Book "Into the Mist: Silver Hand" by Steve Finegan

About the Book: In the woods behind the park ... buried beneath the ground ... a secret waits. Thirteen-year-old Gabe Wrenn is unsettled by his family’s move to the creepy old house on Byrnmor Street. Even more unsettling is the prospect of being the new kid in school on Monday, and the object of everyone’s gawking stares, when all he wants is to be left alone with his sketchpad. But unsettled can’t begin to describe how Gabe feels when he first stands in The Woods, an old oak grove bordering the park behind his house, and a mysterious voice summons him to “the Door to the East.” It’s an epileptic hallucination for sure, and another sign that his bullying older brother Sam is right: Gabe’s nothing but a brain-damaged freak. This opinion is not shared by Ellie Yvonne, the impetuous girl next door. With disturbing conviction, Ellie declares that Gabe’s epilepsy makes him special. It could even be the key to unlocking the secret of the Brynmor Witch’s bramble-choked grave at the heart of The Woods. "Into the Mist: Silver Hand" is the first book in a two-part fantasy adventure story about an unlikely hero who triumphs over isolation and adversity through friendship and a strange new sense of self-confidence that results when he takes possession of a relic of unknown origins. "A pleasure to read. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Wanted more." – Marc Mohan, The Oregonian For young adults (ages 12-18) and up.

About the Author: In addition to being a YA author, Steve Finegan is a seeker of the extraordinary in the ordinary and an avid, eclectic, and voracious reader - with observations, which he occasionally shares on his blog Achieving Wow! Steve writes fantasy fiction in which unlikely young heroes battle isolation, rejection, and worse only to discover that what makes them so different from everyone else, and often miserable because of it, is an extraordinary gift or ability that they come to value and embrace. Steve lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, son, golden retrievers Gary and Cooper, one very old Yorkshire terrier named Corkie, and a horse named Jordan, who seems to think he's a dog.

My review: This is a very interesting and well written book that will keep your attention to the end. The initial chapters start creating the ambient and the plot warm up in direction to the intense final moments of this first of two fantasy books narrating the saga of our heroes.

The plot is simple to follow. The family of a young boy (Gabe) with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy moves to a new city, where the boy has to adapt himself to his neighborhood and his new school. He befriends with a girl next door (Ellie) and together they start living adventures in the woods behind his property, where it used to live a woman that was considered to be a witch. And things develop from there and during his epileptic crises, he is transported to an alternate world, rich in mythological creatures, where he has the role of a hero. The description of the alternate world is superb and you will get involved easily with the new set of characters. Although the story starts slowly, it goes on a "crescendo" till it reaches its climax at the end. It is a very entertaining book, very well written. Really enjoyable.
I recommend this book to the permanent library of all readers that love young adult novels with a good plot, with mystery, suspense, friendship, basically all good ingredients to a great fantasy book.

This book was written by Steve Finegan and it was published in January 2012. The author was kind enough to provide me an electronic copy for reviewing in .mobi format. I was not required to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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