The Supernatural Enhancements

June 2, 2014
An inheritance from a reclusive cousin brings 23-year-old student A. Wells and mute adolescent Niamh Connell from Europe to the Virginia countryside of 1995, where a missing butler, complex encryptions, and enigmatic letters hint at sinister doings. Catalan author Cantero (Valvi) employs visits with inquisitive neighbors, isolated high voltage readings, and increasingly frightening dreams and manifestations to suggest the presence of supernatural elements, although many of these events evoke stock haunted-house props. A.’s musings about the nature of the supernatural provide a rationale for Cantero’s title: the mysteries of existence remain, no matter how one tries to explain the inexplicable. The merging of the otherworldly and the mundane, however, breaks down when a long explanation of a secret society’s aims and history overwhelms the plot and paves the way to a deus ex machina conclusion.

July 15, 2014
Southern gothic meets Euro hipnessin Catalan novelist Cantero's inventive, enjoyable outing in postmodern mysterywriting.Take a mysterious mansion, "plus anoseless suspect, a dead criminal wanted in six states, one fugitive, a missinglawyer, seventeen people in the morgue, two in surgery, and lots of paperwork,"and you've got the makings of a scenario that's surely good for setting tongueswagging in small-town Virginia. Yet most of the good citizens of Point Blesshave long been unaware of the goings-on at the Wells mansion, where the ghostsof suicides wander among dark corridors and hidden rooms. Cantero lets us knowat the outset that we're in on a very long joke, with winkingthrough-the-fourth-wall asides ("I've noticed that all manuscripts are bad; anybook randomly opened in a friend's house is good; the same book in a bookstoreis bad. When this story is completed, that beginning will turn better"). Anystory that features a lawyer named Glew and a butler named Struckner isautomatically promising, never mind hesitant openings, and our protagonist'ssidekick is a welcome force of nature, a mute Irish girl who is both amanuensisand ninja. And if that protagonist starts off the proceedings wide-eyed and naive, delighted by such small things as rural cafes with "manysauce bottles and thingies against the glass," he emerges as a capable playerin a game of poltergeists, hollowed-out books, malevolent masterminds andsundry secrets in a setting that wanders between real and dream worlds, alternate realities blending with elective affinities.Freemasonry, of course, figures intothe equation. Quirky in presentation and good fun throughout, Cantero's yarnpleases at every turn.

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March 15, 2014
When a young man of undefined European descent inherits an estate in the leafy Virginia woods from a cousin he never knew he had, he gets a lot more than he bargained for--and so does the reader. The cousin has dispatched himself in the same manner (and on the same date) as his father, the butler has vanished, and the maze in the garden is partly sealed. Spanish cartoonist Cantero blends the mores of yesteryear with the latest technology to create a decidedly different ghost story.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Set in the mid-1990s, but feeling very much like a gothic ghost story, this is the first English-language novel by Spanish author Cantero. Told through diary entries, transcripts of audio and video recordings, letters, and other media, it's the story of a young man, A. Wells, who learns that a previously unknown relative has died, leaving him an estate in Virginia. Accompanied by his friend, a mute teenage girl, A. travels to Virginia, where he soon begins to get the sense that his deceased second cousin's home might be haunted. Did somethingsome presencein the house cause A.'s relative to commit suicide? What's stowed away in the locked vault in the basement? And what goes on at the house each year around the winter solstice? Creepy and spooky stuff, a good bet for readers who relish haunted-house tales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 1, 2014

Cantero (cartoonist, El Jueves magazine) has written a spectacular debut novel. Taking the title from a phrase used in Edith Wharton's classic ghost story "Afterward," the author employs an original narrative method involving diary entries, transcriptions from both audio and video recordings, letters, security footage, and even advertisements to move the action along. The novel begins with twentysomething A. inheriting a mansion in Virginia from an unknown distant cousin. Accompanying A. is Niamh, a mute Irish teenager; together they investigate the odd nature of Axton House, the home of the Wells family for several generations, and the rumors that it is haunted and was the site of ghoulish meetings throughout the years. Letters written in code lead to hidden rooms and treasures. Once the duo discover a society that was run by the last Wells family member, the world as they know it begins to break down. Using sophisticated code-breaking techniques, they learn of quests that could prove the existence of ghosts and the supernatural. VERDICT Cantero's fresh, original prose style and the steady flow of twists, turns, and code breaking will have mystery, thriller, and supernatural fans glued to their seats until they reach the electrifying conclusion. [See Prepub Alert, 2/24/14.]--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll., Elkhorn Lib., WI

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.