Book Review: A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi

*ARC provided by the author*

A Circle of Soulsis a gripping mystery that brings together several seemingly unrelated stories into one complete tale. When a child is found murdered in the small town of Newbury, an expert FBI agent is called in to investigate. In the nearby psychiatric ward of the hospital, Naya, a seven-year-old girl is having disturbing visions of the murdered child. These events draw a circle of souls together into a thrilling conclusion.

Things I Liked:
This was a book I couldn't put down. I had to keep reading, to know what happened next. It definitely kept me interested and yearning for more. I don't usually pick up thrillers or murder stories, but this one went light(er) on the gory details and more about the psychology and feelings of all the people involved. I loved Grandhi's treatment of the children in the story - it was compassionate and understanding.

Things I Didn't Like:
I was put off by some of the awkward phrasing and dialog, but it couldn't distract me for long from the story. I also got a little thrown off on some of the issues introduced very near the end that almost seemed too far-fetched. I like paranormal, but Dr. Gram's story was almost too different to fit in with the rest. Because it was an ARC, there were also some grammar and formatting issues that I assume were taken care of before the final printing.

Read-alikes:
I haven't read a lot in this genre, but it seemed similar in some ways to The Lovely Bonesby Alice Sebold

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
surprisingly few

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->->->
I wouldn't call these details overly gory, but they were sometimes disturbing.

Overall rating: ***