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leonareads's review
3.0
The Strange Fate of Lord Bruton follows the aforementioned's acquisition of a new butler. Lord Bruton's views on butlers are well known throughout the upper echelons of society. Previously known to have beaten a childhood butler so badly, he has been without one for some years. That is, until a strange man named Ellery shows up on his doorstep and seamlessly makes himself at home. What follows is Bruton Hall's fall into degradation - Hell might even be a better term.
Written in a Gothic style, it reminded me a little of Matheson's Hell House. Bruton, who used to run his home with an iron fist, loses himself and all his inhibitions once Ellery effectively takes control of Bruton Hall. Ellery is an interesting character. He influences each and every character to submit to their baser instincts. I would have liked to see more of his origins or what his true intentions were.
This is the second of the Ghostly Shadows short stories I have read.
3.5 stars.
Written in a Gothic style, it reminded me a little of Matheson's Hell House. Bruton, who used to run his home with an iron fist, loses himself and all his inhibitions once Ellery effectively takes control of Bruton Hall. Ellery is an interesting character. He influences each and every character to submit to their baser instincts. I would have liked to see more of his origins or what his true intentions were.
This is the second of the Ghostly Shadows short stories I have read.
3.5 stars.
jugglingpup's review
4.0
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I got an ARC of this book.
This might just be the most straightforward story I have read from Jameson. It follows Lord Bruton’s spiraling into excess and possibly madness. It reads very much like how I expected Marquis de Sade, but without graphic detail. Mind you, this is what I imagined before I had read Marquis de Sade.
The story follows Lord Bruton who is already an angry older man. He has become infamous for his temper and inability to get along with anyone. He seems pleased with this view of himself. The story then goes to him oddly hiring a butler and that butler’s strange ability to always seem to know exactly the right thing, even while clearly not being quite right to anyone who really looked.
It was an interesting tale. It probably would have done more for me if I had not just read another book where the big bad was the Devil and hell and all of that. In this case, I don’t think the bad was supposed to be the Devil, but instead a demon that lowered inhibitions so true natures could come out. It was clear that Lord Bruton was not a good dude, so the way that his story went was quite fitting and not all that surprising. He just needed a slight push.
I think this would have been a story better served in a longer format. Might have worked an a erotic horror. I just needed a bit more about Lord Bruton to make me really care about what was happening. Not a bad story, but it did read as an earlier work of Jameson. Based on publication date, this makes sense. This shows just a small glimpse into what I have grown to expect with Jameson. If I had read this before his other work, I may have praised it a bit more. As it stands, it is decent and the voice is consistent. There is some skill. It just wasn’t the best fit for me. I needed a bit more characterization.
I got an ARC of this book.
This might just be the most straightforward story I have read from Jameson. It follows Lord Bruton’s spiraling into excess and possibly madness. It reads very much like how I expected Marquis de Sade, but without graphic detail. Mind you, this is what I imagined before I had read Marquis de Sade.
The story follows Lord Bruton who is already an angry older man. He has become infamous for his temper and inability to get along with anyone. He seems pleased with this view of himself. The story then goes to him oddly hiring a butler and that butler’s strange ability to always seem to know exactly the right thing, even while clearly not being quite right to anyone who really looked.
It was an interesting tale. It probably would have done more for me if I had not just read another book where the big bad was the Devil and hell and all of that. In this case, I don’t think the bad was supposed to be the Devil, but instead a demon that lowered inhibitions so true natures could come out. It was clear that Lord Bruton was not a good dude, so the way that his story went was quite fitting and not all that surprising. He just needed a slight push.
I think this would have been a story better served in a longer format. Might have worked an a erotic horror. I just needed a bit more about Lord Bruton to make me really care about what was happening. Not a bad story, but it did read as an earlier work of Jameson. Based on publication date, this makes sense. This shows just a small glimpse into what I have grown to expect with Jameson. If I had read this before his other work, I may have praised it a bit more. As it stands, it is decent and the voice is consistent. There is some skill. It just wasn’t the best fit for me. I needed a bit more characterization.
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