Rating:  Summary: as usual, a great read Review: I have enjoyed every book by Ms. Erskine and this one was no exception. As with "Midnight is a Lonely Place", I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. However, as with "Midnight", I was disappointed in the ending. After building up such tension throughout the story, both books ended with a, well, splat. It was like one reviewer commented, it seemed that Ms.Erskine went on a vacation and never took the time to develop an ending consistent with the wonderful story she told throughout the rest of the novel. I do recommend this and any of her other works, just be prepared for a wimpy ending to otherwise engrossing novel.
Rating:  Summary: Good, but could have been cut in half Review: I love ghost stories and this is no exception. I won't go into a plot synopsis, because that's been done already. Ms. Erskine began with an interesting plot. Her writing is very atmospheric and there's that wonderful sense of impending doom. Some very clever juxtapostion of just who and what is doing the bad stuff. But, I have to say, the book was too long. It could easily have been cut in half. We spend Joss' entire pregnancy listening to poor little Tom screaming that the "Tin Man" is scaring the bejabbers out of him and other than that, nothing really happens. The stakes are never really upped enough to start sitting on the edge of your seat. I liked Joss, but she was a bit of a victim. Bringing Natalie in to clean things up was just too pat. Joss should have been the one to lay the ghosts to rest. It was her house and her children in danger. I thought she fluffed off her adoptive parents far too easily. They just became a non-part of the story. Lynn I wanted to slap, she was so one dimensional, and Luke needed a boot in the butt to wake up. I kept hoping Joss would leave him and get together with David who was far more interesting.Yes, (G), I did like this story. I listened to the unabridged audio version. I love being read too, but even as much as I love it, as I said this work could easily have been cut in half to pick up the pacing and none of the story would have been lost. This is my first exposure to Ms. Erskine and I did like this book well enough to try her other books.
Rating:  Summary: House of Echoes Review: I reccomend this book form ages 12 and up. This is a fantastic book with freaky ghostly spirits that are trapped in the house from a curse. And sometimes while you are reading you migth get shivers up through your spine. This is a very sad and meaningful book. If these spirits were alive I don't think i would be as brave as Jocelyn Grant who fought all the way through her life and career. As a mother of her age she has the will to face her troubles. She is the heroine of the story. Read this book because you will love it.
Rating:  Summary: Fantastic. The best ghost story I ever came across! Review: I received this book as a replacement for another last christmas. I could not put it down. 8 month later I have read every book by Barbara Erskine and am desperately waiting for a new release.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent! Review: I'm a huge fan of Barabra Erskine and this book does not disappoint in any way! Joss, a young woman with a new family, inherits an estate from her mother. She wants to make the fresh start and here is a place where she can learn about the family she never knew. The only problem is that with the land and the house, Joss also inherits a legacy of revenge, passion and fear. Erskine continues her usual fabulous writing to create scenes that jump out off the page and become so real you could swear you were there. Full of suspense, you won't be able to put this book down, so make sure you've got a free evening when you start this book!!
Rating:  Summary: Yawn.... Review: I've enjoyed some of Erskine's work in the past, but this one was awfully dull. The characters were vapid, the story lacked suspense, and I found myself putting the book down about twenty-five pages from the end... and never picking it up again.
Rating:  Summary: An excellent haunted house tale Review: If you like to be scared as you are reading, you want to read this novel. An isolated setting of a familial mansion with whisperings and strange,unexplainable happenings keep you on the edge of your seat. Difficult to put down.
Rating:  Summary: Good beginning, atmospheric middle, dreadful last 50 pages. Review: It began well with interesting believable characters. It built tension throughout but the atmosphere was gone by the end. The plot petered out to nothing, no great drama in the conclusion just an anti-climactic squib where it was comfortably resolved with no great finale. If Barbara Erskine reads her reviews she should take note not to go on holiday towards the end of writing a book because that's how it felt to the reader. Where was Katherine's malevolence!!! one barely interesting paragraph?? You should have stuck with the mother Margaret, she was far more interesting and a better developed character to play the baddie.
Rating:  Summary: Should have been at least 100 pages shorter Review: It could have been great, but the middle just dragged and dragged with the same conversations over and over and the same spooky happenings over and over. I think she just wanted to pad the book. If 100 pages were cut, it probably would have been great. But, it was too slow as is.
Rating:  Summary: House of Echoes is a good scare Review: The story builds very nicely to its scarey conclusion. There were several moments near the end where my spine actually tingled! It is a difficult book to put down.
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