The Consecration of Jacob Jordaens

by Michael Brown

The Consecration of Jacob Jordaens explores the dark world of an underground sex trafficking ring with paranormal connections.

In the spring of 2001, Jake Jordaens moves with his mother, Lexis, from New Orleans to Providence, R.I. Nearby lives Lexis’ estranged husband, Nick Vaughn, member of a wealthy family, behind whose wealth lays the dark and disturbing crime of child pornography.

Jake’s sanity depends on ending the Vaughn’s nefarious empire, but the Vaughns will do anything to prevent Jake from unraveling their web of lies.

In this paranormal thriller, good and evil choose their favorites. Nineteen year-old Jake is slowly led to the truth by his mentor Moira Connery, a docent at the New Orleans Museum of Voodoo. Meanwhile, although Andrew, patriarch of the Vaughn clan, may be dead, his sordid twisted impulses still motivate family greed and debauchery from the afterlife.

Can Jake stop them? Will he fall victim? Will good or evil prevail? The dead? Or the living?

Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Michael Brown’s background is eclectic. Born in Denver to an American father and a Belgian mother, he was raised in the Midwest, Germany, and California. He earned degrees in English Lit from Stanford and Brown and at Brown was privileged to teach Creative Writing under the tutelage of novelist John Hawkes.

After Brown, a career supporting software development kept him in Rhode Island until 2010, when he relocated to Mexico with his partner, Tom.

Learn more at: www.mjbrownbooks.com

Or for updates subscribe at: http://www.mjbrownbooks.com/5novels

Reviews

[Star]

THE CONSECRATION OF JACOB JORDAENS is a story which pushes the envelope. It contains references to and scenes of child pornography, pedophilia, incest, and rape. Jacob Jordaens has moved to Providence, Rhode Island with his adoptive mother from New Orleans. Jacob has always been sensitive to otherworldly phenomena, but things have been getting progressively worse since moving to the East Coast near his stepfather’s family. The Vaughns are immensely powerful and the family empire was built on a foundation lies, deceit, and debauchery. Andrew, the patriarch of the Vaughn clan, is dead; yet he continues to exert influence over his family from the other side. Is it Jacob’s destiny to topple this evil empire and where does he fit in the tangled skein of this dynasty? THE CONSECRATION OF JACOB JORDAENS is a dark tale of betrayal, lies, and the mystical. The writing is solid, the characters well-developed, and you are taken on a dark, twisted road when reading this book. I personally didn’t care for the subject matter and at times it was hard to determine what was real and what was fantasy, but the book was well written. THE CONSECRATION OF JACOB JORDAENS is billed as a paranormal thriller; however, I think this is a simplistic view considering the depths of emotion the author brings out in the characters and the reader. THE CONSECRATION OF JACOB JORDAENS is a book which readers will not easily put out of their minds.

[David Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Consecration Of Jacob Jordaens by Michael Brown is a different kind of paranormal thriller. It’s a coming of age story that includes alternate lifestyles and alternate religions. This is an original story with odd characters that you don’t see in a lot of books. Even the villains in the story had their good points and everyone in this story is someone you can feel for even though they have a dark side.

The story begins with a nineteen year old boy named Jake and his foster-mother Lexis moving from New Orleans to Providence. Lexis was in New Orleans as part of a coven and is now returning to become an academic. They have a history in Providence, Lexis’ estranged husband Nick Vaughn lives there. Nick’s family is wealthy and is covering up many dark secrets. Meanwhile Jacob is having horrible visions of a rape in a theater and is trying to hold onto his sanity.

Things get worse for Jake in Providence as he starts to find out the Vaughn’s secrets such as their child sex trafficking business and who is really in charge of everything. Jake is pulled in different directions in a power struggle between greedy family members and stuck between a battle of good and evil. He also has to figure out what is real and not real, where he wants to go to college and what his sexual orientation is. Life is not easy when your nineteen and its even harder for Jake.

My favorite characters in this book were Lexis and Karen. Lexis seems to be the only one who has Jacob’s best interests at heart, even though Jake doesn’t see it that way. She may be the most honest person in the book and has a legitimate career, yet she has a dark side because she did marry into the Vaughn clan. On the other end of the spectrum is Karen who is a gold digger and married to Shay. All she wants is to control the Vaughn’s money and she will do anything to have it. Yet when we see how her relationship with Shay starts, we see that she has a good side. Michael Brown does a great job of making all of the characters in this book seem human by showing both the good and bad in everyone and it made all the characters likable.

The Consecration Of Jacob Jordaens was a mixed bag for me, I found the story to be confusing at times because of how it goes from dreams to reality. The book also brings up astral projection quite a bit so I found myself wondering what was real and what was Lexis and Jake’s imagination. That being said I liked all of the characters and despite my confusion on the story, I kept reading to find out what happened to each one. I also liked how voodoo and alternative lifestyles were dealt with in this book. The way the Vaughn family empire is described also made me like this book. The story gets dark at times and it added to the realism of the characters. There are a lot of shades of grey among them and that made for an interesting read. The Consecration Of Jacob Jordaens had its moments and is worth a look if you’re looking for something a little different.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2001, Professor Lexis Jordaens (PhD; Lexy; Coven from Eliphas Levi’s The Great Secret, Page & Queen of Pentacles, Queen of swords, ruler of the North) & her adopted son Jake Jordaens (19) move from New Orleans, LA., to Providence RI. Lexis wealthy estranged husband Nick (Nicholas; twin; bi or gay; pedophile) Vaughn lives close by. Shay Vaughn is her brother-in-law.

Jerry Sandusky deluxe (Penn State) here, along with all the others & especially the 1,000 of Catholic priests.

A tribute to the 9/11/2001 victims.

What are these encrypted codes: BE, BBP, GBS, UAB?

Will Lexis, Moira & Zette be able to take down this international child porn trafficking ring run by the Vaughn family?

I did a power point presentation for a counseling class on this subject matter.

My favorite city of all the 1’s I’ve lived in (23+). We later moved to an apartment on Lake Ponchatrain. I grew up real fast.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. Wow, a fairly well written powerful mysterious sex (incest, pedophile, bi, gay, hetero, pederast) & drugs & even paranormal/urban fantasy (voodoo) book. It wasn’t always very easy to read/follow from start/finish, but never a dull moment. No grammar errors, or repetitive, or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make great sex movie or mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free book (Story Cartel)
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Jordaens moves from New Orleans to Providence, Rhode Island with his adoptive mother Lexis. At the tender age of 19 Jake is struggling with paranormal visions, college admissions, and his own identity - due to being adopted and also confusion as to his own sexual persuasion. Combine all this with falling into an underground ring of mafia run illegal activities primarily consisting of child pornography marketing both videos and children to pedophiles, and poor Jake has quite a lot on his plate.

This was a very quick read, most of it in one sitting as it was a bit hard to put down. This book is not for young adults nor the faint of heart as to the illicit subject matter that it does cover. While the descriptions are not entirely graphic, the author does a good job of providing the reader with mental images that could be hard for sensitive or squeamish readers to deal with.

[Roger - president of NBR United - · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. this book really packed a punch in this paranormal/urban fantasy novel. The story centers around the Vaughn family with its veneer of high class in Rhode Island. There is alot of mystical elements and the story also deals with child prostitution and abuse. that any of the characters in this story seem close to sane is amazing. now this is one of those books that you can go either way on. There is a lot of love here but it also hits alot of triggers from non/dub consent, child sex, rape, incest, violence, exhibition. I liked the story but could have done without alot of the triggers. I can't say that I recommend it, but if this story flip your switch it is well written.

[Jesena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I really liked this book. It held my attention and I breezed though it. Mysterious visions, family secrets, shocking truths and a plot that connects it all. Well written, skillful transitions between past and present, different points of view and somehow event paranormal elements that are not out of place. Also this book is not for the squeamish.There are some disturbing elements and while there isn't anything too graphic it is graphic enough and implications are strong. I'm looking forward to a sequel.

[Jeani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absorbing. The characters and plot line are well done and I was engaged with the story from the first page, and although uncomfortable with the occult angle, I continued to read it through because the story grabbed me and didn't let go. I would recommend this as a great fall read - dark and mesmerizing. I would not recommend this book to young people, but rather grounded adults. The author writes in clear language that makes it easy to read. [I was given a copy of this book to read and review from StoryCartel. My opinions are my own.]

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Brown has a way of painting vivid pictures with his pen of the scenes and the characters, and taking you into the surreal and sometimes twisted world of his characters. He has a way of peaking your interest and making you to want to turn the pages to see what happens next. A dark but fun and interesting read with a little bit of everything in it. The quirky characters will keep you guessing. Good suspense with some paranormal thrown in for good measure. I'd definitely check it out if I were you!

[Jerome Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brown has created a thriller, with paranormal and mystical elements. The people in the book are pursued by private demons, and this adds to the dark elements in the book. Brown is a master of the craft. Good work!

[Giselle]

Great paranormal thriller!