Unfortunately, I am unable to read this book as I never seen that it was part of a series when I requested it awhile ago. I wouldn't be able to give a fair review, but thank you for the early opportunity!

The second novel in the Anomaly Files series.
THE POSSESSION is a pretty good follow-up to THE ANOMALY: another well-written, engaging Supernatural-meets-X-Files mystery (sort-of).

If you like suspenseful mysteries, with a dash of myth/legend as a backdrop, then I would absolutely recommend this series. You don't have to start with THE ANOMALY, but you'll probably want to read it as well, so may as well start there.

In this second book in The Anomaly series, American myth and legend investigator Nolan Moore and his team take on a new mission: investigating a rumored case of witchcraft and possession.

When it becomes intertwined with a missing girl, ghosts, and Moore's ex-wife, it's almost more than the team can handle.

The Possession takes archaeological and historical facts and blends them into an interesting supernatural thriller that reads a bit like a found footage horror movie.

It's not perfect... some of the plot points feel glossed over, and some of the dialog is a bit clunky. It also took me a bit to learn the characters, so some of the references to the "past mission" (book one) didn't quite click with me. But overall, this is a solid read.

Full review at Zengrrl.com soon.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

It all started with a missing girl, a strange Instagram picture, and walls as old as time that go nowhere. The Possession is a strange story about characters that hide many secrets that intertwine to create a greater mystery surrounding a small town in the middle of nowhere, Birchlake, CA. But there is a mist that talks to some and takes others away. As Nolan Moore and his crew of the Anomaly Files shows, try to understand the mystery surrounding the despaired girl and the strange walls, other creatures have a different agenda, and accepting what is hidden might be the only thing that saves their lives.

While the title of the book implies a supernatural theme, the Possession starts like any other mystery book and it’s until later on that the paranormal parts start to show up. It was a good parallel with the characters starting to believe that the things that they are seeing are real and not just fragments of their imagination.

This story makes its main purpose to mess with the readers’ minds and give them scenes we don’t understand until later. One example was that I thought that at first the villain was revealed but as the story progressed, the reader sees that there is much more to the first pages of the book.

I liked the Possession, it was intriguing and had me wondering most of the time what was happening. But at the same time, I felt that it was packed with a lot of information that took time to be useful or explain something to the reader. I liked the idea of the walls that go nowhere and the history that the story had about them, it’s a topic I would like to research later.

Given that I started reading the second book in the series, I’m curious to learn what happened on the first one, but I feel that it can also be read as a standalone. But I will be reading the first one to know more about the members of the Anomaly Files shows.

If you are a fan of Michael Rutger or better known as Michael Marshall and his work, then I recommend, The Possession. In this story, a girl goes missing and the inhabitants of a small town learn that the invisible things that our brain hides to protect us are still real, and every wall has a purpose of keeping some things in and other things out.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

This books had a stellar concept, and some really wonderfully creepy moments. I enjoyed about 2/3 of it.... but got a bit bored after that. I finished it, even though at times I wasn't sure I would. 3 and 1/2 stars.

This book had me engaged for the first half and then just fell apart. Some intense spooky moments but then it became a chore to finish. The plot became disjointed and the author struggled with marrying the "what is real" and "what isn't" subplot.

3 for neutral. I couldn’t get into this book, even though I had tried many times. Not sure if it’s a series and not the first, which may be the issue, and will update if it is after reading the prior books. It just didn’t hook me, it was sort of dragging and confusing and all 0ver the place in my opinion.

I immediately fell in love with Michael Rutger's "The Anomaly" and was stoked to find out there was going to be a sequel. "The Possession" has the same steady, almost agonizingly slow build until it feels as though it's going to rupture until all of the action you felt you were missing hits you all at once. This book (compared to the previous) felt as though it had a much more personal touch due to characters' background. This overshadowed the present day story of Alaina that I would have liked more of. That being said, everything was tied and twisted together exceptionally well with creepy, conspirical undertones throughout.
I can't wait for the next Anomaly Files book to come out!

THE POSSESSION had good, interesting characters and a truly chilling plot. My one complaint was that the first half of the book jumped back and forth between characters so much that it was hard to keep track of which character we were following. the book was definitely intriguing enough to make me want to go back and read the first book in the series. and I will never look at a stone wall quite the same way again ...

This book suffered from the dreaded "sophomore slump." It's such a shame to me because I loved the first book in this series, The Anomaly, so much. I'm not quite sure what happened with this book, but the plot and execution were flat-out boring. I could barely finish the book. I'm so disappointed in it because this author is clearly a great writer. All the greatness from The Anomaly is absent here.

This one bummed me out a bit. The Anomaly was one of my favorite adventure titles from last year and the first in a new series by Michael Marshall Smith (writing here as Michael Rutger). It had great characters, a compelling story, great action and a good twist.

The Possession has essentially none of that. The setup is compelling, a missing girl and unexplained walls built across the world, but being investigated by the Anomaly Files crew in small California town. However, none of it particularly delivers. The Possession tosses the science fiction adventure of The Anomaly for a full out supernatural tale. But it is confusing and doesn’t particularly work.

Worse, it can’t decide on a narrator. Nolan, the head of the crew, is written in first person, but half or more of the book is written in an omniscient third person view from a variety of other characters. Often these can work in a first person novel if used sparingly. But here, it just fails as a device.

It’s a shame, because Rutger/Marshall can write. Really write. One of the best pure prose writers working in genre fiction. But this is a miss. It happens and I think this series and these characters still have promise. But I can’t recommend this one even to the most diehard fans (like myself)

I was very stoked for this sequel to The Anomaly. So thank you Netgalley- it was nice to not have to wait for it so long! I very much enjoyed this second installment, although I don’t know whether or not it stacked up to the first. I read it over the span of a couple days and found it to be entertaining, but less exciting than I had hoped. All in all very enjoyable.

The Anomalywas a pleasant surprise for me and I was eagerly awaiting The Possession. This time around the team goes to a town to investigate a disappearance as well as mysterious ancient walls that appear to have no real purpose. I wish I could say that I loved this one just as much, but I was a little disappointed.

My disappointment lies with the plot of the book. I found this one kind of confusing and disjointed. I'm still not sure I understand what was going on. The one scene of exposition toward the later half of the book that was supposed to give the reader a clue wasn't very clear. Was it time travel, other dimensions, witchcraft? I'm still not sure.

Having said that, I still did enjoy my time reading the book. The setting was creepy. There were a couple of really chilling scenes in the woods that gave me shivers. I loved that. The characters were still fun. Nolan and his team work so well together and have great banter. This can be read as a stand alone. They do refer to the events in the first book, but don't really give anything away, so you wouldn't be spoiled if you read this first.

Despite my disappointment, I would still recommend it. I'm hooked enough to want to go on another adventure with Nolan and the gang again in the next book.

I absolutely LOVED The Anomaly by Michael Rutger last year, so when I discovered there was a sequel coming out, I knew I had to read it ASAP. You do not need to read The Anomaly before picking up The Possession. There are some mentions of the previous book, but the author is careful not to give too much away.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for sending me an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Description: The Possession follows Nolan and his team from The Anomaly Files, a YouTube webseries, to upstate California to investigate mysterious stone walls. What Nolan doesn't tell the team is he is really following his ex-wife, Kristy, whom he has a very strange and awkward relationship with. Kristy is in the area investigating the disappearance of a local teen girl. Eventually, the two separate investigations begin to converge as mysterious and spooky (no really, SPOOKY!) things begin to happen in the town.

What I Liked: The atmosphere of this book is amazing. I thought the buildup of supernatural events was great and definitely creeped me out, especially while reading late at night.

What I Didn't Like: There was just a little too much going on by the end of this one. I never fully understood exactly what was going on with the walls. And maybe I missed something there or I wanted it to be more than it was. I don't think the two separate storylines came together well enough for me by the end. And I really didn't like Kristy for most of the book.

Final Thoughts: I gave The Possession four stars. I expected to love this as much as The Anomaly, but I spent the last 30% or so of the book very confused as to what was going on. There were times that it felt like a chore to read this, and I don't remember feeling that way with The Anomaly. This would have been three stars if I had not been so legitimately freaked out while reading the book. I will still read future books in this series (if there are any), but I would prefer more isolated settings, like the Grand Canyon in the first book.

Let me begin by saying that even though I have not read the first book in this series, I don't feel like I missed out on anything. The characters make mention of the events from the first one once or twice, but its more of an "in passing" kind of thing that really doesn't add to (or take away from) this story.

That being said. I just could not get into this story at all. I found the characters to be annoying at best, mediocre at worst. I ended up putting this book down several times, allowing days to pass before I would try picking it up again thinking 'this time it will be better'. For me? It wasn't.

The first half of the book is frankly boring. Our team traipses through the woods finding these odd, unexplained "stone walls". There is a lot of drudgery during this, and then Nolan gets the desire to visit his ex-wife where she is supposedly investigating a girl's disappearance. But hey... there are more of these stone walls here too. And a lot of people who act weird and appear/disappear at will.

It is during the second of this book that the really "freaky" stuff starts to happen. But even that wasn't scary as much as it was confusing and unfortunately still seemed to drag on. It got to the point where I was eager to get to the next page just so I could be done with this story.

However, even with the fact that this story didn't work for me, I am sure there will be others to whom this story becomes a favorite. I would give this author another chance.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

If you thought as I did that the first book in this series was a wild ride, then buckle in and hold your breath: THE POSSESSION is even wilder. Witchcraft, ancient mysteries, dimensional crossings; and what as children we recognize as danger in the dark but as adults we pretend to ignore: the things unseen, which bear humans ill will.


All of that lives here: hold your breath and dive deep...but remember, you were warned.