The Thirteenth Chime
Emma Michaels
Publisher: Bookheim Publishing
Pages: 238
Genre: Horror, Thriller
HATRED NEVER DIES...
Destiny has finally found the life that she has always wanted. She is about to finish college, has a fiance that loves her, and a great summer on the West Coast planned with her friend, Stephanie. But her world is turned upside down when an antique clock mysteriously chimes thirteen times and someone attacks them, sending Stephanie and her mother to the hospital.
Alone, and without any help from the police, Destiny has no choice but to turn to the one man she had left behind a year ago - her ex-boyfriend, David. Together, they must solve the riddle of the thirteenth chime before the clock strikes thirteen again. Yet as they face their own past and hearts, a trap over half a century old is waiting for them to become its prey.
For revenge, fifty years is never too long...
The
Thirteenth Chime is the first of a series involving the idea of
"imprinting" in the supernatural, haunted house, ghostly way. The
focus of this story is very intriguing. The thought of a grandfather clock that
might just be haunted, and in a very dangerous way, is scary and made me
wonder. The back story and history of both the building and clock were very
well done as well, and I liked how the information was released intermittedly.
On the other hand, though I enjoyed the idea, I
can't hold back the fact that the prose had a habit of being subpar compared to
other published books out there. It's very "he did something, she did
something" with a lack of style to the writing. The character interactions
felt forced or stilted as well, which is funny because when the characters were
by themselves their private thoughts and actions flowed well. I'm trying to
think of a specific way to help the author break out of the habit of prose, but
it could also be because it is her first book, I definitely plan on reading the
second book as I love the idea of this series and want to follow it more.
The story itself was quite good, though it could
have benefited from a few more layers, in my opinion. My favourite character
was David, hands down, I'm hoping that it's just him who reappears in the next
book because I felt like he was the most developed and interesting out of them
all. I think the fact that he is an EMT reflects the situations he gets put in
perfectly. It gives him experience in emergency situation, some first aid ability
and support for his need to help people.
All in all I couldn't help but be reminded of
Karina Halle's Experiments in Terror series, and I'd recommend this book to anyone
looking for anyone searching for a similar idea of a book. I will admit Halle
P.S. Apparently the author started out as a book
blogger, so go her for making the jump.
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