This story will captivate you from the very beginning. You know something spooky is going to occur as it’s alluded to in the very first chapter, when 5-year old Matt and his twin brother Jake feel the same pain even though they’re apart and it’s only Jake’s foot that’s injured.
This book is quite terrifying in a good way and what do you expect with such a deep, dark paranormal story spectacularly written by the author Michael Cordell.
Our Trespasses is a story based around twin brothers Matt and Jake, who are brought up on a farm in the small town of Hatchett, Nebraska. Their mother Ruth, knows that the two boys have a special connection, but tries to hide it from the other small town people, in case they are thought of as weird, due to the fear of the unknown, even their own father Ed won’t accept the truth and ignores the signs.
Early in the book the story jumps 10 years ahead and tells you about Matt’s life in a grubby burger bar in New York, as he left Hatchett behind for reasons not yet known. But when Matt is out having a drink, he has “the feeling of extreme pain” and he “feels” that his brother Jake has died.
Within hours, Matt receives a call from the local sheriff in Hatchett who tells him his brother has been murdered. Matt starts the long journey home for the first time in 10 years and encounters a case of mistaken identity for his dead brother even before he gets home.
As Matt stops off just outside Hatchett for petrol, he gets beaten up by the mechanic working there. The mechanic is the brother of a girl that Jake has wronged, this is the first of many people Jake’s hurt during the last 10 years whilst Matt has been away.
When Matt finally reaches his mother’s house, she is not very welcoming, as she felt that Matt abandoned Jake and her when he first left. Matt and his mother go to the funeral together, after the small service, Matt stays by Jake’s graveside and has another connection with Jake, but Matt uses his breathing exercises to block it out.
At the funeral Matt meets up with two of his old friends Claire (his ex-girlfriend) and Andy, now Father Pearman (school friend) they both tell him that Jake was dealing in Meth and he’d upset a lot of people in the town.
After dropping his mother home, Matt makes his way to his brother Jake’s house and this is when the story turns sinister, with the yard being covered with squawking black crows and weird scraping noises and movements in the attic. It certainly made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.
As the story grows, Matt is taken deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of the underworld. There are many elements of the paranormal throughout this book and although this is not my usual genre to read, I was both intrigued and frightened to just about the right level.
Matt grows to understand that Jake is in Hell and the devil has found out about Jake and Matt’s connection. The devil wants to possess Matt’s body in order to bring Hell on Earth.
As Matt struggles to come to terms with his past and tries to atone for the sins of his brother, he becomes the hero in this book. Fighting evil with good!
The fact that the author draws a fine line between religious scripture and a Hollywood movie, is a classic way to make sure his book is both outstanding and exciting to read in the best possible way.
I loved reading this book, with it’s fast pace and page turning quality, especially as the author made this story come alive. However, I was also really unnerved by it as this novel is absolutely thrilling, thought provoking and a sinister piece and definitely not for the faint-hearted.
As much as I loved reading Michael Cordell’s novel “Contempt” last year, “Our Trespasses” which was published on 15th October 2021, was again another exceptional read and did not disappoint, even if I was on the edge of my seat during the climax of the showdown between Matt, Jake, and the Devil.
I would like to thank TCK Publishing who kindly gifted an ebook version to me in exchange for providing an honest review.