Tea for Twenty: From the Files of the Tayan Research Network

Rating:
Summary: Psychics Swarm, With Deadly Results
Review: What most impressed me about this book was its honesty. Even though the disclaimer at the front says that it's a work of fiction, it reads as if it's been taken from (as it claims) the files of some research organization. It rings with authenticity and clamors for attention with every page.

As a man with strong psychic abilities myself, I am wary of most modern "haunted house" tales. Many get their facts wrong, or at the least don't research their subject well. MacAvery has created strong, believable characters who each have motives to solve the house, to keep it from being solved, and to prevent others from discovering too many secrets. In fact, it's the characters that make this book so exceptional. I feel like I could write letters to any one of them and get a response, as if we'd met in real life.

I had read MacAvery's DIVINE INTERVENTION (apparently out of print at the moment), and I found him to be a daring writer. Even Stephen King didn't create a demon that looked like Jesus and killed by making "backward miracles!" This book shows more sensitivity toward characters but is no less terrifying. There were times when I wondered if I dared turn another page. It's a good solid read, with a very satisfying and scary ending. Keep your lights on.