Helpful Score: 16
I picked this up on a whim at B&N. I have seen some pretty critical reviews of this book elsewhere on the WWW. This is not one of them. I am a big fan of horror novels, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and the like, so it takes quite a bit to scare me.
This book scared me so much that I had to put it down and walk away from it for a bit. I have never been so creeped out by a book before, ever. If you are a horror aficionado like I am, then I can definitely recommend picking up this book. Likewise, if you like haunted house books. This is one of those books that should not be read while home alone, or late at night. Or both.
With that being said, the book is about a married couple, Conrad and Jo, who move to a small town in Wisconsin to reconnect with themselves and work on their troubled marriage. They buy an old Victorian house that was previously used as a birthing house for unwed mothers around the turn of the century. And that is where the real fun begins...
This book scared me so much that I had to put it down and walk away from it for a bit. I have never been so creeped out by a book before, ever. If you are a horror aficionado like I am, then I can definitely recommend picking up this book. Likewise, if you like haunted house books. This is one of those books that should not be read while home alone, or late at night. Or both.
With that being said, the book is about a married couple, Conrad and Jo, who move to a small town in Wisconsin to reconnect with themselves and work on their troubled marriage. They buy an old Victorian house that was previously used as a birthing house for unwed mothers around the turn of the century. And that is where the real fun begins...
Helpful Score: 7
This is a dark and tragic book. It had a flat ending. I wish I could press rewind and not have read it.
Helpful Score: 6
Bizarre -that's my one-word summary/reaction to this strange, strange book. It was a ghost story, but not really the type I was expecting. And I certainly did not predict how much of this book would be devoted to rather graphic (and at times just revolting) sex scenes. These types of scenes are sometimes so obviously written by a man, and this book is a perfect example of the more "stereotypic" male perspective of writing sex scenes. The dogs, I must admit, were the most realistic characters in the entire book (and at the end of the novel, I felt they were left unresolved... poor things). The book was well-written, but I the strange, sad and rather senseless ending was just a bit too over-the-top. I really don't see myself keeping up with this author, which is a shame, because from the initial description that I read, I had really been looking forward to reading it.
Helpful Score: 4
This was the type of book that you read and read, thinking it will get better. Unfortunately, it did not! There were lots of weird scenes that had nothing to do with the plot. I like good mysteries but this was not one of them!
Helpful Score: 3
I was not happy with this book. I had high hopes of digging into a great ghost story. It did not happen. The book was confusing at times and not everything made sense. I would have prefered that the author had stuck to one story line and not leave so many loose ends.
Helpful Score: 2
2 stars out of 5. Book is choppy and lacks flow. Sex scenes entered at odd places. Dialogue strained and not realistic.
Helpful Score: 2
I hated this book.I Picked it up thinking it would be a great scary story.But I just couldnt get into this book.
Helpful Score: 1
This book sat on my wishlist for months. I finally received it. I could not wait to read this book. I am a fan of horror novels, especially where haunted houses are the focus.
This book was the biggest disappoint. I think it was the dumbest book I have ever read. The book was poorly written, didn't really make a whole lot of sense, and left you with all sorts of unanswered question. There is nothing in this book that is scary.
All in all, I thought it was HORRIBLE.....
This book was the biggest disappoint. I think it was the dumbest book I have ever read. The book was poorly written, didn't really make a whole lot of sense, and left you with all sorts of unanswered question. There is nothing in this book that is scary.
All in all, I thought it was HORRIBLE.....
Helpful Score: 1
One of the worst books I have ever read! I would have given it zero stars but was unable. I made it to 100 pages and just couldn't get through it. Pure trash.
Helpful Score: 1
Didn't care much for this book, thought the story too confusing about exactly what was going on other than Conrad and Jo trying to save their marriage but all the rest I thought was just a confusing mess, you're never clear about what happened 'before' and not very clear about 'the happenings' described. One review stated 'don't read if home alone' well I guess that depends on the person and I guess I don't scare easy. not an author I would pursue.
Helpful Score: 1
Have to say that this one didn't come up to my expectations. It's one of those that make me wish there was a rating between 2 stars ("do not like it") and 3 ("like it"). I settled and gave it a 3, because it did keep me interested enough to keep reading and finish it.
The author certainly is not without talent -- description is quite evocative, narrative flows smoothly enough, some characters emerge enough to be interesting at least (and I thought the two dogs were well-presented!). But somehow I didn't get quite a grasp on many of the characters, including the main one.
As a "ghost story", it did have some passingly spooky moments, but to me the problem with the book is that everything never really comes together, the story seems disjointed with ends trailing out here and everywhere, which is too bad, because there was lots of potential. I felt the book did pick up near the end but even so the ending, and indeed the whole shebang, just was not exactly satisfying to me.
The author certainly is not without talent -- description is quite evocative, narrative flows smoothly enough, some characters emerge enough to be interesting at least (and I thought the two dogs were well-presented!). But somehow I didn't get quite a grasp on many of the characters, including the main one.
As a "ghost story", it did have some passingly spooky moments, but to me the problem with the book is that everything never really comes together, the story seems disjointed with ends trailing out here and everywhere, which is too bad, because there was lots of potential. I felt the book did pick up near the end but even so the ending, and indeed the whole shebang, just was not exactly satisfying to me.
Helpful Score: 1
This started out with great promise; liked the first couple of chapters very much and thought there was going to be a great story ahead. Sadly, it fell way short for me. The last third of the book was just strange with too many loose ends. Think the author has talent, but it was like he was confused at how to end this story and thought the weirder the better. Too bad.
Helpful Score: 1
Beginning of this book starts right into the situation without a lot of description about what is going on to the characters. As the book gets further into the srotyline it does getn very interesting and harder to put down because he does write to put yourself in the story. The down side of the story is you never get a clear picture what went on in the house even at the end I still had a sense of confusion about what actually went on inside this Birthing House where everyone came from and what happens to everyone after Nadia Conrad and Jo. Almost leaves me with a feelingn that their will be another book.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was difficult to make it through. I almost quit after the first few chapters, but, since it had such good reviews, I stuck with it. Did not enjoy it at all. I am sure that for someone who enjoys horror books this would be a great one, but I am not one of those people. Glad to be done with it.
What a disappointment this book was. I was never frightened and most of the time I was just confused. The potential for this to be a great scary book was in the premise, but Ransom never delivered. It was though he had all of these ideas thrown at him and he tried to tie them into one book.
i really liked this book...it was an easy read and i finished it in just a couple of days...
This book sounded sooooo good......I was really disappointed & had to struggle to get thru it !!!
