Emily is the host of a paranormal television show. Her mission is to debunk all myths and urban legends. But when she meets Satan in a haunted house and calls him a fraud, the repercussions change her life. Satan kidnaps her six-year-old daughter, and Emily vows vengeance.
For centuries, demons have abducted people and pulled them through wormholes to an alternate universe. The hapless victims are then tortured for the demons' pleasure. Because humans are out of sync with tiem, they cannot die. They must endure the sadistic revelry for eternity.
Emily will do anything to rescue her daughter--even if it means storming the underworld and battling the denizens of hell. But if she does somehow find her little girl, how will they find their way out?
Excerpt
Emily shaded her eyes, trying to make out the creature in the trees. It paused as if to allow her to catch up—and in that moment, she glimpsed its face, pointed and upturned with two long slits for a snout. It appeared she’d found what she’d come to see—the Bat Boy.
“This way, Dan,” she called to her cameraman. “We’re going to lose it.”
Dan Hart panted in answer, running behind her, carrying his equipment. Perspiration mottled his denim shirt. He was a trim middle-aged man, but he was city fit—more used to running on a treadmill in a gym than traipsing the wooded hills of Pennsylvania. She, on the other hand, had grown up in such an area.
She gave him a sympathetic smile before taking off again.
The Bat Boy glided through the trees, seeming to fly. Its dark wings looked fluffy, not leathery.
Emily bounded after it down the root-strewn path. She felt a thrill of anticipation. I’ll catch you, she thought. I’ll find you out.
That’s what was expected of her, after all—Emily Goodman, host of Do You Believe It?, a small budget yet immensely popular cable television program. She was known for her penetrating investigations into urban legends. She’d exposed many hoaxes in the two years she hosted the show. Not all her stories were perpetrated by tricksters, however. Most legends were rooted in fact—their explanations logical rather than supernatural.
Now she was investigating the Bat Boy, an enigma seen only by day and blamed for the deaths of several local cows. Emily thought the creature seemed more at home in the treetops than in a pasture. But the question remained—what was it?
“Over here,” she told Dan. “I think it went— Oh, no. Where did it go?” She spun about, searching the trees.
Dan trotted up behind her. “Gave us the slip?”
“We can’t lose it now. We have no story. Did you get any shots?”
“Are you kidding?” He gasped and held his side.
Emily laughed. “Well, I thought that since you are a cameraman and we are on assignment—”
Dan screwed up his face and gave a tremen-dous sneeze. “Sorry. Must be roses around here.”
“What did you say?”
“Roses. I’m allergic.”
Grinning, she put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face the narrow path. “Okay, bloodhound. Lead me.”
“No way. I run from gardens.”
“Roses don’t usually grow wild in the woods,” she said, “and the Post Office didn’t list a residence out this far, remember?”
“So now our Bat Boy has a green thumb.” Sniffling and rubbing his nose, he left the path.
Emily followed him into the brush. Twigs and dry grass crunched beneath her feet. “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”
Dan sneezed again. “Trust me.”
He stopped, and she bumped into his back. Over his shoulder, she saw a sunny, green yard. It was so flat and precise it looked cut out of the forest.
“Lovely.” She stepped into the clearing.
In reply, Dan sneezed three times straight. His eyes streamed.
She could see why. The yard held thousands of blooms. Roses grew up trellises and cascaded from birdbaths. They lined a winding walkway of garden stones. A whitewashed park bench sat beneath an arch of flowers as if cued for a wedding.
Emily strolled over the lush grass. She noticed a small house just as a woman stormed out a back door brandishing a broomstick. “Get out! This is private property!” The woman stopped dead. “Glory be. Are you Emily Goodman?”
Emily was used to being recognized. She stepped forward. “Yes, I’m Emily. This is my co-worker, Dan Hart. We were following—”
“Sakes alive, I’m all a flutter,” said the woman, fanning her face with stubby fingers. “I never miss a show. When Sheldon told me he saw people in the woods—”
“Sheldon?”
“My son. He don’t cozy to people much. Mostly they throw rocks at him and call him names.”
“Like Bat Boy?”
Professional Reviews
Be Very Wary Next Time You Look in the Mirror
Emily Goodman is a former reporter who now travels the country hosting a reality TV show. Her job is to seek out paranormal activity and expose it for the fraud that it is. Her record for figuring out how-it's-done is perfect until she's sent to investigate Satan's Mirror, a mirror where (rumor has it) one can conjure up the devil. Unbeknownst to the victim (until it's too late) the mirror works both ways. Demons can also reach out and grab the human. It turns out that Hell is not where the wicked go after they die, but rather a resort where demons from another dimension go for vacation. And what do they do while on vacation? Kidnap humans through Satan's Mirror and feed off their pain and terror. The devil is more a proprietor working to keep his guests happy than the Lord of Darkness. It's a nice setup until they kidnap April, Emily's six-year-old little girl. Then the fun really begins as Emily enters the portal and goes to Hell to rescue her daughter.
Emily hurtled down hell's gullet. Light exploded with the force of a nuclear bomb. Through closed eyes, she saw flames. She smelled flesh burning, hair singeing. She imagined her limbs incinerating into ash, imagined her eyeballs bursting.
The blistering wind peeled back her lips. She clamped her jaws against it, feeling an unvoiced scream rip her throat. Writhing and contorting in endless agony, she fell through the bowels of the underworld.
p.174
Roxanne Smolen puts a new and creative twist on Hell. Sure there's the favorites like the lake of fire, but she adds new touches with dead trees that aren't exactly dead and absorb humans, acid rain (literally), along with some other goodies which I won't give away. The characters are solid but I would've liked to have seen a little more back story on a few of them, especially Ross, Emily's boss. Smolen did a good job of suspending disbelief although at times I found myself questioning Emily's stamina as she raced through Hell. I guess I can chalk it up to a mothers love for her daughter.
Satan's Mirror is quick paced and can easily be read in one or two sittings. The chapters are short so if you're in a time crunch, there are a lot of good stopping places. Some scenes are a bit graphic, this ain't Alice through the looking glass, but overall I'd say young adults will enjoy this book as much as adults. --David Fingerman
One Hell of a Literary Thrill Ride
Reviewed By Chelsea Perry
Official Apex Reviews Rating: five stars
As the host of the paranormal TV show "Do You Believe It," Emily Goodman has made it her mission to debunk all myths and urban legends. When she meets Satan in a haunted house one night, though, little does she realize that calling him a fraud will bring an end to her skepticism forever - in ways she could never before imagine. After Satan kidnaps Emily's six-year-old daughter, April, the determined mother is forced to break into the dark underworld and battle the devil's most vicious demons to save her - but even if she manages to spare April's life, there's no guarantee that they'll make it out of the tortuous dimension alive...
Satan's Mirror is one hell of a literary thrill ride (pun intended). In vivid, mind-bending - and borderline terrifying - fashion, author Roxanne Smolen takes the reader on an eye-opening trip through the darker dimensions of her quite fertile imagination. Readers are sure to find themselves thoroughly consumed by the pure passion of Emily's desperate rescue mission, and they will be doubly enraptured by Smolen's breathtaking descriptions of the evil underworld and its nightmarish terrain. Combining her masterful handling of suspense with the sheer believability of the unknown spiritual world that lies beyond, Satan's Mirror is a dynamic thriller from a noteworthy literary talent. Highly recommended.
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