Enjoyable read

Liked the characters and story. Kept my interest. If you like ghost stories that aren’t over complicated give this one a read. ( )

When Paul Mahan’s marriage ends, he moves into a unit in the old mental asylum that’s being developed into flats. He doesn’t pay much attention to the fact that the place is considered haunted; his career as a history professor has his attention now. But there is no peace and quiet to be found; no sooner has he moved in than supernatural events start taking place, most of which center on the one wing that hasn’t been finished yet; the wing where Dr. Palmer conducted his tortuous experiments on the asylum residents. He was trying to bring psychic talents to life in them; in one, he succeeded far better than he ever intended. That section of the asylum was destroyed, and everyone was killed.

When deaths occur and messages are scrawled on the walls, the tenants hire a TV psychic to investigate, things get dramatically worse.

I liked the main characters of Paul and his friend Mike, as well as the site supervisor Declan. There isn’t a whole lot of character development, but they are good enough. The premise was pretty good; the backstory was a little different from most haunted asylum stories. The TV psychic was amusing (I couldn’t help but picture him as William Shatner, in Denny Crane mode) in a way. The human used in the story was something I really liked and found rather unusual for a bloody horror story. The story is a page turner; four stars. ( )

This is book one in the Asylum Series. Even though I found the book entertaining, I doubt I would read the rest of the series. The plot was formulaic and pretty easy to guess what was coming next. Still, it was entertaining even if a little ludicrous at times

Basic plot: A recently divorced professor moves into a new apartment complex that use to be an insane asylum where children were experimented on.

There were some interesting characters in the book. I liked the main character, Paul and his buddy, Mike. The author hit the right note when writing their interactions and they seemed quite believable as buddies. Declan was another character I enjoyed. He was the caretaker and general handyman and had some secrets of his own. I wish the author had developed more background on several of the characters in the book and integrated those fully into the story. The little bit of background he gave the readers, wasn’t enough to truly hook you into the book.

Without giving the plot away, I hated the direction the author went with the old women who stared and watched Rookwood on a regular basis. Her connection to the plot didn’t work for me.

Still, the book was entertaining even with the lack of new ideas. If your familiar with cozy mysteries, I would say this book was a cozy horror; enjoyable, simple, and a quick read.

Thanks to Library Thing for the opportunity to read and review this *** book. ( )

A well written suspenseful and scary story with believable characters. Contains an excellent storyline with plenty of action. Very entertaining and highly recommended. Ready for the next book Palmer Entity. ( )

This is the first book that I've read by this author but won't be the last! You get drawn in from the very start. Things that go bump in the night can be and are deadly. Great suspense. Only drawback is a too quick ending. Can't wait to see if the next book is as scary! ( )