Hey, Curious One! Dale Mayer has quickly become one of my new favorite paranormal/suspense authors! Her writing style is almost perfect and drew me in immediately with Tuesday’s Child! Today I’m writing about a book I just finished. It was originally published in 2011 and the series has grown to at least 16 novels. I deeply enjoy a series that is comprised of standalone novels which are all elegantly connected. I haven’t read the other books yet, but I hope they are as good as her first novel in the series!
The novel grips you from the first page. It begins with the main protagonist Samantha Blair. She is being held down by “phantom restraints” as it is revealed that this is not the first time it has happened to her.
If you’d like to help support Time for a Book, please visit The Library!
The first page pulls you in fast and deep and doesn’t let you go! As you continue you get the basic information delivered in a beautiful and unique way. She is a young woman who has psychic visions. Her visions also manifest physically and she connects to violence – mostly murder. She feels and sees and manifests exactly what the victims are going through. To me, this is otherworldly.
I have been through my own past once. I cannot imagine going through other people’s death’s again and again and again. It would be a really hard life.
That sentiment alone makes me hope this character pulls through and gets her happier ending. No one should have to live through that much pain and torment and fear every night.
As Sam wakes and coaxes her body through the transformation of healing itself, you get the sense that she is used to this, no matter how much it hurts and takes time, she has tried to accept this as her new normal. It’s pretty heartbreaking, honestly.
The Ever Skeptical Detective Appears in Tuesday’s Child…
Sam then goes to the police department and while handling the disbelief and ridicule of the detective, she runs into a visiting detective named Brand Sutherland. Brandt is there ‘visiting’ from his department as he tracks a serial killer who changes his methods. He figures out who and what Sam is and goes to ask her more detailed questions. He has worked with a renowned psychic before (named Stephan). Though he doesn’t fully believe her initially, he does witness what she goes through and his life changes because of it.
Anyways, you are now introduced to the main two protagonists – Sam and Brandt. Throughout the book the antagonist is never fully revealed until the very end. He remains faceless and frightening the entire novel by wearing masks and gloves and killing not only his special chosen victims, but also the people who piss him off or get in his way. It is implied that the killer has been doing this for years, possibly decades even.
I loved where Sam lives. It is honestly a paradise I, myself, would love to call home. She lives in Oregon in a town on the outskirts of the big city. It’s a small, modest house overlooking a private lake that is complete with a bumpy driveway and a dock off to the side. I could picture it perfectly in my mind. It was absolutely breathtaking.
Tuesday’s Child continues along with Sam and Brandt as they navigate their feelings, her psychic abilities, and the fear provided by the killer she is connecting to.
Tuesdya’s Child Cons
On occasion I was left with a “huh…” reaction. Sometimes a plot line was left hanging, but they weren’t big enough to distract me from the main story. For example, Brandt had expressed his discomfort at marrying someone because of the dedication to his job, followed by the discomfort of possibly not accepting Sam because of her abilities. He discussed for a paragraph or two his concerns with Stephan, but that was all.
I would have maybe enjoyed a bit more information to guide me into the deeper feelings of the characters. You got a lot of back story that could give you direction, yet you were left wanting the meatier emotions that the characters actually felt due to their pasts. However, like I said, it wasn’t enough to fully take me away from the powerful statement of this book.
I honestly did really enjoy this book. It was an easy read in regards to following the storyline and the characters were definitely likeable. Even the two dogs involved were amazing characters. I felt that towards the end it wrapped up a bit too fast. Maybe two chapters were involved in the conclusion? Within one chapter, you were introduced to the killer as he got inside Sam’s home and began attacking her in the same manner he did his previous victims. He also tried killing both dogs, Sam, Brandt, her bodyguard, and was close to getting away with it.
It was an intense ending and I did agree that the set-up of Tuesday’s Child helped boil it over until you couldn’t put it down until the last word was read. I personally may have like a bit more of the evilness that the killer was there for. He had a handful of paragraphs, but I wanted more of a connection before you are told why he was the way he was in the quick one chapter epilogue at the end.
How Much Realism In a Fictional World Is Acceptable?
I was discussing the method of her psychic visions to a friend of mine and they didn’t like it at all. The manner of her visions was to literally manifest the knife wounds on her own body that the killer carved into his victims. I found this concept refreshing and darker than most psychic stories and loved it from the start. However, it was said that they felt it was too abnormal…that it couldn’t possibly be a real thing that could happen because the blood loss and the healing would kill them instantly, just like the victim.
I actually beg to differ. The blood loss would be significant, sure, but the book itself helped explain it. The blood that still touched her skin or clothes was mostly soaked back into her body. Her body also re-stitched itself back together, taking up to 30 minutes at times before she was able to move her body without inducing a pain that would cause her to pass out.
Also, I have to add here, where do you draw the line on what is believable and what isn’t when it comes to psychic abilities? Someone can read minds and move objects and influence emotions while awake, but someone can’t exhibit the cuts and broken bones of a person they have connected to during sleep?
It honestly makes more sense to me. While we sleep, our bodies naturally heal faster. Not to mention dreams. Who is to say that dreaming isn’t a fractured connection to someone else’s thread? I know my dreams are more often nightmares or fragments of my memories that have been skewed by heightened emotion or fear… Where would you draw the line in belief or non-belief?
Tuesday’s Child Final Thoughts
I will keep this Curiosity of mine shorter because I want to search out the next book in this series, but I have to say I would definitely suggest this book to someone looking for a new author and a big, collective series to begin immersing themselves into. I really enjoyed Dale Mayer’s world of Psychic Visions. Even if I don’t read book number two next, I will definitely be reading it further down the road. Check it out if you are even remotely curious about the plot or enjoy an older YA Paranormal Romance Fiction book.
If you would like to purchase Tuesday’s Child, please visit The Library. There, you can see all of the Curiosities written for Time for a Book. Purchasing through any of the links to Amazon will help support Time for a Book!
You can also see other Suspense / Thrillers discussed on Time for a Book! Any purchases through the page will support Time for a Book as well through the Amazon’s Associates Program!
You can support Time for a Book by visiting The Library! Every book discussed on the site will have links to purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Those will help keep the site up and running. Thanks!
You can like us on Facebook, follow on Twitter, or follow on Instagram as well!
You can follow @DaleMayer on Twitter or visit her website – https://dalemayer.com/
Until we meet again, Curious One, keep on reading. For me, it’s time for another book…
