‘It Walked Among Us’ is an exciting mystery novel with the undercurrents of a horror novel written by author independent author Amanda Summerbell. The outline of the story consists of a detective named Frank Milsner who has long been trying to solve a bizarre crime that involved the mutilation of his niece. The story spans a fifteen year or more timeline in a small town of Fairvale, Virginia, and Summerbell captures you as a reader by spoon feeding you segments of the story which seem completely unrelated, but as more and more unfolds
the book becomes a read that is hard to put down.
The characters throughout the story are well crafted, and interwoven within a community that becomes more real in every chapter. Their connections, and crossing of life events is artfully crafted with the creative imagination of the author, and she does not disappoint. It is very difficult to take on a genre of mystery, and capture the fear expected within a horror novel, but Summerbell’s story telling keeps the reader engaged. I found myself finding it hard to not continue with the next chapter, as the tale unfolded page after page.
The story at times skirts the edge of ‘unbelievable’ and shifts right back into the realm of the ‘probable’ as the mystery and secrets are discovered about the murder spree in the small community. The author touches on a bit of science fiction with the subject of DNA manipulation, and she paints a sinister picture of one possible frightening outcome of such experimentation and makes it believable. Anyone reading this will enjoy not only the mystery, but the characters. The author makes each character unique, and gives them all an individual original personality as they expand, develop and change as the book progresses. I truly adventurous read, and a lot of fun!
‘It Walked Among Us’ is our highly recommended read in the genre of mystery, suspense and horror for the month of March. It is available by clicking on any of the links here in this article through Amazon.
Amanda Summerbell was born in Fairfax, Virginia and relocated to the Charleston, West Virginia area in 2006 with her husband and three girls. Her favorite author is Daphne du Maurier and she loves to read true crime, mysteries and horror. She is also a HUGE fan of Dean Martin, Jerry Vale and Tony Bennett and loves all things vintage. Among her other published work is a short story titled “Marge” which can be found in the April edition of ‘The Cynic Online Magazine’.
