Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The Burning Girl by Lisa Unger


First Line: There was a small, angry girl sitting on Eloise Montgomery's couch.

It's ten years after the events in Lisa Unger's first digital short story involving characters who live in  the fictional town of The Hollows. Eloise Montgomery now has a career as a psychic. Her daughter Amanda has moved away and now has a daughter of her own. 

In "The Burning Girl," Eloise discovers some disturbing secrets about her family history-- and the fact that her granddaughter has powers of her own. Moreover, while she's learning these secrets, Eloise is also learning that not all of her visitors are looking for help. Some of them just seem to be inclined to be troublemakers. 

As in "The Whispers," Unger continues to tell the story of Eloise and how she's managed to cope with the deaths of her husband and eldest daughter. Ten years have passed, and although she's learned to use her gift to help others and to keep herself focused, part of her is still shut away from others. Part of this is due to the fact that she shuns the spotlight. She wants to use her gift to benefit those who truly need her, not as some public relations stunt to bring herself fame and money.  However, other reasons for her closing herself off could very well be that she hasn't recovered enough from her loved ones' deaths... and she's not willing to share this often misunderstood part of her life in a deep relationship with anyone else.

Eloise is a good person, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her in these short stories. The paranormal aspects are well done and work to increase both tension and understanding. With the possibility that her granddaughter has inherited her own powers, I look forward to reading the next short story in this series.   

"The Burning Girl" by Lisa Unger
ASIN: B00L6C37GK
Pocket Star © 2014
Digital Short Story, 45 pages

Short Story, #2 The Hollows
Rating: B+
Source: Net Galley 


2 comments:

  1. Cathy - I've heard so many good things about this set of stories. As you know, I'm really not one to go for the psychic element in my stories. But I keep hearing that this series is worth reading. Hmmmmm.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes one gets the itch to take a step or two outside one's comfort zone, eh? How well I understand that! :-)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!