August Read: The September House by Carissa Orlando

 

I haven't read a knock down, in-your-face horror novel in a very long time. Wowza. Horror fans will inhale this novel and come out the other side with a few choice words. I read it over the space of the weekend in between cooking and running errands. Thankful for a steaming hot day today that--oh darn--kept me inside reading. I'm not one for always reading horror novels, but when it comes to haunted houses, I am in it! 

September House is about a beautiful Victorian home where married couple Hal and Margaret live. Finally, they have the home of their dreams. Doesn't matter the basement is creepy and smelly, and they got it super cheap. 

Now it's been a few years, and it's September again. The month where the moans start softly, then build to piercing screams. Where blood begins to drip down the walls, slowly oozing all the way down the stairs. And there's the pranksters, all the little children who clearly died horrible deaths, hanging around the house, pointing at the basement. I can't stress enough--if you are squeamish, pass this novel by. If you, like myself, have the ability to see the dark humor in all of this, you'll be able to wince, but keep on reading. 

It seems Hal and Margaret have a haunted house. Sure, it's nice to have a housekeeper (Fredricka) who makes you tea and cooks you supper--don't mind the horrible ax wound she has on her face. And in September, well, Fredricka goes on a bender and moves things all around the house. Once September ends, things quiet down. But no way do you go in the basement. Master Vale lives there. 

Hal is done. He can't take anymore, and leaves. Margaret--well, she's lived with Hal and rules their whole marriage, so if she just follows the rules in the house, she'll be okay and get through another September. After all, it's her house and she's not leaving. 

Katherine, Hal and Margaret's adult daughter, is concerned her Dad is gone and won't respond to phone calls and seems to have disappeared. Katherine decides she's going to come to the home (she's never been) and get to the bottom of her father's disappearance. Margaret is distressed--after all, it is September. How will she manage cleaning up the blood, and how will Katherine sleep with all the screaming every night? Not to mention the pranksters...

Dang, this was one heck of a novel. If you're squeamish, avoid this novel. If you like very dark humor mixed in with a heck of a haunted house and a really nasty evil presence, step right up! The end is AMAZING. 

There's also other stuff that's brought to light, along with the escalation of concern over Hal's disappearance and Katherine's concern for her mother's mental health. There's backstory about Margaret's marriage and Katherine's childhood that frames the story, and certainly fleshes out Margaret's character and the choices she makes. It also sets up the last thirty or so pages, where you're breathlessly turning the pages and cheering Margaret on as she battles Master Vale. It's a bloody, brutal fight. 

This novel will be out in the U.S. on September 5th in hardcover, audiobook, and e-book. Thanks to Edelweiss and Berkley for a chance to read before publication. It will definitely go on my Best of 2023 list!

Rating: 5/6 for one hell of a paranormal/haunting/horror novel that builds in tension and explodes in action the last 1/4th of the novel. Fall readers who like a spooky read will grab this up. Warning: harm to children and violence make up a large part of this horror novel. Dark humor--yes, there is plenty. 

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August Read: The September House by Carissa Orlando

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

 

I first read about the real-life mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926 a few years ago and was fascinated by it. What intrigued me the most is that no one, to this day, knows what exactly happened, and why she disappeared for eleven days in December, 1926. This lead to a wave of news media and police searching for her, fearing the worst. And yet after eleven days, she's found staying at a hotel near London, under an assumed name. 

Agatha Christie never explained her disappearance--never talked about it for the rest of her life. Instead, she went on to become the most popular author of all time, writing mysteries that defined the genre and made her so famous she still steadily sells books and has movies based on her works produced 100 years later. Amazing. 

Marie Benedict was also intrigued by this real-life mystery and decided to craft a novel around it, with a possible explanation as to the "why" of it. It's an interesting take on a mystery that will never be solved. 

This novel moves back and forth between the eleven days of Agatha's disappearance, and the years leading up to that December of 1926. The novel starts off in 1912, as Agatha meets Archie Christie at a dance. She's already engaged to another man, but Archie is boldly attracted to Agatha and pursues her. She, in turn, it captivated by this handsome man who clearly wants Agatha. He courts her, and she falls in love. They are married when Archie is fighting in World War I. Agatha helps out taking care of wounded soldiers, and this is where her knowledge of medicine and poisons comes from; her talent at writing is natural and something she has always done but never seriously. Archie starts to show his true colors-he's self-centered, demanding, and falls into depression pretty regularly. Taking her mother's terrible advice, Agatha does everything she can to be the perfect wife to Archie. 

As the years go by, Agatha loses more of herself in the process. She does all she can to keep Archie happy, and gets little in return. Even the birth of her daughter Rosalind is tempered by the knowledge that Archie must always come first. It causes permanent damage in her relationship with her daughter, who doesn't understand why her mother doesn't spend more time with her. Archie is one annoying man! 

Meanwhile, Agatha's stories are gaining in popularity. At first supportive of her writing, it's now just another thing that Agatha does that irritates Archie. She just can't win with her husband. 

And then Archie does the unforgivable, and it sets off a chain of events concluding with Agatha's reappearance, claiming amnesia. This story is just one author's imagining; it seems that Agatha left us with one mystery that we can't ever absolutely solve. 

It took me a bit to read this novel, mostly because i was a bit unsure where it was headed. I'll admit to being a touch disappointed at the final reveal as I read it. However, spending some time thinking about the ending afterwards, I will admit it is pretty clever. 

You may want to do some sleuthing of your own after reading this, and delve into the internet to read up on the real-life disappearance and reappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926. It's pretty interesting; you'll find yourself crafting your own explanation to a mystery that went to the grave with the Queen of Suspense.

Rating: 4/6 for a dive into the marriage and mystery of Agatha Christie. It's also a novel about a women finding her talent and her power to live life her way. Anyone who has read an Agatha Christie mystery or watched a movie based on her books will want to read this. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman

I stumbled on this book late last week as I was working at the library and knew immediately it was something I had to read. Lucky for me, no one else was waiting for it, so I took it home and spent a large chunk of Saturday reading it, finally finishing it Sunday morning. 

Author Jon Billman is a writer for Outside magazine, and started the quest that makes up the bulk of this book while working on a story for the magazine. Jon has written about other people going missing in our national parks and vast wilderness areas, but had no idea just how high the number was until he stared looking deeper into it--and found out no one actually keeps track of this disturbing trend. In April, 2017, Jacob Gray takes off on his heavily packed bike to explore the Olympic National Park. He's got plenty of food, a tent, clothing, and survival gear. Yet his bike is found just one day after he takes off, on the side of the road, with no sign of Jacob. What follows is the heartbreaking frustration his family and friends go through as red tape keeps organizations from stepping in and helping in the search that begins with the assumption that Jacob decided to just walk away. He's an adult, after all, so he could have done what many people do--walk away from their life with no word to family or friends. Yet his father and family persist in searching for Jacob, through all sorts of weather, in really rough conditions. Randy Gray is willing to explore every possibility and theory that might lead to his son, no matter how outlandish it may seem.  This story is the framework for many more stories about men and women who vanished with no clue what happened to them. Some were runners going out for a short run; others were at national parks in full view of other people, yet never returned to their cars and simply vanished into thin air. For some families, there is closure, but usually not for quite some time. For others, there is never closure. As long as there is no body found, they remain hopeful. The disappearance of a loved one is something they never move past, and never "get over". The unanswered questions never go away. 

What I found so very interesting is the fact that this is something that happens a lot in national parks and wilderness areas. And depending on where you disappear, there may be a lot of resources to help look for you; or if it's in a county that has little money, it may simply be a few days of looking for you, then it's left to family and friends to continue the search. It's beyond ridiculous that we have no federal or state procedures in place to address these disappearances--and no budgets, either. It's a case of too many agencies, large egos, and not enough money. 

I found this book hard to put down. I did get a bit turned around in the many descriptions of up the mountains, down the mountains, ridges, sight lines, rivers. I would be a classic case of someone lost in the woods who couldn't find their way out. 

Rating: 4/5 for a look at an epidemic of missing people that most of us are unaware of: people lost in the wilds of America. Theories abound around vortex areas, Bigfoot, UFO's, and time slips--but most of the time it simply boils down to being unprepared or a fatal slip on rocks or a slippery slope. For those who never come home, their story has no ending. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio.

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The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

A very cool, windy, and gloomy Sunday gave me the chance to read the e-book of Someone We Know, and I discovered Shari Lapena. 

This was a quick read, and that's a good thing, because I couldn't put it down. I've read quite a few domestic thrillers, and I'll admit, I was a bit burnt out. However, I had never read Shari Lapena's novels, and once I started reading, I quickly got over my blahs about domestic thrillers. I've even made plans to read the rest of her books over the summer. And I've already told my sister she needs to read them. It's been a busy Sunday. 😀😀

Anyway-back to the story. Raleigh is a sixteen year old boy who gets a thrill out of breaking into neighboring homes and hacking into people's computers. He doesn't do it to find information, but to hone his skills as a hacker. Unfortunately, a friend leaves a text that his mom finds, and all hell breaks loose. And this is the tip of the iceberg in a neighborhood where a missing wife is found dead in the trunk of her car; affairs are rampant, and there's a cold blooded killer lurking somewhere in the midst of it all. 

Raleigh's parents Olivia and Paul Sharpe are horrified their son has been breaking and entering. He's promised not to do it again. That's the least of their worries, of course. 
Amanda Pierce-a beautiful, flirty, neighbor has been reported missing by her husband Robert Pierce. She said she was meeting a friend for a weekend shopping trip but never came home. The friend said they never had a trip planned. Suspicion quickly falls on Robert, and he definitely is a utter jerk and a total creep. But does that make him a killer? Other neighbors are quickly pulled into the mystery; Becky and Larry live next door to Robert and Amanda, and hoo boy Becky is tangled up in Robert's web.  What does she see out her windows?

Then there's Glenda, her husband Keith and her teen son Adam. She's so worried about Adam! He's been binge drinking, and she doesn't know what to do about him. Oh, the neighborhood seems to be falling apart. 

This thriller ping pongs around from couple to couple, each one falling under suspicion in the investigation. Truth and lies swirl around, and you just can't tell who may be guilty, until the end. There isn't any one person who is very likable, and certainly all are guilty of keeping secrets--some pretty darn big, too. 

I throughly enjoyed this novel. It's been a long time since I've read so quickly and in a few hours. A big thank you to Penguin for offering me the chance to discover a new author--and NetGalley for providing an ebook copy for me to read. 

4/6 for a domestic thriller full of twists and turns, revelations, and a whole lot of suspicious people. Add Shari Lapena to your summer reading list! 

Available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook. 

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Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar

This novel actually arrived in my mail a few weeks ago, thanks to HarperCollins Publishers. It was a welcome surprise, and gave me the chance to read a new author that hit it out of the park with her first novel, If You Knew Her. Her second effort--wow, it really does sit with you for some time after you've finished it. 

The plot is fairly simple: Meg and Grace. Mother and daughter. Meg takes care of Grace full-time; Grace is almost eighteen and has lived most of her life as a very ill young girl. She's in a wheelchair, has a feeding tube in her stomach, and suffers from seizures, food issues, headaches... you name it. Meg has spent years taking Grace to doctors and specialists, getting her every bit of care she can find. Both Meg and Grace are beloved by the small town of Ashford, in Cornwall. Folks around there see Meg and Grace as their own, and are fiercely protective of them. 

The novel begins with the horrific murder of Meg, in her home, in her bed. Grace is missing. Jon, a journalist who wrote an article about the two women that riled up the town and made him a pariah, hears about the murder and can't help but drive over to see what is going on. His article questioned why Grace's father Simon wasn't allowed to see his daughter. Meg has told everyone that Simon is abusive and crazy, and pushed her down the stairs. Everyone in Ashford agrees with Meg, and Simon is never allowed to see Grace. Jon, reeling from the effects of the article on his marriage, still feels on edge about the article, and knows something just isn't right, but doesn't know what. 

Cara, the young woman who finds Meg, has known Meg and Grace for most of her life. She befriended Grace when they moved in next door, and even though Grace was a few years younger, Cara felt a bond with Grace. She was always amazed at the obviously close relationship between mother and daughter. Except in the last few years, Cara has gone away to school, and seen less and less of Grace. She's haunted by the idea of Grace being kidnapped and without her vital medications. Is she still alive? Who took her? Everyone believes her father Simon did it all, and there's a manhunt out for him. Meanwhile, the whole town gears up for a search effort, with their minds already made up that Simon must be the murderer. 

Cara and Jon meet, and between the two of them, they slowly start to pick up little clues, and the whole novel is the two of them putting the puzzle together. It's sharp observation, going over and over the little bits of information they do have, and following their instincts that lead them to resolving the disappearance of Grace, and the murder of Meg. It's quite the twist at the end.

It took me a bit to get into the story. Everyone, seriously, is a disaster. Jon's marriage is falling apart, he's sleep deprived, has to stay on the down low so no one recognizes him as "that reporter". Cara is traumatized by finding Meg and her guilt for not being there for Grace. Simon is nowhere to be found, but his story is one of a troubled man driven mad by grief. The whole town is under the spell of Meg and Grace, and ready to paint Simon guilty without any shred of evidence. 

I figured out really quickly what exactly was going on with Meg and Grace, but that's only part of the puzzle. It's a big part of the puzzle, but there's much more to it. Slowly, the story gathers steam and then races along towards a conclusion that will keep you thinking about all of it long after you've finished the book. I'm still putting it all together a day later. Definitely a good thriller!

This novel will be out  in the U.S. on Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook. 

Rating: 4/6 for a thriller that seems fairly simple at first, but has many layers that will have you working along with Jon and Cara to figure it all out, and wow--an ending that packs a wallop. A big thanks to HarperCollins for the advanced reading copy.  

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Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar

Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid

One last book for November. It's a sobering non-fiction look at the disturbing disappearances of thousands of Indigenous women along a stretch of highway in Canada. Called the Highway of Tears, this road travels through some pretty desolate places, in between very small communities and towns. 

These disappearances, some over fifty years old, are a national crisis that, hopefully with this book, will be getting some much needed attention and funding. Reading the stories of these young women--most of them teenagers, disappearing and never found, broke my heart, and made me pretty angry at the same time. Their families knew something was wrong, and when they would report their loved ones missing, the police often brushed off their claims, saying the girls ran off on their own, or were troublemakers--prostitutes. In reality, these were young girls who were ignored by law enforcement because they were Indigenous, and that meant they weren't important enough to look for them. 
All of them had dreams to attend college, become forest rangers, psychologists, mothers, artists. They had so much life ahead of them. 

Families spent years searching and begging for help, and often got nothing in return. A few learned of the fates of their daughters and sisters: their bodies were found; stabbed, beaten, left in ditches or off the side of a desolate road. Thrown away like garbage. No one has ever been arrested for these murders. So many unanswered questions. So much heartbreak, the kind that destroys families. Poverty, culture, prejudice, and hundreds of years of oppression certainly play a big part in this outrageous lack of justice. The madness of it all is that it continues on, in 2019. Young women continue to disappear on the Highway of Tears at a consistent pace. 

This was a fascinating, and disturbing look at a national crisis that highlights the continued dismissal of Indigenous people. The utter lack of respect for them as human beings with the same rights to safety and protection as the rest of us is maddening and absolutely shameful. 

Rating: 5/6 for a detailed look at the dangers of the Highway of Tears, the continued dismissal of Indigenous people's safety and concerns for missing loved ones, and the hope that their voices are finally being heard. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay: A Review and Winner of Giveaway Announced

As I said in my previous post about Picnic at Hanging Rock, this novel came out of nowhere for me, and after a quick search on the internet, I was intrigued not only by the novel, but by the author, Joan Lindsay. 

Joan Lindsay wrote this book in 1967, when she was 70 years old.  Her first novel.  It became an instant hit.  The tale is simple, but as any simple tales go, there's a lot going on underneath the surface.  It's February 14, 1900.  The young ladies at Appleyard College for Young Ladies in Australia are eager to take a day trip to Hanging Rock, a place ideal for picnics and taking in some fresh air and nature.  The group, with Miss McGraw, the mathematics teacher, and Mademoiselle De Poitiers, the popular French teacher as chaperones, take the three hour carriage ride out to Hanging Rock.  The plan is to eat lunch, rest, explore a bit (as much as you can in gloves and corsets), and return to Appleyard at 4 PM.  Other folks are also there picnicking: Michael Fitzhubert, visiting from England; Albert Crundall, the coachman for Michael's Aunt and Uncle; and Mr. Ben Hussey, the carriage driver.  

Miranda is a senior, and the most popular girl at Appleyard.  She decides to climb Hanging Rock, and takes along Irma, Marion, and Edith.  The girls are seen crossing a creek by Michael and Albert, and then simply disappear.  Edith appears later, screaming, hysterical.  She can't tell anyone what happened, and no one can find the three missing girls.  Oddly enough, Miss McGraw is missing, too.  Searches, questions, theories abound.  Michael is haunted, and decides to travel back to Hanging Rock to try and find something, anything to answer his questions.  Miraculously, he finds Irma weeks after the incident, but in mysterious circumstances and unconscious. The other two girls and Miss McGraw are never seen again; nor is any trace of them ever found.  They have simply disappeared into thin air. 

From this dark day, the story moves on to how the disappearances change everyone who is touched by them: the students at Appleyard, the Headmistress of Appleyard, the teachers, Michael and Albert.  It's a pretty interesting ending; a bit of a shock to me.  According to the foreword, Joan Lindsay had written an ending that explained exactly what happened to the girls, but it was so "out there" (my words) that the publisher had her cut it.  There are hints of strangeness, and it's left up to readers to decide for themselves what may have happened to the girls on that lovely summer day.  Joan Lindsay herself claimed that the story may or may not be true, and plenty of folks have searched for information over the decades, but have found nothing.  

I'm intrigued enough to have placed  a hold on the movie at my local library. I can't wait to watch it.  

A huge thank you to Penguin/Random House for providing a copy not only for my review, but a copy to give away to a lucky reader.  And the winner of the giveaway is...

Thank you to all who entered the contest.  I am very glad I had the opportunity to read this classic novel, and I think it would make a very good book club discussion--or even better, a classroom discussion.  Just goes to show, any book you haven't read (even one 50 years old!) is new if you haven't read it yet.

Rating:  4/6 for a novel that has  a lot to offer towards discussion.  What is it about this tale that has stood the test of time?  Fascinating!

Available in paperback and ebook. 

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Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay: A Review and Winner of Giveaway Announced

Arrowood by Laura McHugh

Arden Arrowood returns home to Keokuk, Iowa after her father dies and she inherits the family home, a grand place called Arrowood that holds a whole lot of sadness and unanswered questions.  Arden's twin sisters Violet and Tabitha disappeared from Arrowood's front lawn one September afternoon, 17 years before.  They weren't quite 2 years old, and Arden was 8 years old.  She feels responsible for their disappearance, as she was playing with them outside when she wasn't supposed to be; when her back was turned, they were snatched by someone in a gold car and never seen again.  Their kidnapping became one of the most famous mysteries in Iowa history, and people still whisper about it.  

Arden's life has been difficult.  Her mother and father divorced; her mother is remarried to an evangelist and living in Minnesota.  She still pops pills, drinks and watches HSN. Arden's mother doesn't really want much to do with her daughter.   Arden's father was a wanderer, a con man, and a disappointment to Arden's grandfather, the owner of Arrowood.  Such a disappointment that he forbade his son from living in the family home.  It sat empty for years, until his death.  Now Arden has returned because she has nowhere else to go and is at a crossroads in her life.  

Josh contacts Arden regarding a book he is writing about the Arrowood kidnapping.  He believes he has proof that the man who was accused of kidnapping the twins (but never charged with their disappearance) has been telling the truth all along, that he was innocent.  Could Arden's memories of that day be wrong?  If so, what really happened to the Violet and Tabitha?  Could they still be alive, somewhere?

But Arden's stay in the house is a bit eerie.  Water drips down windows, the giant claw-foot tub in the bathroom leaks.  Sometimes she thinks she feels her sisters around her.  Is it her imagination, or are they messages from beyond?

I enjoyed this novel, but I was hoping for a bit more supernatural spookiness.  Laura McHugh does a very good job of portraying a town haunted by its past, and the destruction that can happen to a family when tragedy visits and leaves unanswered questions.  I felt bad for Arden.  Her life was profoundly changed by the disappearance of her little sisters, and her guilt at not keeping them safe.  You may be surprised by the ending, or not. 

Rating:  6/10 for a good read with a main character who is complex because she's had such a messed up life.  Secondary characters round it all out to bring in that small town feel of secrets, gossip, and hidden passions.  

Available in hardcover and e-book.

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Arrowood by Laura McHugh