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John Alexander lives in Frisco, TX. During the last five years of his career in the high tech industry John discovered his love for writing. He now spends full time pursuing that passion.
After co-authoring two editions of a technical book (CallManager Fundamentals - 23,000+ copies sold), he turned to fiction and wrote a mystery suspense novel titled The Enclave released August 2010.
He enjoys writing children's fiction. His Amber-Autumn mystery series includes The Christmas Garden released in October 2014, A Grandfather’s Blessing released December 2014, and The Golden Campout released June 2015. A fourth book in the series is in progress.
John served as Grant Committee chairman for North Texas Book Festival for two years, is an active member of SCWBI, and participates in two monthly critique groups in Frisco.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
The Christmas Garden (Amber/Autumn Series) (Volume 1) by John Alexander revolves around Amber and Autumn, two elementary school sisters. Autumn and Amber take a different route back home one day after school. They decide to check out the spooky old haunted house, and after that Amber has a bad dream where she sees Autumn locked up in the house in a dark room. Autumn gets adventurous another time and decides to open the gate and go inside. She sees an old woman there inside the house, who stays in her mind. Autumn finally goes there on Halloween's Day and meets the old woman who Amber thinks is a witch. Will she cast a spell on Autumn? Is the old woman really a witch and is it a haunted house?
The author does a great job building up the suspense in the plot as it progresses. It's a fascinating story of witches, a haunted house, spookiness, spells and curses that will keep readers glued to the tale. The characters are all well portrayed and both the sisters have their own individual personalities which makes them likeable to readers. The narration is descriptive and detailed, which makes the story come alive. The story highlights Autumn's character of courage and how she shows the town that gossip and rumors can actually make people alter their views on a lot of things in life. The message conveyed is subtle yet useful and effective. An exciting story with some suspense and a good message for readers.
