G. S. Fortis

Here I am searching for my next good read. Scrolling! Scrolling!! Bam! "A Name In The Dark." When I saw the book title, my reading antenna shot up towards it. And then the cover art drew me in. As soon as I read the blurb, I said "yes! This is it." It definitely didn't disappoint. The author, G.S Fortis, did a really great job with the story telling, the character building, the mystery, the suspense and he also added a bit of dark humor which made it all the more interesting. A Name In The Dark is a paranormal mystery book set in modern day Los Angeles.

Darcy Caine and her best friend Paige Whitaker are two young adults trying to make a living. Paige Whitaker is a web developer, a beautiful young lady in search of her birth mother, who abandoned her. Darcy Caine is a private investigator possessed by a demon whom she calls Dudley. For five years she has been on the hunt for the demon's real name in order to exorcise it and send it back to hell (or so I thought.) When Elizabeth Viramontes, daughter of a rich and powerful woman, goes missing she takes up the case to find her. But something is not right. Why would someone kidnap Elizabeth Viramontes? How did she get mixed up in a Mexican cult that worships nuestra señora de la santa muerte (a dark Saint), and which is also known for its drug affiliation? And lastly, who is Carmen Viramontes?

I love books with strong female leading characters and this happens to be one of them. This story is action packed and filled with twists and turns that makes it so unpredictable. I must say that there are trigger warnings like violence, profanity and death, but it adds up to the originality of the story. The character development is solid. There's also a secondary plot embedded into the story which is very much connected to the primary. There are so many characters in the story but not too much that makes the reader confused. The characters are also relatable.

This book doesn't seem to be professionally edited. There were missing words, apostrophe and word repetition which was really distracting. Another round of editing/proofreading will do justice to those errors. Due to the trigger warnings I mentioned earlier, I would recommend this book to teenagers above sixteen-years-old and adults that enjoy paranormal fiction with a healthy dose of mystery and suspense. If you are also a reader of historical fiction and the supernatural, then I gladly recommend this book for your enjoyment.

In conclusion, special thanks go to G.S. Fortis and booksirens for giving me this advance readers copy for free in exchange for my honest review.… (más)