#Bookreview – Will ‘O the Wisp by C.S. Boyack

What Amazon says

There is something evil up Bergamot Holler, and it’s been targeting the Hall family for generations.

Patty Hall is fifteen years old. She loves stargazing, science fiction, and all things related to space exploration. This leaves her perfectly prepared for the wrong problem.

Patty is afraid her mother will send her to a care facility if she tells her what she’s seen. If she doesn’t figure things out soon, she’s going to join her father in the Hall family cemetery plot.

Patty has to come to grips with her own physical handicap, face the wilderness, and an ancient evil all alone if she’s going to survive.

Will O’ the Wisp is suitable for young adults. It involves elements of suspense, and is set in the mid 1970s.

Our review

Patti Hall is a young girl of 15 years old, who is just starting her Freshman year in High School. She feels that she is a social outcast due to the braces she is forced to wear on her legs. She does, however, have two good friends, Laura and Pete. Patti is very interested in astronomy and likes to go star-gazing on the ridge near her home.

The Freshman are given a school project on their first day of school but instead of starting with the project immediately, Patti and Pete decide go up to the ridge and look at the stars. While they are up there they see an eerie ball of light and witness this strange light enter the body of a male surfer who is up on the ridge with his mates have a party. The boy falls to the ground and Patti and Pete run away in horror.

Laura and Pete question their families and find out that there are various stories and myths amongst the local community about this light. When Patti attends a football match she sees the surfer boy in a dishevelled and unkempt state and slathering water. This sighting prompts her to start researching this strange light as the subject of her school project. What will her research reveal about the Will ‘O the Wisp and how will her findings impact on Patti’s own life?

A fast paced story that starts off quickly and keeps you interested all the way through the book. Michael, aged eleven, found it a little bit scary in parts. Gregory, aged fourteen, found this to be a really good read and read the whole book within a few days.

From my own perspective, as an adult, I enjoyed the fact that this book highlighted  typical social and family issues that would be experienced by a teenager with a physical disability. Patti experiences some bullying at the hands of her peers and has a Mother who, although loving, is a little bit lacking in her understanding of teenage angst and the  workings and structures of teenage society.

Reviews on Amazon

Five star review by Carmen Stefanescu

Will O’ the Wisp is the story of a teenage girl, Patty Hall, told in the first person POV. I haven’t read any story with such a young main character and was curious about this one. As I read other books by Craig Boyack I hoped it wouldn’t disappoint me. And it didn’t.
The primary characters, Patty, her mother, her step father and her friends Laura and Pete are not glamorous but rather down to earth which lent a certain innocence and believability. The characters are well-drawn, and the period details are fascinating and well-researched.

Patty is tormented by the leg braces her mother forces her to wear all the time, and by an odd light, that threatens not only her physical existence but seems to have a connection with tragedies that happened in her family along the time. I won’t reveal more as I don’t want to spoil your pleasure in reading an eerie story

All I want to add is that I enjoyed this character, Patty, a combination of a young Miss Marple and a young Sherlock Holmes – smart, brave and imaginative girl.

The author did a great job in highlighting the generation gap, the description of mother-daughter relationship – although Patty is clever enough to soften it and not antagonize her mother, allowing her to do the research on the supernatural manifestations that hunt her.
Craig Boyack’s books always keep me turning page after page, wanting more.

 The bottom line is, I think this is a good read and look forward to reading more from this author.

Purchase Will ‘O the Wisp

You can purchase Will ‘O the Wisp here:

About Craig Boyack

I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.

I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.

I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Craig

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