{"id":7498,"date":"2026-10-08T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=7498"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:05:00","slug":"mississippi-wizards-by-kenneth-penn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=7498","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Wizards by Kenneth Penn"},"content":{"rendered":"

This creepy paranormal horror is a wild ride with an absolutely killer twist.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When a traumatic incident from childhood results in Cassandra Kulinski seeing the mutilated corpse of a dead woman, she\u2019s diagnosed with schizophrenia and put onto an ever-changing cocktail of medications. But it works. For years, her ghost, Nancy, has been held at bay. Now, heading on her first camping trip with her husband Ben, Nancy reappears. This time, she seems to be trying to warn Cassandra of something.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Pilkerton, Mississippi, Liza knew it was a bad idea to tell anyone that she liked girls. She\u2019d suffer through the string of boys her mother tried to set her up with and the homophobic conversations around the dinner table. At least, until she met Mary. Now all she wants is to live life on her terms and forget what anyone else thinks. Maybe she\u2019d be able to if the ghost of a young woman hadn\u2019t randomly started appearing, warning her of a terrible lurking danger.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Mississippi Wizards<\/em> is a supernatural horror novel that explores themes of prejudice, hatred, justice, and revenge. It\u2019s written in multiple perspectives that seem independent of each other before coalescing in a brilliant conclusion.<\/p>\n

Building atmosphere is clearly Kenneth Penn\u2019s forte. Through the novel, there\u2019s a growing, shifting sense of impending doom. Part of this is due to the fantastic description. There\u2019s a real sense of visceral horror with the supernatural elements. Nancy\u2019s ghostly appearance is deeply disturbing, adding layers of unease to the scenes she appears in. That coupled with the escalating threats the main characters face keep the tension high throughout.<\/p>\n

The narrative arc of Mississippi Wizards<\/em> is nothing short of phenomenal. Following Cassandra\u2019s story, you have the idea that you know how things will play out. Then Liza shows up and you have to readjust expectations, but you still think you know the general trajectory. Then a new plot point hits, then another. By the end of it, you just have to accept you\u2019re along for an ever-more twisting ride.<\/p>\n

Characterization feels like a bit of a weakness in Mississippi Wizards.<\/em> Ben and Cassandra are deeply in love and seem to have been together for a while, but she\u2019s constantly lying to him about what she\u2019s experiencing for reasons that make little sense. Liza and Mary fall in a till-death kind of love in a matter of pages, but there\u2019s too little about their personalities for it to feel genuine. Couple that with the number of times these characters are attacked or threatened only to merrily wander off on their own without a glance at their surroundings, and it gets more difficult to believe in them as people.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Mississippi Wizards<\/em> is a strong paranormal horror with a great payoff. The atmosphere is tense, the description gripping, and the final pages unforgettable.<\/p>\n

The post Mississippi Wizards by Kenneth Penn<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This creepy paranormal horror is a wild ride with an absolutely killer twist. When a traumatic incident from childhood results in Cassandra Kulinski seeing the mutilated corpse of a dead woman, she\u2019s diagnosed with schizophrenia and put onto an ever-changing cocktail of medications. But it works. For years, her ghost, Nancy, has been held at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}