Customer Reviews

The Medium

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
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I started and finished this book in two days because I couldn't put it down. The author's poetic prose softens this fast-paced story and all of its joys and heartbreaks.

I became really attached to the characters - endearing in their complexities and imperfections. The author avoids melodrama by her subtle and soft way with words, yet I found myself moved by the people and events in this story and taking stock of my life as I read this book. The Medium is also rich with historical context right down to the details of everday life in New Jersey during WWII.

I loved this novel and I appreciate it for its quiet beauty, deep character development, and historical accuracy. It is a well-researched and superbly crafted page-turner of a novel. I have no doubt that its main character, Helen, will be on my mind for weeks to come!

Helen Schneider has a gift that frightened her when it first surfaced. She can envision disasters. Although her parents feared for her and preferred their child not be a freak, her grandmother nurtured her and taught Helen to learn to use her skill to benefit people. She does, but years later still resents being different and in her way worries about failing.

When an Angel first visited Helen to help her adjust and cope, she rejected the heavenly being out of anger of being different. However, the angel kept trying to help her until Helen accepted her gift as divine since she became a medium channeling thoughts between the dead and their living loved ones. When WWII broke out, Helen uses her ability to help soldiers and civilian who know first hand the horrors of war although each time she does this she feels as if part of her has been ripped out even as the American government begins to think she is a Nazi agent..

This is a strange but exhilarating paranormal historical thriller starring a fascinating lead character who as THE MEDIUM holds the story line together. Although she hates her talent as she just wants to be normal, readers will admire her as she tries to help victims of the war. In fact Helen's accounts are so accurate she is considered a spy placing her in further trouble. Noelle Sickels provides a strong unique twentieth century tale that readers will fully appreciate her talent.

Harriet Klausner

Having grown up in a similar Northern NJ "bedroom community" as the author, my personal experiences were pleasantly re-awakened by "The Medium". Other than the intriguing theme of spiritual awareness, I was most impressed by major pre-war 1930's & wartime 1940's events were woven into her novel. With the exception of the fear & trepidation felt by contemporary German-Americans, she effectively conveyed the feelings of average citizens to these events. Public suspicion of German-Americans during WWII & WWI is an experience that few writers have directly addressed. Only one example comes to mind: The summary execution of a captured German soldier from Oregon on D-Day in "Saving Private Ryan". Ms. Sickels treatment of Helen Schneider & her family expresses the universal agony experienced by all those affected by conflict on whatever side they may find themselves. I look forward to reading "Walking West" & future works by this very creative & fearless author.

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. It is filled with wonderful details that are true to time and place of Bergen County NJ during World War II. As a German-American who grew up in New Jersey as did the main character, Helen Schneider, I was thrilled with the richness and verisimilitude of the cultural setting. Her experience of becoming a medium rang true as well. I learned a great deal about WWII internment camps for German-Americans that I had no idea about before reading this. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in psychic phenomena, mediumship or simply wants an engaging historical novel to read.

Helen Schneider has an amazing and frightening gift that she first experiences as something surreal and awful. She sees a nearby, disastrous fire or the upcoming accident of neighbor. Thanks to a loving, nurturing grandmother and despite the fears and doubts of her own parents, Helen proceeds to develop this gift, albeit sometimes with deep regrets and fears.

An Angel appears to Helen, only to be rebuffed in Helen's sense of being overwhelmed by her experiences and feeling so different or odd from everyone else. Later the Angel will help her to accept the inevitable, being able to be a medium who connects the dead spirits with their loving relatives and friends.

So far, nothing unusual here, right? However what singularly marks this amazing novel is Helen's connection with the looming World War II and her ability to ease the mental or emotional suffering of soldiers and other non-combatants who actually experience the horrific specific events of this nightmarish period. The author has thoroughly researched this historical period, apparent in the skilled way the initial theories and news is presented. One senses Hitler's looming genocide and the significant military victories and losses about to happen in a way that makes the reader feel he or she is right there in each scene.

Neighbors tell these ideas and facts to Helen, and others she intuits with her gifted skills while reading the newspaper articles of the times. So vivid are her impressions that she becomes first a target for suspicion as a spy and later a credible connection for those unable to figure out what will happen next and how this all will end.

The Medium contains enough mystery, suspense, romance, and paranormal premonitions to keep the reader fascinated, intrigued and breathtakingly waiting to turn the next page. Noelle Sickels is a fine writer who has crafted a unique, impressive novel!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on October 14, 2007

Great book, great story about an amazing time in this country's history and how once, we all were asked to sacrifice for the greater cause. An intriguing story of a realm beyond what most of us see and hear. Well written and researched by an excellent author.

Being a member of a Spiritualist Church and having experience with mediums, the author has done an excellent job at presenting this story. I was so impressed, I bought several more copies to give as gifts.