Book Review: A Human Element by Donna Galanti

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Donna will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the banner above to see the other stops in her tour and read more excerpts from this book.

One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next. Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite–her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a mad man, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together. But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test. With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his and she has two choices–redeem him or kill him.

Read an excerpt:

She shuddered in the cold and looked up, before heading inside. Somewhere her twin raced toward them.

"Look." She pointed up. "A full moon."

"Nearly. There is a tiny rim missing. Tomorrow night will be the full moon."

"A night when the crazies come out."

Ben reached for her and hugged her in the dark and cold. They gazed at the moon overhead as it moved through the bending trees. Laura wanted to capture the moment, hold it in time. Here Ben could hold her under the moon and she could feel all was right with the world. They would be together always. She sensed him thinking of another night here a long ago. A night when he stood in these woods as a boy and watched a green light descend from the sky. The night his parents died. The night Laura was made. And now she was here with him.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" Laura whispered and leaned into him. He buried his head in her neck and kissed her warm skin.

"Yes, just like you are."

"Do you still want me?" Her voice cracked, with need and emotion.

"What do mean?"

"I'm not all . . . you know . . . real." She hid her face in his arm holding her. She wanted one more night with Ben. A night to forget she wasn't all human. Then she could say goodbye. But just let me have one more night.

"You are real. You're the most human person I've ever known."

Read the review:

A Human Element is Donna Galanti's debut novel and is written in a Koontz-like style--an ensemble piece with characters who are being drawn together by forces they can't control. Ben, Laura, the man in black, and Laura's twin are woven together in a tapestry that was started one night in 1979.

I liked the secondary character of Jim and wished there had been more interaction between him and Laura. The relationships between all the characters, except the one between Ben and Laura, could have been developed more fully to allow us to really get to know them. Reading the book was more like watching a movie to me.

For an interesting take on an old theme, A Human Element is a good way to spend an evening.

About the Author:

Donna Galanti is the author of the paranormal suspense novel A HUMAN ELEMENT (Echelon Press). Donna has a B.A. in English and a background in marketing. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Horror Writers Association, The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, and Pennwriters. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in PA with lots of nooks, fireplaces, and stinkbugs but sadly, no ghosts.

Find Donna online at

http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/
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Blog: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/