When Crystal Donovan's grandmother dies, Crystal inherits a beautiful amulet. Shortly after she is witness to a dreadful explosion at a local theatre and discovers one of the victims lying in a nearby park, apparently suffering from Amnesia. When he asks her to help him recover his watch, lost in the explosion, she has no reason to think he is anything but genuine, so when they are both pursued by an inhuman creature seemingly bent on killing them she naturally tries to help save the mysterious stranger.

However, not everything is quite as it seems and when a strange young woman, Ba Tuti, arrives at her flat declaring herself to be the Moon and Crystal to be the Star Crystal starts to wonder what exactly is going on. Suddenly Crystal and Ba Tuti find themselves transported back in time to the time of the Salem witch trials where Crystal discovers the truth about her heritage and finds that she has a destiny, as the Star, to prevent the crystal amulet falling into the wrong hands.

The Demon Plague is the first book written by Joreid McFate and is a wonderful tale of magic, witchcraft and time travel. Joreid McFate is the name given to a writing team of Karl Joreid and Frances McFate; two people who met on-line and decided to write a novel together. But if I hadn't known the author to be two people working together I would not have guessed. Their styles mesh perfectly to form one perfect author.

There are many stories around based at the time of the Salem witch trials but this is the first I have read that covers three separate eras and requires the main characters to travel first back two hundred years and then forward into the future. The main characters, Crystal and Ba Tuti are following a destiny laid out many years earlier, their individual roles being passed down from generation to generation all leading up to a final great battle between good and evil.

This book could have ended up being a very predictable story but Joreid McFate have thrown in a few twists and turns that definitely keep you on your toes and there is a great cast of supporting characters that add extra layers to what already is a wonderful story. This would have been a superb third or forth novel for a single experienced author. When you consider that this story is the first book written by two people who have never met (nor even spoken on the telephone) then it becomes even more astonishing.

A fantastic story that entertains and keeps you enchanted right to the very end.

Synposis
When Crystal Donovan inherits a mysterious amulet dating back to the Salem witch trials her life becomes an exercise in terror.

A brutal murder and an encounter with an inhuman creature are catalysts for the journey of her life--a roller coaster ride through time. Crystal is thrust into a past ruled by superstition, then catapulted into a future devastated by biological weapons . . . and inhabited by demons.

Can she unravel the secret of the amulet? Will she find a way back to her own time?

Or die trying?

Review Quotes
"...part Terminator, part Gremlins, part Andromeda Strain...wonderfully inventive...thrilling...irresistible...plot twists aplenty...Quick pacing, suspenseful plot and supernatural chills will leave readers as exhausted as they are exhilarated...Highly recommended."
- Gary Pullman, Scribes World Reviews

"...an intricate, compelling tale with an attention to timely detail that makes the reader feel as if they are there."
- Karri Watson, Curled Up With A Good Book