In November 2008, unfortunately, Crichton passed away, so in 2013 the remaining 6 books were released. HOOK - 1 stars: >>>"Starting in the early dawn light, he had driven up into the mountains...then don through lush valleys...damp in the misty morning wetness...up once more to the cold air of the peaks..."<<< opens this novel. PLOT - 2: Standard diamond heist, jewels hidden in imported statue and brought to Jamaica via a private yacht. If it weren't for a twist, I'd go with one star: this plot has been done and done. Season Two: " Slumber Party" • " Odd Mal Out" • " Pair of Sneakers" • " Wild Rehearsal" • " Chemical Reaction" • " Talking Heads" • " Steal Away" • " Evil Among Us" • " Options Are Shrinking" • " Party Crashers" • " Mal-lone" • " Trapped" • " Face to Face" • " United We Stand" • " Celebration" Descendants 3: Good to Be Bad • Queen of Mean • Do What You Gotta Do • Night Falls • One Kiss • My Once Upon a Time • Break This Down • Dig a Little Deeper

This book gave me so many mixed emotions. It is beautifully written with lyrical prose that pulls you into the heart of the book and the body of Annis as she makes her way through life. Young Annis is a teenager who learned survival skills from her mother, skills to help her in this blind world of unspeakable crimes against humanity—but it was all legal then. Annis possessed some sense of agency only in these monthly sessions with her mama, in the Carolina woods where they had a large outdoor space. “The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hand.” That is the opening line of the novel. Despite this dip in the third act and an ending that felt slightly less satisfying than I had hoped, Annis' journey is one worth taking. As Ward herself states on the cover of my advanced copy by way of introduction, "It is difficult to walk south with Annis. Her narrative descends from one hellscape to another, but I promise that if you come with me, you will rise. It will be worth the walk, worth the walking." Prior to her forced exit, Annis met another enslaved girl, Safi, and the two had become deeply bonded. For Annis, without her mother or Safi, she is caught in a blind and bleak world of the damned. The landscape of her life is often infernal, forlorn. Annis learns that her grandmother was a woman warrior married to a rich king who had many warrior wives. Every month, Annis’ mother took her to the woods and taught her to fight, to defend herself, to rise up. Mama educated Annis on the poignant saga of her family, to give her something that no slaveholder can take away—the story of her origin.Let us Descend is the story of an enslaved girl, Annis, and her mother, and her mother before that. It is the story of generations, of myths, of spirits, and of transcendence. Like Ward says, this is a hard journey. But it is also about claiming your humanity and a sense of hope despite people trying their absolute hardest to strip someone entirely of both. As a young girl, Annis hears the white children being read Dante's Inferno. Annis compares her journey through a different type of hell with what she heard in that book alongside other illusions to bees and to water. All of this blends together to make a story that will truly take your breath away. Every sentence is a gift. it reads like a brisk 007 story, and the main character of macgregor is a highly likeable raymond chandler type hero. he is what makes the book fun to hang out with. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial? Along the journey, a weather spirit carrying the name of Annis’s grandmother appears to her. At times rejecting the spirit’s guidance and at other times seeking her protection, Annis begins to learn, through a careful piecing together of memory, how to create her own version of freedom.

I won’t say more about the plot. This is a story you should experience for yourself. I loved Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing and loved the ghost there , but there was a little too much magical realism here for me. I can’t quite give it 5 stars, but overall this is a stunning read that will shake you to your core . Jesmyn Ward’s central character, is a teenage girl. Annis. She is marched off to New Orleans after her Mama was sold off. Among them are books published for the first time such as Joyland and The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. Annis is strong, though, and draws strength from her mother and stories of her grandmother. They are warriors, whose hands are weapons. And they support and love each other, finding ways to help and show gentleness even in the the worst situations. Annis never gives up, determined to find her freedom. And when it comes to Let Us Descend, I can confirm that it is worth the walk, worth the walking, and worth the WAIT, indeed.

The protagonist of the novel is James McGregor, a diver working out of Jamaica who is used to exploring sunken ships. One night, he is called by an insurance adjuster named Arthur Wayne to dive to a sunken yacht named the Grave Descend to see if it can be raised and salvaged. The yacht mysteriously sunk after an explosion off the Jamaican coast. But is this what really happened? After talking to Wayne, the ship's captain, and a beautiful survivor, McGregor feels that there is more to the story based on some conflicting statements by the witnesses. He gets drawn into the mystery which is really not what was originally reported. Midway through this book, I thought I would give it four stars. The first act is top-notch. A professional diver named McGregor is hired to investigate a recently sunken ship, the Grave Descend, but the more McGregor learns, the clearer it becomes that he is being manipulated in some kind of convoluted scam. Let Us Descend is an atmospheric, moving tale that sweeps you away to North Carolina during the mid-1800s and into the life of Annis, a young woman of mixed race trained by her mother in more than just servitude who, after being sold one year after her beloved Mama, is forced in chains on a gruelling march from the rice fields she’s only ever known to the sugar plantations of New Orleans where with a little help from the spirit world beyond she endures extreme hardships and brutal savagery until she can find an opportunity to finally slip free. The only real gripe I have with GRAVE DESCEND is the open ended conclusion - all the puzzle pieces don’t quite fit into place. I’m not sure if there are more books featuring McGregor, but GRAVE DESCEND certainly left the impression that this protagonist was designed to be a series character.