Cover Image: Our Trespasses

Our Trespasses

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Member Reviews

Our Trespasses started so strong, I was deeply invested in the fate of our main character Matthew Davis who takes a ten year refuge as a short order cook in NY after escaping his quiet country life in Hatchett, Nebraska. Living on minimal wage in hipster area of Brooklyn eating greasy burgers for dinner gets suddenly interrupted when he feels his connection to his twin brother Jake being violently severed by his sudden death at someone’s hands. Matt travels back home to the town that time forgot, where nostalgia is still ticking and alive and where the mystery of his brother’s demise begins to engulf his entire existence.

Old crossed lovers, brooding darkness brewing within the town’s residents and the question of who murdered Jake in cold blood is supposed to take the center stage here. Unfortunately most of that stage is spend building up the character of Matt and not much else, it feels that his brother and the incident take a back seat. By the time things get hot the ‘maybe real maybe not’ possessions and hauntings seem weirdly out of place when they do happen. Also Matt goes from being poor and frugal to hanging out for days without pay half way across the country spending money, pick a side, and stick to it please.

Big thanks to NetGalley and TCK Publishing for providing a copy for a review!

- Kas

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Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc. This was a wild ride. Matt returns to his hometown after the death of his identical twin Jake. The special connection between the two of them has apparently not been severed by Jake's death and Matt is forced to experience his brother's suffering in hell. In order to free Jake, Matt goes on a hunt for those that Jake wronged in life in an effort to get them to forgive Jake, which turns out to be no small task, and someone or something is working hard against him.
The premise of this story had a lot of potential. I really enjoyed the main character Matt and the author provided a convincing backdrop with the small town that had a big meth problem. The other characters were fun, especially Andy the town priest. There were a few parts that didn't work for me as they leaned toward the melodramatic, one scene in particular with Matt and Claire in Jake's bedroom that became more comedy than horror.
Overall, this was a fun read for me and I would definitely recommend it. The horror was there, some gruesome scenes, plenty of blood, and some menacing crows. I liked the paranormal aspect of the twin connection, and didn't find the religious parts to be overdone or unreasonably heavy handed.

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The title had me curious and caused me to read it. I had a hard time setting this book down for some breaks because of every page, I had to read it. It was hard to stop. The only time I set this book down was for bedtime. Even during bedtime, I had a hard time getting to sleep. I just wanted to keep reading. Why? Because the whole storyline was fantastic and thrilling for me. So many things were happening once this character went back home. In every chapter, something went wrong in a crazy sadistic way. Things I love to read from a book. It was scary, thrilling, even horror-stricken. The story is that great. I didn't want it to end. I wanted more. I love how the author made this storyline. It deserves more than five stars. If I could give my own stars, it will be a 10 out of 10. It is worth the reading. I seriously recommend this book for those who haven't read it and I seriously recommend anyone out there to own this book. I truly love it!

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Wasn't too sure about this at the outset but it quickly pulled me in. The storyline was unusual, examining the psychic link between twins, and the plot was superb. Very well thought out, superbly written and a cracking read.

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A decent paranormal thriller. It kept my attention till the end. Reminded me of Supernatural. Religious themes, Satan, Twin bonding, life after death. Original storyline. I would recommend.

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Deliver us from evil...
Drowning in a meaningless existence flipping burgers, Matthew Davis suddenly collapses from a powerful psychic connection he shares with his twin brother, Jake. The pain is violent and immediate, and Matt knows exactly what it means… hundreds of miles away, Jake has been viciously killed. But instead of severing their connection, the murder intensifies it and Matt begins to suffer the agony of Jake’s afterlife.
Hell bent on solving Jake’s murder in order to break the connection, Matt travels to his troubled hometown of Hatchett, Nebraska, where an old lover and savage new enemies expose the festering wounds that Jake left behind.
Matt tries atoning for Jake’s sins, but when a demon infests the connection between the two brothers, Matt must find a way to sever their bond before his world, and ours, become engulfed in the flames of hell.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary

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This was a pretty decent character focused Paranormal thriller. There were a few really good and tense scenes, which is rare for a book in my opinion. But in the end I found it a bit cliché and think it relied to heavily on a lot of tropes I've seen so many times with nothing to make them unique.

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Twins are supposed to share a special connection. In this book the author takes that premise to the next level, in fact, to the highest level of good and evil battle where Lucifer himself is participant. But if you don’t overthink the incongruously grandiose premise (and it’s easy to, because really? all Lucifer’s been waiting for is a twinsie power situation?), this is actually a pretty good book and a solid paranormal thriller.
Didn’t know what to expect, never read the author, but it reads like a professional job through and through, and, more importantly, it’s well-written, character driven and exciting.
The book starts off like so many books do – with a man returning to his middle of nowhere small town, specifically in Nebraska during a sweltering summer, to bury his brother. Twins or not, super-connected or not, ten years prior it all got too be too much, claustrophobically so. Thus, one of the twins took off while the other stayed behind. Neither have made much of themselves, but the gone twin at least is a semi-decent person while the stayed twin became a scum of the earth sort of person and a dealer.
The idea was that death would severe once and for all their potent connection, but alas that wasn’t to be. In fact, now that the dead twin went to his just rewards down below, the connection is stronger than ever and the grandest evil of all is desperately trying to board that train back to the surface.
Can this all be solved by finding out who killed his brother? Can this all be solved by obtaining forgiveness for his brother from all the people he has wronged? Or is this an unwinnable fight? Well, that’s what the protagonist of the book is going to find out. All while reevaluating his life choices and reclaiming his decade-long abandoned relationships.
So there you have it, a perfectly decent story elevated by above average writing. The author has done some screenwriting and it shows, there’s a certain vividness to his imagery, the way his narrative comes to live; the closet scene alone…excellent. Overall, this was a pretty good read, spooky and atmospheric without relying on guts and gore as so many scary stories tend to. Plus, there’s a bonus murder mystery to unravel with a nice plot twist. Fun was had. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

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This started out quite slow and I wasn't sure where it would go until our POV, Matt, headed home. That's when the mystery and thrill really began and the story got enjoyable and entertaining. The writing was a bit too thick and therefore bogged down but otherwise this was a good read.

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I wasn't 100% sure what to expect going into this - it's not something I would usually read but I was also interested based on the summary and to expand my horizons, and overall, I ended up really enjoying this one. I did find the writing a little repetitive at times, and there were a few things that I was a little confused about, but overall, I thought it was well done. Besides the issues with repetition, I found the writing to be really well done - it had the appropriate level of spookiness (I have a very high tolerance when it comes to being scared by fiction so I was not scared while reading this, but someone with a lower tolerance might struggle with it) and I love how the writing evoked the atmosphere. There were twists and turns that I wasn't expecting, and I loved how it all played out. I also am a sucker for books about siblings, and while this sibling relationship (which was explored really from the side of one, since the other is dead) is not normally what I am looking for, I also thought it was well done, and it kept me interested in wanting to know more. I recommend this to people who are fans of horror (especially the paranormal side of it) or anyone who is interested in trying out the genre with a shorter book.

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Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. I had not read the author's works previously and this was a good title to start with. It was a little cliched at parts (reminded me of a season of Supernatural) but the characters were well drawn and the storyline was enjoyable. It was a fast, fun read that was not overly graphic but still definitely in the horror genre.

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As twins growing up in the midwest, Matt and Jake could feel each other's pain and pleasure. Jake got a kick out of it, Matt did not. As soon as he could Matt left for New York to create physical distance from Jake because this was the only way to break the connection, so he thought.
One night Jake experiences something so terrifying and painful that the miles mean nothing and thousands of miles away in a greasy diner Matt collapses in terror and pain...and the knowledge that his brother Jake was just killed. This experience is nothing compared to what awaits back in Nebraska. Though one twin is dead, the connection appears to be as strong as ever and worse yet, Matt vicariously experiences Hell.
Someone hated Jake enough to murder him. Matt must figure out who the killer is in hopes that the killer will forgive Jake and that the forgiveness will free Jake from eternal torture.
"Our Trespasses" is a well told tale that touches on the supernatural, possession, family and the importance of keeping that family connection by being yourself, being real and talking to each other. The Devil himself makes an appearance...a moment between Matt and a hypnotherapist is especially chilling, using nothing more than words. Yes, I would recommend #OutTrespasses #netgalley

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Regardless of whether you have a sibling or not, most believe that there is a connection between parent and child or siblings. However, that bond is said never to be stronger than between two sets of twins.

This unique paranormal thriller takes that bond, throws in a murder, a psychic twist delivering a breath-holding page-turner that you won't want to put down.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the first couple of chapters are slower than the rest of the book; however, don't let that put you off - it's simply setting the groundwork. Persevere, you won't be disappointed.

This read was my first read by author Michael Cordell and certainly won't be the last.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher TCK Publishing for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I love a good Paranormal thriller and this didn't disappoint.

Our poor hero is sent back home to bury his brother, his twin. Home that he's been avoiding and apparently for good cause.....Nothing like going home to find that everything isn't the same and your brother isn't the same person.

Loved the connections that were remaded and also solving the mystery of who wanted the brother dead. Grudges galore in a small town! 😳 And of course the infection of crows and sinister whispers of the Paranormal.

However our Paranormal turns out to be more religious in nature and the religion aspect kinda takes over a little and we lose some of the thrill that's suppose to be the thriller part in the end.

Do you read ebooks from Netgalley? Have you found a new treasure on there? Tell me about it in the comments! (Not that I really need to be adding more to my tbr 🤦‍♀️🤣)

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