The Roots Have Dug into My Heart by Peter Fugazzotto

The Roots Have Dug into My Heart is a touching horror and paranormal novella written by Peter Fugazzotto.  

After a disastrous evening at a bar that ends in a creepy auditory hallucination seemingly coming from the tall marsh grasses, Jessie wakes up with a terrible hangover made worse by the fact that her daughter, Maya, is missing. Racked by guilt about her inability to watch over Maya, Jessie goes through the marsh in search of her daughter vowing to never neglect her again. Naturally, she is overjoyed when Maya is found, seemingly, shaken but relatively unharmed.

However, Jessie’s elation is short-lived as she senses something different with her daughter.  Aside from the smell of the swamp that Jessie can’t seem to wash off Maya, her daughter becomes uncharacteristically quiet. Maya also seems to lose her appetite even for foods she normally loves.

Amidst her desperate need to be a better person and the best mother she can be, and the suspicion that there is something terribly wrong Maya, Jessie finds an unlikely ally. Armed only with very little information and unconditional love for her daughter, Jessie and her friend set out for the marsh to find out the truth once and for all.

This is a scary, suspenseful, and touching story about a bum of a woman who struggles to be the best version of herself. It depicts how someone overcomes her self-destructive tendencies for the most important person in her life. It portrays clarity in the middle of confusion and courage in the middle of fear. It displays the amount of determination needed to win the prize of redemption.

Though the story appears to be simply about an irresponsible mother who lost her child to paranormal entity, there is so much more than that. It tells of the difficulty of a person to rise above adversity with her only beacon of hope snatched away from her. It also shows the tendency to prejudge someone by the way he or she lives. Most importantly, the book features the multidimensionality of the world we live in and that things are not the way they seem.

This is a relatively enjoyable book. Relatively in that, some readers who are not into horror stories may not choose to read it. I, myself, am not a horror book enthusiast. As a reviewer, however, I find the book well written and easy to read. Jessie is very well depicted as a person who blames everything and everybody else for her unpleasant situation making her very relatable. Moreover, the author is able to maintain an eerie mood right from the beginning down to the last page. Finally, though I prefer a different ending to the story, I find the conclusion quite satisfactory.

Congratulations to Peter Fugazzotto (@PeterFugazzotto) on such a well-written book! For more books by the author, click HERE.

Unspeakable Acts by Janet Leigh Green

Unspeakable Acts is Book 1 of the Mc Queen Investigation Series by Janet Leigh Green.

Charlie Love is having trouble in her newly renovated house. It seems like a supernatural being is taking control of her and violating her body. When the situation does not get any better, she asks the help of Doug and Scott Mc Queen. Because of the nature of her predicament, the brothers ask the assistance of their psychic friend Sheila Mathers. Apparently, all of them have no idea about the enormity of what they are up against.

This is a dark and gruesome story that spans more than a century. Told in alternating chapters between the present and the past, the book features evil manifested in the most unspeakable acts like abuse, torture and, ultimately, death.

The book is easy to read with plenty of light and humorous dialogues between characters. Moreover, there is an abundance of scary scenes as well as depictions of appalling and extremely disturbing scenes of abuse. Needless to say, this book is not for the fainthearted, nor for young readers due to a multitude of references to sexual perversion.  

As far as suspense is concerned, this book is a winner. The author is able to keep the story interesting until the end by unfolding the plot little by little and chapter by chapter.

However, I prefer more developed characters. I noticed that there was not any noticeable difference between Doug and Scott, or between Charlie and Sheila. Furthermore, there were issues that were not fully explained and events that were not portrayed in details. In addition, there were too many errors, typographical and grammatical that needed editing.  

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book more than I hoped I would.

Congratulations to Janet Leigh Green (@Estherhhoward) on such a great read! For updates about this author, click HERE.