Review: Interesting stories to provide a few hours of enjoyable reading.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2013
Jacody Ives Mysteries Boxed Set, e-book by Linda S. Prather contains two interdependent, but related, stories - Sacred Secrets and The Gifts.Sacred Secrets, follows a mystery novelist, Gavin McAllister, who assumes the character and  mentality of his P.I. protagonist, Jacody Ives as he travels to places his dreams direct him to find missing characters and their stories. Numerous characters are involved and the plot largely is about Gavin/Jacody's struggle between his good and bad personalities because of a past violent act and `dark feelings of doom' as he progresses in the investigation.  Interpretation of dreams, clairvoyance, superstition, mysticism, and elements of legend along with some pseudo-science, with respect to the assumption by recipients of heart transplants, of the memories, beliefs and/or desires of the donor- all play an important role. It is a strange story that sometimes is a little difficult to follow, but overall is an interesting read and beautifully develops the background for the second in the series entitled The Gifts. This again follows the P.I., his adoptive brother and adoptive father, both FBI agents, as they follow another of his dream sequences after the loss of his newly discovered twin sister and a strange occurrence that somehow is found to be associated with a series of brutal murders. Again the plot is centered largely in and about the clairvoyant ability of the main characters and their capacity to react to the dreams to provide a positive result. The climax and following material wraps up the two stories in a suitable manner.With respect to mechanics of presentation, a reader may be slightly annoyed at the unlikely lack of communication among characters upon occasion and additionally may wonder at the concentration of so many individuals with clairvoyant and/or telepathic powers in one area. However overall, the story will provide a fascinating, well written, fast paced few hours of enjoyable reading. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.