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Review Summaries
"The hero of this story is Mike Noonan, a novelist. Noonan begins by describing the death of his wife four years ago, and his subsequent grief and the resulting writer's block. Up until just after his wife's death, Noonan had been publishing a book a year. But he'd written four other manuscripts in the meantime and put them in a safe-deposit box. One at a time, these are the manuscripts that he has been sending to his publisher since his writer's block began.
Faced with recurring nightmares about his wife's ghost and his country house in rural Maine (called Sara Laughs), and all out of extra manuscripts for his publisher, Noonan realizes he must go to the country house in order to work out his problems. Strange occurrences upon Noonan's arrival at Sara Laughs seem to indicate that the house is haunted.
But before long, Noonan falls in love with a young widow whose millionaire father-in-law holds considerable power in town. The evil father-in-law plans to take the young widow's small daughter away from her. When Noonan takes up her cause he realizes that the millionaire is criminally insane, and that he now faces physical dangers as well as the supernatural dangers from his haunted house. Eventually, Noonan comes to understand that the ghosts haunting his house are there as a result of atrocious crimes committed by the evil millionaire's, as well as his own, ancestors. Now, Noonan must set these ghosts to rest in order to get on with the rest of his own life.
"
Billy Pashaie, Resident Stephen King Scholar
"Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want from Mike Noonan?
"
Tyler Volz, Resident Stephen King Scholar
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Overall Review
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 20% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Romance
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- the haunted house chased me!
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
- An "It".
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- telekinesis
- Invisibility
Eccentric:
Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
- a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Dumb
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Water
- Forests
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- none/very little science jargon needed
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- rape/molest (yeech!)
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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