
Then Mary receives an invitation for the family to become guests at Manor House, a seemingly quaint Bed and Breakfast. This, she assures her husband, is the answer to all their troubles.
Edmund arrives ahead of his family to spend a couple days working on his long-delayed novel. But his growing curiosity about the old house leads Edmund to an encounter that will change him forever.
What will you sacrifice for love?
An old fashioned psychological thriller with a nod to Stephen King, Manor House will keep you guessing and compel you to turn the page to the very end.
A mother will sacrifice anything for her children. A husband will risk everything to save his wife. Manor House will take them all. (Summary and pic from goodreads.com)
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My Review: ‘Tis the season for scary ghost stories, AmIRight? It wouldn’t
be Halloween without a few. We at Reading for Sanity wouldn’t feel right about
you living your Halloween season all non-scary and such, so today I’m bringing
you a review of a haunted house book.
Haunted houses are, without a doubt, one of the funnest
scary things about Halloween, ya know? I’ve talked about my love for non-human
characters in the past, and haunted houses are definitely on my list of Fave
Characters that are not human. I’m not saying not living, you see, because
there are many lovely books about animals as main characters. There are even books about non-living things as the main character, but
for Halloween, the choice du jour is definitely a haunted house. Maybe Dracula,
too, but I guess we can debate whether or not vampires are living at a later
date.
So imagine my excitement when I was given the opportunity
for a book about haunted houses. And ya’ll, this haunted house book is definitely
creepy. This house is uber evil. It’s not just that bad things have gone on
there, but the very land it is on is cursed. And a tree. A big ol’ scary tree
that does very nasty things to people. It has a secret as well, but I’ll let
you discover that on your own.
This book was full of fun Halloweeny-type situations—mysterious
disappearances, deaths, furnishings that appear and re-appear, not-quite-living
and not-quite-dead house staff, a house that is hard to find to outsiders, a deep and troubled
past…this haunted house has it all. I really enjoyed the back story of this
haunted house. It was a great addition to my Halloween reading.
My complaint about this book is that it was at times
confusing. I know that the author had intentions of the mystery surrounding the
house to be confusing, but I don’t think the story ended up being confusing in
the way he hoped. Instead of there being a delicious mystery about what had
happened, I ended up wondering if the editing had been messed up and a chapter
replaced. I figured it out and the story marched on just fine, but it did take
me a little while to confirm what was going on. I don’t think this is because
the author had an unformed story, instead, I think it was just a slight inexperience
about how to transition smoothly in a situation where the main character is
forgetting and letting the reader in on the secret without ruining the shtick.
Don’t worry, though. This particular issue resolves as time goes on and the haunted reading commences!
This is a short little read with a creepy vibe. If you’re
looking for a fun haunted house story that isn’t a huge time commitment or a
big emotional drain, this book is for you!
My Rating: 3 stars
For the sensitive
reader: There is some slight language and Halloween-esque themes (nothing too
gory, although think witch trials-esque). This book is clean.
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