Powers by John Olson

Mariutza Glapion's grandfather has just died right before her eyes. The Badness killed him. But before he died, he revealed to her a horrible secret and told her to enter the city of New Orleans in search for the great Jaazaniah the Prophet, the hero of her grandfather's bedtime stories. So Mariutza leaves the swamps she has lived in her entire life and enter the mysterious New Orleans, a place filled with buildings, strange noises, strange people, and sin. When she finally meets her hero, he has no idea what she is talking about. She wants him to help her find her grandfather's alleged treasure box. Soon, he has no choice but to follow her on a run for their very lives from strange hooded people, the authorities and the Badness.

For all those die-hard John Olson fans, the illustrious sequel to Shade is here. Melchi, Hailey, and the Mulo have returned, by the way, with a whole new cast of characters. I said before that Shade did not need a sequel because I just couldn't take anymore nonsense. But believe it or not, several things were actually explained at the end of Powers that shed light on several things. But Powers is far from Elite. It's not even close.

For one thing, the characters are odd, as usual. Believe it or not, Jaazaniah actually has a personality and some imperfection. But Mariutza, Melchi, and Hailey are just plain weird characters. They aren't necessarily perfect, but they are bizarre. I guess this is realistic considering they haven't lived among normal people for a while.

The Badness and the Mulos are bit juvenile, especially since they have no good explanation whatsoever. The four main characters are the only people who believe they are real. No one else can see them, except maybe John Olson. It is very stereotypical of a horror novel to have black clouds chasing people around all the time.

The Standings have a very good explanation behind them that, believe it or not, are backed up by Scripture. It is a very interesting idea that is highly possible. John has discarded his whatnot about Lost Dimensional Gateways under a good explanation as well. At least he was able to part with some of his nonsense.

But the worst part of all, the thing that easily cuts the rating in half, is the very perfect end. A predictable romance works out, all four main characters are still alive at end despite many hospital visits, they find the treasure, and they escape arrest. This is extremely unrealistic, and I am tired of repeating these same things over and over again. Some authors just don't get it. I'm not even sure if John Olson is cut out to be an author, since he repeatedly makes typical mistakes and shows barely any growth from book to book.

If he is to write anymore books, it should not be another nonsensical horror novel.

2 stars