A Great and Sudden Change

Daniel Jean Perrier’s debut novel A Great and Sudden Change invokes the haunting atmosphere of small-town New England in the wake of tragedy to tell a story of grief, redemption, and actual hauntings. Davy’s summer vacation ends with a ghost in his bathroom mirror. That same night, Valerie’s boyfriend kills himself. By the end of the week, Emma sees the post the pair made to an occult forum she frequents. When the three come together, Emma—experienced investigator and psychic—is sure there will be nothing to discover but coincidence. What they find shocks them all. Caught in the middle of a silly occult story gone horribly real, the three struggle to solve the mystery of what happened to Wes, so no one else gets caught in the web set up by the mysterious forum user known as CarpeImperium. As the paranormal escalates around them, the three find it harder and harder to manage their everyday lives. It becomes harder and harder to tell what’s more important: an uncertain paranormal threat or the real lives blowing up around them.