Between The Lines

 Author: J R Rain

 Performed by Peter Berkrot

 Released: October 2013 by Brilliance Audio

 Category: Paranormal

I was caught up in this story immediately. I hadn’t read J R Rain before but the storyline and concept intrigued me.

The story is told from the perspective of James who was murdered and is now a ghost.  He knows he did something bad but has no idea why he was murdered and feels he has to find out who and why before the memories of his life and who he is fade away completely.  He has help from a medium, Pauline, who can see and communicate with him.

James needs to work through some things and make amends for others before he feels able to ‘move on’ and he is desperate at the thought of leaving his daughter.

There’s quite a bit of religious theory/belief woven into the story but not in a heavy, preachy kind of way, it is mainly focused on the protagonist’s wish for atonement and, as he sees it, to save his soul. 

The writing is excellent and brings up all sorts of questions about life after death, how people interact with each other and the consequences of actions.

It’s a touching and emotional story, very good ending and the last few chapters were slightly tear jerky.

Performance

The audio was very good, for me Peter Berkrot can be a little hit and miss as if sometimes he doesn’t really connect with the story, but he seemed invested in this book and so it was a great job and very enjoyable.

Thoughts

Very interesting premise on what could be an idea of the afterlife. Paranormal stories appeal to me on a lot of levels, they can be quite thought-provoking and test some staple religious beliefs.  How do you explain away that dejà vu moment, the feeling you’ve been somewhere before, that shivery hair raising feeling. Who knows what’s out there!