A young African American woman's American Indian ancestor crosses time and species in order to save her dying spirit.
Sarissa travels back through time in order to identify the one event that devastated and changed the course of her life. Anaghia, Sarissa's ancestor, takes Sarissa on a spiritual journey where Sarissa's thoughts, insights, dreams and reality fuse into a new reality. All human physical limitations are removed and Sarissa moves between world's as human and animal.
Sarissa’s first challenge comes from a strange human who emerges from the woods and appears to threaten her existence. When he looks at her the image of a large snake is reflected in his eyes. With her first taste of blood, Sarissa evolves into a power wolf. As a wolf, Sarissa experiences power and a new-found control over her life.
With a cheating husband who plots to kill her, a greedy, self-indulgent professor who wants to destroy her because she dismisses his advances, and two lunatics recently released from a mental hospital trying to join her modeling troupe at the urging of her husband's mistress, Sarissa has more than enough challenges to keep her on her toes. Anaghia, Sarissa's Alfa wolf and ancestor crosses time and species to rescue Sarissa.
Anaghia introduces Sarissa to wolf and her powers as a wolf…and that’s when the fun begins!
Excerpt
I opened the door and walked into a dark, empty apartment. Without turning on any lights I walked into the bedroom. I sat there on the edge of the bed, empty of thoughts and emotions. After a few minutes a sense of calm came over me and I sat quiet and content to be there alone. I sat for hours. I walked over to the window and opened it wide. I stood there looking at the dark sky and breathing in the cold air. It was refreshing. I didn’t see the snout and I wasn’t looking from within the wolf, but for some reason, I could see much farther than I could before. I saw little details that would have been impossible for me to see a few days earlier. I could clearly see people inside of their apartments. I looked up and down the street in amazement at how much more clearly and farther I could see. After my eyes glanced over the buildings, streets and cars, I looked down to the parking lot below me. I wanted to make sure I could see things as well close up as I could far away. When I looked down, I saw the car Andrew and Lillian had driven to rehearsal. It was definitely the same car - a cute little sports car with the license plate that read "MYTURN". It was parked in my space in the parking lot. It was dark inside of the car but I could see the outlines of two people in the front seat. I stood there, silent, for at least fifteen minutes. I turned on the light and after a few minutes there was a lot of movement in the car or rumbling…and it pulled off abruptly.
I stood there looking onto the parking lot but my mind had taken me to another place. This time I was watching the pointed tips of a pair of Bruno’s - brown alligator wingtip shoes - as they stepped into the hallway of my building. I watched the pattern of the floor against the strip of carpet that led up to the elevator. I saw a finger covered by a pair of black leather rider gloves touch the elevator button. It was Jerry I was watching. What was going on? How could I possibly be looking down at his shoes and see him press the elevator button from the apartment lobby. I was seeing these things as though I were inside of him. I didn’t feel anything else. I mean, no emotions, nothing. Suddenly, I felt a surge of negative heat coming from the hallway. It was directed toward me. I knew it was coming from Jerry. I decided to focus on his movement and not his intentions. I wanted to see exactly what he was doing and going to try to do to me. I could see Jerry's shoes as they moved closer to the doorway of my apartment. I watched them as they stopped at the door. I could feel the nervousness in his hand as he tried to steady it so he could grab the doorknob. I felt, and could hear, the long sigh he exhaled as he grabbed the doorknob to open the door. I saw his right hand dig into his pocket and move the long hatpin with the cap on its tip aside so he could get his keys. It was the same hatpin Andrew had and that was the same car Andrew had driven.
I knew instinctively Jerry was going to try to stick me with that pin. Whether it would kill me, paralyze me or just knock me out for a while, I didn’t know. I also felt I was being forewarned and protected so I was not afraid. Under any other circumstances I would have cowered down and tried to stay out of Jerry's way. Then I would have sulked the rest of the day because I did nothing to defend myself. But, this time was different, this time I was ready to meet the challenge. Suddenly, I could see the image of Lillian hugging me so tight I’d black out. Andrew would cautiously take the hatpin out of his pants pocket and remove the cap. He would twist the cap to ensure that every bit of the solution was smeared onto the tip before he would stick me. I could also see myself drowsy and unable to speak, being walked out and put into their car. Jerry and Blascey would be waiting. That was as far as I got before this vision disappeared.
The sound of the door opening snapped me back into reality. Jerry stood in the living room in the dark. I didn’t move. I sat calmly awaiting his attack and planning mine. He had never attacked me physically, in the past, but this time my senses led me to believe he would.
As he opened the door to the bedroom I said in a soft but demanding voice, "Turn on the light, Jerry."
He turned it on. He had a look of lunacy on his face. He was emotionally distraught, I could see that, but this was more like the craziness that mass murders must experience right before they go on their killing sprees.
Still, unaffected and unafraid, I locked in on his eyes and said, "Empty your pockets."
If I have a few days between when I finish a book and write my review, I tend to forget about what I want to say about the book... In fact, the only thing I could remember was that it was extraordinary, fantastic--a book like no other that I've ever read! Getting back into the book was fun! I didn't pick up on the supernatural aspect until I read the first chapter. (See my blog for excerpts and pics.) This is a story about a young woman, Sarissa, who had begun to dream--strange dreams. It frightens her of course, but she finds it intriguing, wondering what was happening.
At Age 13, she had a startling dream of being transformed into a large snake, devouring an old man that had so frightened her and...slithering away. Then she had another transformation...
On my blog I wanted to share more of an excerpt than I normally do, not so much for the story, but to show the fantastic creative writing by the author as she shares her story...To me, it is almost as if the author actually knows how Sarissa is feeling...as she begins to deal with a new part of herself... and to deal with humans who made her feel danger...
She awoke in bed, not sure whether it was all a dream... Was it? It didn't feel like one--it had felt real. But how could she know? As she thought about it, she remembered that she had heard of people who had connections with animals... Sarissa was the owner of a top modeling agency, Panache, or, that is, she had given her husband Jerry, part-ownership and he emceed the shows. One night when she had been on the way home from work, she had encountered two men who she soon sensed presented danger... Soon she was transformed into her wolf persona... After the two men ran away, she went off into the woods, running and enjoying the freedom that she now felt so much. She had once been timid, but now had the strength to face things...
So that when she finally transformed back and went home, she opened the door, instantly smelling, with her extended smelling power, Chanel--Chanel splashed on an unclean body, who smelled "funky..." A strange woman was sitting on their couch with a friend of her husband... Jerry was out of the room, but Sarissa, free from the past, and knowing just what had happened in her home, went on the attack, ultimately chasing them all of the apartment! It was fun seeing Sarissa take control of her life and her marriage. Jerry had been cheating for quite some time, but...no more..Now, Sarissa was in control of her own life...
Even if she really didn't know what her life was going to be like in the future...
And even if Jerry and his new lover wasn't going to give up the money and prestige of being part of Panache...that's all they cared about...
It was an audition for new models, when Anaghta came... There had been so many great models this time, and Sarissa had decided to expand their name to Panacea International Model Troupe. Anaghia had come in late, but after she auditioned, everybody knew that she would become one of the best in the troup... But Anaghia wanted to audition only for Sarissa, and when she finished, she asked Sarissa if she had seen the wolf in her movements.
Instantly, Sarissa and the others were on guard, Sarissa's friend automatically circling to provide protection... Who was this woman? She was the best of the best and would make a great addition to the group, but what was she all about... Sarissa knew one thing, she was connected to Anaghta, and Anaghta was the dominant force in the room... and then she began to talk to Sarissa telepathically...
I have always loved the mystical, spiritual nature and life of Native Americans. Enjoying the possibility of shape shifting into animals, or having the spirit of one or another animal. Sarissa had much to learn...and, trust me, if any of this review sounds as fascinating to you as it did to me, then I highly recommend your checking it out! You won't be sorry!
Set in 2022, new novel features a successful Baltimore attorney who attempts a run at the state senatorial seat. But she is suddenly faced with obstacles she didn’t know existed and decisions she never dreamed she would have to make…
