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Red Light
To anyone who sees her, Ella Mattera is just a normal six year old, a pretty little girl with bouncy blonde locks and an adorable smile. Even her parents, Jenny and Luke, know no different. That is until the day that Ella starts predicting when people are going to die. Even as Jenny and Luke try to cope with the shock of their daughter's frightening new ability,there are others who want to use Ella for their own good, to harness her power, and who will stop at nothing to gain possession of her. But Ella is not alone, and as the Mattera's face the battle of their lives to keep their little girl safe, the truth that is waiting for them threatens to tear their world apart in a way they could never have expected. "WD Jackson most definitely shows promise as a well-crafted suspense writer" - Dave Gammon, Horrornews.net
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 20, 2014
This book set in America stretches the boundaries between thriller, paranormal and SF. Anyone keen on this blend should have a good time with the tale and the several sympathetic characters. Be warned: there is a body-count similar to The Terminator, which came as a bit of a shock. Someone who doesn't mind this component might give a better rating.
Ella is a normal, pretty little girl, much loved as she was the result of assisted fertility treatment. Her mother doesn't know what to make of it when aged six, Ella starts predicting the deaths of people nearby. Stressed out after a prediction comes true, Jenny tries to explain to her husband Luke. An overheard remark fires the imagination of a magazine writer who concocts an article about 'gifted' children and this causes a reaction from a sinister laboratory, like the one in Northern Lights (Golden Compass) where children are the subject of experiments and torture.
Little Scotty is a kid in this lab and he sits in a cell refusing to demonstrate his paranormal talent. An older girl called Regina decides to make a break for it and take Scotty with her, because together they will be stronger than alone.
What I did not like was the constant and luridly described deaths. Danger can be demonstrated effectively by means other than hails of bullets and walls covered in blood. I also did not like the segment where Jenny stumbles into a house full of thuggery and immediate peril, without so much as a can of pepper spray, but her friend and her husband decide not to bother calling the police, in case it might get them into trouble. This is entirely unconvincing. I know what I'd want my husband to do. The gory search by a thug for a spent bullet is also unconvincing; such people treat guns as disposable and chuck them in a river so they never tie two scenes together or get linked to a crime.
I liked the paranormal abilities, which ranged towards superpowers but had a scientific meddling basis, and I was cheering for those kids - and an unfortunate babysitter. Let's hope the kids get out of counselling sometime before they graduate.
A niggle is that the writing style is colloquial and I lost count of how many times a person was sat outside or was stood outside. The story could read more smoothly if this didn't keep jarring on the eye. I'll be interested to see what direction Will Jackson takes next, as he clearly uses a strong and detailed imagination to produce his work.
Ella is a normal, pretty little girl, much loved as she was the result of assisted fertility treatment. Her mother doesn't know what to make of it when aged six, Ella starts predicting the deaths of people nearby. Stressed out after a prediction comes true, Jenny tries to explain to her husband Luke. An overheard remark fires the imagination of a magazine writer who concocts an article about 'gifted' children and this causes a reaction from a sinister laboratory, like the one in Northern Lights (Golden Compass) where children are the subject of experiments and torture.
Little Scotty is a kid in this lab and he sits in a cell refusing to demonstrate his paranormal talent. An older girl called Regina decides to make a break for it and take Scotty with her, because together they will be stronger than alone.
What I did not like was the constant and luridly described deaths. Danger can be demonstrated effectively by means other than hails of bullets and walls covered in blood. I also did not like the segment where Jenny stumbles into a house full of thuggery and immediate peril, without so much as a can of pepper spray, but her friend and her husband decide not to bother calling the police, in case it might get them into trouble. This is entirely unconvincing. I know what I'd want my husband to do. The gory search by a thug for a spent bullet is also unconvincing; such people treat guns as disposable and chuck them in a river so they never tie two scenes together or get linked to a crime.
I liked the paranormal abilities, which ranged towards superpowers but had a scientific meddling basis, and I was cheering for those kids - and an unfortunate babysitter. Let's hope the kids get out of counselling sometime before they graduate.
A niggle is that the writing style is colloquial and I lost count of how many times a person was sat outside or was stood outside. The story could read more smoothly if this didn't keep jarring on the eye. I'll be interested to see what direction Will Jackson takes next, as he clearly uses a strong and detailed imagination to produce his work.
November 13, 2014
Great thriller
The red light has nothing to do with. ladies of the night. The little girl Ellis sees the red light over people who are soon going die. As you can imagine this causes her parents distress and sets into motion the rest of the plot. The action scenes are well written and kept me turning pages to the end. The only negative comment is that the scenes change often and caused temporary confusion, but I enjoyed the book and will be trying other books by this author.
The red light has nothing to do with. ladies of the night. The little girl Ellis sees the red light over people who are soon going die. As you can imagine this causes her parents distress and sets into motion the rest of the plot. The action scenes are well written and kept me turning pages to the end. The only negative comment is that the scenes change often and caused temporary confusion, but I enjoyed the book and will be trying other books by this author.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews