The Diviners

Bray, Libba. The Diviners. Book 1 of the Diviners series. 2012. 578p. ISBN 0-316-12611-X. Available at FIC BRA on the library shelves.

It is 1926, and the world of jazz and exuberance has come on the scene. In Ohio, seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill has the uncanny ability to obtain very personal information about a person from an object. The more personal the object, the more she knows about its owner. When she reveals that the town’s golden boy has gotten a girl pregnant, she is faced with a choice: apologize publicly for her “inaccurate” statement, or get exiled to New York City to live with her uncle until things die down back in Ohio. Thrilled at the possibility of heading to the Big Apple and spending time with her best friend Mabel, who lives in the same building as her uncle, Evie agrees and departs on the train.

Once in New York, she is skillfully robbed by a young man named Sam Lloyd who wakes her up to the dangers of life in the city. Meeting her uncle Will, who is the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition and the Occult, she is introduced to Jericho, with whom Mabel is enamored. Evie can see why. Tall and blond, Jericho is her uncle’s assistant and was adopted by him years ago.

In Harlem, Memphis and his younger brothers both have talents of their own. Memphis used to be able to lay hands and heal, but hasn’t summoned his ability since the death of his mother. His younger brother, Isaiah, can divine cards and see in the future. Abandoned by their father after their mother’s death, they live with their aunt Octavia. Memphis is a hustler for the local crime lord, but he really wants to be a poet.

And in an old abandoned mansion, a shadow grows. Naughty John, a prophet of the Breathens, was executed for the murder of the mansion’s former owner back in the 1850s. His spirit is back, however, and seeks to complete a ritual involving eleven sacrifices that will release the Beast. The Beast will inflict evil on the world, but will then be banished by the Breathens, leading to paradise on Earth. As Naughty John moves closer to his goal and gets stronger from every sacrifice, Evie, Memphis, and a cast of unforgettable characters get caught in a deadly intrigue of occult and paranormal. Ritual murders plague the city as Solomon’s comet approaches Earth. With only a few days left, can Evie and her friends stop Naughty John?