July 1

The Corruption of Alston House – John Quick

Katherine’s life has been on a downhill turn, filled with tragedy and heartbreak. When she bought Alston House in the small Tennessee town of Poplar Bend, she hoped it would be the chance to turn things around, center herself again, and get serious about her art. True, it was a risk buying a house virtually sight unseen through the internet, but she knew it needed some extensive renovations, so what could go wrong?

What the real estate agent never told her was that Alston House had a history that was among the darkest secrets in the small town. As Katherine begins to put her life back together following her dream as a painter, she discovers there is more here than meets the eye. One of the home’s former residents never left, even after death, and now he seems to have set his sights on her. Can she uncover the darkness at the heart of the town and overcome her personal ghosts, or will she become one more victim to the town’s hidden hearts?

 

 

I received a review copy from the publishers, Silver Shamrock, but I also bought my own copy which I read through Kindle.

 

Forgive me readers but it has been one month since my last confe…erm…my last blog post.  This is entirely down to gravity.  Had it not been for gravity my laptop would not have fatally rushed towards the floor after it lost balance from a high place and the screen would certainly not have cracked up.  Not that it cracked up anywhere near as much as I did trying to get a replacement laptop through my insurance company – but all sorted now and no need to involve the Ombudsman as I eventually had to suggest may happen.

*And Breathe*

So let me turn to John Quick’s excellent The Corruption of Alston House. I started this one back at the beginning of lockdown but rest assued it has not taken me over 100 days to get through it.  Sadly for much of the lockdown time I have been unable to focus on books, everything I had started back in March got put to the side and it has taken me several weeks to slowly get back into my reading. But I had been enjoying The Corrupton of Alston House so I went back to the start and began again – a good decision!

I have always enjoyed a creepy story with a haunted house and in that regard this book was exactly what I needed. Katherine moves to Alston House to start a new life for herself, she leaves upset and tragedy behind her and hopes to restablish her painting as she is a talented artist.  Her new home, Alston House, is a grand property but in need of some maintenance to make it comfortable.  I was already imagining the sprawling old homestead with dark nooks and hidden corners.  There is a graveyard in the grounds (never a good sign) and the basement gives Katherine the chills when she needs to venture down in the dark.

The author builds up the anticipation around the secrets of Alston House really well and even before the really weird stuff kicks in there is a definite sense of foreboding. The first unusual incidents manifest themselves around the paintings which Katherine produces – she becomes so lost in the creative process she cannot even remember some of the details she includes. It is not long before the paintings are just a small part of the shocks which lie in store.

Katherine is befriended by the local marshall who is also trying to match-make her with his younger colleague Bradley. As events in her new home become increasingly dangerous for Katherine she relies more and more upon the support of Bradley and there is more than a spark of romance in the air.  However, one former resident of Alston House wants Katherine for himself and he will not let anything, not even the grave, stand in his way.  As Katherine gains greater understanding of the horrors which ocurred in her home many years earlier she realises a confrontation is looming – one she may not survive.

I always enjoy swapping out my crime reading to take in a good horror tale and The Corruption of Alston House helped me out my lockdown reading slump.  Horror readers should have this one in their collection.

 

 

The Corruption of Alston House is available in paperback and digital format and is free to Kindle Unlimited readers.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0826TT1HH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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October 25

Haverscroft – S.A. Harris

 

Kate Keeling leaves all she knows and moves to Haverscroft House in an attempt to salvage her marriage. Little does she realise, Haverscroft’s dark secrets will drive her to question her sanity, her husband and fatally engulf her family unless she can stop the past repeating itself. Can Kate keep her children safe and escape Haverscroft in time, even if it will end her marriage?

Haverscroft is a gripping and chilling dark tale, a modern ghost story that will keep you turning its pages late into the night.

 

 

My thanks to Salt Publishing for my review copy and the chance to  join the blog tour.

 

A halloween blog tour and what could be better than reaing a chiller about a haunted house? Haverscroft is the house in question and Kate Keeling and her family have just moved in. It’s not long before Kate begins to feel unsettled in their new surroundings.

Haverscroft is an old home which had been owned by the same family for many years. Circumstances forced the last surviving family member to sell the property yet the elderly lady who reluctantly parted with the house has been actively deterring families from moving in.  Kate’s husband arranged the purchase as Kate hadn’t been in the best of health. He sheltered her from the warnings and it is only after they move into Haverscroft that Kate begins to realise their home may not be the sanctuary they sought

The author does get the chill factor right. Strange noises, doors which will not stay closed, a loft filled with memories and belongings of a family long gone and a room which nobody can stand to spend any time in.

If the chilling house isn’t enough foe Kate to contend with, her personal life is also going through the wringer. Kate’s husband is a junior member of a successful law firm. He has been asked to work away on a big case and is not around when Kate needs him. Kate is convinced he is having an affair with one of his colleagues and his increasingly erratic behaviour fuels her fears.

As events in Haverscroft start to escalate we see Kate’s mental health start to suffer. Her focus remains keeping her kids safe but she can’t watch them around the clock and the house holds many dangers.

Haverscroft is a cracking read, an atmospheric chiller and compelling family drama. Perfect halloween reading.

 

Haverscroft is published by Salt and is available in digital and paperback. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1784632007/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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October 1

A House of Ghosts – W.C. Ryan

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

An unrelentingly gripping mystery packed with twists and turns, A House of Ghosts is the perfect chilling read this winter.

 

My thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the chance to join the blog tour. I received a review copy of the book from the publishers.

 

A House of Ghosts is exactly that…Blackwater Abbey has many spitits roaming its halls and one or two of the guests during the course of events in the book can see them. However (important info incoming) the ghosts are not malevolent spirits intent on destroying the characters in the tale, they are passive characters.  Do not pick up A House of Ghosts and expect it to be the next Amytiville Horror – it’s not that type of read.

What A House of Ghosts can offer is (I felt) closer to an espionage adventure or a puzzle in a  old stately home set during the latter period of The Great War.

There are some supernatural elements to the tale, a seance to contact Lord Highmount’s sons who died in the conflict. A mirror which reflects more than the viewer but there are also undercover agents working for British security and a houseguest with murder and menace on their mind.

The characters residing at Blackwater Abbey seem to have secrets they are to keep. The house is remote and cut-off from help as a storm rages outside. The finger of suspicion points at different people throught the book and the author keeps the mystery element twisting nicely through the chapters.

I have worked my way through a few stories this year with unlikeable lead characters and they haven’t been to my liking. I found I enjoyed A House of Ghosts much more I as I became engaged with the events in Blackwater Abbey and wanted to read more about the characters in the book. More importantly I wanted to keep reading as I enjoyed the world W.C. Ryan was spinning for me. I much prefer when a story entertains rather than has to be endured.

Not the ghost story I had anticipated from the title but a great period mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

A House of Ghosts is published by Zaffre and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Ghosts-gripping-mystery-haunted-ebook/dp/B07DDL8KKQ/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1569880277&refinements=p_27%3AW.+C.+Ryan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=W.+C.+Ryan

 

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June 3

Ash – I finished it (and it nearly finished me)

Scroll down my pages and you will see that I was reading James Herbert’s Ash. Having been a James Herbert fan since my teenage years I had held back reading Ash for many, many months – mainly because Mr Herbert sadly passed away not long after publication and I knew that this was the last of his books I would ever get to read.

ash The book started with great potential and I really liked the plot threads that seemed to be developing. The central character had featured in two previous novels and I always enjoy when a familiar face is re-introduced. I made a point to re-read Haunted (where the titular David Ash was first introduced) before turning to Ash so I would be fresh on the character’s back story.

Sadly about half way through this book it all started to go wrong. I appreciate that horror stories can be prone to dramatic excesses for the sake of a plot device, however, this was off the wall.  Translucent children, spawn of Hitler, a secret royal baby, incestuous millionaire siblings – any one of these would defy credibility in most books – to chuck them all in to a single novel makes a farce. Oh, forgot to mention Lord Lucan alive and well and hiding in a remote Scottish castle.

I wondered if Mr Herbert’s editor was just so relieved to finally get a manuscript (there had been a significant gap between Ash and the previous novel) that the thought of further delays while edits were made was just too horrific to contemplate?

I started Ash in April, this review will go live in June. It did not take me 3 months to get to the end of a 400 page book, it has taken me 3 months to research lots of new words that I could use to explain to friends just how terrible Ash is. It really is awful. Abysmal. Dire. This could well be the worst book I have read since High School (20+ years ago).

I started blogging so that I could share news of books I enjoyed – I had not expected that I would also use these pages as a vehicle to tell people to avoid a story by one of my favourite authors.

Grab this book – put it somewhere safe, ideally out of the reach of others. If you want to read a James Herbert novel then I recommend The Magic Cottage or The Rats.

Any of these are better than Ash.
Any of these are recommended before reading Ash.
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