Hurt: A Novel

If you should ever happen upon a quite little remote mountain community with the sign welcoming you to Solitary, turn around. Do not enter and forget you ever saw this place. In fact, Solitary is just that, a place that longs to be kept a silent secret. Isolated. Alone. Just like the name implies. However for Chris Buckley, it's a town he can't escape. It's a town that has ties to him that bind the soul. One he has been desperately searching for a way out of only to be brought to the conclusion of where he finds himself at now. At the final chapter. The climatic ending of an epic story of old.

Some call Solitary a gateway, but for Chris Solitary isn't a gateway drug. Nope, Solitary is crack and heroin and every other drug blended together and served as an ice cream cone. However the town of Solitary was discovered by an original settler who the town is named after. The wicked man who already knew and believed in evil. It was as if this town called for him. But it is why Chris is so valuable. He is needed to combat the evil that is slowly consuming the town and it's residents.

But if you have picked up this book and wondering where it all begins, where can I begin to fill you in? It's three in the morning, and so far baby dearest hasn't managed to crawl up the stairs with a steak knife. Let's see - I move to Solitary and fall in love with the girl that the evil people have decided to sacrifice on New Year's Eve. Before this sacrifice happened I met my mother's creepy aunt Alice with her selection of mannequins. Perhaps this doll escaped from her house.

I saw a weird mountain man with a big German shepherd who ended up being my uncle in costume. The man, that is. Not the dog. There were the nightmares my mother had. There were tunnels underneath our cabin. Oh yeah, don't forget the cabin in the woods. Or the mannequin maker.

There's the creepy pastor and the ignorant bully. But both answer to a twisted man named Staunch who answers to my great-grandfather. And they all say I'm special and that somewhere down the road I'm going to get a special key that does something special for a special reason. Welcome to the fourth book, Hurt by Travis Thrasher. This is the fourth book in the Solitary Tales series and should not be read as a stand alone book. To read it by itself would simply cause you to be confused because you need to know what has happened to bring Chris Buckley to his final year in Solitary.

This book is the culmination of everything Chris has had to endure to bring him to this point. When he first arrived in Solitary in book one, he was very much the outcast being the new kid in high school Alone and isolated much like the city. However as the books progress we find out that something sinister has been brewing and a spiritual war is about to be unleashed. Think of this series as Travis Thrasher describes it like Pretty in Pink meets The Exorcist. I couldn't think of a finer way to sum up this series.

I received Hurt by Travis Thrasher compliments of Christian Blog Alliance and David C Cook Publishers for my honest opinion. It is written from Chris' point of view and thus you are dealing with the impressions one would expect from a boy in high school trying to fit in. It seems like he can't do anything right and he is always on someones bad side from the local sheriff to the pastor and even his mother when she is sober. Yet I viewed this fourth and  final book, having read all three books in this series, as Chris' absolution. He realizes he can't run from his problems and has to deal with them alone. I can't share with you how it ends, but definitely could see more books launched from this series. A well-deserved and earned 5 out of 5 stars! For those of you that like a good suspense thriller with a powerful message, pick up the entire series. For readers like me that love this genre, it was well-worth the ride.

For more information about Hurt: A Novel, Travis Thrasher or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Hurt: A Novel by Travis Thrasher

You can also stay up to date with all of Travis Thrashers latest books by joining his Facebook page.

To read more reviews from the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Book Tour, click here. 

The Solitary Tales by Travis Thrasher - Available at your favorite book retailer:
#1 - Solitary
#2 - Gravestone
#3 - Temptation
#4 - Hurt

Temptation

Chris Buckley has been struggling with a lot of issues since he and his mother moved to Solitary. That's just what seems to happen to when you move here. You find yourself a bit isolated from everyone else. It's hard enough trying to fit in and when you finally make friends, something happens so them. They move away. They disappear. Or they are murdered.

Chris attempts to come to terms with what has been happening in this town, and once again he finds he is alone. Aside from a small black dog named Midnight, Chris wrestles with the inner demons inside himself. Those that constantly blame him for things that have gone wrong. That as a sixteen-year-old boy he should have been able to put a stop to things in Solitary. But he's being watched. Every single thing he does, he's being watched. He still can't trust anyone in town and he's afraid more than ever to make friends. So when faced with dealing with spending the summer once again back in school at Harrington High, he tries to make the best of it by keeping to himself. With only a few other people in his summer school class and a teacher that wants to be anywhere but here, Chris finds himself digging a bit deeper into the darkness surrounding the town.

This time he attempts to confront Pastor Jeremiah Marsh who promises him anything his heart truly desires if he is willing to seek answers with him. It seems like Chris is the only one centered around the dark happenings in this strange town where secret buried tunnels beneath the town and people who can't die have something to hide. Will Chris face his greatest temptation in facing the darkness head on or will he become part of what the town is trying to hide?

In the third book in the Solitary Tales series by Travis Thrasher, Temptation looks at what happens when I believe you're pushed to the end of your proverbial rope and sanity at the same time. You begin to question what is real and what isn't. What is worth a risk and what isn't and it's at this stage that Chris is finally facing his darkest fears and those that seem to have the answers he seeks. But once again, those that move in to become his allies, are they just playing him for their own purposes or do they truly have good intentions at helping Chris finally get to the bottom of the darkness and evil that thrives in the town of Solitary?

I received Temptation by Travis Thrasher compliments of David C. Cook Publishers and Net Galley for my honest review and have to say, when you pick up anything by Travis Thrasher you are instantly hooked in the world he creates for his readers. It borders on the darkest places in our minds and show the reader just where the true spiritual battles are fought, in our minds! I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and now, can't wait for book 4 due out next year. For those of you who have never read a book by Travis Thrasher, think Stephen King, but with a Christian twist you don't see coming!!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this series today, please click on the links below:

Temptation by Travis Thrasher

You can also stay up with the latest from Travis Thrasher by joining his Facebook page.

Gravestone

Chris Buckley is looking for answers but it seems like he doesn't know quite whom he can trust anymore. The one person who meant the world to him has been murdered and his mom seems to be in a perpetual drunken state all the time. Now that he finds himself back in high school again, he reaches out to the only three friends he had left, but he can't find Rachel. She doesn't seem to be in school any longer and Poe, refuses to acknowledge him except for angry outbursts. Relying on the only friend left, he meets with Newt over lunch. But all Newt will say to him is that lunch is the place for eating only.

When Chris pushes him for more, Newt simply tells him to meet after school. When the boys arrive in Newts basement the only thing he tells Chris is that Rachel has moved away. He warns Chris that the less he is told, the less Newt knows. He also tells Chris that, "they have a way of making thing like this happen. People disappearing. People moving, People moving on. There are reasons I remain quiet and if I were you, I'd get as far away from this place as I could."

But can Chris simply forget and walk away from the town of Solitary? Can he let go of the murder of Jocelyn and not do anything, tell anyone? And just what if he does? Will he disappear or will he move on?

In the chilling sequel to Solitary by Travis Thrasher, the reader is brought back with the aftermath of what happened in the deep dark forest with Jocelyn and the cult that murdered her. There appears to be something happening in this Zombie-like town but Chris isn't sure who he can trust any longer. When an encounter with a man who claims he is Chris's cousin Jared who is searching for his father Robert who has gone missing, he isn't sure what is real any longer. Is Jared someone he can truly trust. He tells him that his mother is part of what the town is hiding and that knowing just who he can trust will make the difference between choosing light or darkness in the battle for his own soul.

I received Gravestone as a personal purchase to continue in series of Travis Thrasher's Solitary Tales. I enjoyed Solitary so much I had to see where the story picked up with Chris on the verge of wondering just what is going on and how much of it is crazy and how much of it is a chilling reality that the town wants to remain a secret. What will it cost for Chris to solve the mystery? You'll have to pick this one up to find out, but I would advise reading book 1 in the series first, to gain an understanding of the darkness keeping this town in secrecy! This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to review the 3rd book in the series, Temptation!

For more information on Gravestone, author Travis Thrasher or where to pick up these books today, please click on the links below:

Gravestone by Travis Thrasher

You can also stay up on the latest by Travis Thrasher by following his Facebook page.

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (June 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434764192
• ASIN: B005OLAD6Q