Monday, May 21, 2012

Sheep ARC Review: Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings

Releases October 2, 2012

15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it's pretty obvious to Julie there's a supernatural connection.

In fact, there's a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie's high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it's a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won't just lose her mother's soul, she'll lose her mother's life.

Sean Cummings, Canadian author of adult Urban Fantasy, has written a young adult paranormal for Angry Robots’ new YA imprint, Strange Chemistry. Poltergeeks is about Julie, a young teenage girl trying to prove to her mother and herself that she is responsible enough to use her magic on her own, but she quickly gets in over her head, dragging her best friend Marcus along for the dangerous ride.

This is an action/mystery story with a sweet romance woven in. What impressed me most was Cummings’s knowledge of magic and his use of it in this story. I don't know much about magic, but I know when something doesn't ring true and his system was very believable. Add fabulously written action scenes and you have a fast-paced kick-butt story. Even though Julie has to deal with a few serious issues, the author keeps it light and angst-free, giving the reader a fun reading experience. (And any story with a talking dog is winning in my book.) I am a fan of first person POV and enjoyed experiencing things through Julie’s eyes. She has the makings of one of those snarky heroines I love in urban fantasy novels.

It is a little difficult to say what age group would enjoy this most. The story will definitely appeal to the 13-15 year old crowd. There is a little bit of profanity in it, but let’s face it, any 15 year old would cuss while being attacked by a malevolent sprit <G>. If you don’t mind your middle grader watching PG-13 movies, I think they will enjoy this story too.

One more note, have you checked out this cover? It is fabulous! Strange Chemistry is off to a great start with Poltergeeks (and isn’t that a clever title? <G>) in its line up so be sure to check them out. Sean will be doing a blog tour for the release of Poltergeeks in October and will be stopping by I Smell Sheep, maybe he will give us some hints about about book two Student Bodies releasing Spring of 2013.

SharonS (edited by BAK)
4 sheep






Find Sean online
and Pinterest
(where you can get clues about Poltergeeks)

Sean Cummings is a comic book geek, superhero junkie, zombie fan and a total nerd. (He’s also a gold mine of completely useless information about films made prior to 1960. Don’t get him started on “Arsenic and Old Lace” because he won’t shut up about it. ) He’s been writing since 1978 (as a means of liberating his “inner nerd”).

His interests include science fiction, the borg, cats with extra toes, east Indian cuisine and quality sci-fi movies/television. He’s an English Premier League fan with a soft spot for Blackburn (Gah! Relegated!!), Norwich City FC and Tottenham Hotspur. (Although Spurs consistently break his heart more often than not.) When he’s not geeking out online or watching football (soccer) on the dish, he can be found in his home office, writing away like a man possessed.

Sean’s published works include Shade Fright (Snowbooks 2010) Funeral Pallor (Snowbooks 2010) and Unseen World (Snowbooks 2011). He is currently working the follow up to his forthcoming debut Young Adult novel POLTERGEEKS.
Poltergeeks is only $6.01 for the kindle

Strange Chemistry is a global imprint dedicated to the best in modern young adult science fiction, fantasy and everything in between. We launch in September 2012, with physical books across a wide variety of formats, e-books as standard, and with selected titles made available as audiobooks.

6 comments:

  1. Looks interesting! Grreat review! :)

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  2. Great review! If I were into reading YA this one would definately make the list! And perhaps, if I see it somewhere, I might pick it up for my 13y stepdaughter.

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    1. a 13 year old would enjoy this :) I plan on getting it for my 11 year old when it comes out.

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  3. I think this sounds like a fun series. I like to read YA as long as they are not talking down to the target age group and like it when they are fun. Poltergeeks sounds like a good start to a fun series thanks for sharing your awesome review.

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