Haze is the story of Erik and Eliza, and their enduring love for one another through many ups and downs over a period of 10 years or so, written by Rebecca Crunden. It was originally released in 2018, and I very much enjoyed reading this.
There are some supernatural elements and plenty of mystery and suspense in this book. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and give it a solid 3.5 stars – rounded up to 4!
Our story starts with two young boys trying to summon the dead. Erik’s mum died and he desperately misses her and wants to see her again.
‘Back when his mother was alive. Back when his life didn’t involve death’.
It is very sad to see a boy miss his mother so, and get angry when he can’t summon her. You can feel his pain. You can feel his desperation. Well, it didn’t work and Erik must accept that. Fast forward nine years and Erik has a fiance called Eliza and looks to be moving forward with his life.
One night Eliza receives a phone call from an apparently dead ex of Erik’s. She goes to meet the girl and unfortunately runs into Erik’s dad, Logan. Logan is the town bully and murdered his own wife previously. He and Erik don’t get on, understandably, and here our drama really starts.
When an ‘accident’ happens to Sam, Eliza’s sister, Erik leaves town and the relationship is over. He doesn’t return to town for another five years, and when he does his father is dead and Eliza is living a less than perfect life. Eric is feeling guilty and ashamed and he pines for the girl he lost.
‘Where she panicked continuously about losing the ones she loved, Erik was forever angry about all that he had lost already.’
The story contains references to drugs, murder, ghosts and mental health issues. It isn’t a ‘nice’ read. Plenty of drama and suspense, there is an air of mystery throughout the whole book. I read it over two nights, but could have easily read this in one sitting.
Crunden writes well, and the story has pace as well as suspense. The supernatural elements are all well described. I am not usually a fan of sci-fi or fantasy, so when I read it, I had high expectations. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Character development is good here, each of the main characters was thoroughly fleshed out and I liked a couple of them by the end, after not having too much affection for anyone at the start. I was satisfied with the ending, it ties up all the loose ends nicely and had a feel-good vibe, that wasn’t out of place or corny.
Overall, I would recommend this to fans of slightly supernatural mysteries, it is basically a romance novel underneath though, so don’t go in thinking otherwise.
Happy reading!
Becca
(Many thanks to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review).
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