A while ago Examiner magazine published a great review of Black Diamond. If you haven’t read it, no worries, we will gladly share it with you!

Black Diamond by Jennifer Loiske is mind candy!

Examiner; September 15th 2014

Ready for a great YA mystery that is a fun ride and well written? Then, BLACK DIAMOND, part One of McLean Twins Series by Jennifer Loiske is the book for you.

BLACK DIAMOND opens with twelve-year-old Shannon McLean moving from the US, after her mother’s death, to the English countryside. She is to live with her father, Connor McLean, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a baby. A man of mystery, Shannon quickly finds he doesn’t want her around or her moving into, Greyman Hill, his huge manor. Her mere fact that she is there is an obligation to him.

Robert, a servant runs the house with an evil iron touch and makes everyone who works there his little puppets. Black Diamond rushes on taking the reader on a most unusual ride. As Shannon discovers she has a twin brother-Ian, the story takes on more of a magical and witchy quality. With Shannon and Ian engaging in all manner of magic and witchcraft.

As Shannon learns more about her family and herself. She discovers her dad can control her just by looking at her. She finds the walls are full of secret passages and she has undiscovered talents, like awakening ghosts. The reader is drawn into this world as every day is worse than the day before and Shannon wants to run away but discovers it’s impossible. If she wants to stay alive she has to do exactly as her dad says or else she will jeopardize her own life and the lives of the people around her. Shannon is an identifiable, strong protagonist that will keeps the reader cheering for her throughout the story.

The reader is taken on a suspenseful, emotional rollercoaster as Shannon struggles to find the magic inside her, while her father is slowly turning into a demon. She finds that just one carelessly spoken word from her could either save or destroy them both. (Huge decision for a 12 year old!) In the end she has to decide whether to save herself and her loved ones, or lose her dad to the darkness and evil that threaten to eat his soul.

Black Diamond will keep a YA interest as it moves at a fast, unpredictable, pace that can only be described as mind candy. This is an impressive, one of a kind book, perfect for any reader who loves mystery, suspense, and magic. Jennifer Loiske is an author who has the ability to capture her readers and entertain them from the first word to the last. I am a fan and cannot wait to see what Loiske has in store for us next.

-R.R.Cratty

Review can also be found here.

Have not read Black Diamond yet? Get a copy here.