This is a great novel. I was really impressed with the character development and how it gave a modern twist to the Salem Witch Trials. I think Jack Heath being a direct descendent of Rebecca Nurse makes the story even more interesting. I can’t wait to read the following book! ( )

The Salem News editor, John Andrews, is mourning the death if his wife, four years earlier, and lives in the house inherited from his aunt. Along with the house he also inherited a valuable painting that has been the property of his family for several generations. He had to make a promise never to sell it and always keep it hanging in the exact spot. The old woman in it always made him feel uncomfortable, until one day when he discovered something different about her.

The book is well-written, suspenseful and intriguing, casting a new light on the Salem Witch Trials. It is very similar to the Da Vinci Code, which questioned history as we know it. This book also ask the question 'what if?' and present a new theory to the circumstances which lead to the death of the so-called witches. Were they really witches? His own believes would be severely tested. The deeper he gets lured into the events as well as into his family research, the more shocked he becomes as facts from his family's past are revealed.

This is history with a supernatural twist. It will depend on what you believe is true and what in this world is possible. A relaxing, adventurous mystery. ( )

Rebecca’s Rising is sure to be an instant classic, and a staple of the bookshelves of any readers who love historical fiction, paranormal elements or mysterious circumstances. This tale effortlessly weaves all three into a narrative that’s picturesque and gripping enough to easily become a movie. You’ll instantly be captured by John and will be rooting for him until the very last pages of the novel...then don’t be surprised when you’re rushing out to buy its sequel that very same day! ( )

John, the newspaper editor at the center of the novel, is a great character that readers will want to follow as he tries to shed light on the secrets that are hidden beneath the exterior of the small town where he lives. Rebecca’s Rising is a great story that keeps the action coming and relates the Salem Witch Trials to a modern-day string of events. This is definitely a great, gripping start to the series. ( )

The omnipresent suspense in Rebecca’s Rising coerces readers into questioning history. At the end of the day, the book can be written off as fiction...but it’s so good, so scandalous, that readers will want to believe this account over the stuffy, history-text approved version of what took place at the trials. Heath and Thompson have crafted a gem of a novel that shadows John Andrews as he navigates the tricky twists and turns of discovering the truth while uncovering the secrets of Salem society; Andrews learns to believe the unbelievable as he starts to put together pieces that point to only one possibility...there’s got to be something going on behind the scenes.