Book Review: Reunion by Jeff Bennington

Book Title:  Reunion
Author:  Jeff Bennington
Genre:  Paranormal Thriller


This was a captivating read.  At time I found the rhythm slowed down, but because there were sub-plots involved, we are taken back and forth through situations that I can only assume are happening at the same time.

The author starts his book with David Ray, an 18 year old high school senior of a small town, giving us an ongoing monolog of how he feels.  Going through some of the circumstances he's had to live through and why he's made the decisions he's made in his life, thus far.

We are then taken to our next characters, building fondness for some and dislike for others, while the high school seniors discuss their impending graduation, Valedictorian announcement and end of year awards ceremony.

We see all the little "cliques" that most schools usually have from the "preppies" to the "jocks", the "nerds"...  all the typical groups you'd expect at any average high school.We are then privy to a very violent, heart wrenching scenario.

We then get transported to the planning of the title of the book, Reunion.  They're planning a 20th class reunion, but the paranormal after thoughts of tragedy gone by have plans for them.

At times the characters (2 of them) show signs of having some psychic abilities.  Each character has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and this also plays heavily into the story being told.

This survivors story laced with the paranormal is believable to a point until the end, when a character from the beginning appears virtually from nowhere, and he come off rather preachy in spirituality and psychiatry.

The epilogue of each character was nice, but lacked a lot for a couple of the characters, almost like the author couldn't think of anything that sounded appropriate for them.

All in all I found this book fun to read, interesting, tragic and for the most part believable, which is difficult for some paranormal books to pull off.

3 out of 5 Bookmarks