Friday, May 6, 2011

Mojo by Kris Sedersten


Published synopsis:

When Scottie Brown, a New Orleans college student, finds himself being haunted by vivid nightmares and daytime apparitions, he begins a search for answers; unwittingly putting himself and those closest to him in a confrontation with evil.
To defeat the energy that torments him, he recruits a team of paranormal investigators that includes friends from high school and a psychic medium. Together, they pursue the ghosts of Scottie's ancestors in an abandoned plantation where they uncover dark family secrets and the spiritual energy of a malevolent patriarch who projects an unholy prophecy that has deadly consequences for all mankind.
The term "Mojo" becomes central to fighting Scottie's demons as the journey through the haunted mansion deep in the Louisiana countryside, filled with twists and turns, takes on a life of its own in a race against time.
Mojo oozes paranormal horror with a mystery thriller edge and a message about how the faith in a power greater than ourselves will lift us through even the most unforeseeable obstacles in life.

Review:

There are a lot of secrets in Scottie Brown’s family that could alter not only his future, but everyone’s. A sadistic, demon-worshiping grandfather has the power to fulfill a prophecy from the grave and Scottie is a key player in his evil plan.Haunted by a dark figure first in his dreams and then when he’s awake, Scottie has to come to terms with the fact that what is happening to him is not only real, but very, very dangerous. And if he can’t figure out how to put an end to it, his life is going to be pretty short. Gathering people he knows are true believers of the paranormal, Scottie sets out to get answers and the trail leads him to an old, abandoned plantation in Louisiana owned by his father’s family.

Long a fan of paranormal, horror is a new genre for me with Mojo being my first foray into reviewing this type of book. I found Mojo to be an action packed thriller with an interesting plot as it delved into the world of ghosts, or spirits, that live on after death. It also definitely had some parts that could keep you up at night looking at shadows. As the book progresses, so do the tension levels of the characters which gets the heart of the reader to start pumping just a little bit faster.

Throughout the book, the characters grow and have more substance but there were some hiccups. I was somewhat put off in the beginning with the interaction between Scottie and his girlfriend as they referred to each other as ‘boy,’ ‘woman’ and ‘girl.’ These comments, and comments made to other characters, made it seem as if they didn’t have the level of respect and feelings for each other that they had as the book reached its climax so as the reader, it was a little difficult to reconcile their behavior. There is also a lot of information that is alluded to from the past, such as how Scottie met his ghost hunting friends, details about what they dealt with in Nebraska and how they resolved it, and the history of the truck that has an important role in the story. The book would have been better with this information.

Mojo has a strong Christian theme with faith and the power of prayer conquering evil being a strong message throughout the book. Because of this, the ending is what would be expected in Christian fiction. Overall, Mojo was entertaining and it has opened the door to a new genre for me, which I appreciate.Kris Sedersten has a strong literary voice and I would be happy to read more of her work.

My overall rating for the book is 3 ½ stars.


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