Veil Haven - by Anne M Kelley (Paperback)

About the Book

Omniscient in a town where everyone has powers and cryptids roam the streets, Ash must unearth deadly secrets after her friend dies or else a new evil will change their town forever.

Book Synopsis

In a town where cryptids roam the streets, ancient gods hover just out of sight, and everyone has powers, seventeen-year-old Ash has the ability to see everything happening in the present. When she isn't hanging out with her friends or attending football games, she's helping protect Veil Haven with her omniscience.

Until her powers fail and her best friend dies.

When everyone she trusts lies to her about the tragedy, Ash begins pulling the threads that hold Veil Haven together in hopes of discovering the truth. But in a place where knowledge is more dangerous than the cryptids stalking her, will the secrets Ash unearths be enough to save her friends?

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The first book in the series, Veil Haven is a thrilling mystery of the paranormal urban fantasy genre, intended for young adult readers. With horror elements, monsters, ghosts, drama, and comedy, you'll be delighted by the twists you can't see coming in this harrowing adventure. Veil Haven has a diverse cast and LGBTQ+ characters. The Appalachian Mountains are the inspiration for the setting of Veil Haven.

Ash was raised by oppressive government leaders in a small town surrounded by the Void where nothing changes. In this close-knit community, Ash is an outsider because of her ties with The Watchers, the secret military organization that controls their town from the shadows. Ash's omniscient superpower allows her to act like the narrator of her home, witnessing events all over town simultaneously. When a new family moves to town, Ash is shocked, not only because the government never allows anything to change but also because she didn't witness the event-something that shouldn't be possible because of her power.

Befriending the new kid is simple enough, but Ash can't ignore the gut feeling that something is wrong about his family. Then, everything changes when her best friend is found dead without her witnessing what happened. Sent spiraling to a place between grief and rage, Ash decides to team up with her found family in order to learn what really happened to their friend.

Meanwhile, the ancient god of the woods is calling out to Ash. The cryptid god, known as the Forest Eye, helped Ash control her ability when she was young, but after a terrible fight, Ash left the woods and vowed never to speak to the deity again. Until the Forest Eye starts teasing information about her friend's death and the arrival of the new family.

Even though Ash was told she can see everything, it seems as though everyone else suddenly knows more than her, and it's driving her to the edge.

Between cryptids, ghosts, cults, and mysteries, Ash and her friends uncover dangerous truths about their now-changing town. But do the ends justify the means? Will Ash be able to stomach the consequences of her actions? And will she be able to save her friends and her town before it's too late?

Ash is more than just a teenager or a kid, despite what her parental figures tell her. She was raised to protect her small mountain town, her superpower makes her act as the narrator, but between panic attacks, migraines, and her unspoken ADHD, our female protagonist has met her match with this harrowing adventure and daring paranormal mystery.