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Hi everyone, it’s Robbie Cheadle with you today and I’m sharing my reviews of the three books in The Investigative Paranormal Society 3-Book Series by Charles F. French and a recipe for French Onion Soup.

The Investigative Paranormal Society (3 book series)

Overview from Amazon

From Book 1: «All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.» (Edmund Burke) What happens when three retired gentlemen have to confront an ancient demon to save a child?
Roosevelt Theodore Franklin attempts to make it through life day by day. Roosevelt, a retired history professor, is a widower, who lost his beloved wife to cancer, and he has not stopped grieving. He along with his two closest friends, also retired and who have also lost loved ones, form a paranormal investigation group. They hope to find an answer to the question: is there life after death?

When asked by a local teacher to investigate a possible haunting of her house, the group discovers an evil beyond anything they could have imagined. This is no mere ghost. Maledicus, who was in life a pimp, torturer, and murderer during Caligula’s reign in Rome, in death has become a sociopathic demon that attacks the weak and the innocent. Maledicus threatens a five year old child’s life and soul. Terrified by what they have discovered, Roosevelt and his friends must choose to either walk away from this threat , or to do battle with this ancient creature at the potential loss of their sanities, their lives, and their souls.

Purchase this 3-book series from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07959SW94

My Reviews

Maledicus

Maledicus is the right hand man to Caligula, Emperor of the Roman Empire, and they are equally despicable, inhumane and outright evil. Maledicus has plans, great plans, whereby he will ascend to the top position of Emperor but he underestimates the incumbent, Caligula, and his many eyes and ears. Maledicus never achieves his aspirations and is dispatched to the afterlife in an unpleasant and painful way.

In the non world between Heaven and Hell, Maledicus lurks. He is not reconciled to his unnatural death and believes his chance to aspire to greatness will come. He sets about manipulating events and circumstances to achieve his ultimate goals of greatness.

Meanwhile, time has moved on and in the 21st century, three elderly and retired men, Roosevelt, Sam and Jeremy, have formed a ghost-investigating group, with the occasional help and support from Roosevelt’s nephew, ex-US Marine, Patrick. They have all suffered personal losses and this is a great way for them to keep themselves mental and physically active and to indulge in an interest in ghosts and the supernatural. When their Investigative Paranormal Society («IPS») gets its first really legitimate case, they find themselves up against an on-going evil that refuses to die. Can the IPS go up against an ancient and expanding evil and expect anything other than untimely deaths?

I enjoyed the characters of Roosevelt, Sam, Jeremy and Patrick and learning about their individual losses and life experiences, all of which weave together into the fabric of this well planned story.

The idea behind this book is fresh and clever and the ending was superb. I was really impressed by the author’s unique and thrilling ending.

Purchase Maledicus from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Maledicus-Investigative-Paranormal-Society-Book-ebook/dp/B01M3MKGZL

Gallows Hill

Gallows Hill is the second book in The Investigative Paranormal Society series. I have read the first book, Maledicus, so I was engaged with the characters in this book before I started it. In Maledicus, I quickly became very attached to the main character, Roosevelt or Rosy to his friends, and also to Helena, the little girl who becomes the focus of Maledicus’ evil intentions.

In this second book, a different member of the society is central to the story and we get an opportunity to learn the backstory of Sam which, intriguingly, ties in with the central themes and story of Gallows Hill.

Sam is a retired detective who lost his only son, Josh, to suicide ten years earlier. His son’s death destroyed his marriage and Sam lives alone. He has never recovered from Josh’s suicide and carries a burden of guilt that is threatening to destroy him.

The author is exceptionally good at character building and his depiction of Sam and his emotions and motivations are captivating. I quickly grew to love Sam and was thoroughly invested in his life.

The story has a dual theme, the first being the chronic illness of his friend and colleague’s daughter, Maria, and the ultimate revelation of the circumstances surrounding Josh’s death and the second, is the investigation by the society of rumours of a ghostly presence at an abandoned steel mill on the outskirts of town. The two themes are cleverly woven together to create a satisfying and clever story.

The ghostly presence, Ebeneezer Schwarznacht, is horribly depraved and his portrayal was reminiscent for me of the men behind the Salem witch trials. I find the evil embodied in this type of personality, pious and self righteous, is far more frightening than the concept of a demon as it represents real people and real happens rather than fantasy. It is chilling to think of killers who are totally entrenched in their belief that they have a divine right to judge others and take away their lives.

The author does a great job of running the two themes in parallel with clever overlaps and then tying them both together with some great twists at the end.

This is an excellent and chilling story and I would recommend this book to lovers of horror and supernatural stories.

Purchase Gallows Hill from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078STYMS8

Evil Lives After

Evil Lives After is the third book in The Investigative Paranormal Society («IPS») series. Jeremy takes the lead in this thrilling paranormal adventure against the most appalling personification of evil the society has encountered to date. The book is written using two timelines and the IPS must enter into battle in both the present and the past, as well as the realm inhabited by ghosts and other spiritual creatures, in order to overcome this new threat to both Bethberg and the world.

John Kemmler is a fascist living in Bethberg in 1937. He is a firm follower of Hitler and Mussolini and has established his own Nazi party called The Bethberg Believers. He plans to grow his party with the eventual aim of overthrowing the existing American government and leading the USA into the war on the side of the Axis powers. Over time, John Kemmler becomes more and more obsessed with his beliefs and he starts writing a Mein Kampf styled journal which he infuses with his growing evil thoughts and ideas and into which he inserts a piece of his soul so that he can continue to influence others through his journal after his death.

Jacob is John Kemmler’s grandson, the child of left-wing parents who believe strongly in equality for all. He obtains the guidance and help he is seeking in support of his own strong fascist beliefs when his grandfather’s journal comes into his possession. Aided by his close friends, Jacob sets out to fulfil his grandfather’s dream.

Having read and enjoyed the first two books in the series, it was great to see the quiet Jeremy coming into this own in this book. Having been compelled by recent events in his own country and the greater world, Jeremy has undertaken to learn more about his Jewish faith and to give stronger and more open support to the causes he believes in. Although this book is the third in a series, it is not necessary to have read the first two books in order to enjoy this one. It is helpful from a character development perspective, however, if you read the books in order.

The major theme in this book of intolerance towards people of different ethnic, sexual and religious beliefs and backgrounds are on-going and current and I enjoyed the author’s view on selected historical events from WWII and his linking of these to modern events. I am a believer that knowing and understanding the circumstances that led to historical calamities can help in identifying similar red flags in our current world and the implementation of preventative steps.

This book has a satisfying and exciting ending and the author successfully tied all the threads of the story together. I would recommend this book to lovers of paranormal books with a solid and interesting storyline. Readers of historical fiction will also appreciate this book.

Purchase Evil Lives After from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Lives-After-Investigative-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B08LJXHSTQ

French Onion Soup

Having just returned from a short trip to Paris in the spring to spend Easter with TC, I thought I would share a recipe for French Onion Soup. I really enjoyed this popular dish while in Paris. Of course, the play on Charles F. French’s name didn’t hurt either – smile!

Ingredients

For the Soup

100 grams salted butter

1.25 kg (8 large) onions sliced thinly from top to bottom

180 ml sweet white wine

6 cups beef stock

30 ml cake/plain flour

2 dried bay leaves

10 ml dried thyme

Pepper to taste

For the Cheesy Bread

French baguettes, sliced

Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a medium heat. When it starts to foam, add the sliced onions and stir until coated in butter. Cook the onions for 40 minutes, stirring often. Turn of the heat to high medium and cook for a further 20 minutes until golden brown. Keep stirring during this process so the onions don’t burn.

Add the wine and allow to simmer rapidly for about 10 minutes. Scrap the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Add the flour and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the beef stock and herbs and simmer for a further 45 minutes.

Place a slice of cheese on top of each piece of bread and grill for no more than 10 minutes. Ensure it doesn’t burn.

Place the cheesy bread into soup bowls (I used three pieces) and cover with soup. Allow the soup to soak into the bread before eating with a spoon.

Click on the slideshow to see the finished product.

About Charles F. French

I am a writer, novelist, and a professor of English Literature. I live in Pennsylvania. I am a devoted lover of nature, including hiking and fishing. I love reading, movies, cooking, and eating. I enjoy comic books and superheros as well as horror novels and movies.

INVESTIGATIVE PARANORMAL SOCIETY TRILOGY

The long and storied tradition of Horror demands an unseemly marriage of history and present, and so often modern Horror fails to negotiate the balance between believable darkness and due diligence of detail. Readers will not have this trouble with the Investigative Paranormal Society Trilogy – Maledicus, Gallows Hill, and Evil Lives After – all which weave engagingly accurate history into the paranormal narrative, bringing with it a sense of real lives lived and the evil that mankind is capable of doing to itself. This is French’s secret ingredient: Truth – truth in history (ours and that from which his Evil comes and threatens to rise from again and again), and truth in who we really are and can yet become. A fine read nicely paced, this series is what Horror means when it asks for original storytelling.

–KC Redding-Gonzalez, Genre theorist, writer, and author of the blog Zombie Salmon (the Horror Continues)

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https://charlesfrenchonwordsreadingandwriting.wordpress.com/

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

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