The Overbooked Bibliophile

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ With its intriguing premise, Gothic vibes, the behind-the-scenes look at reality television and the paranormal mystery  The Invisible World  by  Nora Fussner  is an interesting read. As the novel begins, we follow the crew of a paranormal television show “Searching for . . . the Invisible World” to Ninebark, Pennsylvania, where they will be filming a part of their latest season. Aspiring artist Eve Hawthorne-Malone and her husband Ryan’s new home, which they suspect is haunted after a spate of eerie occurrences. Sandra, the producer of the show, has a predefined approach to filming and presenting the show- a fact that Eve is unaware of and thus is a tad disillusioned when her efforts to share her thoughts and past experiences, which she feels might be connected to present events aren’t met with the level of interest she had anticipated. Her husband Ryan also believes he can manipulate the creators of the show in his own way. What the producers, the crew a...

Rating:  3.5⭐ After the demise of his wife Meli, Hugo Contreras finds himself drowning in debt from her medical expenses. Hugo works at the Miami Botanica & Spa and though he doesn’t quite believe in the practice, has perfected the art of putting on an elaborate act of a Babaláwo ( priest of Ifá), decked in his tunic, his ceremonial orisha hat and his beaded amulets, learning much of what he knows from his employer Lourdes who is well-versed in spiritual practices and respected for her knowledge. When Alexi Ramirez, the debt collector who is pursuing Hugo’s case, offers to clear Hugo’s debt if he can cleanse his house of the spirit who is haunting his home, Hugo takes him up on his offer. Unbeknownst to him the spirit haunting Alexi and his family has a deep connection to Hugo and his past in Bolivia and it will take more than Hugo’s signature trickery to keep everyone safe and he will be compelled to embark on a very personal journey, take stock of his life and confront the tr...

  Rating:  3.5⭐️ Tommaso “Tommy” Puglisi and his wife Kate respond to an advertisement for One-Euro real estate in the fictional town of Becchina in Sicily. Happy to leave the stressful life in the USA behind for what they hope would be a quiet and slower-paced lifestyle among Tommy’s family on his late father’s side, they invest in an old decrepit mansion they hope to restore. Unbeknownst to them, their new home has a history and was known to the locals as “La casa dell’ultima risorsa” or “the house of the last resort.” Soon after moving in, Kate and Tommy begin to sense something not quite right in the house and their friends and family would rather keep their knowledge of the house’s history to themselves. But after they discover a hidden chapel behind a corridor, the frequency of eerie occurrences in their home begins to increase. As the narrative progresses we follow the young couple as they begin to uncover the secrets buried underneath their new home and it is only a ma...