The Torment of Rachel Ames - Jeff Gunhus

5 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -
Suffering from writer’s block, novelist Rachel Ames escapes to a lake cabin to calm her mind and regain a sense of herself. The location is perfect. Isolated. Beautiful. Inspiring. It even comes with a good-looking landlord who shows an interest in her. But she can’t shake the sense that something terrible has followed her to the lake, something just beyond her consciousness, something out on the edge where the sounds of a raging fire and sirens linger whenever she slows down to listen.

Determined to make the cabin work, she tries to settle in and give her new life a chance. But when strange things begin to happen around her, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake. As the darkness that’s followed her manifests itself in inexplicable ways, her concept of reality is stretched thin and she realizes nothing at the lake is what it seems.

As she fights to survive with her sanity intact, she understands too late that the location she’s chosen for herself is far from perfect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Jeff Gunhus is the author thriller and horror novels for adults and the middle grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. His books for adults have reached the Top 100 on Amazon and have been Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalists.

After his experience with his son, he is passionate about helping parents reach young reluctant readers and is active in child literacy issues. As a father of five, he leads an active lifestyle in Maryland with his wife Nicole by trying to constantly keep up with their kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel.

Visit his website - HERE

MY THOUGHTS -
Oh my word! I don't even know where to begin with this novella. I finished this story with my hand over my mouth and holding my breath - the only thought in my head was WOW! It was one of those book that I immediately wanted to go back and read over again because I read it too fast the first time.

This book started out very strange for me and I kept thinking "What - the - heck???"  It was creepy in spots, scary in spots and felt like a horror story, and then got very sad in spots, and finally I was like - AH HA! Yes, I had an "ah ha" moment! What ever you choose to call it - this is definitely a book that will stick with you!

This book was not only sad for me but it made me feel sad (if you can understand the difference). I really felt sad for Rachel, she got into my head and my heart. Now that is great character development!

The descriptions in this book were so good I could really picture every little detail.

"Vines cover the south wall, tentacles stretching from ground to roof, fingers dug into the seams between the boards, prying into them and buckling them outward. It looks as if the forest has been caught in the act of chocking the cabin to death right before she showed up. and ruined all the fun."

"It's too narrow to see anything on the other side, but as she watches a draft comes from under the door and pushes the dust from the drywall forward. There's a pause and then the draft reverses direction, sucking the air under the door. Then back out. In. Out.
Like its breathing.
She levers the claw end of the hammer under the door and yanks on it. The door doesn't budge. She hits the door with the hammer. Standing up, she kicks it, punches it with her fist. Losing control."

This would make a great movie. It was a cross between Secret Window (with Johnny Depp), Premonition (with Sandra Bullock) and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

I had seen this author's books before but this is the first one I have read - now I want to read everything he has written! 

Thank you "Kate Tilton’s Book Bloggers" for this amazing book in exchange for my honest review!

Get your copy from Amazon - HERE