Started off really great and sadly went downhill from there. The plot was really messy and all over the place. This made the plot difficult to follow. In particular, I felt that the author went on a lot of unnecessary tangents. I was waiting to see if the tangents would tie into the story, but no, they were just unnecessary. This drew out the book for no reason whatsoever. Also, I was not a fan of the ending. Overall, this was a struggle to read!

I think this is a dud from Gilman - I have read other novels from him that I enjoyed, but this one was an anomaly in a bad way.

Thanks Severn House and NetGalley for the copy.

I love a good horror book. horror is my favorite genre and i love finding books in the genre that are so different than everything else. This was absolutely one of those.

An absolutely terrifying thrill ride, like being on a rollercoaster when the brakes fail. Even folks that aren't parents will shudder at the audacious and hellbent main character. What would you do for your kid? This book pull punches like no other, even the most seasoned horror readers are going to be knocked out by this one.

Spirits of the Dead was kind of all over the place, and it doesn't help that it is also broken into three separate parts. The concept as a whole is really interesting, but this just fell flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

An excellent and well plotted horror, one of the most original I read this year. Not a love-at-first-page but a book that grew on me and kept hooked.
Creepy, very dark and disturbing at times. Good character development and world building
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I thought this book was good. But it wasn't my favourite horror book as the pacing and plot of the story was slightly all over the place, and it was difficult to keep up with reading, especially into the second part of the novel.

Debut author for me and interested to look into any backlist titles.

3 stars

I liked this. It had some creepy moments and moved at a pace that kept my interest. Overall, this was an okay read and I would read other books by this author. Special Thank You to Keith Gilman, Severn House and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for providing me with an eARC copy of Spirits of the Dead by Keith Gilman.

I don't even know how to process my feelings of this particular novel to put into words. Maybe disappointing? It was just such a mess, the plot was everywhere, there were pointless side roads and the characters were not likeable at all. It was a real struggle and I cannot say that I recommend this book.

I thought this book was OK to read. But it wasn't my favourite horror book as the pacing and plot of the story was slightly all over the place, and it was difficult to keep up with reading, especially into the second part of the novel.

I think the initial part one was good it was setting up the rest of the novel, but I wanted more from it, and i don't think it really delivered on that. This requires a certain type of reader, and it wasn't me, unfortunately.
This story is broken into three parts.

Part One: We learn that Jon is scum, his wife has been doing some questionable shit in regard to the care of their sick daughter, Jon's side piece may or may not be supernatural, we get an entire backstory on his friend, like pages of shit that could have been summarized in 3 paragraphs or less, and then Jon decides he's FINALLY going to step up and put his dying daughter before his dick.

Part Two: Surprise, surprise! There's something wrong with Marie. And the introduction of a new character and the very juicy tid bit that was suggested in part one NEVER gets explored. Like what?!

Part Three: At this point I just wanted this to be over. I could care less about Jon he's trash. He pretends to be a loving father and puts on his Captain Save a Hoe hat and runs off blindly to save the day. When he's faced with the consequences of his actions he still refuses to man up.

First let me explain that for me a 3 Star review means that the story was solid and well written. It may not have been the best story I ever read, but it was good. I'm giving this story 2.5 Stars. I feel like this story had a lot of potential, but the execution fell flat. I feel like there was a lot of filler with unnecessary information. While key facts were lost. I believe at least 60 pages of fluff could have been removed and 10 pages of vital information could have changed this story drastically.

The actual story is about Jon. He's a piece of shit. His daughter is dying and instead of being there for her and supporting his wife he's out getting his peen wet. Not just sleeping around either, he's having a full-blown affair with the office bike.

This story is broken into three parts.

Part One: We learn that Jon is scum, his wife has been doing some questionable shit in regard to the care of their sick daughter, Jon's side piece may or may not be supernatural, we get an entire backstory on his friend, like pages of shit that could have been summarized in 3 paragraphs or less, and then Jon decides he's FINALLY going to step up and put his dying daughter before his dick.

Part Two: Surprise, surprise! There's something wrong with Marie. And the introduction of a new character and the very juicy tid bit that was suggested in part one NEVER gets explored. Like what?!

Part Three: At this point I just wanted this to be over. I could care less about Jon he's trash. He pretends to be a loving father and puts on his Captain Save a Hoe hat and runs off blindly to save the day. When he's faced with the consequences of his actions he still refuses to man up.

Epilogue: The BEST part of the entire book. No fluff just facts.

Sadly, this book fell a bit flat for me. I struggled to get through this and the characters were unlikeable and I did not really care about, which made it a hard read for me. Almost a DNF.
2 star for the concept

Loved this book. So well written and compelling, definitely a recommended spooky read this month. The twisting story lines meld together for a satisfying conclusion.

Spirits of the dead had the premise of being a good novel but unfortunately it fell rather flat, far too much describing the copious amounts of sex that our main character Jonathan Levande is having with his secretary whilst his wife stays at home looking after their mysteriously sick daughter and then there was some weird bit about a fawn and creepy priests. It definitely had a hammer house of horrors vibe that sadly left the story very disjointed and the end was cliche I’m afraid.

I enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed and will have you on the edge of your seat! It took me a little while to get into the book, as it was a bit slow for me

I wanted to enjoy Spirits of the Dead but I found myself unable to get into the story - the story couldn't grab my attention or anything and left me disappointed.

I struggled to get through this book. The story didn’t capture my interest and the characters weren’t very likable. This isn’t a book I would recommend for purchase unfortunately.

This was a unique concept and I enjoyed getting to know Jon as a character. I could understand the choices of the character and it worked overall. The concept worked well overall and I was hooked from the first page. Keith Gilman has a strong writing style and I’m glad I read this.

This book was very hard for me to get through. I was so confused most of the time and the other half i was bored. This synopsis sounded so good and the cover and everything was giving off the perfect vibes. The first chapter was great but after that everything went down hill...

The characters were so unlikable and not in a good way. I could not get behind any of them and I certainly did not care for any of them for a single second. I say this as nicely as I can but the book overall was not good in my opinion. I had such high hopes that were not even close to being met. This book could have been great but someone dropped the ball.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for the opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is available Oct 3 2023.

I do not even know where to start. This was the most convoluted mess I have ever read. I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley & Severn House for the chance to read this book.

A faithless husband, a dying daughter, a slutty girlfriend, an evil church rector, & demonic nun all come together in this book. Unfortunately, it was not a great read.

The author often went on unnecessary tangents throughout the story & a lot of things just weren’t pertinent to the story. The ending of the book didn’t make much sense. The author is a very vivid storyteller but overall this book falls flat.