Overview.

I wish I hadn’t read this book yet. It is the first part of a trilogy and I can’t wait for the other books to come out. I am captivated by the story, and chilled at the same time.

Story.

I am finding it difficult to summarise the story without spoilers.

There is an abandoned house on a hill just outside the town of New Haven. There is something frightening about it, and no one goes there.

The Woods family farms just outside the town, and their son, Nate, is on the baseball team. When a new family arrives, the son also joins the team, but there is something the other boys find odd. 

Then a shop burns down with the owner and his son inside. The sheriff immediately suspects the newcomers, even though they were all at the baseball game. 

On a bicycle ride near the house, Naomi Woods and her son, Nate, see mysterious lights and are chased by a strange animal.

When Kaia Woods’ best friend disappears, things come to a head. 

I’m saying no more.

Characters.

Mr Kummer has given us a variety of characters, each one different.

Cliff Woods, the father of Kaia and Nate, wants to farm his land in peace and do the best he can for his family. He does not always make the correct decisions, though.

Naomi is a sensible woman. She tries to do the right thing, and she stands up for the new family. But she is afraid of the house because of something that happened to her when she was foolhardy enough to go into it.

The sheriff is a prejudiced man who is suspicious of anything new.

Kaia cares for her friend who has married a strange young man, but she is impulsive.

Nate is a typical young boy who would rather play on his x-box when not playing or practising baseball.

On the whole, the characters are believable with flaws we can all relate to.

Writing

Mr Kummer builds the tension excellently. I felt quite afraid in the parts where the house was involved.

The story is written from multiple points of view. Each point of view has its own chapter. When we are with a member of the Woods family the writing is in the first person, which is the majority of the book, there are chapters which don’t involve them, and they are in third person.

I did not find this a problem as it’s made quite clear in the chapter headings.

One negative in the writing is the overuse of the word ‘just’. It appears several times on most pages and it did become a distracy, especially since in most cases it wasn’t needed.

This was not enough to reduce the rating, and I give it 5*.

My ranking of books. In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

Would you like a free short story?

If you would like to receive an exclusive, free short story by me, called The Haunted Table, simply click the link. This will take you to the page where you can download it.

Maria and Tom have bought an antique table for the old cottage they bought. On hearing strange noises in the night that sound like crying, they worry their house is haunted, but the sounds seem to come from the table.

They set about trying to find what is causing the disturbances. The answer is stranger than either of them had thought.

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