trudilibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Part of what we share is the knowledge that every small town has a second heart, smaller and darker than the one that pumps the blood of good intentions. We alone know that the picture of home cooking and oak trees and harmlessness is false. This is the secret that binds us. Along with the friends who share its weight.What is not to love about this book? It is a coming of age story about friendship. It is a story of ghosts and secrets. It is a tale of damaged men who discover the past cannot be outrun, but must be faced head on if one is to survive it. Best of all, The Guardians is a crystalline snapshot portrait of small town life wrapped in gorgeous prose that will scare the living bejeebers out of you.
~The Guardians
The creep factor buried in its pages is huge and unrelenting. The story starts off subtle and small, like a soft tapping sound on your window at night, but by the end it has you by the throat and is screaming in your face. This is a genuine, honest to goodness haunted house story with teeth and I loved every minute of it.
I want to thank Sue for bringing this book to my attention. She promised epic heebie jeebies and she did not lie. How people live in houses with earthen cellars I do not know.
litwrite's review against another edition
4.0
This one was a good one as far as haunted house stories are concerned. Not particularly original, but spooky and well crafted. The comparisons to Stephen King are somewhat apt (The Body, but also It in some ways), but I think Pyper has enough of a spin to give his own work separate merit, the novel didn't feel derivative to me whatsoever. I loved the murder-mystery, scooby-doo gone dark sort of feel and the resolution felt quite strong and not disappointing. Would highly recommend to haunted house fans.
annenelissen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mountie9's review
4.0
The Good Stuff
* Extremely suspenseful and delightfully creepy at times
* It's got a Haunted House and I LOVE haunted house stories!!!!!
* Set in small town Ontario -- so it is very familiar to me -- even been to Grimshaw
* Canadian and not depressing - who would have thought
* Lots of twists and turns and surprises that you don't see coming
* Very wise commentary on youth and loss of innocense
* Did I mention Ghosts and Haunted Houses - what's not to love
* Will definitely be looking for other books by author -- love it when I find a good Canadian fiction author -- that doesn't depress the crap out of me or write about the frickin prairies
* It reminded me a little of "good" Stephen King stories like The Body, It and Bag of Bones without the icky stuff that King sometimes goes overboard with (Love you Stevie but still haven't totally forgiven you for Pet Cemetary)
* Heard that this book is under option to be made into a movie -- with the right director I think it would make an awesome flick
The Not so Good Stuff
* Some dry humour present, but would have liked a little more
* Small town Ontario isn't as bad as he makes it sound at times ; )
* Must go hug my two little boys and pray that nothing shitty happens like it does to the boys in the book
* Hmm might be discouraging Jesse about playing Hockey
* Prefer the cover of the Orion version -- more spooky looking -- although this cover is pretty good too
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"My father, not known for his wisdom (though he took runs at it on the nights he hit the sauce harder than usual), once told me something that has proven consistent with my experience; while a man can accumulate any number of acquaintances over his life, his only true friends are the ones he makes in his youth."
"But to me, there is something chilling in all the broken-down bastions of the divine, as though it will be here, and not in the indifferent, thrumming city, that the final wrestling of goods and evils will take place. And it won't be as showy as Revelation promised either; no beast rising from the sea, no serpent to tell seductive lies. When the reckoning takes place it will be quiet. And like all the bad done in Grimshaw, it will be known by many but spoken by none."
What I Learned
* Grimshaw sucks ; )
* Boyhood friends are friends for life-- must pay closer attention to Jake and Jesse's friends LOL
Who should/shouldn't read
* Fans of Stephen King will probably enjoy (I know I did & I love King's good stuff)
* Lovers of Ghost and Haunted House stories will really enjoy
* Actually think this would be a good one for everyone -- absolutely perfect read for a Cold Canadian winters night
4.5 Dewey's
I received this from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review -- Thanks guys for bringing my attention to a good Canadian fiction author
* Extremely suspenseful and delightfully creepy at times
* It's got a Haunted House and I LOVE haunted house stories!!!!!
* Set in small town Ontario -- so it is very familiar to me -- even been to Grimshaw
* Canadian and not depressing - who would have thought
* Lots of twists and turns and surprises that you don't see coming
* Very wise commentary on youth and loss of innocense
* Did I mention Ghosts and Haunted Houses - what's not to love
* Will definitely be looking for other books by author -- love it when I find a good Canadian fiction author -- that doesn't depress the crap out of me or write about the frickin prairies
* It reminded me a little of "good" Stephen King stories like The Body, It and Bag of Bones without the icky stuff that King sometimes goes overboard with (Love you Stevie but still haven't totally forgiven you for Pet Cemetary)
* Heard that this book is under option to be made into a movie -- with the right director I think it would make an awesome flick
The Not so Good Stuff
* Some dry humour present, but would have liked a little more
* Small town Ontario isn't as bad as he makes it sound at times ; )
* Must go hug my two little boys and pray that nothing shitty happens like it does to the boys in the book
* Hmm might be discouraging Jesse about playing Hockey
* Prefer the cover of the Orion version -- more spooky looking -- although this cover is pretty good too
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"My father, not known for his wisdom (though he took runs at it on the nights he hit the sauce harder than usual), once told me something that has proven consistent with my experience; while a man can accumulate any number of acquaintances over his life, his only true friends are the ones he makes in his youth."
"But to me, there is something chilling in all the broken-down bastions of the divine, as though it will be here, and not in the indifferent, thrumming city, that the final wrestling of goods and evils will take place. And it won't be as showy as Revelation promised either; no beast rising from the sea, no serpent to tell seductive lies. When the reckoning takes place it will be quiet. And like all the bad done in Grimshaw, it will be known by many but spoken by none."
What I Learned
* Grimshaw sucks ; )
* Boyhood friends are friends for life-- must pay closer attention to Jake and Jesse's friends LOL
Who should/shouldn't read
* Fans of Stephen King will probably enjoy (I know I did & I love King's good stuff)
* Lovers of Ghost and Haunted House stories will really enjoy
* Actually think this would be a good one for everyone -- absolutely perfect read for a Cold Canadian winters night
4.5 Dewey's
I received this from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review -- Thanks guys for bringing my attention to a good Canadian fiction author
mistrum_crowe's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, a book that had potential, but was just okay in the end. The characters were serviceable and did what they should, but little more. The story was similarly average, with a few twists that I wasn't expecting, but more than a little stupid plotting to balance them out. The haunted house sections were fantastic, all the more so for being surrounded by generally more mediocre parts. I really wish there had been more focus on the house, instead of the rest that didn't work so much.
librarianonparade's review against another edition
3.0
Having just finished a rather epic and quite cerebral non-fiction book, I was really in the mood for something I could just tear through in a day, and this more than fit the bill. I'm always a sucker for a good haunted house story (come on, there's nothing like the classics!) and this one was a real treat.
In places it did remind me of Stephen King's 'It' - friends confronting something terrible in childhood, returning as adults to confront it once again, one of them committing suicide, all taking place in a small 'folksy' town. But perhaps that's an unfair comparison, because to my mind 'It' is Stephen King's finest work, whereas this was fun and easy to read but no classic.
I've never yet found a haunted house story where the denouement lived up to the build-up, and this was no different. I liked the way the two stories unfolded in parallel - the boys' childhood and the adulthood - so you learned what happened back then at the same time as the story unfolded in the present. It meant the tension and mystery were prolonged and drawn-out, and I quite enjoyed that. But the ending was somewhat of a disappointment and it did colour my enjoyment of the book overall.
But if you want a relatively creepy ghost story that'll keep you hooked all the way through, this is just fine. Until the end.
In places it did remind me of Stephen King's 'It' - friends confronting something terrible in childhood, returning as adults to confront it once again, one of them committing suicide, all taking place in a small 'folksy' town. But perhaps that's an unfair comparison, because to my mind 'It' is Stephen King's finest work, whereas this was fun and easy to read but no classic.
I've never yet found a haunted house story where the denouement lived up to the build-up, and this was no different. I liked the way the two stories unfolded in parallel - the boys' childhood and the adulthood - so you learned what happened back then at the same time as the story unfolded in the present. It meant the tension and mystery were prolonged and drawn-out, and I quite enjoyed that. But the ending was somewhat of a disappointment and it did colour my enjoyment of the book overall.
But if you want a relatively creepy ghost story that'll keep you hooked all the way through, this is just fine. Until the end.
beckylej's review against another edition
4.0
A creepy haunted house story!
Ben, Trevor, Randy, and Carl know there's something wrong with the Thurman house. They've kept what they've seen secret for decades, but now Ben is dead and it's time for his friends to return once again.
Ben, Trevor, Randy, and Carl know there's something wrong with the Thurman house. They've kept what they've seen secret for decades, but now Ben is dead and it's time for his friends to return once again.
regalexander's review
4.0
This was definitely a good read.
I am partial to a good haunted house story, especially one with the past explained. I think Pyper explained just the right amount of history for the house to still be intriguing. I was captivated by the story and liked the writing style. Trevor, the main character, isn't perfect but he's likeable enough for the reader to want him to get out of it all okay. I liked the switch between present-day events and Trevor's spoken memory diary.
I read "The Killing Circle" before, and liked it, but I like this one even better. It makes me very curious about Pyper's other work.
I am partial to a good haunted house story, especially one with the past explained. I think Pyper explained just the right amount of history for the house to still be intriguing. I was captivated by the story and liked the writing style. Trevor, the main character, isn't perfect but he's likeable enough for the reader to want him to get out of it all okay. I liked the switch between present-day events and Trevor's spoken memory diary.
I read "The Killing Circle" before, and liked it, but I like this one even better. It makes me very curious about Pyper's other work.
chantale's review
3.0
This ghost story is suspenseful and scary. I preferred the "memory diary" parts which retold the story of murder in the Thurman house and the four boys part in the history of the mystery surrounding the deaths.
This group of friends called "The Guardians" return to Grimshaw upon the suicide of one of the men in the group. What really went on that fateful night years ago is slowly revealed and a new missing person case unravels. Are the deaths connected? The three friends have to relive their past to find out the truth and find the new missing person before it is too late.
You will be terrified of your basement and cellars after this one.
This group of friends called "The Guardians" return to Grimshaw upon the suicide of one of the men in the group. What really went on that fateful night years ago is slowly revealed and a new missing person case unravels. Are the deaths connected? The three friends have to relive their past to find out the truth and find the new missing person before it is too late.
You will be terrified of your basement and cellars after this one.
spencerbmiller's review
3.0
I do not typically read books of this genre, but I really enjoyed this book. On top go being thrilling and suspenseful, it explored interesting themes and had interesting characters. I also loved the Canadian flair.