Pathways to Bolingbrook: A Bolingbrook Babbler Story

by William Brinkman

Which path would you choose?

Bolingbrook, a Chicago suburb, is called the Pathway Village. It’s a quiet village, known for its cultural diversity, civic-minded volunteers, and “business-friendly” climate. Yet Bolingbrook hides dark secrets. Monsters lurk in its shadows. Covert facilities house otherworldly beings. The Bolingbrook Babbler’s reporters work to expose the truth, while village officials cover up the truth.

Two women each find themselves at the beginning of a dark path to Bolingbrook’s paranormal underground:

Miriam is homeless, out of options, and stuck in Iowa City. A stranger offers her a way out. His offer seems too good to be true, but Miriam knows every offer comes with a catch. Could his offer be worse than her current situation?

Sara is a reporter at a struggling newspaper chain and a mother of two. She was about to write an article when she found a recording on her phone. It was a man dictating the article she was going to write. She didn't recognize the voice, nor did she remember the conversation. Her editor and publisher warn her not to investigate. Perusing the story will end her career, yet she needs what happened. How far will she go to find the answer?

Pathways to Bolingbrook is the first of the Bolingbrook Babbler Stories books. Fans of Welcome to Night Vale and The X-Files will enjoy these stories.

Will either of them choose the right path? Get Pathways to Bolingbrook to find out.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery

66 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2022

About the author

William Brinkman is the creator of the Bolingbrook Babbler and is a member of the Freethought Blogs network. He's also a board member of a humanistic Jewish congregation in the Chicago area.

He also contributed short stories and background material to White Wolf's Demon the Fallen role-playing game.

He currently lives with his wife and cat in the Chicagoland area.

Despite the current unrest in the world, he still believes that this world is all there is, and all we need.

Reviews

[Darin Roodman]

**ARC Reader, all opinions are my own!**

Welcome to the Chicagoland town of Bolingbrook. Picturesque, quiet, a place where a person can set down roots and raise a family. Not too close to the craziness of Chicago, but not out in the sticks either.

Unbeknownst to the citizens of our fair town, darkness lurks in the shadows, things that go bump and bump back in the night. These two novellas tell the beginning of the story of the town of Bolingbrook, IL (a real place, but, as far as we know, not host to unknown supernatural phenomena). In the first, we meet Miriam and Sara, two young women whose lives haven’t really gone the way anyone expected. Miriam is alone and on the run, and Sara is working at a failing newspaper that exists under the thumb of a powerful yet corrupt mayor. Both of them are offered a choice that could change their lives; they need only take the first step, one into darkness, the other into the spotlight that shines on the things lurking in the dark.

In the second book, 20 years have passed, and we meet Lydia (who we find out we’ve met before) and Sara—yes, that Sara. Time has changed them both, one as a human, the other as a vampire who can’t help but feel (even though vampires aren’t supposed to be able to do that!). When weardeer (yeah, it’s new to me too, but I think I’m here for it!) begin amassing around the town a with a huge event on the supernatural side of things, and enforcers from the Kingdom of Chicago (yeah, I know, right?) show up to look into it, the two women’s paths cross, leaving one bruised but victorious and the other none the wiser.

These two books offer an interesting and engaging look into the world of The Bolingbrook Babbler, a gossip rag that has more sales and does better business than 5 other papers in the state combined. It helps that they report on the big stories, like vampire, weredeer, and bat boy—you know, the big stories. In “Pathways to Bolingbrook,” we meet two of the series’ main characters at the crossroads that will result in their lives never being the same, and get to know them a bit to learn about why they’ve chosen the path they have. In “A Fire in the Shadows,” we meet up with our protagonists 20 years later. Their lives have completely changed, but their paths are set to cross in what could be yet another crossroads. I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobooks for both, and I enjoyed them. The descriptions, though straightforward, are effective in painting the picture, and the story is a good time. Having the time jump initially made me wonder, but soon I’d gotten where we were going, and I was here for the ride.

I recommend these books, especially if you’re into urban fantasy and Harry Dresden’s old Chicagoland stomping grounds. Enjoy!

[Lydia Schoch]

It takes a special sort of person to accept such dangerous and thankless work.

I enjoyed getting to know Miriam and Sarah in this introduction to their world. They were both intelligent and resourceful women who had already accomplished quite a bit with their lives before being approached by a mysterious man with the sort of job offer most folks will never be aware even exists much less have a chance to try for themselves. While they didn’t meet each other here much to my surprise, I could see a lot of similarities between their personalities that made me wonder what they’d think about each other at some point in the future when the plot does bring them together.

While I totally understand that this was written as an introduction to a series, it would have been nice to have more conflict. Almost all of it was devoted to introducing the two protagonists, briefly describing what their lives had been like so far, and giving hints about why they might decide to take on these new roles. Yes, it was interesting and completely necessary to have all of that background information, but it also meant that the characters didn’t have much to wrestle with during the brief time I knew them. I would have loved to see how they both handled some sort of small problem that could foreshadow what to expect from them in the future.

With that being said, I did enjoy the world building and little snippets of foreshadowing that occurred. Bolingbrook honestly sounds like a rough place to live, but it also seems like it could be full of wonderful surprises for Sarah and Miriam. My hope is that this will provide them plenty of conflict in later instalments as I thought there was a lot of promise here that hadn’t quite been realized yet.

Pathways to Bolingbrook was interesting.

[Brad Audiobibliophile]

This inaugural entry in the series presents two compelling short stories that introduce Sara and Miriam—strong female protagonists who will likely feature prominently in subsequent books. While both stories are engaging and well-crafted, they reference past events with minimal detail, creating the impression of missing backstory. I found myself checking whether there was a prequel I'd overlooked, but confirmed this is indeed the series opener.
Despite this initial confusion, both tales are sufficiently intriguing to leave me eager for more. The stories successfully establish the characters and world while maintaining enough mystery to drive interest in future installments.
The narration is clear and professionally delivered, making for an enjoyable listening experience throughout.
I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook through StoryOrigin and am voluntarily providing an honest, unbiased review.

[Patricia Watson]

I absolutely LOVED reading this work and hope that more of the story will follow. There is the titillation of mystery as the tales slowly and captivatingly unfold in what will eventually become a truly good series, I hope.

Mr. Brinkman most certainly is a very good and talented storyteller. I look forward to being able to purchase.

I will not post anything that could possibly spoil the content, but if you are a fan of Algernon Blackwood you will enjoy Mr. Brinkman’s writings.

[Si Clarke]

I forget how I discovered this little story, but it was available in Kobo Plus, so I grabbed it. Unfortunately, this isn't a story – more like a bit of behind-the-scenes from the longer works in the series. If you've read the other books and want a bit more background on your characters. But if you're looking for an entry point into this author's works, this probably isn't the best place to start.

[Laura]

Audiobook: I was entertained by this short story, which was the first experience I have had with this author. I thought this brief introduction was intriguing. I would be interested in exploring more in this creative world with these complicated individuals. I thought Rachanne Lumayno's narration added to the story's entertainment. I was gifted an audiobook through audiobooks.com. I volunteered, without financial gain, to leave this review which included my honest opinions regarding this tale.

[Kat]

This seems like a good start to a book, but it is far too short to really consider a book or novella. I'd like to see the expanded story outside this short story. The Narrator did a good job making each character sound unique.
For such a short story, it had a lot of characters. I would have liked it if it stuck with one of the pairs of people, since nothing seems to actually happen to end the story.

[Louise]

This is the opening to the series, A Bolingbrook Babbler Story, therefore this is a very short and quick read as Miriam and Sara are introduced for the first time.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to StoryOrigin and author.

[Kevin Cannon (Monty's Book Reviews)]

Disappointing short intro. This needed to sell the characters to gather interest for a full novel but didn't hit the spot for me. I like the premise though

[Tina]

Short but good. I love how strong these two FMC are. Narration is done well. Storyline pulls you in makes you want to follow for next in series.

[Caitlin Myers]

Loved this and read it in a day!