From New York Times bestselling author Craig Parshall comes a riveting story of supernatural suspense.As a youth, Trevor Black unleashed spiritual forces he couldn’t comprehend. Years later, Trevor is a high-flying criminal defense lawyer in New York City, with a six-figure Aston Martin and a trophy wife. But in an extraordinary turn of events, he receives a burdensome gift: the ability to … to perceive the invisible. And the dark forces he now sees are all gunning for him.When one of Trevor’s hometown friends is murdered, the MO is eerily similar to a shocking trail of murders that have already crossed the lawyer’s path. So Trevor must return home to find the killer. . . and face not only his own personal demons, but supernatural ones as well.
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4.5 Stars
I’m always in the mood for a good book that deals with spiritual warfare and this one was excellent. From the first line I was hooked.
The Occupied takes the reader on a journey through Trevor Black’s life divided into three sections titled The Flesh, The World, and The Devil.
First in The Flesh we get a glimpse at when Trevor was a teenager and first came into contact with the supernatural veil. Then, The World, takes a peek into his life in New York City as a lawyer, his deteriorating marriage, his first encounter with “the horribles”, and becoming a Christian. And finally, The Devil, where he makes his return home to solve a mystery and fight “the horribles”.
Powerful, compelling, and, at times, chilling, The Occupied was fast paced and impossible to put down. I can’t recommend it enough.
You know how sometimes I get bored reading the same genre of book too many in a row? Yeah, about that. Not this month. I’ve been all over the place and it’s been a bit like happy whiplash. I’m reading genres that are outside my norm (which can be hit and miss) and I’m reading genres that I really like but there aren’t a lot of good ones out there. This is that second time of book. I mean come on people, at heart I’m a mystery girl. I like a good suspense, even a thriller, and combining that with Christian themes, well there just aren’t enough of them to pick from. I picked up the next book in this series, ‘The Empowered’ from Tyndale not realizing that it was a series. That is totally on me for not paying attention. Anyway, I had to back-burner it for a minute only because I felt I needed to read this book first. Sometimes you don’t have to (and it’s possible this is one of those times) but sometimes you feel like it might be important. This was that second time.
That all being said when it comes to Christian Supernatural Suspense Thrillers I have certain expectations. This one fell short of the mark for a large one. When you add Christian to that list of a specific genre the faith element is vital and that’s what I felt was not there with this book. I mean there was faith, and even a ‘come to Jesus’ experience sorta and Biblical reference but outside a secondary character who was pretty intense with his faith I felt like there wasn’t enough. When you set someone up to do battle with the demons you have an expectation that they will be prepared for such a spiritual battle. I just didn’t get that. I got faith, I got Bible, but I just didn’t get any depth of Spiritual preparedness. That kinda bothers me, actually bothers me enough that it is the only reason this book is 4 star.
All that aside I loved this book. I mean come on, legal thriller meets supernatural suspense and yet it still remains true to it’s Christian roots as a clean read. Well, as clean as you can get with demons and possession and murder. I was drawn into the book from page one and seriously way way to late into the um morning one night. The book broke it down into the three battlefields we all face (perhaps not in actually seeing demons but you know) the world (and worldly things) the flesh (and our own desires), and the devil (the big one). It did so while keeping true to the timeline of Trevor’s life and never breaking away from it’s fictional base. From teen with an attitude who accidentally dabbles into the occult, to high profile defense attorney with all the world has to offer in New York where his past indiscretions come into play), to back to his hometown where it all started and needed to end. I really am excited to read the next book in this series and see where it takes us next.