Everything about The 5: A Parnormal Thriller by Richard Freeland spoke to me and spoke loudly. With the horror season upon us, this seemed like a perfect read to share.
Richard Freeland enjoys a good margarita around a warm fire and so do I, so let’s get comfortable…for now.
Look at the creepy cover and tell me what you think the young lady has on her mind.
Everything about The 5: A Paranormal Thriller by Richard Freeland has everything it takes to stop me in my tracks and check it out further. The fantastic cover is creepy and drew me in and I love paranormal thrillers, and the title finished me off. THEN, OMG, we have a serial killer. I know that may sound bad, but I LOVE serial killers. 😈
Ben is a young boy with a vivid imagination and a penchant for writing. When Sarah comes to visit him from the spectral world, no one will believe him, but she keeps asking him to…
“Find me.”
He is a brave, young man whose investigation takes him down a dangerous path that could cost him his life.
Yes, there is a cellar, and…well, we are going down, no matter how afraid we are.
The 5: A Paranormal thriller by Richard Freeland started out like any ghostly tale and I thought this would be a normal, fun paranormal read. I had no idea where Richard would take me, but the twisty, turny, windy trail into the hidey-hole and the pit of hell had me on the edge of my seat. Each time I thought the story was over, he took me to another horrid and terrifying place.
Richard lulled me into a sense of complacency, then jerked me awake. The 5 was written in such a way that the surprises burst forth like a rose opening its bloom, unfolding each petal slowly, showing me its thorns as I grabbed ahold of the story. The horror kept coming and the ugliness of the killers made me sick as they laughed with glee. They are written perfectly. Camouflaged as ordinary people, the evil is hidden right in front of me.
I never suspected the killers, but I don’t think there were enough clues for me to find out ahead of time. Normally, I don’t like surprises, but Richard, I’ll take these kind of surprises any day of the week. I WANT MORE!
I received a copy of The 5: A Paranormal Thriller from Richard Freeland in return for an honest review.
5 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS & INTERVIEW
Gone Without a Trace
Between 2011 and 2014, five young girls living within a 40 mile radius of Sutton, Tennessee, disappeared. They were never seen again.
Until Now
Sarah Nordstrom has returned. With an anguished request for twelve year old Ben Hilary.
“Find Me…”
These words will send Ben on a terrifying quest to uncover the truth about what really happened to five lost girls. A journey that will cause him to question everything he believes in. And everyone he trusts.
Trust No One
Because there’s someone in the shadows. Watching Ben’s progress. Someone who has everything to lose. Someone who will kill to make sure that the past remains buried.
The 5 – a novel by Richard Freeland
*****
Interview with Thriller Writer Richard Freeland
Q – Your latest book is The 5, a paranormal thriller. What’s the story behind the book?
RF – They say write what you know, and The 5, while fiction, has it’s birthplace in my own youth, visiting my grandparents in a small Tennessee town that became Sutton in the book. Ben’s grandparents’ house closely mirrors my grandparents’ home, right down to the spooky cellar.
Q – Are the issues you touch on in the book, like trying to win a parent’s love, coming of age, burgeoning sexuality, and the uncertainty of growing up, issues that you dealt with as a child?
RF – I think we all go through some of the things Ben experiences. The emotions, I mean. My Dad was a stepdad and I loved him a lot, but sometimes he was hard to relate to. He could be kind of aloof. And all guys, and girls probably, experience that unsettled sexual awakening period. I know that if a girl even looked at me at that age I’d lose my capacity for intelligent thought! Girls were the great mystery when we were in our early teens. So a lot of those feelings crept into the story.
Q – What motivated you to become a writer of occult thrillers?
RF – Riches! Fame! Fortune! No, really, I like to write, to explore ideas and situations and try to come to terms with things. But what’s a writer without a reader? I knew I wanted to reach more people than just my friends and family. Then there’s that whole fame and fortune thing…
Q – What do you want your fans to experience when reading your work?
RF – I want to write stories that resonate. Tales that make my readers care for what’s happening to the characters. That scare and entertain and keep them on the edge of their seats. And maybe learn a little about themselves and others.
Q – What authors have most inspired you?
RF – I think I should have been born in the pulp era. My Dad turned me on to reading at an early age. He loved Edgar Rice Burroughs, Zane Grey, Luke Short, and a host of others. He had all the Tarzan and John Carter of Mars books, and some really old dime paperbacks from before WWII, and I read most of them as a boy, and they all influenced me. A co-worker once gave me a copy of The Key-Lock Man, by Louis L’Amour, and I was hooked. He’s my huge western influence, and I think of him as a mentor. Then there’s King, Koontz, McCammon, Preston & Child…the list goes on.
Q – What do you have in the works?
RF – My main goal right now is finishing an epic historical paranormal thriller (how’s that for cross genre?). It’s called Seed, and will be released as a trilogy. The first book in the set is being edited as we speak. I’m also in the planning stages of a paranormal thriller series featuring Macon Grant, a really bad ass character with certain Abilities, but also towing along a lot of serious baggage. Mac and his motley crew will be thrown in to some pulse-pounding situations, I think. The first book in the series is tentatively titled Ravager.
Q – Sounds like quite a ride.
RF – Fing
ABOUT RICHARD FREELAND (from Amazon)
Hey there! I’m Richard Freeland, and I write thrillers “with a bite”. Most of my stories are set within the horror, suspense, thriller, and fantasy genres, although I aspire to a more literary flavor. Many of my short stories appear in the compilation “Equinox – Six Declinations”, my first published book.
Currently, I’ve just finished “The 5”, a paranormal thriller. You can find it here at Amazon.
I enjoy writing, reading, fly fishing Georgia’s freestone trout streams, gardening, boating, hiking, playing tennis (bum knees and all) and – after all that – settling down with my lady in front of a warm fire and enjoying a fine margarita.
I live in Gainesville, Georgia with my wife Martha and cat Henry (widely regarded as the “King of the Known Universe). I’m a registered landscape architect and a certified master gardener. I’m currently working on a second collection of short stories and and my second novel, an epic historical paranormal thriller called “Seed”, coming soon from DragonLyre Publishing. You can find all my fiction at RichardFreeland.com
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