Fast paced, brilliant, and a gay male lead! Perfect for a tense afternoon read.

Such a great book! Plot was intriguing with nice twists and turns. The characters were well developed. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend read. Look forward to future works from this author.

I wasn't sure what to think when this first started and then I quickly fell in love. This was amazing. I totally loved the characters.. I actually didn't see Randy coming until he showed up.. I loved how they are together and it was amazing.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I went into this completely blind; unfamiliar as I was, with the author. I am walking away a convert and a fan. Wow, what a fun ride!!

I'm going to start by addressing the genre, because I think it's an important issue for this book. The title and the cover caught my attention, and then the blurb hooked me. It wasn't until after I requested this from NetGalley that I noticed the book is marketed as "gay mainstream". Of course, it's clear in one line of the description, but the same-sex pronouns didn't really register in my muddled mind. The main character is a gay male. I am a straight female, and therefore I'm probably not considered the author's target audience. I'm glad labels aren't an issue for me, and I hope they aren't for you, because this book is an excellent read regardless of your sexual orientation.

Now, on to the writing. Greg Howard has that certain something, an indefinable storytelling magic that hooked me right at the start and held me captive throughout. The story moves at a perfect pace, pulling us along at full-speed, then giving us moments to breathe and absorb. Howard strikes an excellent balance, giving us lots of action and suspense, which he sprinkles with humor and just the right amount of tenderness.

I loved the realism of the supernatural aspect. Howard takes bits of historical writing - fable or fact depending on your viewpoint - and launches an absolutely believable "what if" scenario.

The underlying romance adds depth to the story and the main character. While there are some sweet love scenes, there are no sex scenes.

Cooper is a fascinating, complex, memorable, lovable character. In fact, all of the characters are fantastic. I'm hoping the author brings Cooper back for a sequel.

An exciting, thrilling, supernatural gay novel that I was unable to put down.

This book was everything, from the back-story, the development, the scenario, the characters and the perfect build-up to the climax of the story. For a debut novel, Greg Howard proved that he was the essential piece to writing novels, the style of writing that keeps you gripped to each phrase and dialogue. The flow of the story is perfect, and the way Howard presents the events is brilliant. The characters are very human (even when they aren't) and I really connected with them.

What is the novel about? The starts with our main character Cooper Causey, a young gay man that after a few traumatic events in his youth, refuses to get emotionally attached to anyone. A strange message from his grandmother warning him not to return home, forces him to travel back to the small southern town of Warfield and face his demons... quite literally. Clueless about his family history and powers, Cooper is thrown into a world of supernatural creatures that will force him to face his past and accept part of himself that he desperately tries to keep hidden. Throw in the help of his teenage crush, a few vampires and talkative ghosts to the mix and you get the adventure of a lifetime.

The perfect combination of thriller, horror and romance! The cliffhanger at the end left me thirsting for more and I can't wait for the sequel!

Cooper Causey is about 10 years old, and he and a few friends venture into a famously haunted town landmark. They see a ghost who chases them. The others escape, but Cooper slips and is caught. He survives, and the story picks up later in life as Cooper is drawn back to the same old South Carolina haunt to find answers and save himself and his family.

Cooper finds himself in the middle of an ancient battle between supernatural factions who seek to claim him for their own. Old friends from Cooper's past seek to aid him, but Cooper is reluctant to involve them in something that may endanger their lives as well. His childhood friend Randy is now the chief of police and an ex-Navy Seal, who has come back to town after divorce from his wife, and joins Cooper to try and head off the enemy. Cooper has been told that he also has supernatural powers, but what are they, and what is he supposed to do with them?

Pacing was great here, and Howard sets scenes very well. As someone who has been in South Carolina, it felt authentic and real. Some great characters, and Howard pulls off a difficult feat- meshing a paranormal romance with Biblical overtones and horror thrown in. The alternate biblical history stretches credibility pretty far, but it is fiction after all. I wasn't aware that it was a male/male romance, which isn't my thing, but it's not at the center of the story, and builds slowly throughout the book, which is fine. With all the action, it would have felt out of place to have steamy interludes interspersed throughout.

**Thanks NetGalley and Wilde City Press for the advance copy of the book to review**