House of Echoes by
Brendan Duffy
Ben Tierney moves his
family from Manhattan to Swannhaven in upstate New York in hopes that starting
anew, renovating an old mansion into a destination hotel, will bring his family
closer together. His wife throws herself
whole-heartedly into the renovation, trying to find purpose after losing her
career in high finance and having a bit of a breakdown. Ben is trying to write a new book. And his older son, Charlie, was the victim of
intense bullying and the private schools in upstate New York seem like they
will be perfect for him. All seems well,
the transition is going smoothly, but little things keep happening. Is someone trying to warn them away? Or is something more sinister happening in
Swannhaven?
This is a book I
wished I read by a roaring fire, sipping hot cocoa with snow gently falling
outside. Would have made it so
wonderfully creepy. But alas, it was not
to be, instead we experienced a heat wave.
Still, the book is creepy.
Throughout you wonder what is really going on. Are the strange things occurring random
events, the work of a human (or humans), or something more fantastic at
work? As the story progressed, and I
figured out what was really going on, some of my favorite spooky short stories
came to mind. Like in another recent
review I cannot name the story for fear of giving away the plot. You’ll just have to be freaked out and
guessing most of the way through just like I was.
