Young Adult /
Paranormal / Steampunk
Date Published:
February 2012
When she was young Chloe’s mother vanished. Wracked by feelings of abandonment and anger she lost herself traveling with her fathers magic act, where illusions were part of her everyday life. Yet everything changes when they are pursued by a mysterious man in black out to kill her father. Touching a doorknob activates abilities she never knew she had and she finds herself thrust into a world of ancient societies and secrets.
When her father disappears it is a race against time to find answers before she loses whats left of her family. Now Chloe must choose who to trust, the man who will do anything for her or the one she can’t stop thinking about.
Book one of the Doorknob Society Saga.
My thoughts:
Rating: 4/5
When I read the first few chapters of The Doorknob Society, I thought it was going to be just another Harry Potter-ish story. Now, having read the whole book, I can tell you, I was wrong. There may be similarities in the concept, but regarding the execution, The Doorknob Society is absolutely and utterly unique.
When I read the first few chapters of The Doorknob Society, I thought it was going to be just another Harry Potter-ish story. Now, having read the whole book, I can tell you, I was wrong. There may be similarities in the concept, but regarding the execution, The Doorknob Society is absolutely and utterly unique.
I enjoyed every minute of the adventure this
book invited me to take part in. The Doorknob Society has everything a reader
would need: people with special powers, fantastical creatures, beautiful,
hidden and eerie places to discover, friendship, love and betrayal. It’s very
likely Paladin Academy will make your list of fictional schools you’d like to
attend, would you have the chance.
Among many other things I adored the names of
the groups at the Academy, how the characters travelled between places (it
reminded me a tiny bit of Seeker where they also used another dimension to get
from A to B), the libraries and special librarians and the various kinds of
powers the characters possessed.
The Doorknob Society was the very first
steampunk book I've read. I loved the Impossible Engineers and their gadgets;
my favourite was a little locket that Slade gave to the MC, Chloe – I won’t
tell you how it worked or what it did, you’ll have to find it out for yourself,
but it was so sweet and amazing at the same time.
Basically, it was the world that gripped me the
most. I don’t have much to complain about the characters either; Chloe was a
competent heroine – though a bit annoying for me sometimes –, and Nightshade…
James Nightshade would be a perfect book boyfriend for anyone, ladies and
gentlemen. I also liked Edgar in the role of the loyal friend and Mr. Jordan,
the awkward baddie.
What I didn’t like about the book had nothing
to do with the story: the text contained many misspellings and was full of
incorrect grammatical forms. These can easily put the reader off, no matter how
good the story is, therefore I would meekly suggest the writer to consult with
an editor in order to correct the mistakes.
But, since the story and world-building is truly
wonderful, I gave The Doorknob Society four stars.
Excerpt:
We stood outside the arched wooden door while Jess texted Nightshade that we were there. The cold night air was starting to take a toll and I wrapped my arms around myself rubbing my sides to keep warm. Slade stepped behind me, placed his hands on the sides of my arms and ran them up and down warming me up until I wanted to melt against him.
We stood outside the arched wooden door while Jess texted Nightshade that we were there. The cold night air was starting to take a toll and I wrapped my arms around myself rubbing my sides to keep warm. Slade stepped behind me, placed his hands on the sides of my arms and ran them up and down warming me up until I wanted to melt against him.
The door creaked opened,
Nightshade stood framed in the archway. He wore jeans with his ever present
skeleton key belt buckle. He was shirtless; his chest was not as thick as
Slade’s though well-defined with a natural cut of muscles and with a patch of
hair running across it. He lifted his hand sliding it through his messed hair.
He glanced lazily around to each of us until he rested on me —or more
precisely— Slade’s hands on me and then he shifted his attention to my face and
I could have sworn I saw annoyance in his eyes.
“Jess, you didn’t tell me you
were bringing Paladin’s cutest couple.” He laughed and stepped aside waving us
in.
Slade’s hands tensed on my arms
and I grabbed one squeezing it gently and held on to it.
“Sorry, Jimmy.” Jess smiled and
stood next to Nightshade after entering
“No problem, beautiful,” he said.
His fingers slid across her cheek and she blushed.
He swung the door closed after
Edgar, the last one to enter. We followed him up the stairs to a large open
room that contained a couple of couches, a small kitchen tucked off to one
side, and a breakfast bar and two stools protruding at the end.
“We need some help, Jimmy,” Jess
said as he walked to the fridge, pulled it open and pulled out a can of soda.
He turned and flipped it in the air toward Eddie who caught it and smiled.
“Thanks, Nightshade.” Eddie
popped the top and drank.
“Anyone else? Lovebirds, I could
give you two straws.”
“That’s it, Nightshade, one more
comment…” Slade headed for him his hand pulled back in a massive fist.
Nightshade laughed and leaned
against the kitchen counter and smirked. “Anytime you want to try Slade you go
right ahead.”
His mocking grin made my blood
boil. “This was a mistake.”
“What’s a mistake?” Nightshade
asked.
As much as I wanted to leave, I
needed Nightshade’s help. I grabbed my phone, clicked the photo of the list of
names and slid it across the breakfast bar to him. He picked it up and looked
over the list.
“Okay so?”
“The SKG member on the list do
you know him?” I stared into his strange colored eyes and waited for an answer,
hoping and praying it wouldn’t be some lie to further his own ends.
“I recognize the name.”
“Can you help us find him?” I
asked.
“No,” he said not even giving it
thought.
“What? Why not?” My frustration
leapt but I caught it before it reached my tongue and I spit words at him that
I’d regret since I desperately needed his help.
“Jess.” He turned away from me to
her. ‘What’s going on? Why are you helping non-guilders?”
“They took… Gran.” As soon as
Jess mentioned Gran her control slipped. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she
started to tremble.
I moved to comfort her but
Nightshade was there before me. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her
against him. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed. He pressed his cheek
against hers whispering something in her ear that I couldn’t make out. He
stroked her hair as he did, and I watched in amazement at how caring and loving
he could be when I had known only his sardonic side.
Nightshade looked directly at me.
“Give us a minute.” He then took Jess
and they walked out of the room and I heard a door close down the hallway.
“What was that all about?” Slade
asked.
“She’s upset. It’s been a rough
night,” I said as I slid down on the couch beside Edgar.
“I guess,” Slade said as he sat
on the opposite couch. “Though I doubt it hurts that Nightshade’s half naked.”
He laughed.
“What are you talking about?” I
snapped annoyed at what his humor suggested.
“Didn’t you see the way she
looked at him? I think Jess was angling for more than some comfort.” Slade
winked.
“She’s just upset.” I got even
more annoyed when Slade raised his hands in mock defeat. I didn’t like what he
was implying. We’d been through a lot and I doubted Jess was thinking about
getting James alone. And it’s not like Nightshade would fall for that anyway,
his conniving nature would see right through it.
Time seemed to slow down as we
waited. Eddie rested his head back on the couch and was asleep within minutes.
Slade was next stretching out on the other couch and drifting off to sleep. I
sat alone with my thoughts, growing ever more frustrated that Jess and
Nightshade had disappeared on us. I mean seriously, people, we’re running for
our lives and she goes off with some guy and why? Because he’s hot with his
shirt off?
After an hour I heard the click
of a door and approaching footsteps. Nightshade entered still shirtless, his
hair messier than before if that was possible. He looked around the room at the
others sleeping and waved his hand for me to follow him. I got up quietly
trying not to wake Eddie, who snored and rolled over on his side into a ball on
the couch.
We left the room and at the end
of the hall he touched a skeleton key on the wall and it fell away revealing a
spiral staircase. James headed down; I took a deep breath and followed.
The staircase ended in a massive
room filled with various makes and models of cars while several images of
skeleton keys hung on the walls. In the middle of the room sat an old-fashioned
car. It was deep blue and had red flames on the hood. James was standing by a
workbench and grabbed a t-shirt off it and slid it on.
“What’s all this?”
“My garage, it’s quiet down here.
We can talk and your friends can rest.”
“Talk about what?” I asked
leaning up against the old-fashioned car. Nightshade stepped toward me, reached
out and took hold of my arm. I looked down at his hand and back at him, and
then he pulled me forward. My breath caught and I didn’t move.
“That’s a classic Hudson Hornet,
please don’t lean on it.”
I pushed his hand off me and
stepped away. Men and their stupid cars. “Whatever,
are you going to help us or not?”
“Jess, told me what’s going on.
It seems pretty serious and it’s a damn bold plan, I give you credit for that.”
He grinned.
“But?” I knew something was
coming, though I didn’t know what.
“I don’t know if I’m willing to
stick my neck out for the lot of you.”
“Jess is your friend and so is
Edgar?” I reminded, trying the guilt tactic, hoping it might convince him.
“But I can’t stand Slade, and
then there’s you.” His half smile taunted me.
“I know you can’t stand me
either, I get it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious.”
“I hadn’t realized. I should work
on controlling my emotions better.”
“Sorry, I’m not a shrinking
violet like my cousin. I didn’t come here to weep on your naked chest. I came
here because I need help and you’re the only one I could turn too. If I
couldn’t work up tears for my lost father or injured grandmother, I doubt I can
do it for you. Okay, I’m broken, and you can’t stand me. I get it, alright!” I
took a deep breath angry at myself for letting him get under my skin again.
He stared at me with those damn
intense eyes. He didn’t say anything just stared, making me feel uncomfortable
and stupid. Why do I always seem not to be able to shut up around him?
“Quit staring at me and say
something.”
“I’ll help you on one condition.”
He didn’t smile or smirk and he didn’t stop staring. It was as though he stared
straight inside me and that made me more nervous than if he had worn one of his
evil grins.
“Which is?”
“You and I have to go see him
alone.”
“Alone?”
“He isn’t going to talk to a
bunch of people from the different societies. He knows me and he doesn’t really
like anyone other than Guilders. It will be safer that way.”
“Jess is a Guilder?” I questioned
unsure of going alone with him.
“You and I that’s the deal take
it or leave it.”
What choice did I have and so I
wouldn’t debate my decision I quickly said. “Fine we go alone.”
He nodded. “You’d better get some
sleep. We’ll head there tomorrow.”
I didn’t bother to ask him where,
he wouldn’t tell me anyway. I followed
him up the stairs and part way down the hallway he stopped, opened a door,
entered and waved me in.
“I’ll stay with the guys,” I
stammered, though I entered the room.
“I don’t think so, they each have
a couch. Take the bed; you’ll have it all to yourself.”
“Oh,” Did I really think he’d
been inviting me to sleep with him? “Okay thanks.”
“I’ll be in by Jess.”
He turned and left through
another door closing it behind him. I was glad he didn’t look back and see me
flush red at his comment. I wanted to slam the door that opened onto the hall
shut but didn’t want to wake the guys so I shut it quietly and turned into the
room. I threw myself on the bed and took my frustration out on the pillows
punching them several times. So what if James Nightshade and my cousin spent
the night together… let them. They
deserved each other, they only thought about themselves anyway.
I pulled my hoodie off and slid
it into my bag .My hand connected with a small metal object. I took the locket
out and turned it over in my hand. When this was all over I was going to need
to figure out what it was that I deserved.
About the Author:
MJ Fletcher
MJ Fletcher is the creator of the comic
book series Adam Zero: The Last Man of Earth published by Ronin
Studios. He’s also been published in Hope: The Hero Initiative and Digital
Webbing Presents. The Doorknob Society was his first book series
and still among his favorites. His other works include The Grimm
Chronicles series and numerous novellas and short stories. He lives near
the beach with his wife, daughter, and an insane dog.
Website: http://www.thedoorknobsociety.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/doorknobsociety
Twitter: fletch125
Instagram:
mjfletcherwriter
Buy Links
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-doorknob-society-mj-fletcher/1108800492?ean=2940046236606&itm=1&usri=2940046236606
