I just finished my first book for the R.(eaders) I.(n) P.(eril) X challenge.
I signed up to read two 'scary' books between September 1st and October 31st, (and watch at least one scary movie) but I'll be lucky to finish my second book(Salem's Lot read-a-long)... October is the busiest month of the year at work, and while I like it---the events we put on-- I also hate it, because I just want to relax. I want to relax and read scary books!
I want to get in the Halloween mood!!
Okay, enough of my whining---everyone is busy--- I just finished this book:
From Goodreads:
From award-winning novelist Wendy Webb comes a spine-tingling mystery about family secrets set in a big, old haunted house on Lake Superior.
Grace Alban has spent twenty years away from her childhood home, the stately Alban House, for reasons she would rather forget. But when her mother's unexpected death brings Grace and her teen-age daughter home, she finds more haunting the halls and passageways of Alban House than her own personal demons.
Long-buried family secrets, a packet of old love letters and a lost manuscript plunge Grace into a decades-old mystery about a scandalous party at Alban House, when a world-famous author took his own life and Grace's aunt disappeared without a trace. The night has been shrouded in secrecy by the powerful Alban family for all of these years, and Grace realizes her family secrets tangle and twist as darkly as the secret passages of Alban House. Her mother was intending to tell the truth about that night to a reporter on the very day she died - could it have been murder? Or was she a victim of the supposed Alban curse? With the help of the disarmingly kind--and attractive—Reverend Matthew Parker, Grace must uncover the truth about her home and its curse before she and her daughter become the next victims
Grace Alban has spent twenty years away from her childhood home, the stately Alban House, for reasons she would rather forget. But when her mother's unexpected death brings Grace and her teen-age daughter home, she finds more haunting the halls and passageways of Alban House than her own personal demons.
Long-buried family secrets, a packet of old love letters and a lost manuscript plunge Grace into a decades-old mystery about a scandalous party at Alban House, when a world-famous author took his own life and Grace's aunt disappeared without a trace. The night has been shrouded in secrecy by the powerful Alban family for all of these years, and Grace realizes her family secrets tangle and twist as darkly as the secret passages of Alban House. Her mother was intending to tell the truth about that night to a reporter on the very day she died - could it have been murder? Or was she a victim of the supposed Alban curse? With the help of the disarmingly kind--and attractive—Reverend Matthew Parker, Grace must uncover the truth about her home and its curse before she and her daughter become the next victims
From me:
On the front cover of the book I have it says "A Perfect Read for a dark and stormy night".
I was very exited, because I wanted to love it, I wanted to be spooked, I wanted to feel a bit nervous...but I ended up only giving it three stars.
I liked it. I did. It kept my attention, I was pretty engaged in the writing and the characters, but I sometimes have issues with gothic type of novels.
The issues would be ---they never finish a conversation at all!!
They'll be in the middle of a deep conversation about an important plot twist and then the character will say, "we'll finish this later, after I take a nap."
That might be funny if it weren't true.
They NEVER finish a conversation---something always interrupts them.
I think the premise of the gothic (or gothic-like) novel is to keep the reader on the edge of their seats with FRUSTRATION, and just wanting to get to the bottom of the story.
I end up just getting annoyed with the situation.
Maybe I should give it 2 stars, but I really did like it, so I'll stay with 3.
Three, because after all is said and done, it was a fun little mystery with a tad bit of supernatural thrown in for good measure.
It's a paradox.
Now I am on to finish Salem's Lot and find a couple of creepy good movies to finish up my challenge.
What's a creepy good movie that you love?
2 comments:
That sounds spooky, perfect for Halloween. We haven't really watched any spooky movies but we did finally catch up on Walking Dead, season 5. It's going to to be hard making my coworkers shut about the new season which will be on tv.
That would drive me crazy too. Now I'm wondering if I've ever read a Gothic novel.
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