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The Siren and The Specter

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Member Reviews

Unfortunately this story did not resonate with me. It felt disjointed, and while there was great potential, it almost felt as if these were two different books combined into one. However, I do have to say that Janz knows how to create tension and his descriptions of ghostly encounters are chilling.

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Another absolutely brilliant read from Janz! One that keeps you reading at a fast pace, up light at night either from the determination to finish the book, or because you don’t quite dare to close your eyes! A fast paced ride that keeps you wanting more while your heart races at the thought of what might come next!

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Siren and the Specter solidifies Jonathan Janz as the next horror writer to watch!

Janz's fluid writing and clear descriptions bring you immediately into the story. You can see, smell and taste everything he describes. His characters are flawed, compelling and interesting. Even the ones that turn your stomach (and there are a lot in this story) have depth and are more than a horror character cardboard cut out that other authors with fewer skills would use. I especially like his endings...they are never really the end and leave you with a nice shiver down your spine. Did you lock your door, check under your bed, look in the closet?

My only critique (and it is my critique of horror in general) is the use of graphic sexual imagery combined with gore. Horror novels are known to have the obvious gory scenes but I have always been turned off when the gore and sex are combined. In this story, it is relative to the depravity of the specter but it is still a turnoff to me as a reader. I wish there were just more scares and less sex in my horror.

I will highly recommend this author and his novels to my horror loving patrons.

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Jonathan Janz and Flame Tree Press seem to keep popping everywhere I look for new horror and both the publisher and author have provided me with many hours of terrifying entertainment over the past several months. When I saw The Siren and the Spectre, I knew this was a book that I had to read and could not wait to dive right in.

David Caine had dedicated his life to debunking the supernatural and made a decent living off of his skepticism as well. When a friend invited to stay in the “most haunted” house in Virginia, it was an offer he could not refuse. He saw it as another chance to further his reputation. The Alexander House, however, had very different designs. The house’s reputation was well-earned over the years and no single many would be able to prove that it was false. Caine would become a believer or he may not survive the month he planned to live in the house. Of course, even believers could die.

The Alexander House was built in the 1700’s by a land baron as a place in which to house his deranged son and, hopefully, contain his madness. It has been said that houses have their own personalities and it seemed as if the Alexander House was infected by madness of its residents and the bloody secrets that it kept confined within its walls. David Caine did not believe in the malignant energy of the supernatural but he carried ghosts from a long-ago love that went astray deep within the dark recesses of his heart. This secret served as a beacon to the Alexander House and the tool that the house could use to destroy him.

The Siren and the Spectre surprised me a little bit as it seemed a little different approach for Janz than what I was expecting. Maybe this is because the first several of his works that I read were novellas which lent them to a more in-the-face style of storytelling. This novel, however, has a much more subtle approach that is similar in feel to a gothic novel more than an action-packed horror tale. There is a strong atmosphere of horror that pushes the novel along and keeps the reader at the edge of his seat waiting for what lies around the corner. This is not to say that the book does not move along at a good pace. Many authors struggle with this type of story as it is easy to lose track of the narrative amidst the emotion and atmosphere that needs to be built over the course of the novel. Janz never falls into this trap and the story never bogs down.

Even with a more subtle approach, Janz is still able to pack the book with a novel’s worth of terror and more. There are threads of both psychological and supernatural horror that weave throughout the story to give the book the feel of a classic horror story as well as that of a thriller. This lends the novel a human element that makes the terror hit closer to home than it would otherwise been capable of doing. The story may be a far cry from some of the near-extreme horror of Janz’s novellas but it is some of his most terrifying work yet. The terror of this novel stuck with me every day when I was reading it and long after the final word. While this is not a great novel, it is a very strong ghost story that is sure to haunt the reader as much as it does the characters within.

I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Siren and the Spectre is available now.

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David Caine, a celebrated sceptic of the supernatural, is asked by his old friend Chris and his wife Katherine, to stay in a property they own, the Alexander House, to see if it really is as haunted as everyone says it is and then to write a book about it. Built in the 1700s by a land baron for his mad and depraved eldest son, it remains under a cloud of pain, sorrow and blood.

When David agrees and moves in for a month strange things happen almost at once, singing from outside his window, a pale ghostly figure of a woman beckoning him to follow, cold spots in the house, weird and sometimes violent dreams, he thinks, maybe, it's just because of the stories about the house and not actually because it's haunted, then things get weirder.

He meets Mike Jr when he's on a walk one day, a smart arse little kid who lives not too far away with his parents and little sister Ivy, his parents are the worst kind of scum, drinking, taking drugs, violent altercations and sex all in front of their kids, David is horrified when the mum hits on him and sexually assaults him, he gets as far away from them as possible but grows fond of Mike Jr even though he's a little shit.

Things get creepier and more violent as we continue through the story but it has a wonderful humour and brilliant interactions between the characters, it breaks up the tension in what can be, at times, disturbing and chilling narrative, I laughed out loud in a fair few places and never felt disconnected from the story, it pulled me deeper in and I ended up reading this in one sitting as I didn't want to leave the characters, I needed to see what happened.

I'm not going to say any more about the plot as I urge everyone to read this, it's the second book I've read by Jonathan Janz and I read three in the space of maybe 4 days, he is now one of my definite go to authours and I know that I will LOVE the rest of his books!!

Please, read his books, they are all so very good and if I could give them all more than 5 stars on here I would do in a heartbeat!!

*Huge thanks to Jonathan Janz, Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

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I'm sorry but I didn't like this book... I prefer to not review it on my blog.
I was expecting something different I think. I didn't like the character, but the plot was actually good.

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Jonathan Janz captivated me with this fast paced ghost/horror story.
David Caine is a renowned novelist and lecturer who is known for his absolute disbelief in anything spiritual or supernatural. When his best friend and his wife challenge him to spend a month in the most haunted house in the country, David accepts the challenge.
David is quickly drawn into the strange power the house seems to hold and tries to shrug off and dispel the folklore.
Many other great characters and a few twists in the tale - well worth a read.

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When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House

I quite enjoyed this novel about a guy that is trying to debunk another “haunted” house but gets way more than he bargained for, with his past rising to meet the present.
The setting in the house was eerie and descriptive, David’s feelings real and yet his disbelief continued even when he saw things.
There was a lot going on in the book, Judson’s evil spirit, a siren and an abusive, sick family, but the pace never slowed and made for an interesting read.
I wasn’t wholly sold on the Sirens involvement, at first i didn’t understand what her appearance added to the plot but it did become clear eventually that she mattered, especially to David’s conscience.
Some things in the story are shocking to read but it all adds to the element of just how depraved Judson was, I would happily read another book by this author.

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Spooky Supernatural, Scary People

I loved the complexity in this book. This is a bad house, but the story isn't as simple as that.

David Caine is a skeptic. When he reluctantly agrees to investigate the paranormal activity in Alexander House, it’s in hope that he can clear the name of another skeptic who’d made an earlier study of the place thar went very wrong.

Caine’s disbelief in hauntings reminds me of the following quote from Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House:

“A closed mind is the worst defense against the supernatural... If it happens to you, your liable to have that shut door in your mind ripped right off its hinges!”

In fact, the first part of the book seems to be an homage to that horror masterpiece, with several little Easter eggs cleverly inserted into the text. Pay attention to Caine's interaction with the caretaker's wife.

As Caine realizes the awful truth about the house, the fate of his icon and his former love are shockingly revealed, and explosive forces are unleashed. The book builds slowly at first, but by the end, there's heart-stopping action.

There are some very disturbing elements to the book. I wouldn't like to see kids reading it who aren't very mature. But for we adults, there's some challenging and fascinating issues explored. I recommend it!

The Siren and the Specter joins my list of great reads of the horror genre

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Firstly, let’s start out with Janz’s latest novel is a book that shouldn’t work beyond the basic plot that seems to be what every author tends to churn out. A haunted house story with the normal plot points that after a while, you have guessed the ending long before it finishes. Almost always, the hauntings fit a criterion that is normally a shadow of other works about hauntings and you end up with a pulp version of Hill House or Amityville.

Janz’s The Siren and The Specter is far above and beyond the norm. We are treated to a book that is masterfully written that takes risks and affords the reader some intelligence to move the plot forward without hinging on haunted house tropes. This is definitely an expert cut above the rest and hopefully propel Mr Janz’s career forward.

The book has very strong characters that live off the page within their setting. We have a sceptic author investigator which at first you think, here we go again but this is where the book comes its own masterclass of modern horror. Janz takes the characters and gives him multiple layers and builds upon these. Through clever usage of foreshadowing, every little detail which becomes like a literary Georges Seuirat painting. When you look at it closely, you see dots but step back, and a full realised picture is formed. The minor characters are written just as expertly as the main characters and through dialogue, character setting and description we have a cast that really take control of the page.

The plot is a murder, mystery, historical haunted house story and the tension builds onto triumphant conclusion with an added scary scene to tie up a loose end to give the reader a final chill before the final close. This works very well and doesn’t feel like a tacked on ending or epilogue that some horror novels tend to latch onto. This felt very organic and worked on every level.

The hauntings in particular are very shades of grey and are not very transparent at the beginning but then steers to ghostly unsettling mix of mystery, awe and horrifying. This lends itself to the overall piece and really lifts this above most of its contemporaries. The history lesson that ensues is very organic and this brings everything align with the overall concept of the novel. This is a strongly written and works on every detail.

Overall, this is a rip roaring success and one that every true horror or mystery fan will savour. It has so many genres mixed together to provide a patch quilt that shows that even though he gives a nod to the horror genre in the past, Janz is able to make something fresh and his own contemporaries. It is not very often that I can find a new author that is able to take the torch from the horror genre greats and move it forward but I believe Janz has the ability to reign supreme and provide his own voice to add to a fiction category that often feels a bit stilted or seen it all before scenario in an overworked subgenre. This is certainly a must read and one that will not disappoint. Janz is an author with a unique voice that should be heard and appreciated. A winner that left me speechless whilst at the same time, excited and horrified in equal measures as I read a book that consumed my life. A must read.

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I would like to thank Flame Tree Publishing and Netgalley for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted by the blanket and you see a woman from behind on a full moon night in the middle of the forest.

There is David who is invited by an old friend to spend the month in Virginia's most haunted house. He will realize that this house is different from the others he has already visited. He is haunted by his wife's suicide that he had rejected and he thinks she haunts this famous house.

A book read almost in one go I loved the context of the story, the supernatural, this house haunted the characters. Looking forward to reading another book by this talented author.

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I loved both Children of the Dark and The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz, so I was really looking forward to reading The Siren and the Specter, and it did not disappoint.

Alexander House is a famously (supposedly) haunted house, recently purchased by a couple planning to turn it into a tourist attraction. They ask David Caine, an old friend and skeptic who writes books that debunk famed "hauntings," to investigate Alexander House, hoping he will write about having a supernatural encounter in the house, thereby attracting tourists. David assumes this is like all the other "haunted" houses he's written about and is prepared to disprove yet another legend. But Alexander House has a dark past. It was the site of horrible crimes committed by Judson Alexander, a depraved man who still haunts the house, as David is about to find out.

This was a very spooky haunted house story. All the scenes with "the long bedroom" creeped me out so much. Judson Alexander was a great villain and I really enjoyed the parts of the book that spoke of the disturbing things he did in the past.

The only problem I had with the book was that the main character, David, was unlikable and I had a hard time understanding some of his motivations and his selfishness - at least until a bit of his childhood was explained later in the book. I had a hard time rooting for him, but I liked Sheriff Harkless and David's love interest, Jessica, so there were a few characters I could connect with.

The Siren and the Specter is an unsettling ghost story that would make an excellent Halloween read this October.

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Thank you to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press and the author, Jonathan Janz, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Siren And The Specter in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Where do I start??? I really enjoy a good horror story and cannot remember the last time I read one that set my hair on edge. Until last night. Thank you Mr Janz for achieving just that.
I had to read this book in one night. The storyline and the characters were well written. I was on the edge of my chair throughout the whole novel. It takes a lot to scare me, and when the cat jumped up on the lounge next to me, I nearly went through the roof. Hahaha. Will definitely be reading more from this author.
For a really good scare, I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

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I was immediately intrigued when I first came across the synopsis for this book, and I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint in any way. A haunted house story is one of my favorite thing.

Janz’s writing is spectacular at setting the mood.The atmosphere is fantastic from start to finish, and I constantly felt like I was right there in the Alexander house with David. David's a renowned skeptic and absolutely hilarious. His quick wit and sarcastic banter with his inner monologue was so much fun. I wasn't as overly creeped out but I'm not usually. I enjoyed the characters.

A great horror read, and it should definitely be on the list for haunted house enthusiasts.

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There's atmosphere a plenty in Jonathan Janz's latest, THE SIREN AND THE SPECTER. Creepiness and dread oozes from each subsequent page after page. David is a cynic. He has to be. It's his job. Debunking hauntings has paved the way for a decent living. Now David's college pal invites him to Virginia to write about the place he and his wife just bought, the notorious Alexander House. Chris and Katherine hand over the keys and David plans on staying in the house for a month. Their motive for having David write about the house is clear. Publicity. David is a best-selling author and they want him to write about his experience to drum up publicity as they plan to make the house a tourist attraction. David doesn't mind. He's disproved more haunted houses than he can count. In fact, he's yet to find any credible evidence to support hauntings and his skepticism has sold a ton of books. Why should the Alexander House be any different? Well, guess what? This house isn't like all the rest and it's due to Judson Alexander, the man who built the house back in the 1700s. He was one nasty S.O.B.and he's not ready to vacate the premises anytime soon.

SIREN has a lot going for it. Janz creates interesting characters and David is the one that's fleshed out the most. So much so, that his character has created some nice discussions when we read this as a group. To some, he's an egotistical shit head that deserves all the nastiness that comes his way. For others, myself included, I found that his college past seemed to lead to an unfortunate turn of events, but not one that he should be solely blamed for. Characters with this much layered depth stick with you, rattling around in your psyche, long after the story has been put back on the shelf. That's a good thing. Emotions run deep in SIREN. You have characters you feel for, some you relate to, and others that you absolutely loathe. There's a lot there. Sometimes too much. And thats the only negative that I have. Specters make up the mother load of story. Ahh...but it's called The SIREN and the Specter and I felt the siren is a little out of place in the tale. I simply think that it didn't add anything and really wasn't necessary. Others may think otherwise. Have yourself a go at it and decide for yourself.

3 1/2 Skeletons in the Closet out of 5


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Jonathan Janz is building quite the following as of late, with the strong releases of Children of the Dark, Exorcist Falls, and now this, The Siren and the Specter. I'd say it's a deserved following what with the entertaining brand of fiction he has built over the years. I've read a handfull, coming into the Janz game a little later than some, but not as many as I would like. I can say that I have enjoyed all that I have read.

The Siren and the Specter is a fun read, gritty and dark. I freight train'd through this book in a matter of a few days (that is fast for me and my dwindling reading time). It is super fast paced and at times very gnarly in it's delivery. An eclectic* cast drives this narrative of secrets & lies, depravity and wait.. what? Redemption? Quite possibly, for some.

*The cast is eclectic but with a few nutbag crazy wild cards thrown in for chaos factor. The odder the personality the more enjoyment I found. The Shelby clan is off-their-rocker level of crazy and they more than anyone else gave the promise that anything could happen. 

From page one the energy is high, and the scares are solid. The ambiance is dark and there is enough gore to shake the most seasoned horror veteran. 

My biggest hurdle to full entertainment of Siren was the main character, David Caine. I couldn't buy in to this character wholeheartedly. David is a "celebrated skeptic of the supernatural" and paranormal debunker, we know this because Janz tells us this, but it isn't something the book shows us. Within these pages, Caine is a half-assed investigator at best, at least when it comes down to his prime directive, that being the investigation of the Alexander House, the reason he is involved in this narrative. It's a relatively small complaint, something others may not be affected by, but I feel it undermines his credibility.

A secondary hurdle, something I won't fully get into for spoiler reasons, a seemingly integral aspect to the story comes off more as a after thought. It's something I felt deserved a bit more "screen time", almost as if something was cut due to page count and that there will be a longer "director's cut" coming in the future. This is also a relatively small complaint, also something that other reader's won't blink an eye at.

Besides these two angles, The Siren and The Specter is a riot of a read. It's something that should be on your TBR this season if not already, as I think you will dig it. I see that Flame Tree has more Janz in the pipeline, count me in.

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An ambitious supernatural horror with shades of Deliverance, The Siren and the Spectre is a novel that aims high but doesn’t quite stick the landing.
A haunted house mystery that follows an academic who is charged to spend a month in an old estate with a terrible past, it's both a solid ghost story and a tale of backwater secrets.
Janz keeps an air of mystery about the house, teasing its supernatural elements while establishing a world full of small town secrets and real life horrors.
It's a intriguing and ambitious mix that really drives the first two thirds of the book, but falters in the final act in a gruesome but overlong reveal.
Still, it's a solid effort that's well worth a look.

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"How ironic would it be, he mused, if David were to go missing and the only record of his stay here was a breathless recording of his weird experience upstairs? He would become an even truer successor to John Weir: another skeptic claimed by the spirits he was attempting to debunk."

I'm such a massive fan of the horror genre - no matter if we're talking books, movies or tv shows - so upon hearing how utterly creepy The Siren and the Specter was, I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

An aspect where most horror, thriller and mystery novels (and movies) fail is the portrayal of the characters. Sadly, I think it's rare in these genres when the characters don't take a backseat to the plot. That said, authors (e.g. Stephen King) have delivered on both fronts before, so it's certainly not impossible, and Jonathan Janz proves this in The Siren and the Specter.

Janz was able to create the perfect blend of well-written, realistic characters and an intriguing as hell plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. Even though the cast is rather big, each and every character feels like a real person, and is fascinating to read about. Ralph, who lives in the vicinity of the Alexander House, deserves to be highlighted, because his entertaining banter with David served as a break from all the scary stuff.

However, it is the main character, David, who shines the brightest - he isn't perfect, but then who is? What makes him likable is that he recognizes his faults and mistakes, and owns up to them. Moreover, it was refreshing to see an adult, especially a man, being unafraid to show his emotions, and even shedding some tears without feeling ashamed.

What I found the most intriguing about David were his feelings towards the supernatural. As a well-known debunker, David is adamant to explain away everything he experiences. For him, admitting that ghosts exist would mean going against all that he's believed in, and could result in him losing his credence with the academic community. As a skeptic myself, it was fascinating to see how he dealt with what was happening to him.

". . . there comes a point when disbelief turns into stupidity . . ."

The plot is the perfect blend of horror and mystery, with new questions popping up frequently and quite a few shocking twists along the way. I don't think I was as creeped out as I was hoping, but The Siren and the Specter certainly has some bone-chilling scenes to offer.

The atmosphere was brilliant - the way the readers are given information about the Alexander House piece by piece helped build up the tension. Also, due to David not knowing who to trust and encountering disturbing people and situations outside the house, added a feeling of confinement to the novel. It was as though no matter where he went, who he turned to, he was on his own.

trigger warnings for suicide, sexual abuse, child neglect/abuse, ableism (they were all properly addressed)

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A good read most of the time. I liked the characters, thought the story was well written, but just found it a little too slow in some parts. I was expecting a bit more of a thrill

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“Far off, so softly he couldn’t be certain it existed at all, David heard the melody of the night before. Sorrowful. Yearning. The song cleaved his soul.
The voice sounded like Anna’s.”

Our main character, David, is an author that debunks well known haunted houses. The Alexander House is perfect, as a well-known debunker already stayed at the house. And disappeared.

The beginning of the book is slow, but there’s a lot to be covered early on. This book isn’t very big, but it has multiple stories going on at once. Sometimes the haunted house almost seems like just a story playing in the background: David confronts his past, the various horror stories of the house’s past, and some very strange locals.

What can really make or break books are secondary characters. If the people the main characters interact with are flat, then the story WILL fall flat. Janz didn’t let that happen. He created a world full of colorful and creepy characters that complimented his main character.

Ralph is the first of the locals David meets. He’s a typical southern man, retired to a waterfront home to spend his days fishing and drinking. I loved this character. Usually, when someone writes in a southern character, they make them really over-the-top and stereotypical. Ralph has his words of wisdom, a bit of paranoia, and hospitality enough to invite neighbors over for hamburgers. Sheriff Harkless is a sassy, snarky, doesn’t-put-up-with-anyone’s-poop character. I instantly loved her.

The Shelby’s with their two kids: wow. There’s some very messed up family dynamics going on here, and David can somewhat see bits of his own childhood replayed in the eyes of Mike Jr.

The story definitely earns the creep-factor. Full haunted house mode: noises, figures floating in water, phantom music and more. What adds more to the story is interactions with the locals that aren’t so…nice, and David’s history linked to a nearby park. It had me guessing if everything was a coincidence, if something was drawing our main character to the house, or if another party was slinking in the shadows.

Worth the read for horror lovers; just don’t go up the stairs!

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