The Drayton Diaries: A Supernatural Thriller

A man with extraordinary abilities. A hidden cabal. And the ancient secret that binds them. Since curing his sister’s paralysis with only a touch, Jon Drayton has known he isn’t the ordinary fisherman he thought he was. And since that day he’s been hunted. Tired of living off the grid, Drayton is drawn out by a young woman’s plea to help her dying mother. Despite the danger, he knows he’s the only person who can help. He can’t stand by and do nothing. When the assassins return, he barely escapes with his life. Alone, exhausted, and on the run, a single ray of hope finds him. Across the country is a ruin that could hold the answers he’s been looking for. The answer to who he is. The answer to what he is. The answer to who has been trying to kill him, and why. An answer that could destroy everything he’s always believed. The Drayton Diaries is a supernatural thrill-ride that will keep you turning pages late into the night. If you enjoy supernatural mysteries that keep you guessing until the end, page-turning thrillers you can’t put down, and twists that make you question everything, then this is the book you’ve been waiting for.

From Kirkus Reviews

An ordinary man tries to make sense of his extraordinary powers in Stephens’ (Nature of Evil, 2012, etc.) crisply narrated tale with paranormal elements. Jon Drayton knows he is special. He heals dead people. He miraculously cured his sister who almost died in a car crash. What’s more, Drayton can’t seem to resist the urge to exercise his abilities—he brings a few more people back from near death. But there’s a problem. His good Samaritan impulses win him no brownie points with a group masquerading as the Unknowns. Every time Drayton heals someone, he finds his own life in danger. Yet, it’s not so easy to kill Drayton; special weapons are needed to do the job. Having spent most of his life on the run and trying to make sense of his circumstances, he discovers that the secret to his powers might lie in the ruins of a 17th century Virginia plantation called King’s Shadow. Who exactly was Henry King, the plantation owner, and what connection does he have to Jon Drayton? Who wrote the journal entries that surface throughout the narrative? Stephens sets up a plot with quite a few disparate threads, most of which come together at the end of the well-paced tale. Even if at times a mixed bag of paranormal elements—“fires” entering and leaving people, folks walking from one dimension to another, large dragonlike birds appearing—is thrown in, forcing the reader to occasionally suspend disbelief, the plot largely manages to hang together and reach a satisfying conclusion, complete with a pulse-pounding finale. A chief archaeologist at King’s Shadow, Laura Girard, adds a touch of romance to the proceedings. The take-home message might be trite, but it’s conveyed in an appealing manner. Stephens ends the story with what appears to be the promise of a sequel (or two) to follow. Sure to please fans of paranormal fiction.

About the Author

Robert W Stephens is the author of Nature of Evil, Aloha Means Goodbye, and The Drayton Diaries. When he's not writing, you can find him behind a camera, directing commercials, videos, and indie films, such as House of Fallen and The House Behind the Wall. Or you may spot him traveling the world with his wife, where he'll still be behind a camera, shooting photographs of ancient ruins, gothic churches, or what they're about to eat.

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