Dark Retributions-Jemimah Jonah

Book: Dark Retributions
Author: Jemimah Jonah
Publisher: Invincible Publications

Do you read stories with paranormal elements?

Dark Retributions by Jemimah Jonah is the story of Victoria Brooks, a homicide detective in the Westhill Police Department, who is called in to solve a brutal murder. A body of a woman was found in an unnatural situation and violent situation in a place that has a bad feeling around it. Victoria, however, has a secret. She can see the dead, and that is what sets of a series of events that are quite out of the world. Accompanied by paranormal investigator Jonathan Steele, she races against time to find out the perpetrators of the crime, and as the threads unravel, she realises that the key to solving the case lies in her past. Would she be able to face her demons and solve the case, or fall victim to the supernatural elements?

The plot of the story is quite interesting as it is not just another horror story, but a murder mystery with paranormal elements. The storyline is engaging as well as keeps the reader hooked to turn the page. Jemimah has actually kept the murder mystery as the central plotline, while using the paranormal activities as a way to propel the story ahead, and in my opinion, this is actually a USP of the book. The horrors in the book are chilling, but not grotesque as to scare away the reader, but the fear builds up as the story progresses. Another thing that works for the story is that it has shades of humour, and I loved the part where a ghost has a “quarter-life crisis”. However, there are some grammatical as well as editing errors that are there which can be corrected in the subsequent drafts. These do not affect the plot much, but do distract a reader. There are no plot holes, and the general flow of the story is quite smooth. The climax had a truly surprise element, and the buildup to that is great.

Coming to the characters, Jemimah has created a good detective who I would love to see solve some more cases in Victoria Brooks. She has been shown as a tough cop, but one who has her own share of troubles and secrets. Her humanity is very well explored in her ups and downs as well as her need for companionship and how that plays out as an arc. David as a character surprised me, and his love towards Victoria adds to her humanity as well. Coming to our paranormal friends, Jeremy, Harley and all the others have been given distinctive identities, and they have their own story that adds to the plot, rather than them just floating around and scaring people. The characters in the story do drive this story, and all their backstories actually form a critical part of the plot as a whole.

Overall, a good read, and recommended if you love reading murder mysteries with a tinge of horror. The book scores a 4.06/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book here.