What do readers think of House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy? Write your own review.

The main characters, Ben, Caroline, Charlie, and Bub entered into an unknown area just as I did reading a new genre of Horror Suspense. I enjoyed the book and found the writing to be very fluid and descriptive ("Only the long purple tendrils of loosestrife and orange thatches of butterfly weeds broke the monotony of the rolling grass.") Some of the scenes were a bit gory for me but necessary for the mood of the book. It was difficult to put this book down especially with phrases such as "he got the disconcerting sense of being watched". Who or what was in the woods? I did not care for the ending of the book as it changed gears to a quite different tone. The characters were very likable and I cared what the outcome was for them.

Mysteries of the past of this house are connected to mysteries of the present by a cloud of sinister activities. These events are skillfully crafted by the author Brendan Duffy. Character development Is excellent. I wanted the best for the main characters from the beginning and at times held my breath for them, Other characters introduced in the book cleverly created suspicion and sometimes rightly so. There is much darkness to this story which disturbed me --I wouldn't read it right before bed. The author produces great momentum as the story unfolds to it's conclusion. This is what kept me reading to the end. Because the plot and characters are complex there would be much to discuss in a book club. This novel will appeal to those who like tense, sometimes frightening novels.

Not my usual genre of story that I read but the promise of chills and secrets in the description got my attention. I found that the beginning is a bit dragged out and it almost made me stop reading. The characters are who kept me going and I was disappointed as the secrets of their dream house are revealed and end up being a nightmare.

The overall premise of House of Echoes is familiar. Young family leaves the big, bad city to start a new life in a house in the middle of nowhere, in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and newcomers are not necessarily welcome with open arms. Although the plot is solid, the story is familiar and the ending is somewhat predictable. The main characters, the parents and their two sons, are well written but don't seem to function fully as a family. The storyline provides somewhat steady tension throughout, but there were parts of the book that were dull and lulling. Overall, I would consider this a solid effort with scary parts interwoven throughout the story but not enough to consider this a page-turner.

I found that I enjoyed the first half of this book more than I did the "wrap-up" of it. While the story line is not that unique, the author did put a couple of interesting spins on it. The main female character in the book stood out more than the others in my opinion and I enjoyed seeing where her emotional turmoil would take her. There were suspenseful moments in the book and although I found those enjoyable, I also felt like I knew where this story was heading. I would like to read future books by this author. I love a good suspenseful read and I think we will see more of this from him.

For a debut novel - well written. I have to admit I could not put it down but more from the standpoint that I wanted to get to the end to see what happened. Great book for a long plane ride. Hopefully his next book will have a more original story line ... [edited to remove plot spoiler]