13 Days: The Dark Circle

By: K. Lippi
Publisher: Mirror Publisher
ISBN: 978-1936352982
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: September 2010

Never in a million years did anyone think they’d actually be chosen to compete on a real live reality show. No one was randomly chosen for those things. Heck, everyone knew you had to know someone, someone who would pull a few strings for you, but “13 days,” a new Reality TV show really did select sixteen people to participate in a search for an elusive cool million. There were going to be cameras in every nook and cranny in the building on an island with a dark, demonic, mysterious past. Some of the contestants were well aware of the evil nature of the former goings on at Black Bird Island, but were anxious to explore the eerie architecture and see some of the purported specters for themselves.

Matthew and Tony Roma were writing a book about the asylum and were excited at the opportunity to participate. William Hawthorn wanted to uncover bits and pieces of his own past at the St. Clara Asylum . . . with his dead sister Alice, a ten-year-old who haunted the grounds. The youngest participant, sixteen-year-old Selene, a psychometric, was accompanied by her brother Seth. They were on a fishing boat in the Pacific heading to Black Bird Island, an island with a history of sorcery, black magic, suicides, mysterious disappearances, and a crypt wall drenched in blood. And then there was that massacre. Did anyone really want to spend time in a place where a murderer could still be roaming the halls?

Yolanda Perez, who was gifted with retrocognition, and her cousin, Raul Ramirez were game. There were several other couples who had their reasons for being there. The producers wanted people who could bring “drama, romance, shock and tension to their show to entertain the audience.” Their audience would not be disappointed. When they set foot on the island, they would begin to wake the dead, dead who should never have been disturbed. They soon found out that they were not alone. Jennifer and Joanna were the first to disappear. The only remaining traces of them were chess pieces, parts of a puzzle the others would have to solve.

The search began, not only for the million, but for the missing. “You shouldn’t have come here,” a little voice came from a room filled with dolls with icy stares that enveloped Raul and Phillip. Raul and Phillip began to run as a lullaby began to surround the room, but suddenly the floor gave way and they fell into the foul smelling floor below them. A little girl’s voice began to whisper in Phillip’s ear. “Twelve little trespassers are exploring. One little trespasser is not.” He struggled to hold onto Raul, but soon he was pulled into the darkness despite Phillip’s desperate hold on him. Who would be the next victim to be snatched into the bowels of the asylum? Would any of them make it out alive or would the demons from its depths have them all before the thirteen days was up?

If you like the forecast for your reading sprinkled with a few chills with a ninety-nine percent chance of hair-raising horror, 13 Days: The Dark Circle, will gladly oblige. I loved not only St. Clara’s creepy setting, but also the idea of a reality show that ingeniously twisted the past with the present. Each and every time I saw that little girl subtly sneak into the pages and start talking about trespassers, I could almost feel her ghastly, ghostly presence and knew some unfortunate soul's time was up on Black Bird Island.

The tale was of very high interest, but I often found myself continually referring to the cast of characters because there were too many different personalities and life stories to remember all at once. There were also numerous minor characters, but their stories were much more compact and easy to manage. The character overload was the only difficult thing to deal with in the book. Now, if this were a movie (it should be made into one) that would be a different critter altogether. You’d be seeing me rush down the aisle with the biggest bucket of popcorn I could carry and an extra large soda. I’d grab a seat and wait for one of the more thrilling, chilling horror stories to hit my neck of the woods since Black Bird Island was discovered. Just which one of those characters made it out alive? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Quill says: If you are a teen who'd love to see what you'd look like with white hair, try reading this one by candlelight!

For more information on 13 Days: The Dark Circle, please visit the author's website at: www.k-lippi.com