Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Supernatural Enhancements (Edgar Cantero)



Rarely have I gone back and forth with a rating as much as I did with Edgar Cantero's The Supernatural Enhancements. On the one hand, I liked the Blair Witch Project style storytelling, told not through a straight narrative but through diary entries, voice recorder transcripts, and even invoices. I feel that this made it more suspenseful and jarring. Having said that, the plot itself is borderline ridiculous; I adore a great ghost story but the plot was so far-fetched that I often found my mind wandering. Unfortunately, this was a book that I just "got through" instead of truly enjoying.

A., a European, inherits a long-lost American relative's mansion and its contents, the relative having just committed suicide. He brings along his teenage companion, Niamh, to Axton House, which they soon learn is haunted. I never understood A. and Niamh's relationship and to me, it seriously detracted from the novel. It seemed inappropriate and was written quite seedily. They soon come across a "big" secret that happens at Axton House every year, which is really not that exciting.

I think The Supernatural Enhancements is a book that you either love or not (just check out Goodreads). The plot wasn't for me, but I still thought it was written in a creative way.

MY RATING - 2