Imprints of the Past

by Gareth Ian Davies

Overview

D doesn't believe in ghosts. Not really. But they may ruin his life anyway.

Recently released from prison, D's just trying to live a normal life in his hometown of St. Louis. He has a job, an apartment, and a girlfriend he adores. But the city has changed since he's been away. Something otherworldly lurks behind its storefronts, inside its houses and apartments, unheeded by almost everyone but D. His unease turns to panic when confronted with visions of past lives, visions only he can see. And if he can't control his panic it may trigger what he fears more than any ghost: a return to the cage that swallowed twelve years of his life.

Hope arrives in the form of a middle-aged schoolteacher who doesn't believe in ghosts either. However, she also senses what D senses and, more important, controls and even eliminates the phenomena. Desperate to learn how, D joins her in a battle against something neither of them understand, for unknown stakes, and with risks that would terrify them if only they knew. And somebody does...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798987426609
Publisher:	Gareth Ian Davies
Publication date:	01/26/2023
Series:	Of Imprint & Erasure , #1
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.56(d)

Editorial Reviews

2024-06-24
In Davies’ paranormal novel, an ex-con and former drug abuser struggles to control his ability to perceive haunting visions of the past.

An ex-lawyer known as D is rebuilding his life as a cook in a local barbecue place. He’s living a quiet, simple existence when he runs into Colton Lynn, an old high school friend and former felon. At dinner, Colton, who seems to be high, becomes unwell, and D has to take him home. There, he runs into Rosalind Hill, a British woman who introduces herself as a “consultant” who’s come to check on Colton’s apartment. In her presence, D has a vision of a past scene at the location—one that’s similar to visions he used to have, which he thought were drug hallucinations until they started occurring in his sober, day-to-day life. Rosalind notices D’s reaction and later explains that what D is seeing are “remnants of previous lives” that are “imprinted somehow...localized, sometimes to the building, sometimes to a single room.” She compares them to memories or recordings of the past; her role, she says, is to meet with people having these visions and to try to “free” the “something that is trapped.” Rosalind soon becomes D’s mentor, helping him to control his ability in a series of encounters that are sometimes scary and other times humorous. Periodically, the narrative is interrupted by excerpts of anonymous emails, hinting that someone is tracking Rosalind and trying to shut down her operation. These sections provide some welcome conflict amid scenes in which D’s exploring his abilities. There’s also a subplot about D’s relationship with his new-ish girlfriend, Jess, who becomes increasingly interested in (and suspicious of) Rosalind and her actions; this element isn’t always gracefully woven into the narrative, but her appearances add emotion and interest to the story, and they effectively break up the occasionally repetitive scenes of D’s visions.

A mostly engaging and thought-provoking start to a new series.

Kirkus Reviews