A chilling ghost story with a twist: the New York Timesbestselling author of The Winter People returns to the woods of Vermont to tell the story of a husband and wife who don’t simply move into a haunted house, they start building one from scratch, without knowing it, until it’s too late . . .
In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate abandon the comforts of suburbia and their teaching jobs to take up residence on forty-four acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this charming property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago. As Helen starts carefully sourcing decorative building materials for her home–wooden beams, mantles, historic bricks–she starts to unearth, and literally conjure, the tragic lives of Hattie’s descendants, three generations of “Breckenridge women,” each of whom died amidst suspicion, and who seem to still be seeking something precious and elusive in the present day.
I’m really behind on my Jennifer McMahon books. The last one I read was The Winter People, which was an easy five stars for me. When I saw The Invited on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it.
This author is certainly talented at creating a chilling, atmospheric setting. Forty-four acres of rural land, very few neighbors, and creepy bog? Oh, and someone died by hanging at the bog? Perfect. Throw in a main character who uses building materials from allegedly haunted locations? Disturbing. The author also weaves in some spine-tingling visuals – nothing that kept me up at night, but I’m a horror fan, so that’s a difficult task to accomplish.
The characters are likable in the beginning, but once the supernatural events begin, they’re at each other’s throats. While both Nate and Helen develop individual obsessions, the reader feels the same frustrations with them as the characters do with each other. Honestly, if I was Nate, I probably would have tossed Helen out on her keester. They’re also pretty slow to realize things aren’t quite right in their neck of the woods.
Maybe it was because I read an ARC, but several things are mentioned in the book that didn’t happen – events, something a character said, etc. Like maybe the author meant to go back and add things during revisions, but forgot?
The Invited is a slow burn, supernatural tale that starts off a bit sluggish, but picks up around the 45% mark. Enough hints are dropped that readers will probably figure out the twists before the ending, but it was an enjoyable read for me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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I love an atmospheric read. Hmm, maybe the things that didn’t happen were left untold because there will be a sequel. Thanks for posting your review!
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Atmosphere goes a long way in an eerie read like this, Priscilla. The author certainly nails it in this book.
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I love the eerie vibe, but I’d be kind of let down if stuff was left out. Perhaps Priscilla is right and the missing details will be in a sequel, but I don’t know if I’d be happy with all the dangling threads.
Thanks for sharing, Teri.
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Pretty sure there’s not a sequel, but these were references to things that had already happened in the story. A couple of times, I backtracked just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Still an enjoyable read!
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Ooh…I like the sound of this one, and I’ll put it on my list to read. Thanks! 🙂
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Hope you enjoy it – happy reading!
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About all those missing things. Shouldn’t an ARC be as close to final as possible?
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I’ve read some ARCs that were nearly perfect, and some that were difficult to read due to formatting or other issues, but these were just puzzling.
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Seems like asking for review trouble not having it as good as possible.
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Can’t argue with that.
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Oooh, I do like the sound of this, Teri. I also like horror.
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I’d say it leans more toward supernatural suspense than horror, Robbie – but that’s just me.
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Forgive me for not reading your review, but this is next on my read list (I think release day is April 30th). I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time and want to approach it fresh. I’ll to come back and check out your review after I finish it!
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I found you in my spam folder, Mae – how weird is that? I thought about you when I posted this, because I know the author is an auto buy for you. Hope you enjoy it!
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I’m sure I will. And I’ve been finding regular commentors on my blog in my spam folder too. Another blogger/author told me the same thing was happening on his blog. WP is possessed! 😀
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The premise sounds great despite some of the challenges, Teri. It certainly sparks the imagination. Thanks for the recommendation and review. 🙂
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It really does. Can you imagine building a house with reclaimed materials from known haunted places? Seems like an open invitation to me, lol.
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My house is all reclaimed stuff, but none of it haunted! Thank Goodness!
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I guess you would have noticed by now if it was haunted, Diana, lol!
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That’s odd. That bit would frustrate me. I wonder what others have to say about the missing parts. ? But what a premise. I love that blurb!
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I looked at some other reviews, but that was a few weeks ago, and no one mentioned it. I did a couple of searches in the ARC just to see if I’d imagined it or skimmed over it, but nothing else showed up. Weird. But yes – the blurb is awesome!
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