If Esta wants to find her father, she may have to save reality first.
1984: Richard Brown went missing just days after becoming obsessed with Gatley House: a derelict building at the edge of town with a grisly past.
Two years later, his troubled daughter, Esta Brown, finally summons the courage to follow her father after spending almost every day staring at the old place, wondering what he'd discovered.
But as the truth about Gatley House slowly emerges, it reveals secrets and sinister dark forces that will make her question everything she thinks she knows about her father, her own identity, and even the very nature of reality itself.
As the Rift opens, Esta stands at the edge of another dimension. Will she reunite with her father, or is she about to unleash ancient forces she can't hope to control?
If you love reality-bending tales like the show 'Stranger Things' or 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman, then you'll love this mind-blowing novel!
___________________________
***** NAIL-BITING, EXHILARATING SUPERNATURAL WRITING AT ITS BEST: David Banks: author of "Doctor Who: Cybermen"
The journey to the Rift awaits. Are you ready to take the leap?
If Esta wants to find her father, she may have to save reality first.
1984: Richard Brown went missing just days after becoming obsessed with Gatley House: a derelict building at the edge of town with a grisly past.
Two years later, his troubled daughter, Esta Brown, finally summons the courage to follow her father after spending almost every day staring at the old place, wondering what he'd discovered.
But as the truth about Gatley House slowly emerges, it reveals secrets and sinister dark forces that will make her question everything she thinks she knows about her father, her own identity, and even the very nature of reality itself.
As the Rift opens, Esta stands at the edge of another dimension. Will she reunite with her father, or is she about to unleash ancient forces she can't hope to control?
If you love reality-bending tales like the show 'Stranger Things' or 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman, then you'll love this mind-blowing novel!
___________________________
***** NAIL-BITING, EXHILARATING SUPERNATURAL WRITING AT ITS BEST: David Banks: author of "Doctor Who: Cybermen"
The journey to the Rift awaits. Are you ready to take the leap?
Did you know that a two-inch-high domino can push over another domino thatās one and a half times its size?
My Dad used to tell me that.
āAndā¦ā heād say. āThe next one can as well, and the next. And, you know what? If they keep goingā¦ā
clickā¦ clickā¦ click.
āBy number twenty-five youāll be pushing over a domino the size of the Eiffel Tower.
And six after that? Youād better take a step back because one the size of Mount Everest will come crashing down and squish your feet.ā
***
āMiss Brown! Please!ā
Iād meant to just leave the classroom. Calm down. Get some air.
I was angry.
And I was supposed to leave class when I got angry. Thatās literally what the counsellor told me to do.
But when I slammed the door behind meā¦
ā¦ well, Mr Blakely should have just let me go. That was what he was supposed to do.
I raged off down the corridor, the sounds of that soft thud, gasp of pain, and the squeals of shocked students ringing in my ears.
How could I have gone back inside class after that?
Clickā¦
I shoulder-barged the fire exit, blinking away daylight. Walked past a row of classroom windows, beyond caring who could see me. I was heading for the abandoned old house. The one place I needed to be right now. The one place no one would follow me. Let the anger go down.
But something stopped me in my tracks.
Two boys, deep in conversation, their backs against the wall of a History classroom.
Instead of veering past them, something about the way they were talking to each other made me pause.
Clickā¦
If Blakely hadnāt said what heād said about Dad, if I hadnāt felt the anger ready to burst out of me and run out of the room. If he hadnāt tried to follow meā¦ then I never would have been at that exact spot, at that exact momentā¦
And none of thisā¦
None of all thisā¦ madnessā¦ would have happened.
The two boys were so intent on whatever they were talking about that they barely even noticed me.
I already knew one of them.
Simon Taylor.
He was in my year at school: blonde hair, blue eyes ā I mean, everyone knew him.
Definitely not the type to be skipping class.
The other one, I didnāt know. Not then, anyway. All I knew was that Iād seen him around before. He was a sixth former. Two years older than me and Simon.
Simon held something metal in his fingertips and they were hunched over it. Dead serious, as though they were planning a bank robbery.
Me. I was frozen to the spot. My body was still in flight mode, but somethingā¦ some other feeling nailed my feet to the floor.
Something about what they were staring at.
āNo one elseāll come,ā Simon was whispering. āAnd youāve been inside the grounds, havenāt you?ā
The sixth former ran fingers through a mop of untidy hair. āNot inside though.ā
āWell, now you have your chance.ā
āItās not called the Murder House for nothing, is it? The placeās a death trap.ā
My eyes shot back to the silver object wriggling in Simonās fingers.
A key.
āThatās why I need you to go with me,ā Simon was saying, butā¦
clickā¦clickā¦
A key to the murder house?
The end of school bell ripped through the silence. It was quickly followed by the sound of voices and scraping chairs. Simon pocketed the key, pushed away from the wall and headed off. The older boy glanced at me for a split second, then went with him, blending into the sudden stream of blue uniforms that exploded out of a door further along.
I stood and watched them go.
Of all the things I could have stumbled on. Two boys with a key to the house.
The house.
āEsta!ā
Mr Blakely was staring at me from the fire exit, a bloody handkerchief pressed to his mouth where the door must have hit him.
I stared back, blankly. A whole row of ever expanding dominoes tumbling over in my mind.
At the time, I had no idea what had been set in motion. All I knew was that Simon Taylor was planning to break into the Murder House.
And, he didnāt know it yet, but, as sure as one domino flattens the next one, I was going in there with him.
āNot since what happened to Charlie.ā This is the chilling first reference to Charlie Bullock in Chapter 2 (titled āThe Murder Houseā). It takes nearly half the book to find out what did happen to her, and this tactic absolutely works. R. N. Jackson reels readers in with a rapid-fire sequence of events like the click of dominoes falling in a line.
Esta Brown is a troubled teen with a terrible temper, which is unsurprising given that two years ago her father disappeared without a trace, shattering her world. Hers is a small one, so itās also unremarkable that everyone seems to have something to say about Esta or her dad, and itās frequently derogatory.
Stories have sprung up around the abandoned Gatley House, but what draws Esta is the knowledge that it somehow interested her dad. When she plucks up the courage to sneak in, itās about as hair-raising an experience as fear and darkness could conjure, but sheās not the only one unable to chalk it all up to adrenalineāand things get weirder from there. Though the book starts with a ghost story vibe, it quickly morphs into a fantasy adventure involving Tibetan-inspired temples, complete with robed monks and screaming demons. Here Esta finds mysteries tied inexplicably to those that already trouble her.
This wild adventure keeps readers turning pages to find answers. Within the story, Esta is doing the same, because at the core of everything is her determination to reunite with the father who failed herāwho left her feeling like she failed him. Jackson may have been through an impressive array of his own adventures, but he also has a good grasp on people. His teen characters struggle appropriately with identity, each in their own way; and the adults, seen mostly through Estaās eyes, make up a varied, nuanced sketch.
The story winds around a bit, giving misfit Esta time to chew on her paināand to discover unlikely aid from a small scattering of people willing to seriously consider the idea that she is not, in fact, insane. Ultimately, itās as much about Esta finding herself as it is about finding a way to save the world. So much of the story, like life, is about choices: what we do with them, and who that makes us.Ā
In the end, Esta finds peaceā¦ And the reader finds the promise of more adventure to come.