The premise in this book is so good, but it's held up a bit by the lack of editing-- there are quick cuts without explanation-- the reader would suddenly be in a completely different setting sometimes without the author letting us know we had moved there. Since I read an ARC, I have high hopes that when it's released it will have gone through one final edit to make it a good, solid read.

Read this book if you like: Supernatural aspects, creepy scenes

After witnessing the death of her mother at a young age, Cecily LeClercq grows up hiding herself away in the remote Carolina wetlands. A stranger arrives from Paris to tell Cecily a distant, elderly relative is desperate to see her before she dies. She travels to an old chateau deep in the French woods. I love the feel of the book. It's eerie and creepy. When I started this book I didn't expect it to be supernatural. I was happily surprised.

In Paris she learns of an ancient curse that has consumed generations of her ancestors, personified by a vicious, ghostly wraith who emerges from the forest when the death of a LeClercq is near. She sees the wraith and tries to escape.

Wow! This book was really good. The flow of his writing was perfect. The feel of the book really fit the story being told. This is my first read by Mark Wheaton and won't be my last. Highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author Mark Wheaton for the ARC!

At age 11, Cecily LeClerq witnessed her mother walk into the ocean during a hurricane. Although Cecily sees a wraith in her home prior to her mother running into the hurricane, she is told that there was no wraith and that she imagined it to deal with her mother’s suicide. Ten years later, Cecily is summoned to France to visit her great grandmother, Marguerite, in hospice care. Before Cecily arrives, her Marguerite kills herself in the forest. This starts Cecily on a path to discover why her Marguerite wanted to speak to her before she died. Why do so many people in the LeClerq family die by suicide. Is it because trauma begets trauma or is the family cursed by a wraith intent on punishing some past misdeed?
This is the first book that I have read by Mark Wheaton, but it will not be my last. I was hooked right from the beginning when young Cecily first saw the wraith. I loved that Cecily was so knowledgeable about plant life and how that was important to the story. I also liked how the mystery progressed as Cecily learned about her family history while also learning about the bloody history of France itself. It was the perfect mix of horror and mystery with a very small dash of history thrown in just for fun. After all, history is full of true horror of how humans commit atrocities against others since the beginning.

If you like a good thriller with a nicely creepy supernatural element, then this is the book for you. I could not put this down, even if at times I wanted to slap the main character around the head with a trowel. But then I think that may have made me like it even more. There were some good twists and turns, some I saw coming, some I did not, and I do love it when a book like this surprises me so much.

A must read!

I enjoying this story very much. Creepy, nerve wracking, edge of seat thriller. I highly recommend for anyone who likes stories you just can't sit down. You'll finish this in one reading.

This book didn't keep my attention as much as I hoped. The story dragged too much for my taste. I wound up unable to finish reading it.

I'd like to thank NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
Really enjoyed this book!
First of all, love the cover - main reason I've requested the book. Love me some nature horror. Second: the blurb & first few pages seemed to me like a bit run-off-the-mill-horror, but as the plot moved forward this changed into an interesting & unique adventure. It was easy to connect with Cecily, and all her actions seemed reasonable, in character, and something a real person would do.
While the main plot resolution was kind of expected, the ending a surprise and left me wishing for a sequel.
Really solid read!

Chilling, Ominous , and uncomfortable at moments. I read this book and did not expect to like it so much. I thought it was going to be a good read but this is just more than I expected. Though slow at first it ended well.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this awesome ARC.

Cecily LeClerq hids herself away in the Carolina wetlands after her mother dies. She goes to Paris when she is told that a relative is dying and she learns of an ancient curse of a ghostly wraith that has consumed generations of her ancestors and emerges from the forest when the death of a LeClercq is near. This is a gothic tale of horror of a ghostlike image of evil. I found this book to be creepy and suspenseful with vivid descriptions. The characters are well-developed and the plot was intense. This book would make an awesome movie as it was hard to put down. If you like supernatural fantasy with bits of sci-fi and mystery, then you would enjoy this book. I would like to thank Southbound Films and NetGalley for a copy for an honest review. This book will be published on 4/13/22.

Finished this one this morning and I have to say there are many twists and turns in this book as Cecily LaClercq uncovers truths about her family's past and the curse. It'll spook you for sure. If you're into horror with a little mystery, this book is for you. Definitely a 5 star book for me. Thank you, Netgalley for choosing me to read this. I'm not sure who the publisher is. I tried to look it up but couldn't find the name.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Wraith” is a horror/mystery/supernatural novel. It follows the story of Cecily LeClercq, the protagonist who is surrounded by tragedy. At a young age, Cecily becomes the sole witness of her mother’s death. Years later, Cecily has followed in her mother’s footsteps in her avoidance of people. Cecily limits all contact with other humans to the absolute minimum. Cecily works with a florist, traveling into the remote Carolina wetlands to retrieve cuttings and pieces of plants for the florist’s use.

One day, as Cecily stops into her employer’s building, a stranger named Rene comes looking for her. Rene is from Paris and claims that a distant elderly relative must see Cecily before she dies. Cecily finally agrees to travel to France to meet the last bit of her mother’s family that remains alive. However, the trip is not as simple as it seems.

While in France, Cecily begins to learn the frightening history of her LeClercq ancestors. Death stalks the LeClercq family, materializing as a vicious wraith who makes itself known whenever the death of a LeClercq is near. As Cecily fights to untangle the historical mystery that brought the wraith’s vengeance upon the LeClercq family, the wraith sets its sights on her. Will Cecily solve the mystery and free the LeClercq family before the curse claims her as its next victim?

I greatly enjoyed this book. The author did a great job balancing and blending the horror, mystery, and supernatural elements in this book. I was brought along for the ride with Cecily in her race against time to solve and banish the LeClercq curse. I was immediately engrossed in the novel, and I tore through it quickly. The writer’s style is easy and engaging. The main characters are flushed out nicely, drawing the reader in as this rollercoaster of a book moves forward. I found myself cheering on Cecily while fearing for both her and those around her. The plot builds, escalating the danger as it barrels toward the end.

I must say I both did and did not like the ending. This is where I dropped my five-star rating to four. I was on the edge of my seat as the ending approached, reading faster and faster to find out how Cecily’s story would end. I was actually surprised as the ending unfolded, which is quite a feat as I usually figure it out beforehand. Without giving anything away, the novel wraps up in a way that leaves me full of questions, feeling as though something was a bit too unresolved.

Overall, I loved this book. I would greatly recommend this for a variety of readers. I believe it would please most fans of horror, mystery, supernatural, and gothic tales. It is an engaging read that should not be passed up. Pick up this novel and enjoy the ride!

A fast paced, action packed triller about the family LeClerq whose whole family line is cursed and is being hunted by a Wraith until one day our main character Cecily is determined to end the curse.

This was my first Mark Wheaton book and let me tell you, it DID NOT disappoint!
From the very first chapter the story was engaging and the plot was made clear. I really liked how I didn't have to wait chapters for creepy stuff to start happening, like some horror/trillers I have read by other authors.

Wraith pleasantly surprised me! Towards the last few chapter it got a little confusing as there was so much going on, but overall I had a lot of fun with this read.

I will be reviewing Wraith on my youtube channel at the end of the month!

A Horror Thriller, But For Me It Had Some Issues

A category 5 hurricane is about to make landfall at Myrtle Beach. Cecily is awakened by her mother, Sandrine, and hurried towards the bathroom of their mobile home. Cecily sees a silhouette of a wraith-like figure standing in the kitchen. Her mother tells her that she has been there for a day but after tonight, she will never find us again. When the noise stops, Cecily looks out, her mother is gone, and the phantom is still there. Cecily evades the wraith and runs outside. She sees her mother running towards the beach. She follows, and the wraith follows her. Cecily finds her mother on the beach walking into the hurricane-whipped waves. Cecily calls to her but sees the wraith near her. She sees her mother finally disappear in surf, and the wraith is no longer there. Then the timeline fast-forwards 10 years. Cecily now lives in Charleston and works for a highly regarded garden planner. Then, a visitor arrives asking for her with a name she no longer uses. The novel proceeds from here.

The main story line consists mainly of Cecily’s trip to Paris. Her grandmother wants to talk to her before she dies. When Cecily arrives, she learns that her grandmother committed suicide. The scope of the main storyline expands into finding out how her grandmother died and the nature of the curse that has been plaguing her family for centuries. The police are suspicious and also investigating the death. The first aspect I expect in a novel is to capture my interest. The author introduced all the elements to achieve that with the demonstrated threat of death and the dread and tension of where, when and how the wraith appear again and will the wraith be successful the next time. Unfortunately, my interest was not captured by these elements even when the wraith was able to bind people near Cecily to the wraith’s will. As the story proceeds, more of the wraith’s nature and its relationship with Cecily’s family are revealed, my interest started to pick up.

Cecily is an extreme introvert, so most of her backstory is from her inner thoughts as events evolve around her. Once she arrives in Paris, she does accept the presence and help from a friend of her grandmother, René. She actually seeks out her grandmother’s step-sister. There are a few others that she allows close to her. This is when more information about her and her family is revealed. Overall, I could not connect solidly with Cecily. There even is a little C-storyline as the reader can see how Cecily changes from the start to the finish but also how much did not change both now for different reasons. Overall, I could not connect with Cecily.

For aspects of a novel that some readers find objectionable, first there are not any intimate scenes. Vulgar and rude language is very minimal in English. There is some in French that were not translated like most of the other uses of French in the novel. I used the translation ability of my e-reader to discover this. Also, impious language is minimal. These aspects should not pass a red line for most readers. Violence, all of which is wraith related, are described as it occurs that is more edgy, but for me it just didn’t seem that way to me. There are some horror aspects in this novel, but they did not work for me. They did not form a sense of dread for Cecily in me.

There was one character that I particularly enjoyed. René was that character, and if there was an award for best supporting character, he earned a nomination. There were a few, what I call, literary grenades that temporarily increased my interest. Otherwise, there were too many issues for me to give a high star rating. While most of the novel was plausible, near the end some aspects were not very plausible. The ending fit the storyline quite well, but it did not leave a good memory of this novel with me.

I have read the three book Luis Chavez series and the single novel Quake Cities and enjoyed them. I had previously rated Mark Wheaton as a Must-Read author. It is why I saw this novel as available on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. This novel did not live up to that rating, but I will read the next novel from this author as this novel may be an anomaly. Overall, I rate this novel with three stars. This novel did not meet my criterion for a two-star rating where the author deliberately leaves one or more major aspects of the novel unexplained. Some readers may enjoy reading this novel, but I rate this novel with three stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Mark Wheaton. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Mark Wheaton for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

A really interesting read that included so many factors. There was a spirit, a family curse, family secrets and beautiful descriptions of areas in France. Cecily discovers her mom died protecting her from the family curse. When she is summoned to France, she learns that she has family. She also begins seeing the Wraith and learns that the Wraith either kills family members or people close to them. Cecily does not want any of her loved ones to die, so she runs. As Cecily tries to get rid of the curse, she begins to wonder if she will ever be free.

A decent supernatural mystery about a family curse that manifests as a grey skinned wraith. A quick read with some pretty good ideas but it didn't thrill me or scare me as much as I hoped. Still worth a read though. 3.5 stars

Going into Wraith I expected an atmospheric, gothic horror about a family curse plaguing our main character Cecily. I don't think Wraith delivered on what it promised.

After a traumatic experience in her childhood, Cecily receives word from a distant relative in France she quickly learns that history may be repeating itself. All of these weird occurrences in her life are tied to a family curse going back generations. Cecily's family is haunted by a wraith that has been eliminating her family members in awful ways.

I was a little bored throughout the book. The plot moved clunkily with many events and 'twists' feeling contrived. The rules of the curse were not consistent. Originally (to my understanding) the wraith would inevitably show up in a person's life as an omen of their approaching death. Then the next person in line of the family would eventually face the wraith. But every family member before Cecily was able to fully reach adulthood and have children before dying, yet the story practically begins with Cecily being haunted and seeing the Wraith as a child and then young adult. Some family members thought to kill them selves to keep the wraith away from their children, but that logic doesn't follow in only Cecily's case for some reason.

The biggest selling point of the story to me was the idea of the LeClerq estate- an old, creepy castle in a dark forest. We barely spend anytime there. Most of the time Cecily is aimlessly running through Paris (every single street she is on is name-dropped in a way that takes you out of the story) with her new french pals who speak google translate french.

I didn't connect with the characters. Cecily was flat and boring. Everyone in Paris she met instantly thought she was lovely though. I couldn't tell you anything memorable about her other than she liked plants? which kind of had to do with a plot point? but for what?

This book just wasn't for me.

This was not advertised as historical fiction but it is and I'm not a fan of the genre.

This started slow and kept a crawling pace moving forward. I skimmed a great deal of it. Just too slow for me. And the horror is more gothic than scary.

After Cecily witnesses the death of her mother at a young age, she grows herself up hiding away in the wetlands. A stranger arrives supposedly being a distant elderly relative. Cecily travels to French woods and she learns an ancient curse that consumed a bunch of her ancestors. What lies beyond this curse? good horror gothic book if you like this then this is the book for you. Thanks to the publisher, netgalley, and the author in exchange for a review.
Publishing Date : April 13th, 2022

A supernatural mystery, with some historical fiction.

I really liked the concept and the French history in this. I just found it slightly boring and unexciting. It took some time to get going after the prologue. It's hard for me to describe how I felt. I found myself falling asleep every time I tried reading this.

I liked the plot line, just didn't love the entire piece as a whole. It could have been executed better. The ending really left me wanting. Questions unanswered. Maybe there will be a sequel?

A fast paced thrilling mystery about a Wraith that haunts an entire family line, extending all the way to the middle ages of France. The LeClerq family has tried everything to be rid of the curse, but only now has anyone tried to find the root of the cause and correct what was wrong.