Unconscious Impulses by Kevin L. Bouyer is the first book review under my new feature, Marion’s Indie Book Spotlight. I explained the goal of this new feature on blog in my previous post. I will not repeat myself here, but the goal is to use this platform to provide whatever visibility I have for my fellow indie authors.

Bouyer crafts a suspenseful narrative that intertwines family dynamics, compelling me to finish the book, though I remained somewhat unconvinced by the story’s central message. The novel revolves Jayden, his girlfriend Desiree, and her pre-teen daughter, Maya. Desiree and Maya just moved into a new apartment in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jayden was there helping them adjust to their new place.

After Jayden witnesses Desiree sleepwalking on their first night in the new apartment, a series of events is set in motion that threatens to end their relationship and sever the bond he’s formed with Maya. Maya received a necklace from her grandmother, and it begins to change her personality. What is the connection between Maya’s necklace and Desiree’s sleepwalking?

As a reader, I felt as though the story was being told to me rather than experienced through the narrative. I wanted to know more about Jayden and Desiree’s relationship and what started Desiree’s sleepwalking adventures. The author hinted at those elements throughout the story, but I did not get enough of as a reader to buy what the story was trying to sell me. Desiree’s mother was a key component to the story, and there could have a lot more groundwork in the beginning of the novel to strengthen her importance to the narrative.

I appreciate Bouyer writing a story where a mother’s love interest does not have the expected conflict with her child. He did a good job establishing the relationship between Jayden and Maya. Unconscious Impulses made me desire more, not in terms of additional pages, but a more thorough development of the main characters and their link to the supernatural.

Unconscious Impulses can be purchased at Kevin Bouyer’s website. He is author of two other novels, Relocation Disclosure & Voluntary Silence. Readers of supernatural suspense should give him a try.