This is the 2nd in the series with Nolan Moore, amateur archaeologist and host of "The Anomaly Files" and his team producer and best friend, Ken, Molly (the group's "Girl Friday") and cameraman Pierre investigating another paranormal mystery for their YouTube series.
This time they travel to Northern California to investigate mysterious stone walls. Similar walls actually exist all over the planet - even under the sea - and yet very little is known about them.
What Nolan hasn't told his colleagues is that his ex-wife Kristy is already in the area, at the small town of Birchlake, checking out the disappearance of a teenage girl, Alaina Hixon. Kristy became intrigued with the case when an online photo of the missing girl produced several comments with the single word "Witch".
When Nolan arrives , he meets up with Kristy and soon they find Alaina wandering down the town's main street muttering that she was dead but has now returned.
Weird things start to happen in Birchlake as the story of the mysterious walls and Alaina's disappearance begin to converge. And then it gets really spooky.
On the plus side, I especially enjoy the dark humour in the banter between Nolan and his world-weary and cynical sidekick, Ken. And author Michael Rutger really knows how to ratchet up the tension. However, I felt that the story slowed and became confusing in places, particularly when one of the townspeople explains why everyone is experiencing strange feelings and seeing ghostly figures in and around the town. Despite the latter, Rutger's writing demands that you keep on reading. Many of Birchlake's residents have secrets but there are even darker secrets stretching back half a century which are slowly and scarily being revealed.
Although part of a series, this book can be read on its own.
As with the first book, this strange mix of archaeological and historical facts and fiction blends into a horror story that will make you think about what's real and what's imagined. For reasons that will become clear, don't read it just before you go to bed!
My thanks to the publisher Zaffre and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

am not usually a fan of horror as I need to sleep at night. I have too active an imagination at times but there’s something about Michael Rutger that I really love and am slightly addicted to and I’m not sure what it is.

The Anomaly was scary and creepy and although a little unbelievable at times I was still enthralled. This novel is weird and quirky and the sequel to The Anomaly so I was always going to have to unsettle myself again.

There was a puzzle, a legend , some sci-fi and genuine horror moments again and we, this was just really fascinating and entertaining. A lot of fun to work out and to go on the journey with the characters. Amateur sleuth hunters going to explore a real life mystery and conspiracy theory mixed up with some fun science facts too? So not usually my cup of tea, but there was something unsettling about this I couldn't not read. You got to love a science fiction based horror story!

The problem with the book however is that I can’t anything else without giving things away and this HAS to be a book to discover. What are the mysterious stone walls? Did you know there are such things around the world? Under water? Stone walls which once housed communities of various types, walls acting as markers on the earth’s surface…

Tales of witches and oh that title…….why oh why do I subject myself to such things in novels? This is quite the read. A total chill fest….and then you google certain things and realise you won’t sleep for a month. At least.

Michael Rutger is back, and so is his group of Anomaly investigators. The first few chapters threw me as the reader is thrown from one third person perspective to the familiar first person from Rutger’s debut book. It’s no bad thing, the unsettled feeling adds to the atmosphere of the narrative, it gets its hooks in and won’t let go.
It’s as chilling as The Anomaly, but I’m so very glad this wasn’t what we started with. The pace is much faster and we don’t get as much time with the investigators as I would have liked.
It’s fun to be back in Rutger’s world and I can’t wait to read whatever offering he has next; its a book anyone who loved Point Horror would love now they’re grown.

A week ago I started a book with much mystery surrounding it and that was The Anomaly, the first instalment in The Anomaly Files series. I got hooked and read it in a couple of days and was ecstatic when learning a sequel was coming out - and I got even luckier as I found it on NetGalley and got approved to read it early. However, I found myself disappointed by this sequel (is it really a sequel though, as you could read it without having read the first one?)

The Possession has most of what I loved in The Anomaly: the suspense, the tense atmosphere, the need to know what the heck is happening and our set of original MCs - Nolan and his team. But, unfortunately, I found the core story of The Possession a bit boring at times and very slow. Moreover, the explanation of what is happening and why left me unconvinced - it felt a bit far-fetched and confusing.

The writing is still good and gripping. The characters are really nice to follow around although I do wish we had seen more of Molly and Pierre - Ken is still definitely my favourite.

To conclude I can say that I enjoy The Possession to a certain extend and would recommend it if you’re looking for a paranormal story that is different from what is already out there

** spoiler alert ** This one fell to the curse of liking the first half far more than the second.
The set up was intriguing,the mystery of the walls got me wondering.
The interaction of the characters was excellent,with only the subtlest hint there was a previous story,making this a good stand alone book.
And then things that go bump in the night...

When it all got a bit much for me was with the reality and non reality idea. I didn't feel scared,or even a bit creeped out ,and I think I felt like I MUST be missing something.

I'll be back though,because I rather took a shine to the characters.

Firstly I want to comment on the blurb, it’s perfect! If I hadn’t been approved for this title I’d have bought it since that blurb makes me want to know everything about this story!

According to Goodreads this is the second book in a series, I haven’t read the first and thought The Possession worked well as a stand alone so don’t worry if you haven’t read the first one!

Now onto the storyline....well it’s bloody creepy! That’s all I’m giving you, it’s creepy and it’s fantastic and you’d be daft not to read it!