gilda_elise

Daniel is desperate for a job. When someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true.

Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time.

But an envelope waits for him inside the doorway. It contains money, and promises more.

Daniel is desperate. Against his better judgement, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage behind the crypt. He’s determined to ignore the strange occurrences that plague the estate.

But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret… one that threatens to bury him with it.

I truly liked this book, even if there were times when I felt like grabbing Daniel by the shoulders, and violently shaking him while yelling, “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” What I had to keep in mind was the age of the protagonist. Is that why so many horror movies focus on young adults? Maybe, but naïveté should only be taken so far. That was pretty much my only complaint.

I appreciated that the plot moved quickly along and that everyone, human and spirit, pretty much got what they deserved, the good guys being likable, and the bad guys not. Figuring out which was which was half the fun. A highly readable book, l’ll be looking for more by this author.