Music City Salvage has just landed the Withrow Estate; Dahlia Dutton is in charge of stripping out everything that's valuable. It's a job she does well. But there's something about this house that's different.
"She didn't want to start work on the Withrow house. This wasn't some favor she was doing for an old friend; this wasn't a restoration gig to preserve a landmark. This was a vivisection, a slow slaughter of a thing on its last legs. She loved the house, and she loved all its parts, so she hated her job, this time. She didn't want to take anything. She wanted to fix everything, but that wasn't up to her."
And what is the house feeling? Angry. Unloved. Lost.
Or that just might be something in the house.
Then there's the cemetery plot Dahlia finds near the house. And the ghost she thought she saw: a girl in a yellow dress. The rest of her crew is seeing ghosts, too. A soldier and a little boy. And strange things are happening at night. It looks like the secrets of Withrow house are finally starting to come out.
There are some good thrills and chills in this one. And some memorable characters, too. I really liked the beginning when Dahlia and the others first arrive at the house. The big scares come in the second half of the book, along with those ghostly revelations of what happened in the past. They were good, too, if a little convoluted at times. But the epilogue bugged me. I hate when authors ruin things at the very end, because the rest of the book is an entertaining ghost story. So while I didn't end up loving this one, I did like it a lot. (And if you decide to read it...skip the epilogue!)
Happy Reading!
Sounds like a good one for this time of year. Will keep the epilogue suggestion in mind if I get to read it. LOL
ReplyDeleteThe epilogue just felt unnecessary in this one. And a bit annoying, too!
DeleteI had to go and check on Fantastic Fiction to see what I'd read by Cherie Priest that I couldn't remember. It was Boneshaker. Of course. I love the sound of this one, great for an October read.
ReplyDeleteI liked the ghostly parts at the house and the interactions between the characters. Did you like Boneshaker?
DeleteNot as much as I thought I would so I haven't read on in the series.
DeleteI also hate a prologue that gives away a major plot event! That bugs me.
ReplyDeleteThat is annoying. I think most prologues are totally unnecessary.
DeleteHi Lark, The book sounds good and I am curious about the mystery at the center of this house but I know what you mean about how an epilogue can be disappointing. The way a book ends has to fit somewhat with what you have been reading up to then.
ReplyDeleteAnd I would have been fine with the way this book ends without that dumb epilogue...which didn't add anything, just messed the ending up.
DeleteI've read Maplecroft, Bone Shaker, and Four and Twenty by Priest. I liked all of them pretty well. Prologues and epilogues are often annoying, but they are being used more and more frequently.
ReplyDeleteThey are being used more and more. And they rarely add anything to the book. Is it the editors pushing for them? Or just laziness on the author's part?
DeleteI like the passage that you quoted. I like the way the house is given human characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the wrong ending can really wreck a book.
And the ending of the actual story is perfectly fine. It's the short epilogue after that that bugged me; and it didn't add anything to the story either. The rest of the book was good.
DeleteI've been meaning to read this author but you know how it goes. Too bad the epilogue didn't live up to the rest of the story.
ReplyDelete:) I do know how it goes. My own TBR list is evergrowing and neverending.
DeleteWell I'm glad you liked it even if you didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteThe main story is a lot of fun. :)
DeleteYikes this one sounds a bit spooky!
ReplyDeleteThere's some good creepiness in it that's for sure! :)
DeleteI'm glad you liked this despite the epilogue. It's always such a bummer when there's a bad epilogue. I usually appreciate having one, but there have been a few times where I've been so disappointed with it. I wondered why the author thought it was necessary.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think this epilogue added anything to the story. At all.
DeleteI'm sorry this wasn't as fantastic as you hoped -- it atmospherically approporiate though for the season :)
ReplyDeleteAnd it was still very entertaining. :)
DeleteOoooh, sounds like a good, spooky read for Halloween. I'll have to give it a go!
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think! :)
DeleteI do really hate it when you don't like the ending of the book. Even when you've loved the rest, the ending can make or break it. I'll skip the epilogue if I pick this one up. It does sound really good. Now I'm wondering what happened with the epilogue...
ReplyDeleteInstead of ending the book and letting everything be, the author added a stupid extra little twist at the end in the epilogue that was just irritating and didn't add anything to the story. I wish I'd skipped it.
DeleteThat epilogue does sound a little weird. The ones I hate that decide to "reveal" everything in the last two pages that's been hinted at in the last 200. Seems sometimes that an author runs out of steam and is desperate to end the book.
ReplyDeleteI hate when authors do that, too. Just write the ending of the story at the end of the story. And stop. That's all we need. And if you can't do that, don't bother writing the story. ;D
DeleteIt's such a pity that the epilogue was a disappointment given a good beginning and plot. I'll have to think about this one.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the story is great. Just skip the epilogue!
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