The Smell of Smoke and Ash

by Patty Blount

2025 NERFA Winner - Speculative

It's all in his mind....that's what he tells himself every time he has a vision... until one hurts him.

Seventeen-year-old Riley Carter cannot tell his mom about the strange visions he's been having since his dad and baby brother died in a fire. Psychics aren't real; they're just cons who prey on the bereaved.

But the visions are getting worse. More dangerous. Impossible to control. And when one injures him, Riley knows he needs help. The only help available comes from Jasmine Gregory, the town's newest sidewalk psychic.

She knows your feelings...even the ones you think you're hiding...

But Jasmine's different. Instead of taking money, she offers her help. She seems to know exactly what Riley's feeling - even when he's not entirely sure himself. When she tells him his dad is haunting him, Riley doesn't want to hear it. But as the visions worsen, the message Riley's dad is trying to send becomes

The fire that killed him was no accident.

And whoever was behind it is getting ready to kill again.

Genres: Thriller

361 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2024

About the author

Patty Blount grew up quiet and a bit invisible in Queens, NY, but found her voice in books. Today, she writes smart and strong characters willing to fight for what’s right. She’s the award-winning author of edgy, realistic, gut-wrenching contemporary and young adult romance. Still a bit introverted, she gets lost often, eats way too much chocolate, and tends to develop mad, passionate crushes on fictional characters. Let’s be real; Patty’s not nearly as cool as her characters, but she is a solid supporter of women’s rights and loves delivering school presentations.

Patty is best known for her internet issues novels, SEND, a 2012 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick and TMI, a 2014 Watty winner, and her #MeToo novels, including SOME BOYS, a 2015 CLMP Firecracker winner and SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW, a 2019 double Athena Award winner. Visit her website at pattyblount.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter. She blogs at YA Outside the Lines and is also active online. She loves hearing from readers, especially when they tell her she’s cool (even though she knows it’s not true), and is easily bribed with chocolate. Never underestimate the power of chocolate.

Reviews

[Lisa Mandina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got me out of a reading slump and was a perfect read for this spooky Halloween time of year. It is a YA story, so our main characters are high schoolers. First is Riley who lost his dad and baby brother to a fire about 6 years ago. While he’s occasionally had some weird smells happen, things that he connects with his dad – motor oil and red lollipops, just recently things started being more visions with the scents. His friend Davis is worried about him, and when Davis stumbles into a new shop in town where a girl named Jasmine works, a girl who seems to be psychic, he decides to introduce the two.

Riley has no respect or trust with psychics after his mom was taken advantage of by several right after his dad passed away. But he can’t deny that Jasmine really seems to be the real thing. Especially when she knows the exact thoughts going through his mind as they go through his mind, word for word. He fights having her help him the whole time. But slowly with the help of Jasmine and a psychic friend of hers, he begins to see that he needs to trust and use the signs his dad seems to be sending him.

Jasmine has her own stake in this, not just because she is getting Riley’s thoughts loud and clear in her head, but because her own father is missing. And he was sent to the town Riley lives in right before he disappeared. So together the three teens have a mystery to solve, because soon Riley finds out from his stepdad, Greg – once his dad’s best friend, that the accidental fire – one he felt guilty that he might have started – wasn’t an accident. And it’s possible that his dad was a dirty cop. Riley doubts that is true. And even wonders if maybe Greg or their other cop friends were actually the ones that were dirty.

I had my suspicions all the way through, and the author let me keep them, by dropping hints here and there, and discovering along with Riley exactly what had happened and who was responsible. There was a twist about his baby brother’s death, which I almost wondered with some of the visions he was having. But I liked the way that turned out, and how we got it all wrapped up in the end.

This was such a good book and I hope to get a copy ordered for my school library as soon as I get a chance!

Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.

[Ashlyn’s Bookcase · Rating 5 out of 5]

🎃👻 𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕖: paranormal thriller, mystery, fiction, suspense, crime

✨𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩:
🔥gripping and explosive revelations
🌹friends to lovers
☠️murder mystery and missing persons search
🔮tarot, psychics, and “gifts”
💌 family love and betrayal

💜thank you Patty for the ARC - in exchange I have penned my review. Though we are amazing friends, the following are my honest words.

✨𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

I went into this story a little blind and I have to say I was really blown away. I finished it in 24 hours!!!!

While Riley Carter is out to the movies with his mom, his police officer dad and baby one year old brother die in a raging house fire… that Riley set. Or so he thought. He was toying with the wiring behind his brothers crib, and when his Uncle Greg, now his stepdad, told Ry the fire was an electrical one, he knew it was his fault.

Fast forward five years later and Riley is plagued by visions of a blurred red dragon stalking him, overwhelming scents of his dad’s lollipops and motor oil with smoke and decay, and a faint babies cry. He knows his dad is out there in these visions somewhere, somehow, but Ry thinks it’s all in his head… until the monster hurts him, and Ry ends up injured in real life.

Partnering with his best friend Davis and the new girl Jasmine, who’s also gifted, they set off to make sense of these visions and solve his family’s murder, as well as Jasmine’s fathers disappearance.

This is a complex story about grief, nostalgia, and love, lies and murder, the importance of leaning on friends and trusting your gut. The twists are witty, the characters well rounded and relatable, and when you feel like you could be a little lost, things snap into focus shortly after. I appreciate this as some mysteries lead you on, confused, for most of the book lol Riley’s life is complicated- he battled leukemia, half his family passed tragically, and his godfather and dads best friend, Greg, is now his father! The revelations at the end of this story are shocking and masterfully pieced together.

I was really gripped from the beginning with Riley’s story and the burden on his shoulders of grief and sorrow. I did guess on some aspects that would be important later based on repetition of their appearance, but for the most part I was kept guessing. I loved witchy shows as a kid (Charmed! Shannen, RIP Queen) and continue to be fascinated by the supernatural so this book really sucked me in. Knowing this was YA, I expected some of the YA aspects, but they were few and far between. I got goosebumps when Riley and Jasmine shook hands! Also, I live on Long Island and I loved all the references Blount wrote about! I read half the book in one sitting, so I knew this would be one to recommend to my book club gals!

Truly an outstanding read that swept me off my feet and highly recommend to all!

[John Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riley lost his dad and baby brother in a house fire when he was young. He’s harbored secret guilt ever since that fatal day, but has never dared share it with his mom and stepfather, Greg who was a fellow member of the police force in the Long Island town where they live.
About the time he begins having visions, coupled with distinct smells, he begins questioning his sanity. This coincides with the arrival of Jasmine, a girl his age, and her mom who set up a psychic shop in town.
They were drawn here because of Jasmine’s vision that includes the distinctive sound of the ferry horn, as well as her belief that the vision is connected to the disappearance of her father, an insurance investigator who was looking into a series of suspicious fires.
It’s Riley’s best friend, Davis, who first encounters Jasmine and is very impressed with her psychic ability. He drags Riley there, hoping that Jasmine can help him with his visions which are becoming so strong and unpredictable that they’re threatening his sanity.
Riley’s skepticism is at first a major impediment to any sort of cooperation, but he can’t deny how pretty she is, nor can he keep up his resistance as she continues to demonstrate her ability to read his thoughts and help interpret the ever more frightening visions that are accompanied by strong scents.
As they slowly grow more trusting and their romantic attraction strengthens, they, along with Davis, embark upon a quest to figure out what Riley’s late father’s desperate message is. It involves creating a new belief system, unmasking corruption, some very scary situations, and a surprise near the end that is a dandy.
This is a terrific story for teens and adults who like mystery, particularly one with a bit of romance and a good dose of the supernatural.

[P.J. Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for lovers of ghost stories, mysteries, and YA action adventure
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2025
This was my favorite kind of read. I simultaneously couldn't wait to get to the end to see what happened, and dreaded getting to the end because I knew it would be over. I loved this book and couldn't put it down. The characters were engaging, authentic, and well drawn. I was impressed with the author's knowledge and research of the occult, which made for a seamless and plausible plot. The depth of emotion and character growth had me rooting for Ryan, Jasmine, and Davis (who never felt like a secondary character) on every page. I highly recommend this book for lovers of ghost stories, mysteries, suspense, and action adventure stories. Adults, young adults, and especially male YA readers. Well done!

[Lynn Lovegreen]

Riley has visions that terrify him. Jasmine can hear his thoughts. Together, they must untangle the mystery of their fathers’ deaths—if they can survive.

This paranormal mystery had me turning the pages long into the night! Patty Blount’s vivid descriptions and great teen characters will keep you reading until the very end.

P.S. I received an ARC copy for a fair review.