Some Can See

A Northern Michigan Asylum Novel

By: J.R. Erickson

Narrated by: Allyson Voller

The dead have stories to tell. Are you listening?

On a sunny August morning, in 1935, 13-year-old Sophia Gray finds her friend Rosemary wandering in the woods. Rosemary’s yellow dress is tattered and stained, she walks with a strange lurch, and her eyes are vacant and glassy. She beckons to Sophia, desperate to show her something, and Sophia follows.

In an abandoned cabin, beneath a tattered blanket, Sophia discovers Rosemary’s body. It was not Rosemary who led her there, but Rosemary’s ghost.

Step into the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane

Twenty years after Sophia discovers Rosemary’s body, she finds herself trapped in the sprawling, and eerily beautiful, Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, in the hands of a malevolent doctor who preys on patients who exhibit paranormal abilities.

Sometimes the dead don’t rest

In 1965, Hattie, much like her mother, 30 years before, is led by a ghost. A newspaper hidden in an attic reveals a secret that has shaped the lives of Hattie and her siblings. Hattie with her sister, Jude, embark on a crusade to remedy the wrongs of the past and discover the tale of deception that stole their mother a decade before.

Hattie and Jude are in a race against time to discover a murderer and save their mother from a horrific fate.

Get lost in a uniquely chilling story that spans the life of a family and the ghosts who haunt them.

©2018 Jacqueline R Erickson (P)2019 Jacqueline R Erickson

Creeptastic story!

This started out super creeptastic and it carried on with that vibe for the most part. JR Erickson flips back and forth between several perspectives and even timeliness. I have found that this writing type has become quite popular and it leaves me feeling confused through 70-80% of the book. I say that without it being a negative thing. I was able to slowly piece things together and there were several times that I was so lost that it was nearly like two storylines. This isn’t a bad thing, I'm able to put a detective hat on and see if I can place it all together.


I really enjoyed the narrator, Allyson Voller. She has a pleasant voice to listen to. She sets good pace and gives some good emotion. I did have a slight issue with the narration. Since the storyline had multiple POVs, I really wish it would have had at least two narrators. Like I said above, there's a lot going on and with the double POVs it would have helped me keep the characters in their own box. Even with my brain going a million miles to keep it all together, I couldn't get enough of this story... I loved the creepiness of it!

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Amazing!

I absolutely loved this book. it was very well written and every detail thought out down to the surprising and extremely satisfying ending. I can't wait to read more of this series. there's no other book quite like this one. the author runs the lines of reality and imagination together seamlessly throughout the entire story. there's never a second of downtime and it keeps you searching for more from the start. This is truly a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who finds interest in the paranormal or in mysteries

Convoluted ghost murder mystery

It seems like such a good idea but I got lost with all the flipping back and forth between characters and times and places. I couldn’t get connected to the plot or characters because of this writing technique. Since each book is a standalone I will read the second one in hopes of connecting better.

Haunting Mystery but confusing.

This was a lovely who dunnit/ghost story. The characters were interesting and fleshed out well. The story was engaging and creepy. There were only a couple small issues such as the jumping POV's. Going backwards and forwards in time could be jarring and take you out of what often was an engrossing tale. The ending felt a bit rushed, as if the author was hitting the end of a deadline and had to finish up quick. And finally the narrator was a bit one dimensional and often lacked emotion or inflection. Otherwise Some Can See was a quite thrilling paranormal mystery. Also as a fellow Michigander, I enjoyed the twist of our local history! I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Intense once I got into it

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by J.R. Erickson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

It took me a little while to get into this book because it kept jumping around to different times. Once I got the characters and dates straight, I enjoyed it.

Sophia has a gift of seeing dead people that she passes on to her daughter, Hattie. They can see dead people. Unfortunately, Sophia dies in a car accident when Hattie is just eight years old, so Hattie doesn’t know that she inherited it from her mother.

When Hattie and her sister Jude are older, they discover that they’d been lied to all of their lives. When they find out the truth, it’s worse than they could have imagined.

The narrator did a good job with pacing and timing. She helped to make the story come alive.

There are several twists in Some Can See. Many of them I didn’t see coming, but a couple things I figured out. Overall, though, the story flowed well once I got into it, and I’m looking forward to listening to the next story in the Northern Michigan Asylum Series.

Imaginative situations and complications

3.5 STARS. Audio Book Review. SOME CAN SEE by J.R. Erickson, narrated by Allyson Voller, is the first of a series of books in the Northern Michigan Asylum novels. While that premise alone promises high interest reading, Erickson adds in a paranormal element and a wide cast of peculiar characters that will keep the audience engaged.

Interestingly, there is an Author’s Note at the beginning of the book that explains that there was a real asylum that existed and that its existence was the inspiration for the stories. Though author J.R. Erickson makes it clear that the stories and characters are 100% fiction, there's still something delicious about the "what ifs" of that setting given what history tells us was common practice within institutions like that.

The author’s strength is in her ability to vividly describe scenes and people so that they pop to life. Additionally, she comes up with imaginative situations and complications that were reminiscent of VC Andrews books. Unfortunately, the plot holes, unnecessary characters and scenes, and unexplained actions detracted from my enjoyment. There are eight books in this series so far, and they are each stand-alone books with fabulously enticing covers that may tempt me to read one of the later iterations to see if the writing has gotten tighter. Nonetheless, if you just want to be entertained, SOME CAN SEE delivers that in aces.

While Allyson Voller’s narration was fine, I would recommend having a print copy handy for reference. There are multiple timelines in SOME CAN SEE, and the pattern did not quickly emerge. Add to that the multiple points-of-view, multiple characters, and multiple settings, it is somewhat confusing. However, there is enough meat and mystery to the story that readers will want to stick with it because eventually, those timelines and storylines converge, and a wickedly good story reveals itself.

A word of caution: this book has a bit of profanity, including a lot of F-Bomb drops. I don’t like reading it but deal with it, but I really don’t like hearing it or worse -- for anyone else to have to hear it when I’m listening to a book. You’ve been warned (wish I had been).

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Voller’s pacing was perfect for me so that I was able to listen at regular speed and not feel compelled to get her talking faster. She clearly enunciates and gives even delivery. Given the bouncing timeline and changing POVs, it would have helped if she had paused more in the transitions and/or changed her voice to signal the switches. Some characters are uniquely voiced and really stand out, but others are less distinct from one another. I would have liked more of the former to add another layer to the story, but overall, the narration complemented the story instead of overtaking it, and that’s a win-win.

Pretty good! Liked the ending.

It was a pretty good story. I had to go online and put together a family tree because of the many characters. The ending was good so I’m all I’m glad I listened to it.

Very interesting story and characters!

I liked this book captured and kept my interest all the way to the end!

SOme can see

I loved this book!A girl accused of murder grows into a woman running from that accusation.No one believes that she sees ghosts,they tell her things.Betrayed by her husbands mother,she endures until help comes. Allyson Voller was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not a waste of time but not one I would read again

-the descriptions of the girls bodies is both disturbing and unnecessary. It’s so random and just not needed to add to the story. It’s so creepy like some weird person watching them undress or something. It adds nothing to the story or even the characters to know what their nipples look like. And it’s done in a odd and creepy way that made me have a distressed look in my face.
-she goes over the murder part so quickly and wraps up the books so fast. Like everything happens in the last two hours of the book. She wasted a lot of time at the beginning and then rushes the end.
-the going back and forth between past and present was not don’t in a well transition. She might have been less confusing if she had just told the story from the passed, in a quick one chapter and then told the story about the older girls. There was so many details that were just not needed.
-by the time she tells you who the murder is, she basically doesn’t even tell the story about it happening and just has to happen and then they talk about it. It was such a let down. I was so extra when the figures out the killer and than it just goes into this lame side quest that doesn’t even make sense. Really kills the thriller part of the book.
-definitely not creepy and scary.
-wasn’t terrible, would recommend but won’t read again
-it could have been better.