Hell Is In Me


Fiction - Paranormal
486 Pages
Reviewed on 05/29/2020
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

Upon first glance, one assumes that Hell Is In Me by Colleen A. Parkinson is a supernatural thriller. Okay, it is. But it is so much more nuanced than what you would expect from such a facile expectation. First, it is significantly more literary than much of what passes for this genre in today’s general market. Sometimes, even more than King. Second, this remarkable book meticulously avoids clichés, requiring the reader to reassess even hellish creatures for their motivations. And third, it does not rely on the myriad of unbelievable plot twists so common in so many books today. No, this is writing at its finest. With complex, believable characters developed by an author who understands the natural contradictions, inconsistencies, and inevitable compulsions held by real people in this world. And all of this makes Ms. Parkinson’s supernatural thriller a literary accomplishment worth savoring.

Colleen A. Parkinson presents the reader with several interesting, engaging, highly-nuanced individuals in Hell Is In Me. Again, no clichés here. Quinn may be a young man who sees dead people, especially when restoring a long-forgotten cemetery. Stephanie may be his exuberant but socially distant girlfriend. Caleb may be a mystery, but likable. And Jake may be a demon or disenchanted ghost. None of this, however, will tell you who they really are. Instead, Ms. Parkinson performs her task by exquisitely revealing them to each other over the course of a truly wonderful story, masterfully told. Again, this is a book to savor, not to devour piggishly in greedy gulps. Unless, of course, like me, you simply cannot stop reading until its perfect end.