''The Supernatural Enhancements'' is a 2014

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

/ mystery

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

and the English language literary debut of Spanish cartoonist and author

Edgar Cantero Edgar Cantero (born 27 May 1981 in Barcelona) is a Spanish writer and cartoonist working in Catalan, Spanish and English. He is known for his books ''Dormir amb Winona Ryder'', which won the 2007 Joan Crexells Award and the horror-comedy novel ...

. The work was released on August 12, 2014 through Doubleday; the author also co-translated it to Spanish as ''El factor sobrenatural'', published by Minotauro in May 2015. It is an epistolary novel, whose story is told via diary entries, recordings, notes, letters, and other personal effects that are arranged to appear as if they were collected and compiled at an undetermined point of time after the novel's events.

Synopsis

The story takes place in the fictional town of Point Bless, Virginia during the fall and winter of 1995. It centers upon two characters, a 23-year-old European young man referred to only as "A." and a 16-year-old mute Irish girl named Niamh, who have traveled to Point Bless upon inheriting a rumoredly haunted mansion from Ambrose Wells, a distant cousin of A., who died in the house after throwing himself out of a third story window. Soon after they move in the two begin to experience paranormal phenomena, while their research on the deceased relative's life hints to a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

that would hold a yearly gathering at Wells' home.

Reception

Critical reception for ''The Supernatural Enhancements'' has been largely positive. '' The Press & Journal'' and '' Buffalo News'' both wrote favorable reviews for the work, with ''The Press & Journal'' writing that "The style won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it is refreshingly original, drawing the reader into A and Niamh’s world as they uncover the disturbing secrets that lie hidden within the sprawling mansion." GeekDad compared the book favorably to J. J. Abrams's ''S.'' and stated that it was "eerie and fun and full of surprises." Publishers Weekly was more critical in their review, opining that "The merging of the otherworldly and the mundane, however, breaks down when a long explanation of a secret society’s aims and history overwhelms the plot and paves the way to a deus ex machina conclusion."

References

External links

Reddit Q&A thread
with Cantero {{DEFAULTSORT:Supernatural Enhancements 2014 American novels 2010s horror novels Epistolary novels Novels set in Virginia Doubleday (publisher) books