J. Stefan Jackson, The Golden Talisman

The Golden Talisman

J. Stefan Jackson

Mundania Press, October 2006, $16.00

ISBN: 1594262381

The residents of Carlsdale, Alabama know the areas to avoid if they want to live. In sections of the dark woods near Tombigbee River lives evil; for centuries those foolish enough to enter never come out. That is, no one until thirteen year old Jack Kenney who somehow survived the ordeal. Not willing to risk the life of their son or his older brother Jeremy, the Kenneys immediately move away to the big city Tuscaloosa.

Eight serene years later, Jeremy and Jack attend the University of Alabama. However, the horror returns when a friend of the siblings, University archaeology professor Dr. Menesch, is brutally killed. The FBI abduct Jeremy and Jack without a warrant under some arcane anti-terrorism ploy. Agents Reynolds, Iverson and Casey frustrated with the smiles and silence they receive, especially from Jack viciously interrogate the brothers seeking to know what Jack met in the woods near Carlsdale. Though battered, he says nothing until Special Agent Peter McNamee arrives with a similar story about a horror from his past that he was fortunate to survive. Jack sees a kindred soul in Peter, and begins to tell his story of the terror he fled in the summer of 99, that apparently is spreading its dark realm beyond the banks of the Tombigbee River.

The hook to this excellent suspense thriller is the twists that will keep readers wondering what is going on, as nothing is quite what it seems. Adding to the excitement is that the audience will wonder whether the terror is an evil supernatural creature or an amoral human, even while following the J brothers, mostly Jack, who relate their story. J. Stefan Jackson provides a dark thriller that grips fans from the opening FBI abduction, and never frees the reader until the final understanding of the loss of innocence of a thirteen year old adolescent.