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40x40

graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Haunted (Harrison Investigation, #1) in Books

Feb 15, 2019  
H(
Haunted (Harrison Investigation, #1)
Heather Graham | 2003
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I picked up Haunted after I had finished [b:The Seance|959245|The Seance (Harrison Investigation, #5)|Heather Graham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255876724s/959245.jpg|944150], and I was unaware that they both feature Adam and Harrison Investigations. I'm all set to read [b:The Vision|731809|The Vision (Harrison Investigation, #3)|Heather Graham|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177781638s/731809.jpg|717999] that I just picked up from the library. Even though I've completely juggled around the order of when they were written, it's lucky for me that they are standalones. In the prologue it gave background information about Adam's son, Josh, who was mentioned just briefly in The Seance, and he plays a big part in this book, so I was happy to find out all that information before I get to next book that features Harrison Investigations.

Now to get to the main story in Haunted...
Even though with the way Darcy was written you would think she was a Mary-Sue, she wasn't and I liked her just fine. Now Matt on the other hand, well he was a jerk, plain and simple. I never could like him much and that detracted a lot from the book. It seems that Heather Graham must make the male lead a hard-core skeptic that just will not believe (until the end of course) in anything paranormal and thinks the female lead is crazy or delusional or something. It would be nice if it was reversed or if maybe, just maybe, the hero is open-minded enough to say, well maybe there is 'something' out there that cannot be proven. *gasp* Is that even possible? Can a hero ever truly be open-minded? Not in these books. He has to be so narrow-minded that his thought-blocks must fit neatly into their right-shaped holes (e.g. triangle block into triangle hole, etc.).

I really enjoyed the whole Darcy/Josh/Adam/Ghost hunting thing. I thought the author did a good job describing how Darcy went about finding out about the ghosts and that's what made this book good. I really did like Darcy a lot and she was a sympathetic character who stood up for herself and acted like an adult with poise and class (unlike some other character I could mention). The mystery did keep me guessing because I was never quite sure who the ghost was or what had happened, although I had narrowed down who was behind everything to two people, leaning more on the actual culprit (yay me!), for lack of suspects. So overall, the mystery was very good, though I wish Ms. Graham would bring in more people so it isn't as easy to figure out. All in all, not as good as The Seance, but a good and entertaining read.

3.5 stars

I forgot to mention that there were tons of editing problems, which seem to be a mainstay in H.G.'s books. Once Clint's name is changed to Cliff and Josh was referred to as Matt, plus numerous other things that cropped up everywhere.
  
40x40

Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Watching Edie in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
WE
Watching Edie
Camilla Way | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also find my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/watching-edie-by-camilla-way

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!

<b>TRIGGER WARNING: <spoiler>Rape</spoiler></b>

Firstly I’d like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the opportunity to read this book in an exchange for a review.

<b><i>"... they do remain a part of us, those people who have hurt us very deeply, or who we have hurt, never letting us go, not entirely."</b></i>

This is the tale of a fractured friendship between two young ladies from broken families. Edie is popular and beautiful, Heather is awkward and shy. To begin with they seem to be the best of friends, but one night, something terrible happens that tears them apart. Fast forward 17 or so years and Edie is alone, working as a waitress and struggling to cope with new motherhood. Luckily, Heather steps out of Edie’s past and into her present, just at the right time to keep Edie afloat. But, something’s not right, there’s a darkness in their past that can’t be overlooked in the future.

From the get go, I thought this wasn’t going to be my sort of book, I’m not really into thrillers where the past and present are skipped between and an intense love story is the main focus. I tend to find them samey and cringey - the love of an 18 year old still haunting lives at the age of 33 just seems to only happen in novels. But, this one intrigued me a little more than the others have done. At 50% I started getting a little more excited at what was going to happen next. In the end, I actually got quite into the book, reading it in 24 hours.

Our two main characters of the novel, Edie and Heather, have really terrible stories attached to them and we can sympathise with them both, but it’s difficult to pick a side…. Let’s just say that what you’re thinking throughout the book may be completely turned on its head once the twist has come out.

There were aspects of this book that were very predictable and for a while the only reason I wanted to continue reading was because I wanted to know the full details of what happened that night at the quarry, so it had me more interested than <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1474373840">In a Dark, Dark Wood.</a> But then <b>BAM</b> we’re smacked with the truth of that awful night and we have to take the book and its characters in a whole new light. The twist in the novel is so far from what I was expecting it to be, it’s absolutely brutal in comparison to other novels with the same kind of plot.

I ended up really enjoying this after being so skeptical to begin with and I think it’s an excellent fast paced, twisty-turny read but I know it won’t be for everybody, it features too many dark subjects for all psychological thriller lovers to enjoy.