Drake Mansion has been sealed for 80 years following the mysterious disappearance of the family who lived there. Now it is being opened and 5 people have been chosen to spend the night there – if they survive until sunrise they get a share of the prize fund.

I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure about this book when I started. Everything seemed a bit cliched – a haunted mansion sealed for years and people staying the night for money is not an altogether new idea. I was also concerned as the text was double line spacing – padding out the book before we have even got into the story? However, I really enjoyed this book and no, it wasn’t padded out.

Yes, it was cliched but that was the whole idea. The characters are quite obvious – the actress who is attempting to revitalise her career, the psychic investigator, the psychic, the skeptic and the local girl. They are settled in the house for the night with a few strange goings on. Running alongside this is the story of what really happened 80 years ago when the family disappeared. The two threads reach their conclusion at the same time revealing the truth in the past and present.

This was actually a very readable book. I liked the main protagonist, Harlan Holt who had an ordinary explanation for everything. The psychic investigator was amusing – always able to twist facts to support his own theories! The medium and the actress were both over acting and the local girl, Genevieve provided a bit of grounding. The story flowed well and was light & easy to read.

Okay, I admit you need to take things with a pinch of salt but this was an entertaining light hearted read which I enjoyed.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

This was a really good first book in the series, the characters were interesting enough that I had to check the deck d book out. I really liked this series and look forward to more.

Grabs you and doesn't let go!
Another dark and creepy book by Channing Whittaker ! Great characterization. Great read, could be an exciting movie. Looking forward to the next by this author!

disclaimer: i received a copy of this book via booksgosocial in return for an honest review.

i think haunted house stories are difficult to write. stray too far in one direction and you'll bore your audience. stray too far in the other and you take what should be frightening or horrific and turn it to humor or, worse, camp.

"one night in drake mansion" by channing whitaker stays solidly in the interestingly scary area and even dives into the horrific a few times. the story had me from the first sentence and didn't let up until the end - an end that came a little before three in the morning,

it's easy to become invested in these characters (even the one i really hoped the house or ghosts would eat) and their
journey to find out what happened to the house and the people in it. parts of the story are presented in journal format which feels more intimate, almost like you're there watching it.

overall this is a good story, containing compelling characters and a genuine supernatural mystery waiting to be solved - one way or another.

four out of five stars

As a card-carrying skeptic (really -- I have a card!), I was excited about this book. Typically, in a book (or TV show, or movie) with a 'skeptic detective,' the skeptical protagonist will end up discovering that the paranormal is real. Still, hope springs eternal and I was hopeful that this would finally be a story where the skeptic was proved right and a rational, scientific explanation would prevail. In this, I wasn't entirely disappointed. However, in execution, the book fell short. Probably the biggest problem was that the characterizations were hollow -- with one exception, all of the large cast were simply cardboard cutouts. Given the large cast, and the mad, intricate plot, it isn't surprising that there wasn't room to flesh out every single character. But a few pages to explore the background and motivations of the main protagonist would have been space well spent. And when I say 'mad' and 'intricate,' I am not exaggerating. The mystery here was ridiculous enough to put any paranormal explanation to shame. There were also editing issues -- a woman is described as being 'eloquently' dressed instead of 'elegantly,' to name just one example.

Still. It's a series about a skeptical detective! I can't give up on it just yet. I'll read the second book and see what I think.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

I'm happy I requested this ARC because I discovered a very interesting series.
I loved the plot, that was up to what promised by the blurb, the well written cast of characters and the atmosphere.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

4 stars

One day the entire Drake family and the magician with whose show they attended disappeared into the pages of history. Then several workmen are killed at the site of their home.

Now eighty years later the house has been opened again to a reality program who is offering five contestants a share of one million dollars if they manage to spend one night in the mansion. They contestants are a melange of odd-types, but are willing to give it a go. They are accompanied by a horde of camera and sound people into the old house.

Things begin to go wrong from the very start of the contestants' quest.

This is the unusual story of an obsessed man, who is perhaps more than a little off kilter. It begins with our intrepid hodge podge of people who want to get rich or just get camera time for camera time's sake. The cast of characters is pretty formulaic and their behavior is predictable to a fault. But the twist in this story is when Drake's journal is found. As Harlan and Vieve read it, it reveals a whole new universe of wacky and sinister behavior. Thus the story weaves back and forth between the present and eighty years in the past.

All in all, this is a very good book. Once the reader is able to put aside the formula characters, the plot line is fresh and original. I am not certain what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised at the turn the book took into the bizarre. From the predictable to a philosophical discussion of the supernatural and human nature, this book takes the reader on a ride for sure. This is my first Channing Whitaker novel, and I immediately went to Amazon to look for other books by this author.

I want to thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for forwarding to me a copy of this most entertaining book for me to read, enjoy and review.

A fun read about an abandoned and partially derelict house of murder and its spooky history. Well written story and characters even if they are somewhat stereotypical. We have a house where multiple murders were committed 80 years ago. Now it is to be opened up for the first time since those events and become host to a live TV show where 5 people are challenged to stay in the house overnight. Those that succeed will take their share of a million dollars. We have the local historian (Vieve), the psychic (Galva), the ghost buster gadget man (Ax), eye candy (Andrea) and sceptic (Harlan). The house ghosts make typical moaning noises, produce cold spots and all the rest but the story is more than a typical one. It is told across the two time frames with 1) the diaries of the owner, Vinton Drake, explaining the magical murders as he moves to his ultimate goal and 2) the perspectives of the modern crusaders mostly from Harlan's point of view with him trying to explain the situation using logical thought and process. The other modern-day protagonists produce an excellent foil to him. The descriptions of the places and events make it feel real and the reader is certainly drawn into the stories. The coal mining history of the area makes for some obvious explanations but not to the detriment of the "ghostly" events. As this is "skeptic detective Book 1" I look forward to the next offerings. Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really, really don’t normally go in for paranormal investigation sort of books. But this one went and mentioned a magician in its description and of course I just had to read it. There are just certain subjects (magicians, circuses, cults) that hold an absolutely irresistible appeal for me. And what do you know, this one actually turned out to be a pretty good book. To be fair, I did read Whitaker’s novella before, so I sort of had an idea of the quality to expect and the quality here was certainly delivered. What might have been a fairly trite story turned out to be an exciting intriguing adventure. The basic premise is a fairly familiar one…5 contestants have to spend the night in a haunted mansion, those who make it get to split a very respectable million dollar prize. The 5 are a telegenic appropriately diverse bunch and the mansion is pretty severely haunted. It promises to be an unforgettable night of television…if they survive it. Pretty standard fare so far, right? Well, the best is yet to come and when it does, it’s in a form of a pretty awesome backstory, explaining the spookiness and the man behind it all and his friendship with a famous magician who specialized in death defying acts back in the day. The modern day contestants might be (more or less) led by the eponymous skeptic detective, but Vinton Drake, the man behind the mansion) was a believer. And his dark beliefs commingling with his dark nature set up this story for some really eerie thrills of both natural and supernatural variety. And yeah, I’m biased, because of the thing with magicians, but seriously, all magic connected aspects here were definitely the best aspect of this story, straight down to a really delicious twist in the end. So yeah, what started off as a fairly familiar set up, turned out to be a much more layered and interesting story. A lot of it is dedicated to debunking the supernatural and magic, because…obviously, the detective is skeptic, but whatever side of that fence you’re on, it’s still a pretty good read. One I enjoyed very much. There are scares, suspense, action, mystery and plenty of surprises. It utilizes tricks from a variety of genres and is sure to please a variety of genre fans. Franky, as much as I don’t care for sequels or series, I probably wouldn’t be opposed to checking out the skeptic detective’s next adventure. Very nice find. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.