A Gathering Of Doorways by Michael Jasper

From the Publisher

Sometimes you eat the forest... sometimes the forest eats you! And, the forest is always hungry! It's reaching out for Gil, a former office man now gone country on his organic farm, a self-proclaimed fast talker who doesn't speak quite as speedily as he thinks. It's coming for Melissa, who's so burdened with work that she has no time to enjoy the lives they've made for themselves on their farm. More than anything, the forest wants Noah, an adventurous five-year-old with a head full of tales about heroes and distant worlds. And Noah has just stepped inside the dark circle of trees...

Publishers Weekly

Slick salesman Gil and weary, neurotic Melissa purchased their tiny farm for a song, but the bargain came with a hidden price. Their formerly strong marriage, now strained from the stillbirth of their second child, snaps when preschooler Noah wanders into the forest. Each parent attempts a separate quest to retrieve the little boy from a bizarre parallel world of ghosts and monsters that lurks immediately beneath their property. Noah's determined grasp of fairy tale mechanics serves him better than Gil's recurring nightmares or Melissa's blind stumbling through secret doors, but Noah isn't a very convincing child, Gil and Melissa aren't very convincing adults, and the Undercity isn't a very convincing place. Despite interesting explorations of themes like promises and disclosure, Jasper (The Wannoshay Cycle) never manages to bring his story to life. (Oct.)

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