Philip David Hogan

Won this book on the Library Thing Member Giveaway and enjoyed it a lot. It tells the story of 5 childhood friends (ages 12-13) who journey to the 'Unbetween' to rescue their friend who has been kidnapped. The Unbetween is the place where dead people/things go and stay for awhile until they move on to their final destination. But the Unbetween has been twisted and broken by Kharon and the children face many challenges on their adventure. Elements of mythology play into the goings-on in the Unbetween. This is a great first effort by the author; I look forward to reading the second book in this series.… (mer)

Believe: The Weeping Tree Chronicles - Book 1 is a story about six friends, Kory, Joshua, Ella, Jack, Raevyn, and Daniel, one of which, Kory, is kidnapped and taken to a world known as the Unbetween. The Unbetween is a world where spirits go, after they die, on the way to their final destination.
The Unbetween was once ruled by a king and queen, as well as a House of Lords. These beings were immortal and when the king and queen fell in love, breaking a rule of the immortals, the House of Lords banished the queen to our world where she has spent the last two centuries. When the queen was banished the king went into a rage and has all but destroyed the Unbetween.
The queen has lived her time in our world in the same town, Crimson Cove, as our six friends and has always been referred to as the Great Witch. Unbeknownst to the friends the Great Witch is also the great, great grandmother of the girl named Kory.
When Kory is kidnapped and taken to the Unbetween, the Great Witch gathers her friends and informs them of the Unbetween and of the fact that they are the only ones who can save Kory and both their world and the Unbetween. They are also informed that they have three days to find and rescue Kory and if they are not back by dawn on the fourth morning then they will die. So begins their journey through the Unbetween.
They are led to and through the Unbetween by Jarvis, who was sent with the Great Witch to our world as her guard but, whom, over time, has become her friend. During the trek through the Unbetween, while stopped for the night, another of the friends, Ella, disappears. While Jarvis is out searching for her Jack decides he has to go find and rescue her as she had saved his life already, so he sets off in search for her. Jarvis comes back empty handed and manages to talk the three remaining friends into continuing the journey to fine Kory while Jack searches for Ella.
At first they find nothing but devastation. The cities they find have been abandoned and, for the most part empty. Eventually they happen upon a city that is inhabited but the inhabitants are unsavory characters and according to Jarvis dangerous. They have had nothing to eat but a few berries so they decide to stop and get something to eat. They manage to run into trouble and Jarvis is shot with an arrow and Daniel is separated from Joshua and Raevyn. While searching for Daniel, Joshua and Raevyn decide to separate in order to cover more ground and they each find unexpected friends and allies. Daniel also finds an unexpected friend and ally in a vampire who is also the last of the House of Lords.
The three friends finally find each other at the dock of the Evermore Sea, which they must cross to reach their destination. There is a battle between the friends and their allies and the unsavory characters of the town to which the allies win and with the help of a creature that Raevyn befriends and an angel they find out where Jack and Ella are and manage to rescue them.
Now they all board a ship and cross the Evermore Sea to rescue Kory. Kory is being held across the Evermore Sea at the Evermore Castle. When the reach the castle they find out they have been betrayed. There is a great battle being fought by the allies while the friends go is search of Kory but Jarvis catches them and locks them in a dungeon where they also find Kory. They manage to escape from the dungeon. They are also supposed to find the Weeping Tree while they are here but Kory is weak and ill so they are trying to get her to safety but she refuses to go because there is something she must do first. She must find the weeping tree and plant a seed. This is the only way to save both their world and the Unbetween.
This is a very well written story with an involved plot and well developed characters that I enjoyed very much. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy story.… (mer)