this was a really good read, it was scary enough and I really enjoyed the characters in it. Overall I look forward to more from the author.

This story was okay - a man from Jacksonville Florida decides to move his family to a new town, Blackwater, and moves his house to a hill in that town. The locals tell him it's haunted and it's a bad idea, but he does it anyway. The son becomes possessed, the wife starts smoking and having an affair, and the man starts drinking. I enjoyed the story, but was hoping for more.

Haunting of the Blackthorne House
by
Bruce Knapp

2 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a digital ARC of Haunting of the Blackthorne House.

I found the book to be really disappointing. It’s really only a separately published short story, and while it’s at least a mildly entertaining horror story, it suffers from many fatal flaws. It’s written in the first person present tense, a style I find annoying to the point that reading becomes almost painful. In addition, the plot and the writing are very simplistic and the editing is very poor. This work just isn’t up to professional publishing standards.

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Review for 'Haunting of the Blackthorne house' by Bruce Knapp

Read and reviewed via NetGalley

This is the first book I have read by this author. I wouldn't go actively looking for any more that he does but I would read any if I had a copy.

Unfortunately, I didn't find this book very well written. The descriptions were OK and it did suck me into the storyline but the time lines were all over the place, swapping from one time and jumping hours or days later with no ore warning. The same happened when there was a character change towards the end of the book, it changed from James' (the main character) perspective to Walters which I found quite confusing.

THE storyline itself was quite interesting and did draw me in with suspense, tension and gore. However, I also found that it did seem to replicate Stephen King's 'The Shining' a bit too much.

I found it quite a quick and fast paced read and read it in approx 1 and a half hours overall at just 110 pages. There was quite alot happening to keep my interest throughout.

If I was to recommend this book it would be to fans of horror, short /quick reads, paranormal and young adults (13 plus)

99p to buy on Kindle or free on Kindle unlimited, I feel ths is a reasonable amount for the book.

Rated 3/5 on Goodreads and Amazon (It was OK)

Feel free to add me on Goodreads for more reviews

#HauntingOfTheBlackthorneHouse #BruceKnapp #BookReview #NetGalley

Description
Could the curse of a rural town warp Joseph Blackthorne enough to make him commit murder?

When Joseph Blackthorne gets the opportunity of a lifetime, he jumps at it. But he does not believe in the supernatural and thinks it's the result of folklore or the fallible human psyche.

However, he disregards the warning from a local and relocates his house to a forbidden hill, which begins a series of events that will shake this town to its core.

As the dark history of Blackwater unravels, Joseph conceals his problems with alcohol, but history like his drinking keeps repeating itself. Is it too late to save his family, business, town, or hell even himself?

The town of Blackwater is fraught with evil, which consumes us all, one way or another.

WARNING: This book contains chilling scenes some may find disturbing.

My Review
Boy am I glad I read “Haunting of the Blackthorne House” early in the day and not at night. This author does an amazing job in creating in your mind such visual examples you feel as if you are right there along side the entire time.

This ARC was provided to my in exchange for my honest opinion. Well, I can tell you as horror novels goes this is on top of my list now. It is well crafted with great characters and believable storyline. If you enjoy a truly good horror story then read Haunting of the Blackthorne House - just don’t do it at night.

Truly creepy vibe right from the start the evil curse woven into the book wastes no time and starts is ominous effects medially. And has drastic effects on the Joseph's family, the town, and everything it touches.

This was a dark story with intense themes it is vividly haunting and successful as a horror story.

I liked the history of the town and the sense of evil and wrongness one would expect from a truly cursed place. This is a good edition to the horror genre I would classify it as more of a short story then a novel.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

There is so much to say about everything this book is lacking. It's a horror story about a family who moves to the tiny town of Blackwater, and upon their arrival, they witness terrifying things happening. Only they aren't that terrifying because in order to stir up those kinds of emotions, you have to care about your characters and what happens to them, and in this case, I didn't. The book is only one-hundred-and-eight pages long, and that is clearly not long enough to develop a complex plot or list of major players in the story. Random people would appear in the story with no explanation of who they were or why they were there. There is no world-building and the writing was all tell and no see. This is very much a one-note read that could have been so much better if it had been expanded and developed a little more. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The story was good. It had scares at the right places. However, I felt it needed a good editor to make this story more solid.
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

More of a novella than novel, this small chiller does not come with a happy ending - be warned!

When businessman Blackthorne buys the remains of an abandoned town and relocated his house on top of a hill on the land, he is warned by locals that 'this place is 'not for the faint-hearted'. When his wife is finally persuaded to come and join him with their small child Elliott, it can be sensed right away that this is a bad, bad idea (maybe in part be due to a whole section being repeated at the beginning where the boy seems to disappear in the forest).

It is perhaps something of a trope that places with a bad history tend to bring out the worst in a dysfunctional family and pretty much as soon as said family joins Blackthorne, he starts to hit the bottle, as Wife disapproves and reaches for the cigarettes. It is perhaps something of another trope that the boy has an invisible 'friend' who starts making him do mean things.

Actually, it did seem to me that the horror of it all was piled on a little too thick, as everything reaches its remorseless climate. It is not a cheerful read. And there is something about animals getting hurt that really grates.

For those that enjoy their paranormal activity tales really hardcore, with lashings of sadistic violence among murders past and present however, I have no doubt that this should delight.

Could the curse of a rural town warp Joseph Blackthorne enough to make him commit Murder?
As Joseph relocates his house to a forbidden hill, a series of events begin to happen which will shake the town to its core.
However, Joseph does not believe in anything supernatural, or haunting and thinks it’s the results of folklore and the dark history of the town. Yet he begins to drink heavily, sacrificing family and work that could tear everything apart. Evil is consuming everything, but will he stop it just in time?

This was an intense book that I read in one sitting and I was drawn to it simply because it said haunting and evil.....with horror being my favourite genre, I had to pick this.
I liked how the story was written about the history of the town and the folklore of the town, it was haunting and a definite read to do on a Halloween night. The only thing I would of like to have seen, is a bit more of Bobbie and the story of that expanded a bit more.
Really enjoyed the book, a good scary read and would recommend if you like a good horror.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book I return for a honest review.

Joseph Blackthorne buys some land that he intends to build a house. A hill is where he decides to build his home on. A local tells him that he shouldn’t as it is a forbidden/evil hill. Joseph builds it on the hill ignoring the folklore. After all, Joseph doesn’t believe in the supernatural. As Joseph experiences the supernatural in his home, he starts drinking. A series of the things that happen upset the town. Will Joseph stop drinking? Can he stop the supernatural events that are happening?

It’s a good story. I think it could have used a little more in terms of development and interaction between the characters. I’m glad to have read it as I found it to have a different approach to writing a supernatural story.

Ghost stories are my favorite! This was a great book! I want to start off by thanking the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a very well written book by a new author for me. The book had a very good storyline with a twist at the end. I enjoyed reading this and didn’t wanna put it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

The Haunting of Blackthorne House was a unique twist that combined tales of country folklore and witchcraft. I enjoyed the book very much. It was a fast read that linked characters together in a way that I honestly didn’t expect. The story doesn’t contain violence until closer to the end. With that being said, I think it would be great for the author to extend the story line a bit—maybe even throw in some flashbacks explaining important details or situations. Another thing that would make the book longer would be to possibly go between chapters in some of the characters eyes. Great book I only wish there was more to read!

First, I'd like to thank Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the chance to read this. All opinions are my own.

The Haunting of Blackthorne House is a paranormal thriller that follows the Blackthorne family. On the surface, Blackwater appears to be a goldmine and Mr. Blackthorne jumps at the opportunity to purchase it. Ignoring warnings from the locals he moves the family house to the top of a hill. It doesn't take long for him to realize he probably should have listened. This book has a lot of potential but I don't feel that it was quite ready to be released into the world. The characters are interesting and the story-line is full of twists, some you don't see coming. However, there were some issues with pacing and general editing that slow the reader and pull them out of the story.

The pace moves at breakneck speed and doesn't allow the reader the roller coaster sensation that a good thriller should give you. Slowing down a bit and digging deeper into the backstory would add a new level to this story and still give the reader plenty of suspense. While a quick pace usually makes for a quick read it wasn't so in this case. There was a lot of jumping around and I found myself going back to find my bearings more than once. I was also pulled out of the story by sloppy dialogue and unclear sentences. The characters are interesting and with a little editing this could be a great book.

Overall, this wasn't a bad book and if you're looking for a spooky read you could do worse.

I love a good Horror story. Something atmospheric, creepy, build up of tension.....well,you know.
Does this book have what it takes? All I can say is this, the potential is there, the basics are in place, it could really just use some editing.
It's extremely fast paced, lots going on. Certainly not lacking in content and the scare factor is there but it could do with slowing down a little, perhaps allow the atmosphere to do some of the work and let that prickle of tension build. Some continuity issues but as I said, editing and this will be sorted.
A good, intense, quick read. Worth a look.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

I don't like writing bad reviews but this book is not ready for market - it is a first draft at best complete with bad English, poor sentence structure and typos.

However, there are some good elements. This has all the potential for a great horror story:
1) creepy house on a hill with a macabre history - check
2) old timer local who knows all the macabre history - check
3) small child who gets possessed by dead small child and does terrible things - check
4) wife who is seeing things - check
5) husband who turns to drink and gets overtaken by whatever is in the house - check

Whilst having all these elements is a great start, how it is put together is what makes a great book. The author has not done this well. There is no suspense, just what appears to be a dispassionate list of things happening with no consequences, consideration of the events or explanations.

For example, a cat Mittens is killed in a horrible way (see point 3 above) but the mother only notices her beloved cat is missing when some weeks later she finds it in a bin bag because the husband forgot to bury it. There is so much wrong with this - a cat owner would know within 24 hours their cat was missing, and the bag would smell! There were also no consequences to this.

The time lines are also all over the place and I couldn't work out if these events happened over days, weeks or years. It comes across as as days but then there would be markers like "a few weeks ago the cat was killed" and "a few years ago you told me about the work of the coven." It was confusing and could be laid out in a more cohesive way.

This was a dialogue led book but the dialogue was so bad that it grated. All the characters spoke in the same stilted way with no contractions at all "Daddy, you are home" says the five year old, "I am over the moon" says the wife.

Luckily the book was short. But ironically if the book had been longer, and the author had developed the plot further, explaining all the connections and loose ends it would have been better. The characters also need further development as at the moment they are not even 2-dimensional.

As I said at the beginning, this book simply isn't ready. It's a first draft and with a lot of extra work it could be good. .

Absolutely loved the storyline, did not see some of the plot twists at all. Well worth giving this one a shot

A short horror story that is readable but not particularly scary and is predictable. I wish there was more a build up to events and more background information- especially about Bobbie. Everything happens just too quickly in this book to build up any proper atmosphere.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Author and the publisher for this ARC.

This story follows the Blackthorne family and is set in 1950s America. Joseph opens a mine in a small town before moving his family to Blackwater. Soon after their arrival unusual things start to happen. In the end things take a dramatic turn resulting in a deadly outcome for the residents of the town.

The book is very fast paced and events unfolds quickly. As this book is a short story it has quite a predictable storyline and the ending is easily guessed.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with the rambling writing style. It felt, to me, like the author's thoughts tumbled out with no structure on to the page. Thank you for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.