Each book in the Northern Michigan Asylum Series is a stand alone novel.Don’t go in the woods…It begins with a bike ride on a sunny August day in 1975. Orla doesn’t know that murder, vengeful spirits, and a sinister asylum await her. Settle into this chilling, suspense-packed ghost story bound to keep you reading long into the night.
Ashes Beneath Her
By jrerickson
(Audiobook)
Tenacious investigative reporter Abraham “Abe” Levitt is working on the biggest story of his career. The police won’t listen, but when the public reads his article, someone will have to listen… to stop a serial killer.
Six girls are missing. All blondes with green eyes, except Orla Sullivan, the last one. The disappearances happened over a two-hundred-mile radius. Different communities. Different police jurisdictions. No one has bothered to look for a connection, but Abe is sure there is one.
As he interviews family and friends of the missing girls, Abe meets Liz Minor, the mother of one of the missing girls, and Hazel, one of Orla’s roommates. Liz has never given up hope her daughter, Susan, would return to her, and Hazel’s psychic abilities push her forward to find Orla.
Backed by many in the community, these three will follow leads—some that lead to dead ends—and interview people while covering a good deal of northern Michigan, but in the end, all roads lead to the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane.
Ashes Beneath Her is my third trip to the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane and my favorite so far!
Though it starts slow with the disappearance of Susan Minor and the emotional rollercoaster Liz Minor rides, the story picks up the pace after Orla is taken and Abe enters the story.
Abe is a noble character. Knowing his story isn’t winning him any friends with law enforcement, he plods on, supported by his dad, a retired prosecutor, and driven by his own traumatic loss in his past.
Through a Tarot reading, Hazel knew Abe would seek her out and she’s more than ready to help with his investigation. Frustrated, her spirit wanes a time or two, but she’s determined to find out what happened to her friend. Abe doesn’t believe in Tarot readings or psychic mumbo-jumbo… but his beliefs will change.
Orla’s POV is heartbreaking. Her empathic gift has made her a prisoner. But though drugged, tested, tortured, abused, and starved, she never loses that spark that makes her Orla. I could feel her fear, frustration, and desperation… and her anger. It’s Orla who takes us to the “aha moment” where book title and story intersect… and she handled it better than I would have!
JR Erickson has a way with villains, and Byron Crowe is no exception. He’s cut from the same cloth as Kaiser (book 1) and Kemp (book 2) and it’s not a good look. Makes me wonder about ALL the doctors at the asylum.
Narrator Margy Stein nails this! She voiced characters with a smooth transition style, and her deep pitch heightened the danger and suspense… and creeped me out during scenes in the asylum!
Ashes Beneath Her delivered with great writing and spot-on narration.
Enjoy!
Ashes Beneath Her is the third book in J.R. Erickson’s Northern Michigan Asylum series. Each book keeps getting better. This installment is a serial killer novel with supernatural aspects that make it quite exciting to read. The storyline remains fast-paced, without all of the timeframe jumping seen in the first two books. It does follow different characters giving it a broad dimension. The characters are all well-developed and engaging, whether a good guy or an evil mastermind. I can’t wait to read the next episode to see what awaits us at the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane!
This is the third book in the amazing Northern Michigan Asylum Series, a thriller. Each story can be listened as a standalone. The characters are well developed, and intriguing. The storyline is suspenseful, chilling, and captivating. The mystery unfolds at a great pace, and the investigation is breathtaking. The world building is well done, and enthralling. Margy Stein did a great job with the narration. I love this Series, and I highly recommend it. Looking forward to listen to the next book in the Series, Dead Stream Curse. I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. #AudiobookWorm
Talk about a suspenseful story! This book had me hooked from the first line to the very end. I went on this mystery with the characters. Girls and women are going missing. No one is linking them together. That is until one journalist makes it his mission to find the kidnapper and hopefully save a life. We get the point of view of many characters and I loved it that way. I love getting to see all points of view. But I did want to shout to the other characters the truth. This is a gripping story. I am not giving details on purpose. I don’t want to rob anyone of the enjoyment of surprise. And trust me, you’ll be surprised plenty of times in this book. If you listen to it you will really be pulled in by this narrator. Perfect voice to keep you guessing and made it feel so real. I definitely want to read more in this series! Again, highly suggest for suspense mystery fans.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, even though I was unable to have the book read by the release date. For that, I do apologize.
Once again, J.R. Erickson does not disappoint!! She is fast becoming one of my favorite authors!! Her books are extremely well written. This one was fast paced with well developed characters. It was near impossible to put down. There were so many twists and turns and the author definitely keeps you guessing!! If you love a story that is a good mystery, with a hint of the supernatural, read Ashes Beneath Her by J.R. Erickson!
Six girls have gone missing without a trace in the area near the Northern Michigan Insane Asylum in the last five years but police have not made the connection and most were written off as runaways. A young reporter thinks they are connected and works with the mother of one of the victims to investigate in hopes of getting the police to reopen the cases. The book mostly concentrates on the latest victim Orla, a young girl with a “gift”. She can touch an item and tell things about it and the person whom it belongs to. This gift could help her solve the case, if she can get away from the mad doctor holding her captive. The book moves at a fast pace and kept me listening all day. The narrator has a soft spoken voice that at first I thought would detract from a twisty thriller, but this was not the case. She did a very good job. This is the second book in the Northern Michigan Insane Asylum series that I have read and enjoyed. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Awesome paranormal thriller.
What an unbelievable awesome paranormal thriller. How the author wove the story kept me on the edge of my seat. I don’t see books with my home town in it so that made this book even more personal to me. Six girls are missing and one reporter and a friend of that last girl taken worked together to solve this mystery. Suspects, following any lead possible even the ones that sounded a bit off the wall, took Abe on a twisted road. Margy Stein was outstanding as the narrator. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.