Six of Sorrow

Isabeau and her five friends used to be inseparable until they weren't. Now only Reuel stays at her side. All the girls shared many things, including the same birthday. Then on the night of Iz's birthday, things take a tragic turn. Reuel goes missing. Then she comes back but isn't the same. The girls come back together and there's whispers of their mothers tampering with something they shouldn't have. When another one of them goes missing, it's up to Iz and the others to confront the evil that seems to be after them. Until they do it's only a matter of time before all of them will be taken.

What worked: Eerie atmospheric feel throughout this story of a group of best friends that break up until one of them goes missing. When Reuel returns she's not only different, but ill. She can't eat or drink anything.

Add to all this is the urban legend of Sorrow, an 18th-century witch and founder of their island. There's even a town event celebrating Sorrow. Only after the second girl in their group goes missing do their mothers come out and confess something they did in high school might be the link behind what's happening. The author doesn't spell it all out but rather gives readers a road map on what happened that one fateful day. Let's just say be careful what you wish for as there's always a cost that might come much later in life.

Iz struggles with her mother who has issues of her own. Reuel has issues with her father and her new stepmother. It's only after all the girls reunite do we see how much they have in common which is more than just the same birthday.

There's secrets, betrayals, and suppressed anger. Add to that a creep factor that keeps building until the climax of the novel.

Subtle horror builds to final rage against the paranormal presence that won't be satisfied until each of the girls is in its possession.

Paranormal horror set in a small town where past secrets unleash a terror that will take the strength of a group of former friends to break its hold.