This was my Amazon’s First Read of August. I picked it because I love thrillers and because it had the tag line of ‘fans of The Haunting of Hill House’ will enjoy this. They were right, I did enjoy this.

Synopsis (as taken from Amazon Kindle Store) is as follow:

Margot and Myron Spielman move to a new town, looking for a fresh start and an escape from the long shadow of their past. But soon after they buy Rawlingswood, a foreclosed mansion rumored to be haunted, they realize they’re in for more of the same…or worse.

After a renovation fraught with injuries and setbacks, the Spielmans move in to the century-old house, and their problems quickly escalate. The home’s beautiful facade begins to crumble around them when their teenage son uncovers disturbing details of Rawlingswood’s history – a history of murder, betrayal, and financial ruin. The Spielmans’ own shameful secrets and lies become harder to hid as someone or something inside the house watches their every move.

As tensions build between family members, the home’s dark history threathens to repeat itself. Margot and Myron must confront their own ghosts and Rawlingswood’s buried past before the house becomes their undoing.

Ability to read – I had no issue with reading this book, I was spurred on my my excitement about reading and I didn’t find the language difficult to understand. I was slightly startled at first by the chapter changes and all the characters that were introduced, but I quickly got my head around what was happening and was able to navigate without difficulty.

Characterisation – The Spielman’s were problematic and toying with the sharp edge of a knife long before they came to Rawlingswood, but it was at Rawlingswood that they were forced to look back into the past and stop living in denial. Hunter was the linch-pin of the story, the one who was on the outside looking in as much as he was in the center of things. It was his drive to find out the past of the house that afforded all the information about the previous owners and what had happened to them. Standing before his two parents, Hunter appeared perfectly normal, if a little scared of the new house he called home. I thought he remained very level headed through the ordeal and the time spent at Rawlingswood. I will refrain from saying anymore and encourage you to read the book!!

Visualisation – It was easy to visualise what was happening in this book. The setting was the same, regardless of the character changes. I was able to construct a fairly detailed image of the house and my visualisation of the characters came after, but was no less vivid.

Enjoyment – I couldn’t wait to start reading this. I’ve been reading it on Kindle Cloud reader, I started last Friday and finished it on Monday. I finished reading it and this bubble of intense adrenaline anxiety bubbled up inside me and left me not knowing what to do! I still don’t know what to do. I loved the book and the journey the story took spanning decades. There was nothing overly surprising about the ending and frankly I’m bemused as to why I’m suddenly feeling anxious and why the feeling won’t go away (99% of the time, I know exactly why I’m anxious.) I guess it’s a mystery. I was captivated by the story from the first page, that listed what families had lived in the house and I was interested to read their stories and what had happened to them. It was interesting to read that although the house had its ghosts and pains, it was the people who lived there that gave it a bad name, not the house itself. So many problematic people.

Star Rating – ★★★★★