Where There's Smoke: A Novella by Jodi Picoult.

       Where There's Smoke: A Novella by Jodi Picoult.

"I might as well be a ghost. Last week, I was famous. This week, if I speak, no one will listen."

If you're into psychics and the supernatural you'll like this. It's available as an ereader, a prequel to promote "Leaving Time" which will be available this autumn and is expected to be another best-seller from the popular American writer. Serendipity Jones experienced visions from a young age. When she indicated to her mother that a little boy dressed in knee-length black velvet trousers with a lacy collar around his neck was stealing things from their home, she thought her daughter was telling tales. "That boy's not real." This was back in the seventies. "If this had been today I would probably have been shuttled off to a child psychiatrist and given some kick-ass medication."

Serendipity's great-great grandma had been an Iroquois healer. The story moves into 1993 and outlined the protagonist's successful career as a psychic accompanied by her sentinels, referred to as her gatekeepers: Lucinda is a refined, elderly African-American woman whereas Desmond is a fierce, feisty, gay man. Both spirits leave Serendipity high and dry at one stage when she feels more of a charlatan, a fraud than a genuine psychic.
Her father committed suicide and the family were so poor that they survived on Campbell weeks, basically meaning that they ate canned soup until mother's next paycheck. Now the situation is different. They both live in Malibu and life is luxurious. "She can eat caviar if she wants to instead of tomato soup."

Cleo was a chat-show host and Serendipity was invited to do a reading for her. It proved so successful that Cleo was awarded an Emmy and Serendipity was given a spin-off along with instant fame and fortune. Her newest guest is Betsey Rycroft from California whose husband had died in Karbala, Iraq. The same day she received the tragic news, she learned of her pregnancy. Marcy, the executive producer "believes a military-themed show will be a ratings booster." Unfortunately the paranormal can be unpredictable and explosive as Serendipity discovers when she is confronted by a poltergeist, intense heat and burning. There is panic in the audience when a light blows and the glove of one of the grips goes up in flames.

Bad publicity. Accusations hurtled at her that she is anti-war, anti-American and a traitor. In order to restore Serendipity's reputation as the nation's favourite psychic Marcy decides that she will help find the son of a senator who had been kidnapped recently. Ratings restored and everyone happy. What could go wrong? What happened when her psychic sentinels abandon her and the Senator is so tanked up on alcohol and his wife doped up on anti-anxiety meds which meant no connection with the paranormal, no energy. Does this mean the end of her wonderful career? A shocking discovery awaits if you can stomach the horror.

"Sometimes, all you can do is watch things burn, and wait for the ash to settle." If you like the sound of this free ereader then you'll meet up with Serendipity and others in "Leaving Time."

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton. Available free from Amazon.


Carol Naylor. REVIEW it.

Copyright 2014. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.

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