Synopsis
"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love."--Thornton Wilder Anyone who uses a computer is vulnerable to cyber-attack through a cell phone, Facebook page, e-mail account, or even files that might be accessed by a remote system while connected to the Internet. But who thinks it will happen to them? Paige Campbell had never considered that she had anything to worry about until she got the first crank call. By the time her Facebook page is hacked and one of her files changed so that she is suspended from college and accused of plagiarism, she's beginning to believe that someone--or something--is out to get her. Not a person or corporation, though, because it seems able to do things that are possible only for a magician . . . or a ghost. Can there actually be a "ghost in the machine"? Alan McConnell doesn't believe in ghosts and thinks it's outlandish to claim that his prototypical AI test system (for writing advertising jingles) has become the portal by which a ghost (or at least a paranormal entity, perhaps a demon, which he also doesn't believe in) has entered our material plane. But after his system does several strange things and can't be turned off, he concludes that there is something behind this "haunting" complained about by his client Paige Campbell. Although he can't see how it's the spirit of someone spurned by Jenny Lind (the Swedish Nightingale of the P. T. Barnum era) who insists Paige is actually Jenny and who has come back for her to "remove the curse," he determines to help her. They run headlong into the murk of a paranormal entity (a ghost, even though he's not a believer) that has mistaken Paige for someone else but is determined to haunt her until she “undoes” the curse it believes she has set on it and declares her love. Paige and Alan's mutual attraction proves to be an inconvenience they can't ignore. But before they can do anything else, they must break the hold that the entity has gained over them without resorting to doing something evil themselves--thereby becoming as wicked as the entity.
About the Author
Denise Weeks is a graduate of Plano Senior High (Tx) and Southern Methodist University, where she studied creative writing at the graduate level with Dr. Marshall Terry, among others. She has worked as a software engineer, technical writer, and mathematics teacher. She is also an accomplished amateur pianist and an avid trivia player. She and her husband live in a northern suburb of Dallas with their pets, including a yappy Pomeranian and Denise's elderly mother. She counts among her accomplishments: being one of eight finalists in the 2008 Scotch Brand Most Gifted (Gift) Wrapper contest at Rockefeller Center in NYC; ranking 2nd and 4th with essays in the Robert Benchley Essay Contest; making the finals of the Dallas News Christmas Cookie Baking contest most years; and playing three out of the six Schubert Moments Musical. "My books are for readers who are kindred spirits. I prefer a book to a film just about any day. If you're the same way, I invite you to sample my work," she writes. Are you a fan of fantasy adventure or YA/MG (young adult/middle grade) fantasy? Check out Denise's alter ego, Shalanna Collins, also an Amazon author with an Amazon page. The award-winning Bliss Sisters adventure series by Shalanna Collins kicked off in March 2014. Please visit her blogs: http: //deniseweeks.blogspot.com http: //shalanna.livejournal.com
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