Hang on, Beware the Spider by David L. Haase, moves like a speeding train. As in the first novel, nature photographer Sebastian Arnett still searches for a way to rid himself of Empaya Iba, the Bornean spider spirit which has become his familiar. Again, Arnett goes back to Borneo, this time via Australia. An Australian aboriginal spirit and a secret Chinese agent have other plans for Arnett.
Fireworks erupt when Arnett fights off an aboriginal spirit, gets caught in a typhoon-like storm in Borneo and hitches a ride atop a moving train in the American Rockies. As in the first book, various efforts to help come from Jimmy Beam (an Australian undercover intelligence operative), Mike Owens and others in the U.S. military who attempt to keep tabs on Arnett, Pony That Sees Far, a Native American medicine man (or Joe as Arnett thinks of him), Tom Kingston (or T, to his friends), and Amanda Cox Campion (Arnett’s love interest).
Great Addition to Series
Beware the Spider is a great addition to Haase’s Black Orchid Chronicles, a supernatural/magical realism series. (See my review of The Mark of the Spider, the first book in the series.) The pacing is quick and even, an improvement over the first book in the series. Arnett and Tom Kingston (son of Campion’s ex-husband) begin to form a closer relationship throughout the book and come to rely on each other for safety. Also, we learn that Amanda Campion is always well dressed, even in the wilds of the Borneo jungle. But well-pressed pants with knife-sharp creases in the humid jungle? Hmm, maybe.
A very engaging read. I look forward to reading the next installment and learning the ongoing fate of Arnett, Campion and Kingston.
The author gave me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Otherwise, I have no ties or interaction with the author.
Beware the Spider
© 2019 by David L. Haase
C. Lawrence Publishing
The Mark of the Spider is an installment in David L. Haase’s Black Orchid Chronicles, a supernatural-thriller series. On a working trip to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, photographer Sebastian Arnett searches for rare orchids to photograph. At the invitation of an Australian attaché on a mission to locate mineral deposits, Arnett joins his group’s forays into the interior. When an old, indigenous woman offers him a shot at the ever-elusive black orchid, Arnett and his mates take her up on it. But they get, and lose, more than they bargained for.
El Dorado