Whispers of Old Winds

American Indian Folklore Lives

Do you like stories about weres, shapeshifters or skinwalkers? Do you like stories about American Indians? Do you like police or military stories? If you said yes to any of these, then you will love this story.

Get out your biggest bowl and fill it with popcorn. Grab your drink and head off to your chair or sofa. You're getting ready for a spectacular show.

That's the best word for this story -  spectacular. This is an amazing mystery & suspense, paranormal story set in winter in the beautiful Colorado Mountains. I wish I could give you the plot, but it would ruin the show for you. Just trust me that you will love this book.

The author is brilliant. The way he writes this story your transported into the Colorado mountains. You can feel the crispness in the air and the snow under your feet. Your with the sheriff riding Brunhilde as he investigates, you are with him when he visits Hank up on top of the mountain, and you're with him and his husband as they're relaxing in front of the fire after dinner.

Sam and Michael are perfect together. Sam is the ex-military now Sheriff of a small town and Michael is the boy from the big house on the hill who is an artist. Michael also has a gift which Sam gets glimpses of in their five years together, but comes out more in this book.

This story flows like melting snow in a river. It's so perfect. I've never read a story with such perfect flow before. It goes from one mystery to another with a conclusion for each one saving the big one for last. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's really genius.

Warning: It has very little sex, so this is a full on mystery and suspense novel. If you want more sex in your book then I recommend you go buy another book.

As you can tell, I highly recommend this book. Rush out and get yourself a copy and get that bowl of popcorn and settle in for a good read.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review by Gay Book Reviews.

Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted my copy of this book.


Sam and Michael live happily in the Colorado mountains. Sam is Sheriff and Michael has his store. When the body of a skinwalker is discovered in a massive snow drift, Sam discovers Michael's gifts are far more than he first imagined.


Struggling to word this review, because I'm not really sure how I felt about it.


The story itself had promise, and I looked forward to reading it, but for me, it fell kinda flat. The skinwalkers appeared, and then were gone. There was some magic and withcraft talked about, visited with, and then said goodbye to. Michael and his gifts? I never got the full picture about those, and I had to concentrate, so I didn't miss it!


The book flips from what Sam is going through now, to chapters about when they first met, when they moved to the mountains and things that happened along the way. I didn't quite get the point of those, they didn't make much sense to the current time line, not to me, anyway.


And, its first person, present tense, single pint of view. To be honest, I didn't notice the present tense bit so much at the beginning, but towards the end, when I was struggling to finish it, I noticed it more.


There is, listed on Goodreads, a much shorter version of this story, only 38 pages, which was published in November 2015 as part of the Dreamspinner Pres Advent Calendar for that year. Maybe, I'd have liked that version much more than this 315 page version.


But because I DID finish it, and ONLY because I did...


3 stars


**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

I had a ridiculously hard time putting this book down. Right away, the story came to life- the characters, the imagery, the scenes, the dialogue. Whispers of Old Winds is a little romance, a little mythological/supernatural, a little suspense, and a little mystery all rolled into one captivating read. There were twists I'd anticipate, but they'd come about in ways I didn't completely expect, then there were tie-ins with secondary characters that utterly surprised me. The two main characters are a couple that has been together for five years. The story is told from Sam's POV, and he offers glimpses to memorable moments from their past. While you get pieces of their love story, it's primarily to explain the characters, their relationships, and how those experiences affect the current events. That said, the parts written about love, partners, and growing together in a relationship were brilliant. It was the type of commentary and insights that make sense after you've loved someone for years and experienced life's ups and downs as a couple. So though the romance wasn't center stage, it had weight and was very impactful.

Initially, the writing style caught me off guard. I felt like I was in the dark, hearing a story, but not really getting the entire picture. There are some time jumps that are annotated, so while I wasn't confused, it created a bit of a jumbled pace. As I read on, I realized, it was intentional and contributed to the overall mystical and suspense of the story. It set the reader as off kilter as the events left the characters. The characters were all a bit eccentric. They each were fully developed, had a unique voice, distinct personality, and reflected their experiences in their reactions and dialogue. The conclusion gave a good summary of changes after the main conflicts resolved, moving along quickly, but tying up loose ends.

I like books that make me think as much as I like those that provide an escape. Whispers of Old Winds offered both. And though I'm not one to typically reread even favorite books, I think I could easily reread this and probably come up with another page worth of things I missed the first time through. This book completely drew me in, and I ended up purchasing the paperback just so I could have it on my shelf (well for the story, and also because that cover is perfection).

5 Hearts Reviewed by Lisa

When I first saw this I though spooky because let’s face it the cover is. However once you start reading it, well the cover was right on. Now normally as a reviewer I don't really pay a lot of attention to that many covers unless there is just something there that grabs me. So when that happens I know which way the book is going to go for me. Now I have had the pleasure to read a few books by this author and let’s just say, they have you sitting on the edge of your seat.

From the moment I started reading this book my attention was caught. Now normally I take my time reading such a long story and usually lose my attention after a point. However this one just wouldn't let me go. I have heard many stories of skin walkers, an old Indian legend, mostly bad but a few were good. However like I said most of them represented evil. In the shape of an owl, it represents, but there is a part of him that is special. He notices something special about his man.

Michael has the abilities to see and hear things no one else can. It is seen in his art and it will have Sam trying to deal with it. Then when a skinwalker is found dead, it leads them on a ride that neither will forget.

I think that this is one of the best stories I have come across in a long time. It is focused more on what is going on than on just sex. It has a real world tone to it even though it is a paranormal story. Although, sometimes I wonder if our stories are not true in a sense. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more by this amazing author. This is one story I would definitely recommend. I hope that this author turns this into a series with these two finding more stuff to get into.