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A review by thatdecembergirl
The House at Phantom Park by Graham Masterton
1.0
I don't think that this, is a good book. I don't like it. An inviting premise that ends up delivering nothing. I felt tired and bored and disinterested in all the characters introduced around 30% mark, and that's never a good sign. Not when almost all of them are suffering in one way or another. When I reached Chapter 15, I couldn't take it anymore (the boredom and frustration with this story were so GREAT) and jumped all the way to the last 3 or 4 chapters, and I still get most of the story.
The protagonist's ex-husband is dead thanks to the evil entity. The detective in charge of investigating the human bone remains found in the hospital premise is made blind (also thanks to the very same evil entity). That evil entity has a name with a Middle East feel to it, Afghan to be exact, because... you know, the West invaded the country and all (honestly, I don't see the urge to present 'imported evil' in this story). And the story concludes with the protagonist, a woman working for a real estate developer, burning herself VOLUNTARILY for no reason and no real motivation at all; she was just taking some random Russian dude's opinion way too seriously:
So.. what? She's aspiring to be Jesus?
Ugh. And please don't get me started on the epilogue that hints how she and the ex-RAMC doctor ends up in heaven.
The book is also very repetitive. It uses the same tragic route on multiple characters, and the characters tend to repeat the same lines over and over again, as if Masterton thinks his readers are going senile. Lilian, the protagonist, says "I don't believe in ghosts" for like, three dozen times. Yeah okay sis WE GET ITTTT. You just said the same thing like, five pages ago.
This is my first Masterton book and all I know is that I might not be interested in reading him again. The book is an absolute bad rep. But I'm giving this book a star solely because of this part:
In the true fashion of my fellow countrymen's enthusiasm, let me say this line: "Ada Indonesia coyyyy!"
The protagonist's ex-husband is dead thanks to the evil entity. The detective in charge of investigating the human bone remains found in the hospital premise is made blind (also thanks to the very same evil entity). That evil entity has a name with a Middle East feel to it, Afghan to be exact, because... you know, the West invaded the country and all (honestly, I don't see the urge to present 'imported evil' in this story). And the story concludes with the protagonist, a woman working for a real estate developer, burning herself VOLUNTARILY for no reason and no real motivation at all; she was just taking some random Russian dude's opinion way too seriously:
Artyom told me that if just one person suffered greater pain than anybody else in that hospital, that would bring everybody’s pain to an end. Like Jesus on the cross.
So.. what? She's aspiring to be Jesus?
Ugh. And please don't get me started on the epilogue that hints how she and the ex-RAMC doctor ends up in heaven.
The book is also very repetitive. It uses the same tragic route on multiple characters, and the characters tend to repeat the same lines over and over again, as if Masterton thinks his readers are going senile. Lilian, the protagonist, says "I don't believe in ghosts" for like, three dozen times. Yeah okay sis WE GET ITTTT. You just said the same thing like, five pages ago.
This is my first Masterton book and all I know is that I might not be interested in reading him again. The book is an absolute bad rep. But I'm giving this book a star solely because of this part:
After instant Indomie chicken noodles and eggs, this was Moses’ favourite breakfast.
In the true fashion of my fellow countrymen's enthusiasm, let me say this line: "Ada Indonesia coyyyy!"