Amira Press / July 2008
Reviewed by: Michele Lee

Alex Manning is a nice guy with impressive psychic powers. At the outset of The Chosen, he’s suffering the effects of a horrible haunting, or possibly just anxiety attacks that cause visions. Serendipitously drawn to a group of paranormal investigators, Alex forces his way into their most dangerous case yet, a re-investigation of the Jamiesonn house. Trapped within is the colonial era spirit of a cult leader who nearly slaughtered a town and who is looking for a new body to finish his evil deeds.

While each character, their past and their motivations are explained to the captive reader, this book comes off as stodgy and trite. Being told the drive of the characters doesn't help readers form a picture of them, particularly when descriptions of the characters and setting are often missing. What readers are shown is flat and stereotyped, to the point where characters even refer to each other by bland generalities such as "Mr. All-American" and "the Native American".

The plot itself struggles to gain ground, in part because the reader is informed of a great number of things and shown next to nothing. The prose fails to reach any semblance of cadence, cutting off any sense of tension before it builds. Evil demons, ghosts and sorcerers fail to invoke real fear and the spanning plot of one man chosen for greatness and imbued with amazing powers to fight the coming dark lord seems tired when nothing new is offered.

Purchase The Chosen by C.A. Milson.