I’ll Be Waiting & Haunt Sweet Home

Posted September 17, 2024 by Carole in Reviews / 6 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’ll Be Waiting & Haunt Sweet HomeI'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong
Narrator: Jennifer Pickens
Published by Macmillan Audio on October 1, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Horror
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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four-stars

From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood...

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future... together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car crash, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter...in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body....

In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong's full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life--if she can.

This was great! I have become a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong’s writing. I am impressed that she can tackle just about any genre and does it well. I was excited to learn she had a new horror novel coming since I loved her previous one, Hemlock Island. I wasn’t scared by this book but that doesn’t mean a lot since I have never really felt frightened by something I have read. The story did delve into some dark areas and I loved every moment of it.

Nicola has Cystic Fibrosis and has always expected to die before her husband, Anton. Fate had other ideas and she becomes a widow after losing her husband in a terrible traffic accident. Her husband’s final words to her were captured on video and Nicola has been approached by one psychic after another promising to find the closure for her that she needs. She wants to try one last time to contact her husband so she books a week at Anton’s childhood home with a professor of parapsychology and a couple of people close to her. Strange things start happening almost right away.

I liked Nicola a lot. She was hopeful that she would be able to connect with her husband but is also very suspicious of any possible signs since so many people have tried to trick her in the past. I liked the way she tried to find answers for all of the strange things that were happening. The underlying mystery kept me hooked and I couldn’t wait to see how things would work out. There was plenty of action to keep the story moving and a few surprises worked in as well.

Jennifer Pickens does a great job with the narration of this book. I have enjoyed this narrator’s work in the past and thought that she did a great job of bringing this story to life. She has a very pleasant voice that I found easy to listen to for hours at a time. I liked the variety of voices that she used to represent the various characters. I am certain that her performance added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I did not want to put my headphones down once I started listening to this book. I felt Nicola’s desperation to talk to her husband one last time and was worried for her as things became intense. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Macmillan Audio.

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’ll Be Waiting & Haunt Sweet HomeHaunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
Narrator: Jennifer Blom, Jess Nahikian, Matt Godfrey, Robb Moreira
Published by Macmillan Audio on September 3, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Occult & Supernatural
Length: 3 hours 41 minutes
Pages: 176
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon | Audible | B&N | Kobo | Libro.fm
four-stars

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality in this spooky ghost story from multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker.

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”

When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she's truly been deceiving and hiding from all along—is herself.

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This was such a fun audiobook! I had no idea what to expect when I picked this book up. I love audiobooks that feature a nice cast of narrators and decided that this story would be worth a try and was hooked almost immediately. I loved that the story kept me guessing from beginning to end. I am so glad that I took a chance on this one.

Mara needs a job so she decides to ask her cousin for work on his ghost hunting/home remodeling television show. She begins work as the night-time production assistant when all the fun happens. She jumps right into the role of providing all of the scares needed for the television show and seems to excel at it. Nobody knows that she had a bit of help with it. There might just be more going on with her new co-worker than she could have ever imagined.

The cast of narrators does an excellent job with this story. I believe that this was my first experience with all 4 narrators and I was impressed. Their voices complimented each other’s very nicely and I thought that the use of multiple narrators really helped to bring this story to life. The majority of the book is told from Mara’s point of view with the additional narrators helping to bring out the elements of the show. I do believe that their performance added to my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a fun shorter listen. It was a ghost story but not one that I would consider scary. I liked Mara a lot and enjoyed watching her figure everything out. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of this author’s work.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Macmillan Audio.

6 responses to “I’ll Be Waiting & Haunt Sweet Home

  1. Ooh nice! I cannot wait to read this one of Kelley’s! I am forever behind on her books but once I saw this was called a supernatural thriller I became eager to read it! Not sure when that will be by the time it makes it to my doorstep but I am glad to hear it was as exciting as I am expecting! Great review!

  2. I want both of these! I’ll read anything by Kelley Armstrong and Haunt Sweet Home looks so fun! Definitely adding both to my TBR.