4 Stars
Publisher:
Date of publication: April 14th, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Where you can find Spirit of Prophecy: Amazon
Goodreads synopsis:
What if your past came back to haunt you and stalked the present until it became your worst nightmare? What would you do if you discovered you’re engaged to a murderous psychopath about to go serial?
J.J. Hughes explores the lengths to which we will go, to keep the past from overshadowing the present and destroying the future. Spirit of Prophecy is a highly original, cutting-edge, metaphysical crime mystery with a breathtaking paranormal twist.
Years ago, a terrible atrocity occurred in Apache Indian territory in New Mexico, and now the players take up their positions to execute an act of horrific revenge. If you liked A.G. Riddle’s The Atlantis Gene you’ll love this.
Evil awakens, and Rosetta Barrett, a psychic detective, must settle old scores and heal ancient wounds. She has the highest international security clearance with the Elite Paranormal Intelligence Services [EPIS], but she can’t tell her family or the courts what she really does. Divorce was hell. She lost custody of her children because of her paranormal beliefs, and now she’s fighting to get them back.
Prominent American event rider, Juliet Jermaine, loses her Olympic horse, Gothic, and his rider, Isabella, also dies in a horrific unprovoked road rage attack. Barrett is investigating Isabella’s murder. She has a suspect but gathering sufficient evidence to nail a conviction is proving elusive.
If Rosetta fails to convict the criminal and end the horrific cycle of revenge and retribution, the past is set to explode into the present with dire and explosive consequences.
Time is running out…
Read Spirit of Prophecy and get onboard a metaphysical rollercoaster from the future to the past and back!
Visit the author’s website and get to know J.J. Hughes and her work.
www.moneymagnet.global/booksbyjjhughes
My review:
I was super excited to read this book. The blurb got me going. A paranormal mystery? Sign me up!! I am glad that I read this book because man, it was good.
Rosetta is a psychic detective and a witch. Used to people making assumptions about her, she tries to fly under the radar while solving her cases. The last time it got out that the police was using a psychic, Rosetta ended up losing custody of her children to her manipulative ex-husband. Rosetta is also employed by the Elite Paranormal Intelligence Services (EPIS). Her role with that organization is secret but she does tell people who her job is dealing with karma and past events. Juliet is an Olympic caliber rider who has lost her prize horse and best friend’s sister in a road rage accident. Juliet and Rosetta meet when Rosetta is put in charge of investigating her friend’s sister murder. Who wanted to kill Gothic? Can Rosetta solve the case? Can she also rectify wrongs made over 100 years ago?
Rosetta was a hot mess in this book. The author didn’t even try to cover it up. She was estranged from her children. She smoked too much. She drank too much. She was ghosted by her current boyfriend. Her ex was still trying to control her by how often she saw the children. She wasn’t respected at work because she was a psychic detective. The list could go on. I loved it!! I loved that she was so real. I loved that she was written to be as flawed. I also liked that she was honest about her abilities. That she didn’t hide what she was from people. She was very relatable to me and she became one of my favorite characters in the book.
I didn’t know what to think about Juliet. I felt bad for her because of what she saw. But, at the same time, I was annoyed with her. Her friend’s younger sister died and Juliet was more concerned about her horse dying. That was a big WTF moment for me. I also thought that she was selfish and way too reliant on Matt. She wasn’t going to screw over her best friend but Matt talked her into it. She acted like a child at times too. Like when she found the lipstick in Tommy’s bathroom. They had been together all of 2 days and she is freaking out on him. If I were Tommy, I would have run after that. But, I did like seeing that she did mature towards the end of the book. Again, it was refreshing to see.
I loved how the mystery angle of the book was written. I did figure out who was behind the death of Gothic and Juliet’s friend’s sister early in the book. But I was still able to get into the plotline because the author did a great job of keeping the hints coming. The red herrings and false leads were awesome. I did figure out why the road rage incident happened but was still surprised at how everything turned out.
The paranormal angle of the book was amazing. How Rosetta’s gifts were explained to how she became recruited to EPIS to what happened 100 years ago was fantastic. The author did a fantastic job of connecting everything together at the end of the book. I liked the past life connections that Rosetta, Tommy, and Juliet had to each other.
There was also a romance angle of the book. Of course, Rosetta’s past relationships were highlighted and explained. I felt awful that she was ghosted by Daniel. He could have at least called her and ended it. The whole quasi-triangle with Juliet, Tommy, and Rosetta was a bit weird and awkward but I got over it (as did Rosetta and Juliet). I was also skeeved out by Matt and Juliet’s relationship. Talk about toxic and dysfunctional. I did like Juliet and Tommy together. Rav and Rosetta didn’t gel well in my mind either.
I had mixed feelings about the end of Spirit of Prophecy. Mixed feelings because I was justified by how I felt about certain people in the book. I also was very satisfied with how the mystery angle of the book ended. I did a fist pump and said “Yes” when everything came together. My mixed feelings came in when Rosetta went to New Mexico to oversee something for Juliet. I felt let down. I wanted to see what happened. I wanted to see Juliet’s reaction to everything. I wanted to see Rosetta’s reaction. I also was let down over the fact that after everything, people still felt that they had to judge Rosetta. I am hoping that there will be other books with Rosetta in them. I would definitely read them.
I gave Spirit of Prophecy a 4-star rating. This was a well written paranormal mystery book. The plotlines kept my attention throughout the book. The characters were relatable and realistic. While I did solve the mystery part of the book early on, I was still able to enjoy it. The paranormal angle of the book was fantastic. The author did a great job of explaining things when they happened. I did think that the romance angle was a little much, with all the triangles going on. But, it did add some depth to the book. The end of the book was great but I felt a little letdown.
I would give Spirit of Prophecy an Adult rating. There is sex. While not graphic, it was still there. There is language. There is violence. There are triggers in this book. They would be the death of a child, parental estrangement and abuse of animals. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread Spirit of Prophecy. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.
I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Spirit of Prophecy.
All opinions stated in this review of Spirit of Prophecy are mine.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**