Wouldn't it be interesting if there were places in this world that existed but couldn't be seen, the sort of places where miracles occurred and then were carried back with you into the everyday world? Elizabeth Sinclair has created just such a place with her Miracle of the Mist sequel, Into the Mist.
 
Carrie had no recollection of her past or how she came to be traveling in blood stained clothes on a blustery winter night. In fact, she wouldn’t know her name was "Carrie" if someone hadn't told her to look in her pocket for some type of identification. A lone piece of paper bearing the name "Carrie' was all she had to go by.

Welcomed into a stranger's home, Carrie finds herself magically transported to another place in a similar time. All the people were so nice and she felt so secure, yet nightmares plagued her sleep. A man wanted her dead, brutally beating her and chasing her until she woke night after night in a cold sweat.

Who was the man in her dreams? Probably her husband since he had a wedding band on. But why did he treat her in such a fashion and why couldn't she remember anything about her life other than what showed up in her dreams?

Carrie was told that it would take time and, eventually, her memory would return. How right they were. After meeting Frank Donovan by the stream, Carrie began to remember bits and pieces of her past. What a nice man he was; so caring and attentive but also so distant and troubled. Perhaps, she thought, they could work out their problems together.

Dr. Frank Donovan knew his best friends wouldn’t steer him wrong, but really, travel to an uncharted place and leave his practice for an unknown amount of time? Well, he had to give it a try. More and more of his surgeries had to be completed by other surgeons as his energy and mind failed him. Caught up in the mistakes of the past, Frank couldn't help but blame himself for the death of his wife and his unborn child.

Why couldn't it have been him who died? Why had it been Sandy? He felt robbed and cheated, guilty and unloved. It seemed impossible to go on day after day without her.

Steve and Meghan assured him this little escape would help him heal, would help him move on. He wasn't so sure until he met Carrie. What a beautiful, loving woman she was. Too bad she had no idea of who she really was, or how she came to have lost her memory. Did it really matter though? Couldn't he love her today for who she was and not worry about the past that plagued her? Perhaps they could both put the past behind them, together.

I was really hoping I would enjoy Into the Mist so I could share it with friends, but unfortunately Elizabeth Sinclair has created an incoherent story that leaves the reader confused and conflicted. It isn't the kind of story I would want my friends to read.

In Ms. Sinclair's defense I will say that I have not read the first book, Miracle of the Mist and perhaps if you were already in love with the inhabitants of this misty village you would enjoy the story more.

To me, it doesn't seem to be a problem of not knowing the history of the place since she recounts that quite well. My problem came with a mismatch of the religious overtones of the story, set in a place of salvation and redemption, and the promiscuous activities of the characters searching for their purpose in life.

Though not overly erotic, I did not feel a couple who just barely met should be jumping into a physical relationship so quickly when their every move is being watched by a God-like being and an entire village of his followers. The voyeuristic nature of it just did not fit with a story of salvation and it was downright creepy to read. I half expected it to turn into a horror story where they were butchered in the name of the deity for their crimes.

Beyond the odd sexual parts of the book, the general story is predictable and uninteresting. The characters did not engage me and I didn't particularly care if they ever found peace or not. Perhaps that had something to do with their inability to focus on redemption and put the pleasures of the flesh aside for a moment.

If you enjoyed Miracle of the Mist, by all means give Into the Mist a go. I think your feelings of the village characters may carry the story along enough for it to be palatable and perhaps even enjoyable to you. However, if you have never read the first, I would avoid the second until you do. It just does not have enough substance to stand alone.