Also by this author: Broker of Lies, Fatal Domain, Fatal Domain
Published by Sky Turtle Nova on October 29, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Mystery, Suspense, Young Adult
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Some doors were never meant to be opened. Some tales were never meant to be set free. When seventeen-year-old Sahara O’Saughnessy discovers a rift into the realm of lore, the most haunting stories she’s been telling her friends come to life, and she must find a way to stop them before they tear her world apart. RIFT explores loss, longing, and courage with spine-chilling suspense. Set within the Appalachian Mountains, it walks the boundaries between the known and the unknown.
Sahara O’Saughnessy’s life is in shambles. Her father is dead and she’s the one responsible. Not directly, not directly enough. And the way they left things, the final things she said to him, the things that led to the crash that led to his death. Yeah. There’s no going back and undoing all of that. Her grief is heavy and her only solace is the library where she begins working part-time, enveloped in the world of story.
The early part of Rift is slow and steady worldbuilding. James builds a haunting Gothic atmosphere around this sleepy Appalachian town, interweaving local folklore with timeless creepy stories. We learn along with Sahara about the world she’s living in, orienting us and her to all that is to come. We learn about her relationships, her affinity for storytelling, and also doesn’t it seem like there’s something weird in the library basement? Doesn’t it seem like there’s just something a bit off somewhere? And that maybe it’s connected to Sahara? Maybe it’s connected to her family?
If you’re familiar with Steven James, then you’re undoubtedly familiar with the Patrick Bowers series. It’s the series that put James on the map for Christian fiction—earning him four Christy Awards and a spot in the Hall of Fame. One of my favorite characters in that series is Tessa, Patrick’s smart, sarcastic step-daughter. Rift reads like something Tessa would write: dark, hauntingly atmospheric, steeped in the paranormal, and full of dark side of faerie. It’s an intense page-turner that also manages an intense but slow burn. Every page is a revelation but nothing is given away too easily or too quickly. It all leads to one of the more stunning endings I’ve ever read in Christian YA literature—right up there with Travis Thrasher’s Solitary.
Rift is a literary tour-de-force, showing Steven James’s range and literary sharpness. It’s one of those novels that you could study a few weeks in a high school literature class. Rift is a love letter to the art of storytelling and folklore. It’s absolutely perfect. One of the few novels I immediately began to read again as soon as I’d closed the last page—both to experience the story again and catch all the things I’d missed the first time around.