BACKGROUND

I am a self confessed bookworm. I love nothing better than curling up with a good book. My favourite type of book has to be horror. I have read loads of horror books by many known and unknown authors, but my favourite author has to be James Herbert (with Stephen King coming in at a very close second).

When I saw that James Herbert had a new book out, I dropped very heavy hints that I would like it for Christmas. Luckily Santa had taken heed of my hints and on Christmas this was one of my presents.

THE PRODUCT

The hardback version that I have is published by Macmillan and the recommended retail price comes in at a rather hefty £17.99.

I have to say that as this was a present I am unsure how much they paid for it, but I have seen it on sale in Asda and Tesco for £9.99, certain bookstores selling it with £5 off. The cheapest place I have seen it on sale is WHSmith who were selling it at a very good offer of half price.

It really does pay now to shop around when buying books, especially hardbacks that have just been released as there is a great amount of competition going on with regards to price.

THE PLOT

Crickley Hall is a large house situated in Devon. During the Second World War it was used to house evacuated children.

Since then it has been mostly empty, people have bought it but have never lived there for very long.

The house has stood empty for a number of years, until the Caleigh family decide to rent it. The Caleigh family live in London, but Gabriel (or Gabe as everyone calls him) has a project to oversee in Devon, decides it would be easier to stay somewhere local than travel back and forth to London everyday.

Gabe thinks that it would be a good idea to bring the rest of the family down with him (his wife Eve, daughters Loren and Cally and not forgetting Chester the dog) to escape the hustle and bustle of London life and to get away from a tragedy that is currently overshadowing their lives.

The locals of Hollow Bay, the local harbour village seem friendly enough, but when the Caleighs mention that they are staying at Crickley Hall, the locals seem to clam up.

Rumour has it that the house is haunted, could this possibly be true…..

CHARACTERS

Gabe Caleigh - Gabe is an American living in London. He comes across as being stubborn at times, but will also go to any length to ensure the safety of his family. He is convinced that the house is not haunted, there are no such things as ghosts, and unexplained noises can be put down to creaking floorboards, bashing water pipes etc.

Eve Caleigh - Eve comes across as being the total opposite to Gabe in some respect. While she too will do anything to protect her family, she is convinced that the house is haunted and that strange noises, goings on etc cannot be put down to everyday creaks and moans of old houses - she is convinced there is something more to it. Eve is also a very emotional person and has had a lot to deal with over the past few months and comes across as being on the edge.

Loren Caleigh - Gabe and Eve's twelve year old daughter who really did not want to leave her friends behind in London, but had no real choice as her parents were moving for a while and that was that. She comes across as a typical pre teenager - sometimes calling Gabe Dad when in a bad mood and calling him Daddy when feeling sad or scared. She does give the impression of being quite mature for her age and has to be able to deal with more than the average twelve year old.

Cally Caleigh - The couple's five year old daughter. A typical five year old that is happy enough playing with dolls and colouring in. Again like her sister she has had to deal with a lot more than a child of her age should have to.

Chester - The family's loveable mongrel dog who does not like Crickley Hall at all. He is forever whining, shaking and trying to escape.

Percy Judd - A local man who is gardener at Crickley Hall. Has worked there for most of his life and knows the history of the Hall.

Gordon Pyke - A paranormal investigator who says he can prove the house is not haunted and weird goings on can be put down to natural events.

Lili Peel - A physic that Eve asks for help. Lili is convinced the house is haunted and has a feeling that something is not right with the house.

Magda Cribben - Governess at Crickley Hall when the evacuated children were sent there.

Augustus Cribben - Magda's brother who was in charge of Crickely Hall and the evacuated children.

MY OPINION

This is your classic haunted house story, which I love. I find that a lot of today's horror books tend to rely on blood, guts and gore, rather than a gripping storyline to try and frighten the reader. I found it a nice surprise to read a book that didn't rely on somebody having their head chopped off to try and scare you, but rather the cupboard door banging in the middle of the night instead.

The book I think argues both sides of a haunted house theory throughout. For example going back to the cupboard banging the middle of night - as the reader you are convinced there is going to be something nasty in there waiting to jump out and scare you. When the cupboard is opened it is empty, but there is a draught blowing from somewhere and the cupboard does contain water pipes, so maybe this is all it was after all.

James Herbert has also been subtle in some of the things he has mentioned throughout the story, which you don't think anything of at the time, but as you progress through the book you realise they are quite significant. A prime example of this the cellar door. Throughout each chapter he mentions that the cellar door is open. He does it in such a way that you just read it along with the rest of the chapter and not think anything more about it.

The storyline is very gripping and makes you want to keep reading and reading. Putting this book down for me proved to be quite difficult. The plot flies along and there are twists and turns throughout it. There are two stories really in this book - the main one being about Crickley Hall and the sub story which pops up from time to time is the tragedy they are trying to get away from. The two stories do interlink at some point.

Everything has been very well laid out and this book succeeds in drawing you into the world of Crickley Hall. One thing that did bother me though is that sometimes one chapter would be about Eve in Crickley Hall and just as something good was about to happen the chapter would end. The next chapter would be about Gabe and I was desperate to know what was happening with Eve, so I would end up reading another two chapters to find out what had happened instead of just one as I had planned.

The weather is also significant to the story. Every day it is raining or thunder and lightening storms. I feel that this added to the sinister effect that this book has.

The book also relies on the 'did that just happen' idea. One of the characters think that they saw something move out of the corner of their eye, but when they turn around there is nothing there. A character hears something, but can't be sure what it is.

The characters are very believable and are described very well. The 'baddy's' of the book will really make you hate them. These characters actually have some body to them and you can believe that they could quite easily exist, unlike some books where the characters are totally false. You are given some background on each of the characters. You are not given a great deal, just enough to understand why they would or wouldn't do something etc. I liked the idea that you are given some background. I hate reading books where you have no idea of anything about the central characters life before the story. I think that if you are given a little bit of information then it makes the story more believable.

I did however feel slightly nervy when I was reading this book. I think that this could be due to the fact that during the time it took me to read it we also had rain and storms everyday, just like the book. Sometimes I would look up and think I saw something moving by the bedroom door and jump, but it would just be my little boy going into the bathroom. I found myself so involved in this book that I felt I was leaving this world behind to an extent and entering into the world of this book.

Even though this book is a hefty 600 pages long, it only took me about a week to read it, and I have to say that I was disappointed when I finished it, not because I didn't enjoy the book, but because I no longer had this book to keep me engrossed.

WOULD I RECOMMEND

Yes I would recommend this book and I will definitely be reading it again. If you are already a James Herbert fan then you probably already have this. If you have never read any of his work before, then this would be an excellent book to start with.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review, Cath. xx