A new resident of
America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida,
fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden suddenly finds himself up to his eyeballs
in frightening paranormal experiences. At the end of his rope in trying
to figure out what is happening to him, Jeff decides to rely on his
friend Carla Rodriguez, and Lobo, an old Native American shaman, for
help.
Despite this guidance, things get even worse. Jeff’s spine tingling encounters increase in number and intensity at an alarming rate, scaring him even more. Eventually, he makes the startling discovery that unresolved circumstances involving a bloody event directly out of Florida’s distant past threatens his sanity and possibly his life.
Finally, overwhelmed by forces he cannot understand or control, Jeff’s world shifts from frightening to downright terrifying. In desperation, and on Lobo’s advice, he leaps headlong into the unknown in order to save himself. What Jeff discovers though is that he has entered a level of reality he is completely unprepared to handle while unwittingly dragging Carla with him.
Like all the books in THE ST. AUGUSTINE TRILOGY, the premise for Sliding Beneath the Surface is simply this: You create your own reality.
Despite this guidance, things get even worse. Jeff’s spine tingling encounters increase in number and intensity at an alarming rate, scaring him even more. Eventually, he makes the startling discovery that unresolved circumstances involving a bloody event directly out of Florida’s distant past threatens his sanity and possibly his life.
Finally, overwhelmed by forces he cannot understand or control, Jeff’s world shifts from frightening to downright terrifying. In desperation, and on Lobo’s advice, he leaps headlong into the unknown in order to save himself. What Jeff discovers though is that he has entered a level of reality he is completely unprepared to handle while unwittingly dragging Carla with him.
Like all the books in THE ST. AUGUSTINE TRILOGY, the premise for Sliding Beneath the Surface is simply this: You create your own reality.
I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange of an honest review.
Sliding Beneath The Surface is a really original book in the young-adult genre. There's a bit of everything: history, paranormalcy, superstition, even romance. The plot revolves around the legend of St. Augustine. This was the first time I came across the legend and I thank Doug Dillon for putting in so much research and presenting the myth so excellently in his book. It is commendable.
The characters were fairly solid: Jeff Golden is the fifteen year old main character, Carla Rodriguez is his spunky friend for whom he happens to have feelings, and Lobo is the shaman who appears tough and scary initially but eventually reveals the wise side of himself. The shamanism aspect of the novel really delighted me because I have never come across it before. As you can see, Sliding Beneath The Surface provided a really refreshing reading experience. It was not stereotypical as many young adult books these days. The plot was very original and interesting, and I think Doug Dillon did a great job in writing it.
About the only drawback I came across in this book was Jeff's narration. The book is written in the first person from Jeff's perspective. I felt that his narration was lacking something. It seemd slightly incomplete. It was too detailed for a fifteen year old teen. Other than that, Sliding Beneath The Surface was a very good read that I personally enjoyed. I give it four out of five star ratings and I recommend it to not just young adults, but kids and adults as well.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment