Thursday, May 7, 2015

The After House

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author: Michael Phillip Cash
Format: eBook, Paperback, Audio
Pages: 212
Release Date: 09-30-14
http://www.amazon.com/After-House 



Bit on the Back...........


Remy Galway and her daughter Olivia are rebuilding their life after a failed marriage in a 300 year old cottage in historic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. 

Little do they know, another occupant is lurking in the haven of their own home. Will the After House be their shelter or their tomb?


My So-Called Review............


This was my first read by author Michael Phillip Cash and I must confess that it was the awesome cover that made me want to read this more so than the description. What I was expecting was a good spooky ghost story, what I got was that and so much more! This certainly wasn’t the scariest ghost story I’ve ever read but it certainly had some good spooky parts and was a lot of fun. I would categorize it more as a romantic, paranormal type of book.

The After House is the story of a recently divorced mother, Remy and her daughter Olivia who move into a 300 year old cottage. We know right from the beginning that they are not alone; the cottage is also occupied by the ghost of Captain Eli, a whaler that died at sea long ago and has not been able to “cross over”. Eli is less than thrilled by these new inhabitants and causes much trouble for Remy shortly after they’ve moved in by trying to scare her into moving. I love how Eli was portrayed as this grumpy old man trying to scare these unwanted females out of his home (which he sometimes confused for his ship). Olivia seems to sense Eli is there right from the start yet it takes her mother much longer to see him. There were some really funny moments towards the beginning of the story that involved Eli trying to scare Olivia, how she responds to him was priceless; she’s one very spunky girl!

Soon, strange and dangerous things start to happen to Remy and she fears she’s being watched. Who is after her and why? Is Captain Eli really that desperate to remove her and her daughter from his home? So much so that he’d cause a house fire and a near fatal road accident? Or is this the work of someone or something else?

I really liked Remy’s character, she’s been through so much recently but you never get the sense that she’s a victim, in her life or her situation. There are some really great secondary characters in Remy’s parents, Brian and Judith; I loved what each of them brought to the story. The only slight fault I found character wise is that Olivia is portrayed as a young girl around the age of 6 yet sometimes her inner dialogue and conversations with others come out sounding like she’s much older, but this certainly didn’t detract from the story.

The After House was a really great read! The vivid details drew me into this imaginative world that Michael Phillip Cash created. He seamlessly switches between the past and present to slowly uncover the life of Captain Eli as well as his reason for being “stuck” in the present. I could have read an entire book based just on Eli’s story. My heart broke over the unimaginable loss that he had suffered. This is a beautifully written story about second chances and love, highly recommend for adults and YA!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Red Feather Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review



















4 comments:

  1. I love this! I was a little sceptical in the beginning but it seems like this is putting a new twist on the average haunted-house story. I'm always up for a nice scary read.

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    1. Definitely a new twist on your typical haunted house story :) I loved this book & the humor it has was really refreshing in this genre!

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  2. I think I checked this book out every time I was on NetGalley. I probably should have read it!

    Congratulations! You've been nominated for a Liebster Award! See my blog post for the rules: http://cynthiasonpensandneedles.blogspot.com/2015/05/liebster-award.html

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    1. I hear ya! I kept going back and forth on this one, I loved the cover but wasn't sure it was my "type" of book. I'm so glad I gave it a shot though, I really enjoyed it :)

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