The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford, Jr.

 

Do you believe in the paranormal such as aliens, bigfoot, ghosts, other supernatural beings?  I am always curious.

Stanley Milford Jr. grew up in multiple worlds with a Navajo father and Cherokee mother.  He learned native culture and traditions but also grew up in the white world.  As an adult, he became a Navajo Ranger serving the very large (27,000 square miles) area of the Navajo Nation.  Along the way he had many encounters with the paranormal.

My thoughts on this book:

·       I really liked the Navajo creation story and myths that were interspersed between each chapter.

·       There were great pictures of Stanley Milford Jr. throughout his life as well as sketches of paranormal creatures.

·       I found this book to be very interesting.  Milford takes a police perspective to each investigation.  He can determine some are hoaxes, while others have no apparent explanation.  He had an interesting theory that there could be interdimensional travel happening to explain strange appearances.

·       It was interesting that one witness was able to get trail cam footage of a bigfoot and that the DNA analysis of the hair fibers came back inconclusive for the type of mammal.

·       Milford had a LOT of area to cover with not many rangers.

·       The book had an interesting discussion about how perhaps some areas see more paranormal activity than others, such as Gettysburg.

·       Milford was in a few documentaries on paranormal activity and now I want to see them.  He was on Unsolved Mysteries and Beyond Skinwalker Ranch just to name a couple.

·       This book was a good mix of memoir, native mythology, and paranormal investigations.

·       It was a quick read with a good index.

·       It was nice that Milford was able to listen to and help those who “regular” police would typically dismiss with their paranormal experiences.

Favorite Quotes:

“Overall, I found that treating people like fellow human beings instead of being badge-heavy always resulted in more compliance.  I was a member of the community, and that’s how I conducted myself on the job.”

“That’s what was different about paranormal cases as opposed to my usual, everyday ones.  These cases made me wonder What If?  They sent my mind whirring in all directions.”

Overall, The Paranormal Ranger was a very interesting memoir of a Navajo Ranger and his investigations into paranormal activity.

Book Source:  Review copy from William Morrow Books. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz

 

Title:  The Night Island:  The Lost Night Files, Book 2

Author:  Jayne Ann Krentz

Narrated by:  Eva Kaminsky

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

What is your favorite island to visit?  While I dream of visiting a tropical island, I’d say my favorite island to visit is Mackinac Island in Michigan.  I love the Victorian charm, the history, and that there are no motorized vehicles on the island.  It’s like stepping back in time.

The Night Island is a paranormal romantic mystery.   Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers host a podcast that investigates cold cases.  They all have psychic abilities and believe that a shared experience from months ago that they cannot remember gave them these abilities.  When a fan, Phoebe, calls with a lead, Talia goes to meet her.  She does not find Phoebe, but does find Luke Rand, a man with psychic abilities also looking for answers.  The two of them follow clues to find Phoebe and end up on Night Island.  Night Island is the location of a remote retreat in the Pacific Northwest that advertises an unplugged experience.  It turns out that Phoebe is not the first guest to disappear on the island, and she will not be the last.  Will Talia and Luke be able to solve the mystery and leave the island alive?

Night Island is very creepy and has glowing, carnivorous plants.  I liked the suspense, and quick moving story.  I also liked the romantic tension between Talia and Luke.  This paranormal novel reminded me of the X-Men with Wolverine searching for his past and trying to determine what had happened to him. 

This is the second book in the Lost Night Files.  I did not realize that until I started reading the book.  The book did well as a standalone novel, but I would like to go back and read the first book in the series. 

I read this audiobook in January for the 2024 Brenda Novak Book Group Reading Challenge.  I enjoyed Eva Kaminsky’s narration of the audiobook.

A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie

 

Do you have a favorite ghostly romance that you enjoy?  Mostly what I can think of were movies such as Ghost and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie was my last spooky time read earlier this month.  Gemma has been able to see ghosts since she was a child.  After she accidentally kisses Levi, he now appears in human form.  Levi was accidentally killed due to a food allergy and is desperately trying to get back to his sister by helping Gemma to find her way back to her sister.  Gemma has recently discovered that she had a twin sister, but that her parents only adopted her.   Levi and Gemma have to start a fake relationship to explain why he is suddenly always around Gemma.  Being together so much starts to turn feelings from fake to real.  Will Gemma find her sister and start a relationship with her?  Will Levi be able become a real human again?

I enjoyed this unique story, although it did move rather slow for me.  I liked the family drama and feelings about adoption.  I also liked the chemistry between Gemma and Levi.  I will admit though that I was weirded out a bit with Levi being a ghost.  This is a good read though if you want to read a romantic ghost story without any scary bits.

Review Copy from Netgalley.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke

 

Title:  When Life Gives You Vampires

Author:  Gloria Duke

Narrated by: Meg Sylvan

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 54 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Netgalley and Dreamscape Media.  Thank-you!

 What is your favorite vampire story, book, or movie?

 Lily Baines wakes up one morning feeling off.  She soon discovers she has fangs and a craving for blood.  When she talks through things with her best friend, she regains her memories and realizes that after she left with a hot stranger, Tristan, that he accidentally turned her into a vampire.  She is not happy with the situation, but after he turns up and tells her that they broke vampire law, they team up to stay safe.  As their feelings for each other grow, will they find romance, and will they be able to beat Tristan’s mortal enemy?

 I enjoyed this novel, but it’s hard to describe.  It’s a fun and humorous paranormal romance with some steamy parts.  It’s also an adventure at the end as well.   I found myself laughing a lot during this book.  Lily has problems with body positivity as she is overweight, and her mother makes sure she doesn’t forget it.  When she realizes that she will always now remain overweight for eternity it crushes her.  In the book she has to learn about feeling positive about herself and also realizing that she herself has also shamed someone else for their body.  I thought it was an interesting angle.  I also just liked the silly parts such as Lily being glad that she shaved her legs so that her legs will remain hairless for all time.  Her thoughts as she navigates now being a vampire seemed real for how someone would think about such things.  I thought it was entertaining.  I also loved the pop culture references.  Lily does swear quite a bit in this book.

 Meg Sylvan had a fun voice for Lily in the book and I thought of her as the character. 

 

Haunted Tales Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger

 

Do you have a favorite ghost story, book, movie, or character?  I used to love Caspar the friendly ghost when I was growing up.  We are currently watching the show Ghosts on Paramount Plus.  My favorite ghost story is probably the Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

I was happy to be able to review Haunted Tales, Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It is a perfect book for the season.  It is a great collection of “classic stories of ghosts and the supernatural.”  The book starts with an interesting introduction by editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It discusses how the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century also brought about mass murder.  The Napoleonic wars killed more than four million people.  Those left behind were looking for new ways to communicate with their loved ones.  Ghost stories became a popular genre.  They were found in popular magazines and were especially popular at Christmas time, for example the spirits in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They were published all year round though and not just for holidays.

I loved how this anthology included stories from well-known authors such as Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf, but I loved even more that it included stories from authors that were popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth century but aren’t as well read now.  At the start of each story, there was a biography of the author. I like the biographies as much as the stories.  There were great footnotes throughout the stories to fill in the historical references. 

I found the stories to be fascinating and spooky.  They gave gothic vibes which would thrill Catherine Morland from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.  All of these stories were new to me, and I was happy to finally read “The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde”.  I have to admit, “The Canterville Ghost” was my absolute favorite story in this collection.  It was both hilarious and heartwarming.  It was also beautifully written.  The Canterville Ghost is pretty proud of all of his shenanigans through the years, but when an American Minister and his family move into the estate, he can’t seem to scare them.  Worse still, the young twin sons start to terrify the ghost.  It is the daughter of the family though who really figures out the mystery of the Canterville Ghost.  I thought “They” by Rudyard Kipling was a poignant story especially knowing from the bio at the start of the story that he had lost his own young child. 

I also enjoyed the Gothic splendor of “The Cold Embrace” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.  “He was an artist – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to artists.  He was a German – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to Germans.  He was young, handsome, studious, enthusiastic, metaphysical, reckless, unbelieving, heartless.  And being young, handsome and eloquent, he was beloved.”  He loves his cousin Gertrude, and she loves him.  They promise to devote each other until death, but while his love strays, Gertrude’s remains even after death. 

One last story call out was “M. Anastasius” by Dinah Mulock.  Charles Dickens himself thought it was the best ghost story ever written.  I enjoyed it.  It was also Gothic and haunting about two young lovers that are haunted by the ghost of the young woman’s guardian who was lost at sea. 

I loved in the notes for “The Canterville Ghost” that it discussed that the phrase in this story “England and America are two countries divided a common language” was first seen in this story although it is commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw.  I had just seen this elsewhere lately attributed to Shaw and I thought this was interesting information.

I highly recommend this collection for lovers of all spooky tales!

Review Copy from Pegasus Books.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling

 

Do you have any sequels you are looking forward to?

I loved the Ex Hex last year and was excited to see the follow-up novel, The Kiss Curse was being published this year. 

Gwen Jones lives in Graves Glen Georgia and runs a store that sells witchy items to tourists with her mom and cousin, Vivi.  She has a wonderful talking cat named Sir Purrcival and has started to help and tutor some “baby witches” from the local college.  Gwen’s life changes when Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow moves to town from Wales and sets up a competing store.  Gwen had a run in with Wells in college and has always considered him handsome, but snooty.  Now that he is in town, will the two kill each other in their rivalry or will something else develop?    Why do Gwen’s powers seem to be decreasing and what does her old college acquaintance, Morgan, arriving back in town have to do with it?

This book is light hearted magical fun in the vein of Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, or Bewitched.  It really is a good book for the Halloween season.  The romance is the enemies to lovers trope, which is one of my favorites.  The spice in this book is hot.  I liked that the book focused mostly on their relationship, but I did like the comedy provided by the baby witches and Sir Purrcival.  Wells’s hairy brother Browen also made an appearance and I’m hoping that means he will get his own book next year.  The book ends with excitement and some action due to the mystery of Morgan and Gwen’s disappearing powers which led to a good ending.  I enjoyed this one!

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Imogen Hermes Gowar

 

What is your favorite ghost story, novel, or movie?

 The Haunting Season was the perfect book to read over Halloween weekend.  I meant to post this review last weekend, but the weekend got away from me!

 The Haunting Season is “eight ghostly tales for long winter nights.”  I loved them.  Most of the stories were set in the past, in particular, Victorian times, but there were also some modern stories.  They were very spooky and inspired by telling spooky stories around a fire in winter.  They are very atmospheric type of old-fashioned stories and I enjoyed them.

 My favorite stories in the collection were:

  ‘A Study in Black and White’ by Bridget Collins which is a story about a man coming to a village and seeing a mysterious house with a chess theme to the gardening.  He decides to rent it and soon finds out that the chess loving former owner may still be around.

 ‘Thwaite’s Tenant’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar is the story of a woman who has taken her son and left her cheating husband.  She soon discovers that leaving with her father may not have been a good idea.

 ‘Lily Wilt’ by Jess Kidd tells the tale of a photographer that falls in love with the dead girl who he has been sent to take pictures.  What will he do to bring her back?

 ‘The Chillingham Chair’ by Laura Purcell is the story of a girl in a wheelchair getting ready to celebrate the wedding of her sister.  She soon starts to realize that the wheelchair may be haunted, and that her sister’s fiancé may have secrets of his own.

 ‘The Hanging of the Greens’ by Andrew Michael Hurley is a spooky story that involves Christmas holly in a way I’ve never heard from before.  I liked how the story was told in a unique way.

 My least favorite story was ‘The Eel Singers’ by Natasha Pulley.  I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in this story.  I looked it up and saw that in involves characters from other books she’s written.  If you like her books, then this story is for you.  Otherwise, not really.

 Overall, The Haunting Season is the perfect book of spooky stories to read by the fire.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Pegasus Crime.  Thank-you!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

 

What is your favorite book or movie that contains time travel elements?

I have loved time travel since I was a kid watching Star Trek, Back to the Future, and Somewhere in Time.  I love to read any books with time travel elements involved.  One Last Stop is the June selection for the Brenda Novak Book Group, and I was excited to read it.

August has moved to New York City and has found a new job at a diner, and an apartment full of eclectic characters.   As she gets to know them, they become a family.  August meets a mysterious and attractive woman named Jane on the subway.  Soon she starts to wonder why she only sees Jane on the subway and never anywhere else.   She determines that Jane is stuck in a time loop.  How can she get to know Jane and break her out of the time loop?

Characters are one of the most important elements to me in a novel, and McQuiston writes excellent characters in One Last Stop.  Jane and August were fully fleshed three dimensional characters, and the supporting cast was wonderful as well.  I loved that McQuiston was able to give a voice to LGBTQIA+ characters and show their struggles and joys.  I really loved Jane.  She was part of so much in the 1970s as a queer Asian woman.  I feel like she could have a spin off novel of her own.

My one negative with this novel is that it got bogged down in the middle.  A lot of it had to do with the paranormal and time travel elements not making much sense.  After listening to Brenda Novak’s interview with Casey McQuiston, it’s starting to make sure more sense to me.  She’s going for more the Kate & Leopold vibe where love prevails, but you don’t really know why it does with the paranormal / time travel element.

Favorite Quotes:

“Truth is, when you spend your whole life alone, it’s incredibly appealing to move somewhere big enough to get lost in, where being alone looks like a choice. . . “

“But engineering as a career kind of murders your soul, and my job pays me enough.”  Hey – I like being an engineer!

“Nobody tells you how those nights that stand out in your memory – levee sunset nights, hurricane nights, first kiss nights, homesick sleepover nights, nights when you stood at your bedroom window and looked at the lilies one porch over and thought it would stand out, singular and crystallized, in your memory forever – they aren’t really anything.  They’re everything, and they’re nothing.  They make you who you are, and they happen at the same time a twenty-three -year0old a million miles away is warming up some leftovers, turning in early, switching off the lamp.  They’re so easy to lose.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I fell out of time because I never really belonged where I started, and the universe is trying to tell me something.”

“Those are the worse reasons to break the laws of space and time.”

Overall, One Last Stop is a unique novel with great characters that does get a big bogged down with the time loop details.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Net Galley and St. Martin’s Publishing Company.  Thank-you!

 

The Innocent Dead: A Witch Cozy Mystery by Jill Nojack (The Maid, Mother, and Crone Paranormal Mystery Series – Book 1)

Title: The Innocent Dead:  A Witch Cozy Mystery
Author: Jill Nojack

Read by: Brian Callanan

Publisher: Indieheart Press

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 8 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Author Jill Nojack – Thank-you!

Natalie loved William in their youth with all of her heart until he disappeared one day, accused of being a serial murderer.  His ghost has haunted her for fifty years since, but she can never prove his innocence, nor rid him of his ghostly ugly sweater.  In the small town of Giles, Massachusetts, there are many witches and warlocks still around trying to live normal lives.  When the murders start to happen again, can Natalie prove that William was innocent after all while also stopping the murderer?

I enjoyed this paranormal mystery and it was a perfect read leading up to Halloween.  I loved the setting of the spooky small town located close to Salem, Massachusetts.  I also loved the vividly written characters.  While I loved the main love story of Natalie and William, there are also newlyweds Cassie and Tom (who was once a cat), and partners Gillian and Robert to provide an interesting love story as well.  Natalie, Cassie, and Gillian are the Maid, Mother, and Crone of the series.  They work together to solve the mystery along with a great cast of interesting side characters in town.  The mystery was great – it kept me guessing all of the way until the end!

I really enjoyed narrator Brian Callanan.  He had fantastic and unique voices for each of the characters.  It kept me intrigued with the story and looking forward to my daily commute.  I love when a narrator adds to the story in such a way and really gets into it.

The only part I didn’t enjoy about this book is that it is the first in a series, but I felt a bit lost when I first got into it as there seemed to be a fair share of back story that I didn’t know anything about.  I found out at the end that there was a series about Tom and Cassie before this series . .  . I think I need to listen to that series now!

Overall, The Innocent Dead was very enjoyable cozy mystery audiobook with great characters and setting.  It’s the perfect audiobook for this time of year. I want to know how Natalie and William’s love story ends.  I need to listen to the next book in the series!