Astrid Magnusson has come home to her wealthy family's
mansion while on a break from college. It's 1928 in San
Francisco, and Prohibition is in full swing. One of
Astrid's brothers is an archeologist and professor. Her
other brother Winter purportedly runs a fishing business;
which is actually a front for his bootlegging empire. As
for Astrid, she can best be described as a flapper. She
wears short skirts, too much makeup, and frequents
speakeasy's and dives.
Bo Yeung is a young Chinese American man who works for
Winter Magnusson. He had been fostered by the family as a
youth, and has worked his way up to Winter's right hand
man.
Bo has also grown with Astrid, and the close friendship
between the pair has deepened into the possibility of
something more. The couple's romantic inclinations,
however, are strictly taboo in society. Under the laws of
1928, Bo cannot even be seen in a public venue with
Astrid;
and he is forbidden to even enter many public places.
Once Astrid is home, however, she and Bo are immediately
thrown back together by way of an intriguing mystery. It
seems that a pleasure yacht has rammed into the Magnusson
pier, a yacht that has been missing for over a year.
There
are six survivors on board, people who are acting very
oddly
indeed. When the couple ventures onto the now empty
vessel,
Astrid touches a turquoise idol found on the floor and has
a
strange and frightening vision. Intrigued, Bo and Astrid
begin to look deeper into the matter. What they find is
an
evil and magical mystery that takes the investigation from
the heights of society to the dregs of the speakeasies.
Along the way, they begin to draw much closer, to the
point
where they are prepared to defy both convention and the
law
to be together.
GRAVE PHANTOMS is the third book in author Jenn Bennett's
fun and different Roaring Twenties PNR series.
These
books follow the Magnusson family through a myriad of
mysterious paranormal adventures taking place during the
wild and crazy Prohibition era and the Roaring Twenties.
More than just the paranormal storyline, this is the
touching story of the travails of a forbidden romance. Not
only is the relationship considered immoral, it is also
illegal. Kudos to Bennett for her deft and sensitive
treatment of the relationship. There were deep and very
real
socio-economic difficulties that had to be addressed if Bo
and Astrid wanted a future together. Not only is the
romance
and mystery written exceptionally well; the flavor of the
time period is also colorfully captured and fleshed out.
Although GRAVE PHANTOMS is the last part of Jenn Bennet's
PNR trilogy, it can be read standalone; and is possibly
the
best story of the series. The Roaring Twenties
series as a
whole is a breath of fresh air in the paranormal genre.
From the author of Grim Shadows and Bitter Spirits comes
the
new Roaring Twenties novel in the series hailed as
“Boardwalk Empire meets Ghost Hunters, but so much better”
(Molly Harper, national bestselling author of the Jane
Jameson series).
Feisty flapper Astrid Magnusson is home from college and
yearning for the one thing that’s always been off limits:
Bo
Yeung, her notorious bootlegging brother’s
second-in-command. Unfortunately her dream of an easy
reunion proves difficult after a violent storm sends a
mysterious yacht crashing into the Magnussons’ docks.
What’s
worse, the boat disappeared a year ago, and the survivors
are acting strangely…
Bo has worked with the Magnusson family for years, doing
whatever is needed, including keeping his boss’s younger
sister out of trouble—and his hands to himself. Of course,
that isn’t so easy after Astrid has a haunting vision
about
the yacht’s disappearance, plunging them into an
underground
world of old money and dark magic. Danger will drive them
closer together, but surviving their own forbidden
feelings
could be the bigger risk.
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