The Hospital: Part One: Rude Awakenings

Sean P. McCracken
PublishAmerica (2006)
ISBN 1424127564
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (4/07)

Weston State Hospital, formerly known as the Trans-Allegheny Asylum for the Insane, in Weston, West Virginia is the setting for “The Hospital: Part One: Rude Awakenings.” Sean P. McCracken has created a compelling novel using historical fiction, mystery, and adventure, in this expertly crafted novel of ghost hunters and strange paranormal events.

The story is about Dr. Emily Flesher. She was born and raised in Weston, West Virginia.  As a child Emily determined that she would one day work at the Weston State Hospital as a professional caregiver. After graduation in 1992, she was hired by the hospital as a psychiatric nurse. Legends and stories surround the aging hospital right up until it closed in 1994.  Emily repressed the trauma of unexplained events surrounding strange incidents and mystifying secrets hidden in the passages and underground rooms of the hospital.

Strange events begin to happen again in 2002 when a potential buyer tours the hospital.  Former staff member mysteriously begin to die. Emily becomes involved in an effort to uncover information to shed light on the deaths and rumors regarding paranormal activities of the past. To ensure her safety, Emily is abducted and secretly taken away to Canada by members of an organization dedicated solely to the investigation of paranormal activity. Soon Emily finds herself in a battle fighting with ghosts and spirits while at the same time fighting the demons of her past.

Sean uses dialogue to introduce the concepts and phenomena of paranormal activities in “The Hospital: Part One: Rude Awakenings.”   Although I, personally, had difficulty identifying with his characters, I enjoyed the complex plot which was filled with suspense, uncertainty, suspicion, and conflict. As in any fiction of this nature there are times when you must let your own imagination take over to make the narrative credible.  McCracken has skillfully written this multifaceted novel and draws the reader in from the first chapter to the dramatic climax.  I am eager to read “The Hospital: Part 2: On the Inside.”

Make comment on weblog