Lynn L. Clark

While the blurb was intriguing, I foundd the stories lacking in detail to sustain interest. I had started this a couple months ago, but kept finding myself putting it down. The overall ideas of the two are good but feel rushed and lacking.

I liked The Portal, but felt Emily was lacking any true reaction to her ghost situation. This would have read better without the romance aspect.
The Experiment was alright, but again felt rushed.
Both stories had too many short sentences to make it flow well and too short chapters.… (meer)

The Portal

Our main character Emily has inherited an antique shop from her mother, who recently passed away. In searching for more stock for the shop, she acquires a tiger-stripe desk with a mirror. Once back in the shop, she thinks she sees a figure other than her own in the mirror. Spooky. There seems to be another, more menacing presence in the mirror as well. But the man and the presence aren’t strictly staying in the mirror anymore.
The ideas are good here, but I feel like they and the writing could be developed a bit more. There is a section of dialogue toward the beginning that would have come across better as a letter rather than spoken word. Writing styles can be more flowery and deliberate than dialogue.
Most people don’t use the word “obstinacy” in conversation.
The chapters are also very short, and some of them feel journal-like. I wonder if the story could have been told in that format?
When the narrator has an unsettling experience, it doesn’t seem to come across as strongly as it could have. For some reason, I feel like the narrator is talking in a bit of a monotone. Things that should be exciting, well, aren’t. It just feels like it's droning. I’m wondering if it’s just me, though. I mean, there’s freaky stuff happening, but there seems to be an element missing somewhere.
The author also has a chapter where she recounts a visit to a grief counselor, and the conversation as written would have lasted maybe five minutes. If I were paying for a visit, I would hope it would last longer than that!
We have three stories here kind of mushed together. We have a woman mourning the death of her mother, a haunted mirror, and a kind of a romance? It gets kind of weird at the end, and not even an exciting weird. It’s more of an awkward weird. I think the story could have been better off without the romance aspect, or if it was handled a bit differently.

The Experiment

I liked this one a lot better. It seemed to flow more organically. Maybe I was just in a different mindset when I read it, but there were fewer plot points that stood out as awkward. There are still some story aspects that could be developed more, but overall it is a more compelling story and an easier read. The one awkward point was when one character got political during a rant, and I’m not sure how well that passage will age with time. This story is also easier to summarize. A group of college students who have advanced mental powers (empathy, telepathy, farsight, and telekinesis) get involved in an experiment/trial to further develop their powers, and it does not turn out to be what they were expecting. The reactions of the characters seem to be more realistic and true. It is more linear with fewer side-plots. I feel like the first story was the one the author wanted to write, but the second is more suited to her writing style.

I was provided this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

The Portal and The Experiment are two short suspense novellas with paranormal elements. In The Portal, Emily has inherited her parent’s antique business after her mother dies of Alzheimer’s. She is still mourning her mother’s death and trying to move on with her life. She lives in the apartment above her store and goes on buying trips but otherwise leads a very narrow life. On one of her trips she acquires an antique dresser and finds something, or someone, reflected in the mirror.

I appreciated how this story dealt with the realities of being a caregiver and dealing with the death of a parent through Alzheimer’s. Emily’s grief and efforts to move on with her life were well done. The story was atmospheric and a bit scary. However, I found the first person/present tense very distracting. I can understand why the author didn’t want to use past tense (given the ending of the story), but perhaps using journal entries would have worked better. The very short chapters also contributed to my having trouble getting truly involved in the story. I found the ending to be rather abrupt.

I enjoyed the second story, The Experiment, better and found it more readable. Jack is an empath who has found like minded friends among a group of five university students taking part in a study on extra-sensory perception. The students go on a trip for an intensive experimental session with transhumanist professor Dr. Derek Avery. However, Dr. Avery, and the experiment, are not what they seem.

Jack and his friends are interesting characters because they have always felt like outcasts because of their powers. They begin to develop self-confidence and strength as their abilities grow. The villain is suitably villainous and the story is suspenseful. Even though this is a fairly short novella, I didn’t find it too rushed.… (meer)

Oh how i wish these were each stand alone novels, not novellas.The stories themselves were good, but... they both were so much shorter than i would have liked. The portal reminded me of a movie i saw, i think it was called the love letter, but that was just time travel while this was somewhat more morbid since the guy in the mirror was dead. Also the chapter's, if you can call them chapter's were like 2 maybe 3 pages long, and while some may like this, i felt like it made it even more rushed. I guess i just wanted more. If you want a quick easy read this was good, but maybe not great.… (meer)