"Earthly Concerns"

Review - "Earthly Concerns" by Xavier Axelson

Eerie, wonderful read

Very Highly Recommended

Anson has a very special talent.  He doesn’t share about it, but since he and Barrett were seeing each other, he thought it safe to tell him.  He really didn’t think he would remember not care that Anson was…sensitive…to things on the other side.  Especially since Barrett backed away, didn’t want to see him any more.

But when Barrett is in a car accident and his daughter mysteriously disappears, he calls and asks for Anson’s help.  The police have investigated and can’t find her.  And Barrett is slowly going crazy.

Will Anson be able to help?  Will what he discovers draw him in too?  Or will he be able to make sure all three of them are safe?

Xavier Axelson has produced another eerie and wonderful tale of the supernatural, loss and wonderfully damaged men looking for solace.  He does what he does so well – sets up a premise that can go one of two ways, draws us in and slams the door behind us and shuts off the lights.

His set-ups are plausible and commonplace.  A car accident.  A missing child.  A pair of lovers who cannot make a go of it.  But somewhere, somehow, it all takes a left turn and events veer off center.  And the men, they bend, sometimes break. 

Anson and Bennett are central to the story, and we learn just enough about them in drips and drabs to be fascinated.  Enchanted.  Worried.  Then we find out what really happened, and we realize exactly how broken Bennett is.

What I love about Mr. Axelson’s works is his redemption of his men.  He brings them to us is pieces, then lets us watch as they slowly rejoin and become whole again.  He makes us care, and that is now small feat.

This story is wonderfully creepy and leaves me wanting more.  I want to know more about these men.  And isn’t that the sign of a great writer?  Leaving the reader wanting more?

Terrific.

Tom