The historical fiction, romance, horror, and mystery/detective stories of the Onyx Webb series are back. Once you start the series, reading these books will become an addiction that must be satisfied.
The different storylines become more involved yet more connected. The base characters stay the same, but new characters are brought in along the way. When characters you have come to know and love die, it is hard not to cry. But in this series, there is always the chance that those who die will hang around as ghosts.
In the first book, Juniper Cole disappeared. Although her body has never been found, it is assumed she is dead. Even though the police aren’t for sure who the real culprit is, they arrest someone for her murder. The prosecution wants him sentenced to the electric chair. It is an election year, and of course, politics plays a part in all of this.
Koda now has to earn his living and has been put to work by his father, but he is more obsessed with the mysterious girl in the mirror than he is with work. He will do just about anything to discover her identity, even go see a medium that has been recommended to him. But this private meeting with the medium turns out not to be so confidential. The seance that is held impresses Koda’s friend Dane, but is all as it appears to be?
I love how actual historical events and famous people were flawlessly weaved into the story. Ever heard of the Boston Molasses Flood of 1919? If not, you will learn how this viscous liquid covered the streets of Boston.
The orphans staying at Our Lady of the Open Arms probably wish that the lady’s arms weren’t so open. The Father likes to molest the boys, and one of the Sisters likes to harshly punish the children, especially the boys. Remember Katherine that was held prisoner with Onyx by Obedience Everhart? Katherine is a Sister at this orphanage too. Evidence is found that the boys who have disappeared have been killed. Only thing is, when people die in this series, their ghosts tend to hang around.
Onyx Webb and her deceitful husband Ulrich are still together. Despite the many warnings she has had about Ulrich, Onyx won’t leave him. And now his pregnant mistress is demanding that he kill Onyx. They run away, and Ulrich takes his dying wife to a certain orphanage in Chicago.
Olympia Fudge and Daniel Cryer are the co-hosts of a popular show, Believer or Not! One of them is white, the other is black. One believes in ghosts, vampires, demonic possession, werewolves, fairies, witches, etc., the other does not. And they are scheduled to do a show at the Forsyth Park Hotel where a piano has been playing by itself every night.
It is amazing to me how the authors have managed to intertwine these characters’ lives, especially when many of them lived years apart.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to lose yourself in the world of Onyx Webb, I have provided Amazon links below for the first two books in the series.
Amazon Links:
Onyx Webb: Book One: Episodes 1, 2, & 3
Onyx Webb: Book Two: Episodes 4, 5, & 6
Recommended Articles:
Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz Guest Post/Interview – Music, Historical Events, and Developing Characters
Onyx Webb: Book One: Episodes 1, 2, & 3 – a Review
imagination, pixabay
Favorite Sentences:
He was as dark as a raisin left too long in the midday sun, with a mass of wavy black and gray hair that hung well past his shoulders, and wore what appeared to be a 1960s Beatles-era Nehru jacket.
What a pair we are, Dane thought: Best friends who would do literally anything for each other—anything but share our secrets out of fear that the other wouldn’t understand.
Darker than the blackest of black holes, it felt though—had he kept looking into them—they might have sucked him into a place so dark and empty that he might disappear and never return.
Taking care of wild monkeys and wrangling alligators were not things you could fake.
dictionaries, wikipedia
New Words Learned:
apoplectic – extremely enraged
cadaverine – A syrupy, colorless, fuming ptomaine formed by the carboxylation of lysine by bacteria in decaying animal flesh
diaminobutane – a poisonous polyamine formed from the amino acid arginine during putrefaction; found in urine and feces; in certain cells, putrescine is a precursor to γ-aminobutyrate
livor mortis – a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body, causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin. When the heart stops functioning and is no longer agitating the blood, heavy red blood cells sink through the serum by action of gravity.
putrescine – A crystalline, slightly poisonous, colorless, foul-smelling ptomaine produced by the decarboxylation of ornithine, especially in decaying animal tissue
About the Authors:
Richard and Andrea have been in love with creating stories together since they met almost twenty years ago and even spent some time in Hollywood writing screenplays, being represented by the producer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Their favorite genres are suspense, thriller, crime and anything of a paranormal nature which is how Onyx Webb turned into a mash-up of all their favorites!
Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz are a married writing team. Most well known for their business fables, they’re professional speakers who teach audiences how to overcome fear of failure and rejection. The Onyx Webb Series is their first serious dive into fiction.
Great review! I really have to read this series!