The Terror of Black Eagle Tavern: The Paranormalists

By: Megan Atwood
Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing
Publication Date: August 2012
ISBN: 978-0761383338
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: December 2012

Jinx, formerly known as a nobody, Jane Marie Wright, was now somebody. Least ways a person of interest even if people were a bit freaked out by her. Jinx loved the minor celebrity and notoriety she received “the minute she’d started the Paranormalists website.” Spooky and freaky she could stand, but ignored she couldn’t. Jackson was a jock, but somehow they’d become partners in their new venture to ferret out paranormal entities. Granted, the resolution to their first case was less than satisfactory, but at least they’d had one.

Jackson was hoping that if they could make contact with a real ghost then maybe, just maybe, he could contact his dad who’d died a few years before. Todd McElvoy was the starting quarterback on the team, but he had something on his mind other than football. His family owned the Black Eagle Tavern and things were getting so bad that the business could go under. “I’m not helping that Neanderthal,” Jinx declared when she knew Todd was asking for help. The tavern was home to a “nice ghost,” but something evil had begun to visit.

Glasses began to fly off the shelves and Todd’s cousin, Michael, up and quit when he got “six black eyes.” Nice was not the word for the evil that had visited the tavern. In reality, Jinx really liked Todd, but being nice didn’t quite fit her new image. However, if they took the case things would really start hopping for the Paranomalists. Todd began to plead, “If you don’t get rid of this ghost, my life will be ruined.” Once Jinx and Jackson took the case and set up their EVP recorder and their EMF sensor they’d find it ... or so they thought. A hiss went “through the bar like a demonic snake.” Had they really gone a bit too far this time?

Jinx and Jackson’s encounter with the unknown at the Black Eagle Tavern will thrill the young reader. This short, but fast-paced and exciting paranormal mystery is perfect for the reluctant reader or someone who simply enjoys a quick read. The duo have teamed up to solve seemingly unsolvable paranormal events happening in their town. Although Jinx and Jackson appear to be polar opposites, they work quite well together. The story moves right along and the freakish tension makes it a page turner. With the second case in the works, they are becoming established and are certainly on everyone’s radar as paranormal investigators. If you have a youngster who likes mysteries that are tantalizingly haunted, this is one series you might want to look at!

Quill says: If you like freaky, haunted, and the paranormal, this is just the series you've been waiting for!