Saturday 19 July 2014

The Winter House

The Winter House by Dee Weaver

I came across this book in a Facebook group dedicated to historical and timeslip fiction. It sounded interesting so I bought it for Kindle ages ago but only just got round to reading it. So many books and so little time.

Maidservant Lily Brent was murdered in the house, over a century ago. Her ghost lives there still, despite the house having stood empty for 40 years. Fynn McColl, a property developer, has bought it, fallen in love with it, and wants to restore it to live in. But Lily sees the reincarnation of the man who murdered her in Fynn, and wants revenge. Meanwhile Georgia, a local vet, has also fallen in love with the house and then falls for Fynn too. She's sceptical about ghosts but as strange things happen in the house she has to revise her opinion, and quickly.

This book is really well written and edited, and was an enjoyable fast-paced read. I felt at the end things had become too weird, too many ghostly activities, and although you have to suspend disbelief when reading a ghost story, this book pushed that suspension a bit too far. I prefer subtler ghosts I think!

But for lovers of ghostly horror, this one is definitely recommended.

Sunday 13 July 2014

The Humans

The Humans by Matt Haig

Saw the author tweet about this book and it looked good, so I bought it. Proof that marketing on Twitter does work.

Very quirky and enjoyable novel. The narrator is an unnamed alien, who has taken the form of maths professor Andrew Martin. He's been sent to stop the humans finding the proof to the Riemann Hypothesis (you don't need to know what that is) because if they do, it'll unlock all sorts of knowledge to them (us) and they (we) are not mature enough to handle it properly.

The alien is supposed to find out who knows what the prof discovered, and then kill them all including the prof's wife and son. Sounds bleak, doesn't it? But actually this book is funny and warm, and says a lot about what it means to be a human, as the alien gradually learns more about this odd species with its emotions and passions and desires.

A short book and highly recommended. If Dad had still been with us, I'd have passed my copy onto him, knowing he would love it.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

The Ghost House

The Ghost House by Helen Phifer 

I heard about this book at the RNA Summer Party, and briefly met the author there. The book appealed very much - timeslip, ghostly houses etc - as it's got elements in common with my novels. So I bought it after the party. I've since been offered a two-book deal from the same publisher so Helen and I are stablemates now, as it were!

I very much enjoyed this book. Annie Graham is a police community support officer, recovering from having been badly beaten by her abusive husband. She's looking after her brother's house, which is set in the grounds of a spooky deserted mansion. Something bad happened there a long time ago. Annie comes across an old diary, and also begins experiencing ghosts of the past. A girl's gone missing and to solve the current day problem, Annie must solve the mysteries of the past.

Really gripping book, with loads of suspense and twists and turns aplenty. Very much enjoyed it. It's one of a series featuring the same main character, so I'll definitely have to read the next one too.