Review: This story left me wanting more!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2013
Frater's new series, In Darkness We Must Abide, is a supernatural serial that is being released in episodes. I downloaded Episode 1 for free from her website.In this episode, the story opens in the present time but then quickly jumps back ten years. It revolves around a trio of wealthy siblings who live in Houston, Texas: 32 year-old Roman Socoli, his 22 year-old half-sister named Alisha, and his 10 year-old half-sibling named Vanora. We learn a bit about the family history, and the siblings appear to have suffered much sorrow. Roman's mother died of cancer when he was only ten years old, and his father and step-mother (Alisha's and Vanora's mother, Carys) were killed in an automobile accident when Vanora was just four years old. Roman became like a father figure as head of the family, and he took care of his younger siblings.When Roman travelled to the family's estate in Romania, he was horrified to discover that it had been transformed into a state-owned sanatorium and fallen into disrepair. Determined that his ancestors should rest in peace with dignity, he transferred their remains to the family estate in Texas and built a mausoleum on the property. The coffin of the children's great-great-great-grandfather had chains wrapped around it, which Roman believes was the work of foolish townsfolk who probably thought that he was a vampire. Because he does not believe in any supernatural nonsense, Roman removes the chains from the coffin after it has reached its final resting place.Roman has unwittingly unleashed an evil, which puts the Socoli family in danger. Alisha and Vanora have both inherited their Celtic mother's gift of extra-sensory perception, but will it be enough to protect them from the malevolence that stalks them?This story was the perfect length for me to enjoy on my lunch-break at work. I devoured it in one bite, and Frater has me hooked! I thought that the story was deliciously creepy, and a part of me was glad that I wasn't reading this at bedtime in a dark house! I can't wait to read more about the Socoli family and have already bought the next episode in the series.