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The House on the Bluff
By Elena Dorothy Bowman
Barclay Books 1-937402-00-0
Trade
$14.95In New England, the Pierce house sits on the bluff uninhabited for hundreds of years. The last person to live there disappeared, but Abigail, a descendent of the family who owns the house, has no intention of disappearing. She goes to the house to fulfill a prophecy and the house welcomes her with open arms, revealing its memories to her.
"The House on the Bluff" is a clever reworking of the haunted house genre. There are some great scenes involving ghosts and the self-restructuring games of the house, some a bit bloody. For you gore hounds, don't get too excited. All the thrills in this book are classic-inspired and it works just right.
The characters are innocent and charming. I laughed a few times at the bickering between the characters, falling for their chemistry and conflict.
Most of the story takes place in the house where Abigail is trapped with her two friends Ethan and Tony. Bowman has written some great cat-and-mouse-in-the-maze sequences that topple anything Hollywood could come up with.
I was disappointed in the end. Bowman explains, through her characters, the prophecy, the ghosts, and the history of the house and it all leads back to the Crusades. I'm still not sure what one thing has to do with the other and the more I think about it, I wonder if the house was even a threat at all. But I still had a good time.
For a short, breezy, haunting, and charming time, "The House on the Bluff" might be what you are looking for.
Review by Mike Purfield
Critical Raves for Mike Purfield's "Dirty Boots."
"If you're looking for a good read, something you've never experienced before, then this is the book for you." Paul Kane of Terror Tales.
Rated 3 out of 4 by Unhinged Magazine.
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