WINTER - a review

The novel Winter by Keven Newsome was a treat to read. It is a paranormal thriller with a Christian message – ‘Christian horror’ if such an oxymoron can exist. Winter is a young ‘Goth’ who is off to college for the first time. She has a past riddled with hurt and trouble, but she is now a Christian, despite her continuing espousal of Goth dress. This is one aspect of the book that I especially liked. The author has set out to completely destroy stereotypes in how his heroine should dress, behave, or even think. Winter has been plagued with recurring nightmares and once at college these escalate. She also starts having waking visions and premonitions. At the same time, disturbing events start taking place at the college. Someone is terrorizing the campus, culminating in a brutal murder. The student president is framed for the deed, while other controversies start to wrack the college as well. Winter and her new college friends begin to see a correlation between her visions and events at the school. Although a reluctant recipient, she seems to have the gift of prophecy, and believes she has been sent to the school to help solve the crimes that have been taking place. A Satanic group seems to be at the center of all the conflict and so Winter and her friends are toppled headlong into a twisted plot of mystery, intrigue and danger. Skillfully woven throughout are flashbacks to Winter’s traumatic past where she learns important life lessons which she draws upon to deal with her present predicament. Although sometimes brutally descriptive, the book never reads as sensationalized or gratuitous. Read this book for a thrilling ride into the occult where good triumphs in the end.