Digital Reads Reviews
Book Review - The Haunting of Leigh Harker by Darcy Coates
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Blurb
Sometimes the dead reach back…
Leigh Harker’s quiet suburban home was her sanctuary for more than a decade, until things abruptly changed.
Curtains open by themselves.
Radios turn off and on.
And a dark figure looms in the shadows of her bedroom door at night, watching her, waiting for her to finally let down her guard enough to fall asleep.
Pushed to her limits but unwilling to abandon her home, Leigh struggles to find answers.
But each step forces her towards something more terrifying than she ever imagined.
A poisonous shadow seeps from the locked door beneath the stairs.
The handle rattles through the night and fingernails scratch at the wood.
Her home harbours dangerous secrets, and now that Leigh is trapped within its walls, she fears she may never escape.
Do you think you’re safe?
You’re wrong.
My Review
What was it all about
As the title suggested, it was truly the haunting of Leigh Harker in her own home. The book then evolved into a series of secrets where each overturned what I already knew about the story. A horror it was which soon became the thriller with a murder mystery and a missing child trope. One of my favorites.
How it made me feel
My first experience with author Darcy Coates, though I found quite a few books on her author page in the same genre. No idea how I missed reading her books.
I loved the thrill in the story with mystery enveloping the air around me. My heart didn’t pound in fear, but I had a jolly good time trying to decipher what Leigh was dealing with and from which realm the being was.
The mid-section was quite adrenaline filled so I found that to be roller-coaster of a mystery.
The Good
The story had a good mix of thrill with horror dispersed into the ambiance around the protagonist. I loved how the author popped up a good shocker right after the first few pages. It did cause a gasp to fly out. A good move to pull the interest of the reader.
With multiple tropes, the book managed to balance it out and give equal importance to all sections.
The Bad
A slow beginning, the first few chapters had descriptive writing of horrifying details of what Leigh was going through. But they didn’t scare me. The words chosen could have had more vivid imagery. Sometimes writing a little less and allowing my imagination to fill the rest would have made it a true horror.
The mid-section was good but the ending didn’t live up to it. I felt quite deflated; maybe the tropes had heightened my expectations from the author.
The Conclusion
Nonetheless, the book was addictive and haunting, where the story twisted on itself after th first few chapters to make it an enjoyable read
Book Links
Book Details
Publication Date: October 2021
I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
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10 Responses
What can you tell me about the other book that features into the same picture as the book you reviewed? It has an intriguing cover and its title was “Empire of the Vampire”?
Hello Shaharee, it is a fun fantasy book written by Jay Kristoff. I just started reading that so had to feature it in. Do you love fantasy books?
As a matter of fact I do. Especially when they contain some humor like the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
I have had good luck with urban fantasy but not much luck in enjoying them in pure fantasy genre. Stole/borrowed this book from my friend when she was outta town.
In fact I’m a quit eclectic reader who´s jumping between genres and styles. As an artist I´m doing the same: jumping from one media to another and mixing up styles. Would probably make me a bad reviewer since publishers would never know what to send me. Not to mention that at least 30 % of my reading time goes up on nonfiction and that I tend to keep my reviews to myself for future use in my own work.
Wow. I just checked your website, your painting are simply the best. I am quite speechless. Just Wow
Which one you like the most?
I buy my own books nowadays or borrow from a friend so that there is no pressure to review by a particular time.
Sounds like a good one overall; I don’t read much horror but if there’s a thriller-mystery angle, I think I would enjoy it.
Hello Mallika, it was not much of horror, though the ambiance was made that way, but later it settled to be a thriller. Though the perp was definitely not someone in my list of suspects.