Thursday 20 April 2017

#bookreview ~ Billabong Ghost (The Stolen Years Book 2) #histfic

Billabong Ghost

(The Stolen Years #2)

By

Ryn Shell



A lonely and neglected boy creates an imaginary friend-protector not knowing she is a spirit seeking his help to avenge her death.

Another gripping instalment of The Stolen Years Series of historical Australian rural-lit novels by Ryn Shell. Integrated into To Kill for a Ghost is the story of the heroes on the SS Admella shipwreck.


What did I think of the Book?

The past is about to pay a visit to the settlers of Fife Springs, Queensland.

With the most articulate prose, Ryn Shell traverses time as she weaves a story about a neglected seven year-old-boy and what he thinks is his imaginary friend — his protector. But Charlotte is a restless spirit determined to have 'payback' on those who stole her life at the tender age of sixteen.

Billabong Ghost is an incredibly moving, and sometimes disturbing, tale of how a young woman was manipulated by those who were around her and how her death had far reaching consequences across the generations. 

There is a lot of time shifts in this book, going from once century to the next, but woven together it made the most compelling read. The writing is elegant — there is no doubt about it, Shell is an incredible storyteller.

I have read several books in The Stolen Years series and each time I am just blown away by the attention to detail. Shell knows how to set a scene and how to hook her readers. Fabulous.

If you are are looking for a series to get your teeth into, then I Highly Recommend The Stolen Years. This series has a little bit everything, history, romance, hatred, revenge, and a heavy dose of the paranormal thrown in. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

I Highly Recommend.


Links for Purchase

About the author



From one of Australia's finest storytellers comes historical fiction stories of crime, betrayal, mystery and love.

​With family connections to the Pallawa Aboriginal Tasmanians and Australia's first European settlers, septuagenarian Ryn writes with the cultural understanding and experience of an elder who has listened to the oral histories of people closely connected to country in Australia and the Pacific.

While Ryn writes about resilience and love, don't expect sweet romance. Her focus is on the coming-of-age adventure, and of course, history. She even challenges NASA's version of the supposedly "safe return" of Skylab.

During her career as a fine artist, Ryn spent decades researching and verifying the historical background to the books she would write. In 2010, Ryn set aside a fifty-year successful art career to write full-time. It is Ryn's family's hope that a more factual history of the land might emerge from the recorded inaccuracies concerning the colonial invasion of Australia and many Pacific Islands.

For the latter part of 2016, Ryn is taking a sabbatical from historical fiction novel writing, to assist fellow authors and bloggers with marketing, and to study and merge her existing traditional fine art skill with the latest graphic design know-how and tools.

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