Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi


The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. With the murderer on the loose, the police desperately look for any clues to lead to his identity. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist in a nearby hospital is also in a desperate search to find the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings s devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope. When these two situations converge, they set off an alarming chain of events. In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.
www.acircleofsouls.com

This is Preetham Grandhi's debut novel, and if this is any sign of what his future will be...it looks bright.

This novel pulled me in from the very beginning. It opened with a prologue that had me asking questions, and then immediately followed with the disappearance of a young girl. By chapter three Naya,a young girl with sleep walking and talking, had been added into the mix. I knew these sections were related to each other, but it took me the entire novel to figure out exactly what was going on.

Can Naya's dreams really be communication with the dead? Who could the slaaf be and who is his master? These are the two main questions in the novel. I knew from the beginning that the young girl was murdered by the slaaf and that somehow Naya seemed to be channeling the spirits of the dead. It was the way that Mr. Grandhi took his time weaving the story together and slowly exposing more that kept me pulled in. Mr. Grandhi's background as a child psychiatrist made the many scenes in the psychiatric unit of the hospital easy to follow and believable. He did a wonderful job of character and relationship building and made me feel as if I knew them. Near the end I thought I had determined the guilty party, but the twists and turns left me with enough of a question that I wasn't sure until it was revealed.

There were a couple of things about the novel that I really liked besides the story itself. First, it has short chapters that flowed together well. The chapters switched from one character to another, but were easy to follow. I also appreciated that the gore was kept to a minimum. Several gory things occurred, but the novel wasn't hard to read. The scenes were described in a way that left you with no doubt as to what happened, but didn't get lost in unnecessary gruesome details.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery. This is a psychological thriller that makes you think about exactly what the mind can do, and what exactly your dreams may mean.

9 comments:

  1. This sounds like a good one!! I'll add it to my ever growing TBR list!

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  2. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I have this one to read later this month.

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  3. I'm glad you enjoyed this book! It's actually in my pile of review books to be read (actually pretty high on the list). I'm hoping I enjoy it as much as you.

    Jenni @ Falling Off The Shelf

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  4. My review should be coming soon.... I have not had time to get tot hsi one yet but know I need to and it looks so good!

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  5. This one looks good. I might give it a try not sure if I can find it at my library yet though. Thanks for the review and info.

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  6. ooh, this one could be good! is it out yet?!

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  7. he was my first friend in book blogs. i so want to read his book. i like your review. i want to get into reviewing books but not really sure how to get into it.

    spvaughan yahoo com

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  8. HodgePodge - best way to get started is to just do it. I had been lurking on others sites as well and decided to just bite the bullet. I am glad I did. I have really been enjoying myself. If you have any questions let me know!

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  9. I just stopped in and read your review again. Now that I have read it I can understand what you mean by keeping the gore minimal. It did not take away from the book at all and I really enjoyed that I didnt have to flinch (too much).

    Thanks for pushing me to get this read! :) Have a great day!

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