2018 WINNER AMERICAN FICTION AWARD FOR HORROR: SUPERNATURAL/PARANORMAL2018 GOLD AND SILVER MEDAL WINNER, FEATHERED QUILL BOOK AWARDS“I love the storyline and period of time (turn of the century). The author throws fire on many pages through vibrant dialogue and fantastic scene writing. The end is far from predictable, and so satisfying and rewarding. The care and attention to detail with cover … attention to detail with cover art and layout is near perfect.” ~Feathered Quill Book Awards Judges’ Comments
2017 FOREWORD REVIEWS BRONZE WINNER for HORROR: INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR
AWARD-WINNING FINALIST INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, 2017
READERS’ FAVORITE HONORABLE MENTION FOR SUPERNATURAL FICTION, 2017 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
”. . . an intriguing, dark tale complete with vividly drawn characters, and a uniquely compelling character in Magnus.” ~ Melanie Bates, RT Book Reviews
Hell has a new master
In the late 1800s, handsome, wealthy New Englander, Magnus Blackwell, is the envy of all.
When Magnus meets Jacob O’Conner—a Harvard student from the working class—an unlikely friendship is forged. But their close bond is soon challenged by a captivating woman; a woman Magnus wants, but Jacob gets.
Devastated, Magnus seeks solace in a trip to New Orleans. After a chance meeting with Oscar Wilde, he becomes immersed in a world of depravity and brutality, inevitably becoming the inspiration for Dorian Gray. Armed with the forbidden magic of voodoo, he sets his sights on winning back the woman Jacob stole from him.
Amid the trappings of Victorian society, two men, bent on revenge, will lay the foundation for a curse that will forever alter their destinies.
WARNING: CONTAINS SOME MATURE SCENES
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I knew I had to read this after my eyes settled on the magnificent cover art and I read the blurb. I’ve also read other books by this writing team and enjoyed them.
How would I classify this? Historical thriller with a twist of naughty. It goes beyond the bedroom door a bit and I read those parts really fast. LOL They were necessary to really get to know Magnus.
Magnus? I wanted to like him in the beginning. Didn’t take long for that to change. He wouldn’t let me. Wouldn’t let anyone care for him. His own worst enemy. While in New Orleans, he meets the wild and somewhat depraved Oscar Wilde and thus begins his undoing. A warning to change his ways from a woman who practices voodoo doesn’t slow him down and his path is set.
Who I did like? Jacob. He was from the other side of the tracks. Not wealthy or privileged. His friendship with Magnus was a challenge. They couldn’t be more different and I hoped some of the goodness of Jacob would rub off on him. But, something came between their friendship and it was not to be.
As I drew closer to the end of the story, the tension grew, my dread of what might happen built. I wanted to slow things down, urge the two men to think first. They teetered on the brink of no return.
An explosive ending to a highly entertaining reading experience. Will I be continuing with this series? Surely.
WOW. I’m not quite sure where or how to begin this review. This book was something else. Dark..but not quite, although delving into Voodoo and it’s rituals and history could be considered dark, it was intriguing as well as “educational”, even for someone from Louisiana. Magnus Blackwell is truly something else. Handsome and wealthy you would think that he would be just some Alpha male, strutting around, making women sigh, but there is something much darker inside of Magnus, something lurking just below the surface and once you see what is there you will find that you really cannot stand this “creature”, for lack of a better term.
I loved meeting famous author Oscar Wilde, and enjoyed his enthusiastic curiosity about Voodoo and the ceremonies, I even learned something about him that I didn’t know, WOW. I, even after reading this book wonder to myself if he really believed, to himself, that Magnus was capable of and did indeed do the things that were done.
The characters were very well written and extremely well developed.
The story itself becomes quite intriguing once Magnus travels to New Orleans and continues to be so when he returns to his ancestral home. Poor Jacob, once his very dear friend and now architect for the renovations to the home, along with his wife are seeming trapped under Magnus’ manipulative thumb. Jealousy, envy, and vengeance are all emotions that will be seen and felt by the two main male characters as this story progresses to it’s surprising end.
Rich in the flavor of New Orleans and it’s lore of voodoo, spells, spirits and ghosts, this book will entertain anyone who has the taste for this type of story. Although it begins and ends in Boston, the visiting of New Orleans will change the course of the story and bring back a bit of the old south to the wealthy of this particular manor.
Really good read, can’t wait to see what happens in book 2!!!
BLACKWELL book 1 is the first installment in Alexandrea Weis/ Lucas Astor’s slightly dark, Victorian, paranormal series focusing on jealousy, revenge, betrayal and magic.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Magnus Blackwell and Jacob O’Connor) covering a timeline of several years, BLACKWELL focuses on the friendship and betrayal between college friends Blackwell and O’Connor.
Magnus Blackwell comes from money; a spoiled, rich young man who takes what he wants, one way or another. A man with a dark side, and a darker need for violating the woman in his care Magnus Blackwell will lose the one woman he cannot have to the man he believes owes him his career and his life. Jacob O’Connor was orphaned at an early age, and through his mentor was accepted into Harvard and graduated with a degree in Architecture only to discover that his friendship with Magnus Blackwell proved to be more dangerous than not. Jacob will fall in love with the woman Magnus tossed aside, and in the ensuing years Magnus would devise a plan to destroy the man he once called a friend.
BLACKWELL is a slow building story line; set in New Orleans, Louisiana; steeped in magic, spirits and the practice of voodoo; betrayal, murder, discovery and revenge. Two friends, one woman and years to plan his retribution, Magnus Blackwell is a man possessed by anger, evil and a dark, foreboding malevolence that is focused on avenging the loss of the only woman that called to his heart. Jacob O’Connor will get his retribution by destroying everyone that gets in his way including the man who has been the focus of his anger and grief.
Alexandrea Weis pulls the reader into a dark and fated tale of catastrophic jealousy; of one man’s overwhelming anger and need to destroy and break the only friend that he has ever known. The premise is intriguing, thrilling and suspenseful; the characters are passionate in their desires and pathways to revenge. BLACKWELL is a tragic tale of jealousy and love; of betrayal and revenge; of dramatic and questionable journey of vengeance.