precarious partnership to investigate the death, pursue the killer, and learn more about what they can do alone and together.
I thought the author did a nice job of weaving in the special abilities of the characters parallel to the overall mystery plot. The mythology behind those abilities is creative. Just enough explanation is given for it to make sense, but I suspect much more history and development is still to come.
After some surprising twists, the mystery plot is resolved by the book's end. However, lots of questions remain regarding their abilities. I also liked how Chase's relationship with his father improved over the course of the book. I do hope the next book in the series will be along soon. I was really into this one at the end.

Intended for older young adult readers, but enjoyable by all.

**I received a copy of this book for free from the author through Goodreads First Reads.

[Victoria Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new school, hot boys, psychic powers and a dead queen Bee.
I received 'Going Under' as part of a Goodreads give away and was super excited when I found a thank you card inside from Jennifer M. Barry in addition to it being signed. I thought it was such a nice gesture. So thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm not going to lie but it took me a long time to be able to look at the cover and not hate it. But by now I have leant to live with it. I don't have any problem with the main guy on the cover, who I presume to be Chase Bradford, but I don't like the pictures of Cinnamon and Bryan.
This is the first book I've read in which characters have psychic powers so I don't have anything to compare it to but I really enjoyed it. Although at times it leaned towards the more stereotypical story on the whole it was believable(to the extent it can be when three characters are in possession of psychic powers).

I was so sure that the fourth oracle was Knox, so sure I would've bet money on it and then... well I'n not really going to say it but if you've read it you know what happened with Knox. I was so disappointed in him. Why Knox, why? But I was so annoyed that we didn't get to find out who the fourth oracle was because now I'll have to read the next book just to find out! Another character I'd have liked to see more of was Mrs(Miss?) Delano, the classics teacher, so hopefully there'll be more of her in the next book.

[David Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every now and then I get surprised when I read genres I usually stay away from. I must admit young adult paranormal is not my thing. In fact, the only reason I bought this book was because the first two books by this author I found exceptional. After reading the description on the back of the book, I could almost guess the storyline: brutally handsome guys, really hot girls, everyone had money, and everyone drove imported sports cars. “Ugh,” I thought, here we go again. I was in for one of those surprises.

Main character, Chase, in the beginning, was one of those popular, intelligent, handsome and athletic guys we nerds didn’t like in high school. However, events in the story were actually a maturing process for him. He began to see the false value and even silliness in the superficial way his life was progressing. In many ways, this is a bildungsroman story.

As in another novel, The Kingdom, author Barry bases her paranormal in more classical mythology, a refreshing change from the usual werewolves and vampires. Anyone who has read Greek mythology will enjoy this revisit. Her descriptions of extra-ordinary phenomena are exceptional.

There is plenty of tension in the story to keep one reading, a shocking ending, and the three unique primary characters grow to work well together. I highly recommend Going Under, and that’s something you will rarely hear me say about paranormal.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the lovely Jen and powered right through it on my day off...can't wait to read the next one whenever it comes out. It was also kind of refreshing to read from a male's POV...another great book Jen! :)

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going Under by Jennifer M. Barry is a fast-paced read which reminisced Christopher Pike's YA paranormal novels for this adult fan--high school reality meets murder mystery with a just-right touch of weird.

Strong storytelling and excellent writing entertained from page 1 onward. Ms. Barry nails the cocky but good-natured voice of rich new kid Chase Bradford, who is none too thrilled with leaving his life in NYC for the halls of St. Ambrose Academy in Nashville TN. Being one of the elite is his birthright, but his disturbing new visions place him in the social-strata-straddling position of sharing secrets and comparing notes with his uncool, gifted friends Cinnamon and Bryan while navigating the requirements of the In crowd in search of a killer.

In short, a great book. The language is a little salty for my taste but definitely realistic, and the budding romance between two principle characters (trying not to be spoily here!) couldn't be sweeter.

Next in series, please!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Barry captures an authentic male teen voice in her book. I liked how Chase had to challenge himself in terms of his relationships with his father and with his peers. The different talents of the friends are also neat to explore, and I liked the historical oracle references. The actual mystery of what happened kept pushing me to read along.

I was surprised at the actual culprit, and I actually wanted a more devious ending. However, I think it was believable for a YA read to have that type of conclusion. My only qualm was I thought Barry was hinting for further things to occur--I thought she would add in the other major character, but perhaps she's saving that for the sequel.

Overall, a unique read involving teenage angst and a hint of the supernatural.