Monday, November 2, 2015

"The Torment of Rachel Ames" Book Review



             Hey folks! I have an exciting new psychological thriller from Jeff Gunhus to share with you today! If you've not read my previous book reviews of his adult novels (he also writes a middle grade series for kids), be sure to do so on my book reviews page. If you enjoy reading Dean Koontz, then you are in for a treat!
            In The Torment of Rachel Ames, we find Rachel, a down-on-her-luck writer, driving to a remote cabin to take a break from humanity and get re-inspired. Once arriving at the cabin, however, she discovers it's not as remote as she had hoped when she meets the strange old man who lives in the shack across the lake behind her rental place, not to mention her seemingly nosy, yet good looking, landlord who keeps “checking up” on her daily and bringing her groceries.
             As per any Jeff Gunhus story, other strange things start happening soon too: odd looking black birds and wolves come barging up to and in her cabin, trying to attack her, she meets a man sweeping leaves on a trail in the woods, and, most peculiar of all, she finds a door hidden inside a wall of her cabin...But Rachel really starts to think she's going crazy when the wall is magically repaired the next morning after discovering it, the door hidden away inside the wall again.
             As more events quickly unfold, Rachel knows deep down that she should just leave the place as soon as possible and never look back. As usual, curiosity gets the best of her, though, and she has to find out what's going on at the cabin or if she really is going crazy.

             Being a novella, you easily get sucked into the story right away. Plus all Jeff Gunhus novels are good at that regardless of how lengthy or short they are. ;) I liked that this was a little different from his previous books in that it's more of a psychological thriller rather than a supernatural one. It's pretty obvious that Rachel has some kind of mental issues going on throughout the story, but it's probably not what you expect. Who doesn't like unpredictable endings?
             The only thing I didn't like about this novella is that it is so short! (I know, I know. That's why it's called a novella.) I definitely could have read more of this, though I don't feel the story left anything important out. This was originally written as a screenplay and while I loved reading it, I hope one day Mr.Gunhus decides to sell the rights to having it made into a movie after all because it would make an excellent one!
             The Torment of Rachel Ames will be available for purchase on Amazon on November 10th. You can click on the link above to pre-order your own copy now. Head over to Goodreads for a chance to WIN a copy. Also be sure to show the author some love on his Facebook page.

2 comments:

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  2. I'm so glad you enjoyed the novella! I still think about it from when I beta-read it. So creepy!

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