The Wakening

by JG Faherty

Overview

A team of paranormal investigators, a priest and a defrocked priest with a dark secret join forces to combat of a vengeful ancient demon, and the evil spreading throughout a small New York town.

Fifty years ago, Father Leo Bonaventura, a young exorcist, cast a demon out from a young boy in Central America. The demon, Asmodeus, vowed revenge. Now the demon has returned, in the same town where Bonaventura is a retired priest nearing the end of his life. In a series of not-so-coincidental events, the possession of a young girl brings together an unlikely group of people, all of whom are linked in their pasts in some way: A group of paranormal investigators, including twin psychics. Robert Lockhart, a defrocked priest with a dark secret that only the twins know. A father whose dead wife was a college girlfriend of Robert’s and once conjured an evil spirit with him through a Ouiji board. Now they must all join forces and help Father Bonaventura rid the town not only of Asmodeus, but also the plague of poltergeists that have followed the demon into our world.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing Independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction&fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787585942
Publisher:	Flame Tree Publishing
Publication date:	01/25/2022
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	864 KB

About the Author

A life-long resident of New York's haunted Hudson Valley, JG Faherty grew up – and still lives – in a small town filled with Revolutionary War graveyards and battle sites, haunted roads and houses, and UFO sightings, all of which definitely influenced his writing. He is the author of nine novels, eleven novellas, and more than seventy-five short stories, and has been a finalist for both the Bram Stoker Award (The Cure, Ghosts of Coronado Bay) and ITW Thriller Award (The Burning Time).

A lifelong fan of horror and science fiction, as a young boy he cut his teeth on everything from The Hardy Boys, Dracula, and Star Trek to textbooks on herpetology and paleontology. His varied professional career includes working as a resume writer, laboratory manager, accident scene photographer, zoo keeper, research scientist, and salesman. He writes adult and YA dark fiction/sci-fi/fantasy, and his works range from quiet suspense to over-the-top comic gruesomeness. He grew up enthralled with the horror movies and books of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, and as a child his favorite playground was an abandoned cemetery, which many people feel explains all you need to know about him.

He is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), International Thriller Writers (ITW), and Mystery Writers of America (MWA). He currently oversees the HWA’s Library&Literacy Program, sits on the Board of Trustees, and was recognized as the 2018 Mentor of the Year. His influences range from Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, and Tales from the Crypt comics to Stephen King, Karl Edward Wagner, and Robert McCammon. HorrorNews.net has said ‘JG Faherty’s stories continue to astound, compel, and challenge the parameter of imagination.’ You can follow him on Twitter @jgfaherty, find him on Facebook (facebook.com/jgfaherty), and visit his website at jgfaherty.com.
JG Faherty is the author of 6 novels, 9 novellas, and more than 60 short stories. His latest novel is HELLRIDER. He has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award® and the ITW Thriller Award.

Editorial Reviews

"I've been a fan of JG Faherty's for many years now, and his latest book is just what you'd expect. Unlikely heroes, unexpected monsters, endless twists and turns—you really can't go wrong with Faherty when you're looking for a scary read!"

J.H. Moncrieff

"Forget Captain Howdy (The Exorcist). JG Faherty has taken possession to a terrifying new level. Read this with holy water close at hand!"

Hunter Shea

"With THE WAKENING, Faherty delivers a demonic possession tale done right. Chilling supernatural events and depictions of pure evil populate a story that spans decades without effort. This story of characters, both tragic and heroic, converging from across the country to keep a powerful demon at bay will keep you turning pages deep into the night, which is the worst possible time to read a book this unnerving."

Russell James

"Another excellent book with three dimensional characters, well written plot and a narrative that never bores but excites. A definite must read."

The Literary License Podcast

"With this epic story, J.G. Faherty lays out a cornucopia of horrific delights, a demon dripping with evil and, as for the town... Let’s just say that should you find yourself on the highway and see a turning sign for Hastings Mills, keep on driving. As far away and as fast as you can."

Catherine Cavendish

Strap in tight for JG Faherty’s THE WAKENING—it’s a wild ride that spins through forty years of demonic possession, giving the traditional ‘good versus evil’ a 180-degree twist of the head when the saviors aren’t so saintly, and the demon draws the characters in like moths to a flame that turns out to be a blow torch. Told in a countdown style that's effectively nerve-jangling, there’s lots for horror lovers to chew on.

Patricia V. Davis

Praise for HELLRIDER:

“HELLRIDER is a thunder and muscle hell ride through dangerous territory. Fun, wicked, and unrelenting. A horror thriller that breaks the rules and the speed limit at the same time.” - Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of CODE ZERO and DEAD OF NIGHT

"Remember when you were a kid and you'd sneak into the other theater or flip the channel to catch the horror movie, the one with lots of blood and a kickass soundtrack? HELLRIDER will take you back to those days when horror was fast and furious, and it's as satisfying as a butter-drenched tub of popcorn with a Saturday night horror flick." - Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of SUMMER'S END and NETHERWORLD

"Death rides a pale horse indeed! JG Faherty's latest creation, HELLRIDER, is a gritty metaphysical journey of small town desperation and revenge. A tense gut-twister that will have you hanging on every word."
- Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE SAVAGE DEAD and FLESH EATERS

JG Faherty’s HELLRIDER is suspense-filled, revenge-fueled, supernatural mayhem at its best! Sons of Anarchy meets Stephen King’s “Sometimes They Come Back.” It’s one hell of a ride! – Tim Waggoner, author of BONE WHISPERS and LIKE DEATH.

"Having been a fan of JG's books for quite some time now, it is the ultimate honor to have some of my lyrics from my band Charred Walls of the Damned included in HELLRIDER. Whether you're a horror fan, a metal fan, or just a fan of great writing, HELLRIDER is for you!" - Richard Christy, Charred Walls of the Damned and Sirius/XM Radio

“Insanely entertaining! HELLRIDER is fast-paced and bloody, with a deliciously mean streak of humor. I loved it!” - Jeff Strand, author of WOLF HUNT

Praise for SINS OF THE FATHER:

“Fast-paced, relentlessly horrific, and loaded with twists and surprises, Faherty’s dark tour of Innsmouth delivers a gut-wrenching tale of madness, monsters, and heartbreak. Action-packed cosmic horror at its gruesome best!” - James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Engines of Sacrifice and On the Night Border

"With SINS OF THE FATHER, JG Faherty injects new life into one of H. P. Lovecraft's most storied settings – the demon-haunted town of Innsmouth. With a tale that spans from Innsmouth to Arkham, from the spaces between the stars to the depths of the sea, from Miskatonic's marbled halls to Antarctica's icy plains, Faherty will have you smelling the stench of rotting fish...and feeling the fingers of clammy, cold hands around your throat." - Brett J. Talley, author of THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE and HE WHO WALKS IN SHADOW.

“Written with that familiar first person Lovecraftian style, author JG Faherty brilliantly offers stomach-churning nightmares and rotted flesh abominations. He paints a perfect cinematic scenery with a limelight for roaming watery deaths and walking corpses that only The Ancient Ones could create.” - Horror Bookworm Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-07-21
A retired priest, a group of young ghost hunters, and a pair of twins with supernatural powers become entangled in a demon’s revenge plot in Faherty’s supernatural thriller.

Asmodeus, known as the prince of demons, pledged its vengeance on the Rev. Leo Bonaventura five decades ago, and has come to Earth to claim its prize. The story is told over the course of a half-century, starting with the inciting incident—in which Bonaventura exorcised Asmodeus from the body of a 12-year-old boy in Guatemala—and moving forward. It jumps ahead a decade with each chapter and visiting locales around the world to show how various characters—including ghost hunters in Hastings Mills, New York, and feared Ohio twin sisters Claudia and Shari, who have very unusual abilities—arrive at the same place with the same goal of eradicating the demon. Mysterious, disturbing events ramp up over time, from spontaneous suicides and unexplained murders to a student séance gone awry and bizarre weather events, adding to a sense of growing chaos. The prose is engaging and suspenseful throughout, and the descriptions, particularly of scenes of demonic possession, are often vivid: “Dazzling bursts of white light exploded from the rafters. Everywhere they appeared, flames flickered to life across the aged wood. The townspeople tumbled over, their eyes burned away. Swarms of beetles emerged from the sockets and skittered across the floor.” Amid such fireworks, the character relationships also feel convincing. However, the offbeat chronology and shifting third-person character perspectives sometimes make the story difficult to follow. Along the way, the narrative strongly addresses themes of guilt and how it relates to religion; for example, one major character, also a priest, is an abuser of young children, and the work disturbingly delves into his thought process: “Ain’t Christianity the best? his subconscious whispered, while he mentally recited the Hail Mary. Defile your soul for what, the hundredth time? Two hundredth? But say a few imaginary invocations and all is forgiven. You’re a clean slate again.”

A tense paranormal tale with an unusual, if sometimes-disjointed, narrative structure.

Kirkus Reviews