THRILLER REVIEW: The Haunting of James Hastings - Christopher Ransom

Release Date: 08/07/10

BOOK BLURB:

James Hastings' wife is dead - her life snuffed out in a horrific accident that leaves her husband shattered. Dizzy with grief and guilt, James withdraws into his sprawling mansion, losing himself in liquor ...and memories of Stacey. Until the day two women enter his life. One is Annette, a gorgeous stranger with a dark past. The other is not a stranger, and her past is all too familiar. First her voice echoes through the phone lines, and from behind the ballroom doors ...Then her shoes reappear, streaked with mud and grime, as though unearthed from the grave ...And soon Annette begins saying things only Stacey could know, enveloping James in a spiral of terror and violence that threatens to destroy his home, his sanity, and his soul. For death is only the beginning of his nightmare. And the haunting of James Hastings might just be the end of him.


REVIEW:

Having read the first title by this author I marked him as a name to watch, and whilst I did have problems with it, there was enough potential to make me stand up and pay attention. That said, this second offering had to be something special and hopefully the author wouldn’t have fallen foul of the second novel curse.

What occurred was a tale that was way to long, was pretty patchy as well as disjointed as if the author had so many idea’s that he just had to cram them all in, even when they were at odds with each other. Whilst it may have made sense to him, as a title it didn’t work and really does confuse the reader but not in a good way. Obviously the principle character was Eminem (although the author does admit this in the acknowledgments in the books back.) Unfortuantely due to the many problems I had with this novel, it is not a title I will be recommending and to be honest I don’t think I’ll be bothering with the next.