Synopsis: Paul Russo’s wife just died. While trying to get his family’s life back in order, Paul is being tormented by a demon who is holding his wife's spirit hostage on the other side. His fate is intertwined with an old haunted mansion on the north shore of Long Island called Stillwell Manor. Paul must find clues dating back hundreds of years to set his wife's soul free. (Picture and synopsis taken from www.goodreads.com).
Review: When I read the synopsis of the book I was intrigued because I enjoy a good paranormal storyline that also has a little bit of historical fiction within its pages. This book was slightly disappointing to me in that regard. I was expecting one thing and got something else entirely, which made me a little irritated to say the least.
The book itself was very simply written, which is not a bad thing, but it didn't read like adult fiction to me. Vocabulary was not sophisticated and the storyline itself wasn't all that challenging to follow or to figure out where it was leading to. In terms of how the story progressed, I thought that the timeframe was too short for this tale, since it only encompassed seven days total. However, it had a very easy flow and the conflicts/climaxes seem to happen at the right moments.
In terms of the storyline itself, I thought that it was a good outline for a novel, but incomplete. There was so much more that could have been added to help flesh out all the different love stories that were going on. Elaborating a little more of the meaning behind the title "Stillwell" may have helped with giving the tale more "haunting" content. Also, the grief that the main character felt, although understandable, seemed to take center stage and would often take me away from all the paranormal aspect of the piece, which made it seem more of a love story than a scary paranormal story. As for me, I also felt a little cheated by the ending and will not say anything more than that so I do not spoil it for someone else who has not read it yet.
Overall, this was an average read for me. It didn't have many memorable moments that would make me categorize it as a "scary" tale and the historical aspect that I was hoping for was missing. But in the end it was a good read and one that I did enjoy in places. If you are looking for something that will make you jump and become slightly paranoid that there are ghosts all around, then this book is not for you. If you enjoy something that is a little more humanistic and has some nice ghostly, romantic interludes then you would probably enjoy this book.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
I was given a copy of this book by the author via Bostick Communications; I was not paid to do a review of this book.
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