Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

Ghosts of Mateguas: A Mateguas Island Novel is a supernatural suspense novel written by Linda Watkins. Dex Pierce and his wife, Karen, are getting ready to move back to Mateguas Island for the summer, along with their one-year-old son, Alex. Karen would really rather stay in Monterey, California; however, Dex’s business interests are a major reason for their travel plans. Both Karen and Dex are worried about the fact that Karen’s ex-husband, Bill, is living on the island. Bill is still suffering from the ordeal he endured when he was knocked unconscious and left for dead on uninhabited Puffin Island and his later stay as an amnesiac in a mental hospital. He’s obsessed with getting Karen to return to him and will stop at nothing to do so. Bill’s never gotten over her leaving him, and the intensity of his emotions makes Dex nervous and suspicious of any interactions between his wife and her ex. Karen has other reasons to stay away from the rustic and beautiful island off the coast of Maine. There are powerful supernatural forces residing on Mateguas Island, and the strange golden flecks in her infant son’s eyes have her wondering if he is The Blessed Boy.

Linda Watkins’ supernatural suspense novel, Ghosts of Mateguas: A Mateguas Island Novel, is dark, fast-paced and intense. This is the third book in Watkins’ Mateguas Island series, and, while it can be read on its own, I strongly recommend that the reader begin with the first book in the series, Mateguas Island, to get the full impact of this powerful series. I enjoyed seeing how the author builds on her earlier works and keeps the energy and dread building. Karen continues to be a plausible main character whom the reader can’t help but empathize with as she battles some extraordinary and terrifying dark forces, and tries to contend with her obsessed ex-husband and his unscrupulous reporter girlfriend who are each determined to assassinate Dex’s character. There’s a marvelous Native American influence at work throughout the story, as well as appearances by a local healer and midwife. I had a grand time reading Ghosts of Mateguas and hope the author decides to write a fourth book in this terrifying and suspenseful series. It’s most highly recommended.

Completed on:	02/26/2016
Review Rating:	5 stars!
Reviewed By J. Aislynn d’Merricksson for Readers’ FavoriteLinda Watkins’ Ghosts of Mateguas is the third in the Mateguas Island series. While the stories are connected, they can be read as stand-alones. Later books provide sufficient back information so a new reader won’t feel lost. This story heralds a return to the infamous Mateguas Island for Dexter Pierce, and for the shattered remnants of the Andersen family. Karen Andersen, now Karen Pierce, returns to the island for the summer, accompanied by her infant son and her husband, Dex. Her daughter, Terri, has also returned to the island to spend the summer with her beau, Shawn, and get hands-on experience with the fishing industry. Bill Andersen, Karen’s ex-husband once presumed dead, had returned earlier, purchasing a home and renovating it. Each of these people has returned to the island they once called home for varying reasons. And each has secrets that weigh down the heart. Secrets that will tear them apart. Secrets that have left a few of them just a little off their heads. All of these events form a confluence that sets into motion a waking darkness on the island older than time itself. For much of this story, I was left wondering if the supernatural and preternatural occurrences were actual physical events, or were purely in the minds of the participants. To a degree, I found it to be both. A shuttered mind is unlikely to see that which it cannot comprehend, and an open mind can sometimes be too fertile. I found Ghosts of Mateguas to be a quick-paced psychological thriller/horror story. The various stories that made up the tapestry of the whole were equally engaging, and kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy books similar to Stephen King and Dean Koontz, be sure to check out the Mateguas Island books!   GHOSTS OF MATEGUAS will be published in eBook format on March 15, 2016. It is currently on preorder at Amazon, Nook, Kobo and iBooks! Check out the excerpt below.