Tamera Lawrence

This was my first time reading Tamera Lawrence. Asylum was excellent for me. I enjoy watching the YouTube videos of the exploration of old buildings. I love learning the history of them. I believe in ghosts. I knew going in, I would be scared.
Asylums have drawn my attention since I first learned of them years ago. The sadness and horror of them breaks my heart. The reasons for putting someone in one stun me. The fact children were in them chills me and angers me. The way they closed down was a double edge sword. On one side, they needed to be closed down as they were often badly run and did a lot of harm. On the other, they dumped a lot of unwell people, who had no basic living skills, into society, leaving them to fend for themselves. It was a no win situation.
In the book, we meet Kyle who grew up inside one of those places. Kyle was adopted and separated from his brother. The asylum closed and now is for sale. Kyle and his best friend, who also grew up there, go to check out the ruins.
The story moves along quickly and is a definite page turner. I gave the basics of the story because I don’t like to give away anything that will spoil things for a reader. I had chills while reading it. I could picture the building in my mind. I chose to read at night and was reading with the lights on. I was reading the Kindle version so lights weren’t necessary. Why I think lights will keep me safe, I don’t know, but they stayed all night. It took me a few nights because I would have to put it aside. I have a fear of clowns.
If your reading the reviews, you’re interested. I would encourage you to read this one.
*I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. A review was not required. I voluntarily wrote the review because I enjoyed the book. I hope you will too.*… (mere)

Tension runs high as this fast-paced thriller shoves a man back into his childhood memories and let's everything play out in the dark shadows of a desolate and forgotten asylum.

Kyle was born in an asylum and raised there with his younger brother after their mother's death until his adoption. His brother was left behind. Years later, Kyle now is married and has a baby daughter. The family atmosphere along with a visit to the asylum's ruins...thanks to his best friend's urban adventure interests...has left him wanting to find out what happened to his brother and reconnect. But strange things start happening, and it soon becomes clear that someone is watching him and his family. And their intentions aren't only set on revenge...they are pure evil.

I love a well-woven thriller, and this one fits that bill. Kyle is presented as a normal family father, whose marriage is a bit rocky thanks to their new baby daughter. His past comes in easy to follow flashbacks, which present the harshness of his childhood in the asylum. These do hold clues, but they are foggy enough to keep the reader wondering how it all pieces together as things get more and more dangerous for Kyle. He remains 'a nice guy' throughout the tale, which made him easy to like and fun to fever for. His wife, father, best friend and other relationships come across very naturally and made the world that much more believable.

The descriptions of the characters give each one a distinct personality, especially the 'bad guy'. His personality holds a quirky chill, which grabs and leaves an off-balanced atmosphere. Since the story unfolds from different points of view (divided by chapters), the reader slowly gets to know him without really knowing who he is until the end. It kept me guessing and added twists and turns, which were hard to see coming.

Of course, the condemned asylum buildings and tunnels offer the perfect background for a creepy thriller, and the author does an excellent job at letting the dark corners hold all the necessary eeriness and then some. But even outside of the asylum, the thrills and chills remain high. It's well-woven, grabs from beginning to end, and leaves off with an unexpected surprise.… (mere)

Not the ship which, I am sure has a plethora of it’s own mists and orbs but a Mayflower with a much more defined identity. The Mayflower building of the infamous Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, PA. Originally called the Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic, it closed in 1987 amid accusations of abuse and a hit TV report called “Suffer the Little Children.”
However, it appears the children (and adults) who occupied the several buildings that made up Pennhurst are still there in part. Each year the Pennhurst Asylum Haunted House brings thousands into the damp, drafty sites and lets folks see what they can see. Or not see, depending on the spectres’ moods. If you are a fan of “Ghost Hunters”, “Ghost Adventures” and the like you have been inside and seen what these people travel miles to see for themselves: the place is haunted.
In order to properly research Pennhurst, the author spent a season as a guide dressed as an orderly. She saw, heard and was told many specific things while working and even had a visitor or two follow her home possibly. All she knows is that she had nothing on her property and, after a few weeks at Pennhurst, photos showed orbs and shadows in her front yard. She didn’t put them there.
All in all, this was an interesting first person account of the paranormal. There are grammatical issues here and there but, overall it was good. Scary? Not really but very informative and, if you’re a paranormal fan I would definitely add this to my library.… (mere)