Book Blurb:
Addicted to the world beyond the veil, will he escape creeping danger before his future is forfeit?
Wilmington, New York, 1849. Moses Munch defines happy-go-lucky. Living amidst the gloriously beautiful Adirondack mountains, the skilled hypnotist loves to spend his days using his gift to help others. But after he experiments with a risky self-induced trance, his former passion turns into a dark obsession.
Neglecting the present in his fascination with an otherworldly spiritual council’s stories about his past lives, Moses becomes blind to his wife and son’s struggles. And as he wraps his mind in a supernatural cocoon, the town he used to serve begins spiraling into decay.
Has he permanently sundered soul from body, or can he reclaim his destiny before his life is lost?
Caught in a Trance is the breathtaking fifth book in the Adirondack Spirit Series of magical realism historical fiction. If you like intricately realistic characters, musings on reincarnation, and epic family sagas, then you’ll adore David Fitz-Gerald’s quest for revelation.
Buy Caught in a Trance to fight free from a nightmare today!
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/caughtinatrance
Author Bio:
David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing. https://authordavidfitzgerald.com
Editorial Review:
How can trancification be a bad thing? “Sometimes when we wield a power we don't fully understand, we misuse it. It seems to me that you are trying to infringe on God's territory. If we were meant to know such things, why would God hide them deep within us? No, Christians believe in Heaven and Hell. Why would anybody want to be reincarnated if they have had the opportunity to experience the joy of Heaven?”
The last book in the Adirondack Spirit Series is another example of David Fitz-Gerald's remarkable ability to cast a entrancing spell on his readers and fans; a remarkable and imaginative story filled with past life experiences and ancient beliefs of the Iroquois Nation, all told from the point of view of Moses Munch, the brother to Noah (the protagonist of “Waking Up Lost”) and the son of Mehitable (the protagonist of “She Sees Ghosts”), as well as the former characters, Wanders Far, and Conchobar are mingled into the narrative. Mr Fitz-Gerald has a uncanny skill to develop character names, noteworthy ones such as Bacon Bump, Moses Munch, and Armand Bartholemieux, names which will stick with you just as much as the characters themselves.
He says, “Not all beautiful lives are extraordinary. A plain life, well-lived, is indeed a life worth living.”
Moses Munch's family is unique, all equipped with very extraordinary gifts, and Moses' ability to mesmerize people, to help them delve into their past lives while under trance, is profound. Yet, the more and more Moses enacts this ability upon other people the more he wishes to go there himself and peer into his past lives. Yet, Lovina, his wife, worries about using the skill too much, of giving place to the Devil, even as their son, Silas, becomes more attuned to the spiritual side of things and dreams of being a great preacher like Reverend Eli Hammond. While Moses continues to push further into the depths of his mind, more sinister occurrences emerge in his real life, such as the appearance of Monsieur Bartholemieux whose intent on bedding all the wives, widows, and maidens in the town, especially with his eye fixed on Moses' wife, Lovina. One by one, the women of the town fall prey to the Frenchman's charms, and Moses falls prey to his own desire to plunge into his supernatural abilities, gifts passed down to him from his Iroquois heritage.
In the middle of the night, my eyes pop open. I awaken from a dream in which I have seen my spirit guide, the man with the handprint on his forehead. Usually, I can't remember my dreams, but I remember this one. It was short, but simple. My dream spirit said, “Soon you will have to choose. I can't tell you which path to take, but I must remind you, there is danger for you in the subconscious realm. I can't say more, and I can't decide for you, but Moses, what are you meant to do?”
“I am meant to ask questions.”
“You were listening, and you remember.” My guide smiled at me, then he evaporated, and I woke up.
When Eli falls victim to a rabid bat bite, and Moses succumbs to a self-entracification, Lovina is left to defend herself against the Frenchman while Silas, at thirteen-years-old is thrust into the role of 'man-of-the-house' and local Reverend. For weeks, Moses is stuck, coma-like, in his trance, dwindling away as life transforms around him. When his brother, Noah, returns from one of his 'time-traveling' adventures, and Moses' mother comes home after a side trip to Canada to help rescue an escaped slave, both using their own abilities to free Moses from this cocoon, Moses slowly comes out of his coma to a life and village that has changed. So many in the town have either left or decided to leave on the Oregon Trail, the Reverend is dead, Noah has disappeared again, and his Ma is thinking of remarrying. Not to mention, the curious incident involving the whereabouts of Monsieur Bartholemeiux and a mysterious letter from the man's fleshly brother, Pierre.
Even if I thought I could make a difference, I'm caught in a trance. I was warned, and yet I did it anyhow. I created my own nightmares. It is as if I seduced myself, succumbing to the pull of a power beyond my control. I couldn't have surrendered myself and my wife to the Devil more easily if I tried. I'm sure that my body is too weak to support my spirit even if I were able to return to it. I try to cleanse my thoughts and feelings by focusing on the fertile valley. The enduring sinister image of Poseidon and his river nymph crowds the verdant bliss. I'm powerless to stop it. I'm certain that all is lost, and I sacrifice the hope that I can make a difference. I surrender to eternity.
While very much along the same themes as Mr Fitz-Gerald's first books in the series, glued in historical fantasy and toying with the philosophical and spiritual ideas of reincarnation, trancification, dreams, past lives, the ability to see ghosts, and the questions of God or the Devil's involvement in such abilities, this story plays wild and loose with the dream sequences, of Moses' encounters with Wanders Far... and another ancient creature called Entangled... sometimes in a way that is quite unbelievable, leaning quite heavily on the fantasy side rather than the historical. While the entertainment factor is still present as with his other books, the narrative flowed much like Moses' trance-like state at times, fixed in the character's mind while attempting to push out of the fog, or like the misty figure hovering on the daguerrotype, forever frozen in time and history . It is recommended to read the previous books before tackling this one so as to fully understand the dynamics of the family, and the reasons for their special abilities. For structure and character development, Mr Fitz-Gerald excels, once again, as does his world-building artistry, and this story captivates, enlightens, and astounds in sometimes very unexpected ways.
*****
“Caught in a Trance” by David Fitz-Gerald receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
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