Lyrical Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of A Desolate Hour. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Quentin Marsh’s family has seen its share of tragedy, supposedly tied to a centuries-old curse. For his sister's sake, Quentin makes the journey to Point Pleasant, West Virginia to uncover the truth. There, Quentin meets Sarah Sherman, local historian whose family also has ties to the past. When digging into the historical fact leads to some surprising results, will the town be placed in extreme danger?

This book goes into the legend of the Mothman, as did the other novels that make up the Point Pleasant series. The legend, and the curse of the ancestor, were the only things that make the book even remotely unique. The story itself can be classified as romantic suspense and really did not capture my attention. In the end, A Desolate Hour was a quick read but not one that I would recommend.

This is apparently the last in the series but this was my first book by the author Mae Clare.
The book, to me, was a fairly entertaining read. It did deal with curses and aliens. Quentin wants to know the reason why twins in his family are cursed, and Sarah is the genealogist who helps him. Together they go on a journey into the past which involves supernatural elements and romance. That makes the book an adventure.
Since I don't read romance, nowadays, this book was enjoyable and pleasant. But I need to read the previous books to really get to know the characters.

Unfortunately, this book was archived before I got chance to read it.

This is the third book in the series, and the finale, so I will do my best to not include spoilers. Just make you want to run right out and buy this mystery series. If you are a creature feature lover, like me, this will be a must read collection you want on your reading shelf.

It’s nice to be back in Point Pleasant, with familiar friends and monsters, waiting for the next adventure to begin.

Book II left me feeling so sad for Mothman and I worry about what will become of him. He has lived for A Thousand Yesteryears, the only one of his kind.

The Ouija Board had foretold QM would become a part of Sarah’s life. WTH is QM?

The curse brought HIM to Point Pleasant.

Caden is a cop in Point Pleasant and knows the Mothman, and others, that I won’t speak about. You’ll have to meet them all yourself…and you might want to have someone with you when you do.

Lach is back and there is always trouble when he makes an appearance.

Stone amulets…a deadly blade…a curse

Shawn and Preech will play their part as the curse rises from the past, demanding retribution. You can never escape the past…innocent or guilty, it just doesn’t matter.

A Desolate Hour, great title by the way, has an aura of menace from the beginning.

“A Desolate Hour when a tear in time renders past and present in one.” How can that be anything but bad news?

When Mothman vanishes for long periods of time and everything is normal in Point Pleasant, I wonder where he goes, what he’s doing. He didn’t ask for his fate. Alone. Isolated. Angry. Suffering.

As the people and forces in Point Pleasant draw together, it is ‘the culmination of A Desolate Hour’, and the door closes on the Mothman’s story. Mae Clair did a bang up job with the ending, leaving me satisfied, but…

I am so sad to be leaving Point Pleasant and the marvelous characters and adventure I have had, but I do not despair. I know Mae Clair has another marvelous story up her sleeve and I aim to get my hands on it.

If you are a creature feature lover, if you crave reading about myths and legends, if you like to be scared and surprised, run and soar through the air, this is one series you don’t want to miss.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of A Desolate Hour by Mae Clair.

The third book in the Point Pleasant series, A Desolate Hour introduces Quentin Marsh. Is he the possible "QM" picked for Sarah by the Ouiji board in the previous book? Or is he in town to track down the source of a family curse and is it tied to the Mothman? Once again, Ms. Clair is able to get me to read a book that is our of my normal genre with characters and stories that are engaging and likeable. Well, likeable with one major exception. And while I understand why Shawn was so rotten, it was a bit overboard for me. This was the only drawback to another wonder story. But, the continuing saga of the town and its residents along with a healthy serving of history more than counteracted my dislike of Shawn.

Though I haven't read the previous books in this series, I had absolutely no problem falling right into the storyline and enjoying it very much!

This has a little of everything. The darkness and mystery surrounding Point Pleasant, West Virginia and the "Mothman". It also had aliens (but not what you're thinking), evil spirits, and curses. Sometimes the present is indeed influenced by the past and those mistakes come back to haunt you.

I very much enjoyed this book and will definitely be picking up the previous books to enjoy.

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

Quentin Marsh was a musician until an accident crushed his hand to where he will never be able to play the same way again. Now working in the family business with his twin sister Quentin finds himself heading to Point Pleasant, West Virginia on the request of his sister to find out more about their family line. Quentin’s sister has just found out she’s pregnant with twins and a psychic has warned her that the twins in her family line have all been cursed and after Quentin’s accident they both can’t just ignore the warning.

Sarah Sherman is the local historian in Point Pleasant so when Quentin arrives he finds himself directed to Sarah to find out more about his family history. While most people would find the talk of family curses a bit strange and think Quentin was just a little on the crazy side Sarah is familiar with the history of Point Pleasant where the town has endured it’s own share of disasters over the years along with the legend of the Mothman, the winged creature said to haunt the woods.

A Desolate Hour is the third book in the Point Pleasant series by Mae Clair. While the series follows more along the lines of what you would find in the romance genre with changing the main characters in each read along with the plot focusing on new things I would still highly suggest reading the entire series in order. Each of the books builds upon the story that came before it and also the previous characters and events still play a huge part so I would think one would be a bit lost not knowing what had come in the previous books.

I absolutely love the story involved in the Point Pleasant series myself. It would be hard to categorize this series as it has so many elements added into each book with always including a bit of romance, a bit of mystery to solve mixed in with the supernatural wonders that surround this town and it’s residents. The story revolves around a real life event that took place in the town but has added it’s own dark twists and turns all along and becomes more and more intense as each read takes place. Definitely one that I’d recommend reading as with each story I’m never quite sure what to expect in Point Pleasant.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

A Gripping End to a Remarkable Series

When I find an author whose work I like, I read the whole backlist as fast as I can. I’ve read everything the talented Ms. Clair has to offer and have waited (quite impatiently) for this final installment of the Point Pleasant series.

I was not disappointed. It was SO worth the wait.

A DESOLATE HOUR manages to intertwine the distant past with the book’s present (the 1980s), an advanced planet with our own fragile one, and aliens and witches with human residents of a cursed town. Not only does this all come together seamlessly, it does so while introducing new and interesting characters and revisiting old favorites, solving an intricate mystery, ending a centuries-old curse, and wrapping up all the loose ends in a heart-wrenching and bittersweet way.

I prefer character-driven fiction, and this novel—this series—fits that mold. As was the case with the first two books, I’m still smitten with Caden Flynn in this story. He’s my favorite of the returning cast, but all the protagonists through the series are multi-faceted and likable. The antagonists have legitimate motivations behind them, making them realistic and believable. And then there are the characters whose motivations and intents were hazy… I may have loved them most of all. A surprise revelation at the end was a punch to the gut; it’s a poignant resolution I’ll not soon forget.

A DESOLATE HOUR features genuine characters and intricate plotlines, fast-paced action and eerie, palpable settings. I was sucked in with the first word and read the whole novel in one afternoon, desperate to see how it all ended and left breathless when I finished. I highly recommend this book, this series, and this author to fans of this genre.

5 stars

Quentin Marsh reluctantly makes the journey to Point Pleasant, West Virginia to appease his pregnant twin sister about an ancient curse that she is convinced is haunting their family. She believes that it is tied to the murder of a Shawnee chief named Cornstalk who is said to have cursed the village as he died.

Quentin takes a room at the local inn where he meets Sarah Sherman and other people of the town. They seem curious, but friendly enough. He sets about trying to trace if his family had anything to do with the centuries-old murder, but at first has no luck.

Many people in the town have seen an elusive creature called locally as “Mothman.” Quentin has had an experience with him as well. It seems as though the many disasters the town has suffered have been tied to Mothman, but the details remain elusive.

Sarah and Quentin team up to dig into the past to discover the truth about Mothman and Chief Cornstalk. They discover that they have more in common than they first believed.

Caden Flynn is the local Sergeant of the police department and Eve, his wife have only been married for a month. They figure prominently in this story as well. Shawn, a local ne’r-do-well has seen Mothman too and remains terrified by it. He hears voices – or is it a memory – telling him to kill it. Then there’s Lach Evening. He knows a great deal, or does he?

Then the killings and “accidents” start. When it becomes apparent that Mothman has to die, the descendants of the original settlers take it upon themselves to do the deed.

This book is extremely well written and plotted. The chapters are long, however and I believe this has the result of slowing the action down somewhat. The history behind the story is fascinating; whether it is based on real events or not. This is my first Mae Claire novel, but I went immediately to Amazon and checked out her other books. I put them on my wish list.

I want to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books/Lyrical Underground for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.