Obsidian

Glamour Stone #1

by Joshua Dagon

Aden has been living the Las Vegas high life with his friends Bliss and Nash. When an alluring stranger disrupts their charmed lives, Aden finds that he must use his own talents to confront a very powerful and deadly threat.

Genres: Paranormal

45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 2008

Reviews

[Lynxie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this 45 page book certainly got my attention.

Psychics, clairvoyants, demons, witches and call girls all writhe about in the sinful city of Las Vegas around our protagonist Aden. Aden sees patterns and had an uncanny ability to sense things about people, like when they're lying or about to die.

Aden and his two best friends end up getting involved with the alluring stranger and things start to get dicey.

A nice mix of paranormal and mystery, this is a short opening to the Glamour Stone Series.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aden is clairvoyant, an ability which provides him with insight into a person’s true character and circumstances in life. He can instantly detect when a person is lying, and enjoys toying with people by convincing them he believes their lies. At the extreme, Aden’s ability sometimes allows him to see the shadow of Death lingering near a person as the end approaches. Unfortunately, all of these talents make Aden quite desirable to other beings, including powerful witches and demons.

This is an intense story which has packed a lot into only 29 pages. I felt the need to read it a few times in order to even begin to grasp all of the subtleties in the story. Dagon weaves back and forth between 3rd person and 1st person, from Aden’s meeting with a psychic Mercia, who he goes to for help, to his retelling of the events that have transpired. This helped draw me into Aden’s story, creating an emotional connection to the character while advancing the story.

The relationships between Aden and his friends Bliss and Nash are complex and intriguing. Their indulgence in all that their life of partying has to offer cannot completely overshadow the love that exists between them. Bliss and Nash are made for one another, and Aden loves them both dearly which ultimately makes his friends a target of Reilly’s scheme.

Overall, this is a story of how perceptions can mask reality and how things are not always as they appear. The final scene is unexpected and a compelling and thought provoking ending to this multifaceted story.