As an indie author myself (although I've seen some people say I should say self published. They equate indie w/ independent publishers. But I think indie can mean self published authors and independant publishers. We're both doing it independently of the big publishers) I didn't want to pass up on taking part in the INDIE-pendence Day celebration. I love being an indie. Yes, even when my sales are horrible. Of course, this isn't about hawking my own book, but other indies that I've discovered and have fallen for. There is one book in particular that I recently came across. I read the description and a teaser and couldn't wait to read it.
Whisper by Chelsea M. Cameron is about a girl, Anna, who can hear the dead. She's been able to do it all her life. Unfortunately, her parents don't believe her. They think she's nuts. Anyways, one night a dead guy starts bugging her. He doesn't act like the other spirits she's encountered. Meaning he has no interest in crossing over. She nicknames him Jack. When he brings her the victim of a local hit-and-run, a girl named Tracy, Anna knows there is something definitely different about Jack.
I wasn't disappointed with this story. The mystery of Jack, Tracy's death and the threat of Anna being put back on her meds had me eager to turn the pages. I was so scared her parents would force her on the meds and all the spirits would disappear. Especially Jack. I loved the interaction between Anna and Jack. Their banter was cute and the way she tried to convince herself she was reading into his words was adorable. The mystery of what Jack was slowly unraveled throughout the book at a pace that didn't leave me annoyed. The same with their relationship. It wasn't insta-love, but it grew at a pace that wasn't too slow for me either.
Anna's ability to see spirits wasn't a basket full of roses either. When she tried to tell family members about Tracy's spirit, there wasn't instant belief. She had to find the right person who would believe her. Her friends as well. They didn't just say, "Oh, you're our friend so you must be telling the truth!" There was fear and skepticism that created some interesting conflict. Although, personally, I wouldn't have been so quick to forgive the one friend.
One thing I liked about this story was how Anna's ability wasn't the center of her world. She had girls night where Jack was not allowed. She did activities with her little sister and had a job. The world of the dead crept into her living life a lot, but it didn't feel like she completely abandoned the land of the living just to help spirits. I see that in a lot of paranormal stories. The character finds out about the paranormal world and abandons their old life for it.
Over all, I enjoyed the story and give it four stars. The writing was pretty smooth. There were times when the beginning of the paragraph said one thing, and then the end said the same thing in a different way, but it wasn't often enough to be annoying. I spotted a few minor typos, but again, they weren't big and I was too eager to find out how the story ended to care about them. I do think formatting gnomes gnawed on my copy of Whisper. When Tracy or Jack talked it was with italics and sometimes their words wouldn't be italicized or other times the whole paragraph would be. Hiccups like that happen during upload and this isn't the first time the gnomes have attacked.
You can buy Whisper on Amazon. Don't forget to stalk Chelsea on twitter and bug her to write faster. ;)
