The Beckoning Dead, Books 1-3

By: Ambrose Ibsen

Narrated by: Melissa Moran

Sadie has a gift. And she'll do anything to keep from using it.

At sixteen, Sadie Young had a brush with death, and as a result she became more sensitive to the supernatural. Rather than embrace this gift, she spent years running from it, and from the darkness that once preyed upon her.

Now twenty-five and working as a librarian, Sadie is called upon by a desperate family friend to look into a strange series of events. A teenaged girl has entered a reputedly haunted house in town and has gone mad. Committed, the girl attempts suicide and claims to be terrorized at all hours by a horrific specter known as "Mother Maggot."

Despite having subdued her gift for the past nine years, Sadie wishes to assist the girl and reticently agrees to visit the site of the haunting. But upon entering the house on Beacon Hill, she discovers that Mother Maggot isn't merely a figment of a disturbed teen's imagination . . .

This collection contains the first three books in the Beckoning Dead series: The Haunting of Beacon Hill, The Haunting of Rainier Asylum, and The Haunting of Winslow Manor.

©2019, 2020 Ambrose Ibsen (P)2023 Tantor

Painfully over verbose

The only reason I finished this book is because I was invested in finding out what happened to the protagonist and the concept of the book is good. But WOW, the author either needs to go to a writing class or needs an actual editor. It read more like an academic dissertation than fiction. It bordered painful at certain times.

Could be great

I really wanted to like this series but it felt like it was either partial written by AI or someone overused the thesaurus. Also, the narrator's pronunciation of the words "library" and "librarian", as if the 'R's didn't exist was very distracting.

Promising but needs an editor

This story has potential, I think, but isn't quite there. The writer mixes literary levels in the same scenes, using "25$ words in 5$ conversations", like an adolescent trying to impress by dropping in some college-level words and phrases that only seem awkward in the rest of the conversation. In my opinion, this book could benefit from a good editor. Regarding the narrator, I like her delivery and she's very good. Still, the odd pronunciation of certain seemingly commonplace words against how other words and phrases are used gives me the impression that she hasn't gone through the text beforehand... "library" and "button" as if seen for the first time. All this is a distraction from a story that could be very good.

Each book is very good

I think all three books were written and delivered well. I think each book has its own chilling ghost story, I can't wait to read the next book.

Somebody found a thesaurus

The narrator sounds like AI. The story is alright, a different storyline than most other supernatural thrillers. The use of alternate wording is distracting, like the author only just learned how to use a thesaurus and went WILD.

Libary?

Good book but the inability to pronounce library was soooo distracting! Made my eyes roll a lot

good ending

loved the ending...caught me by suprise...now I have to read rest of the series

just ok

I agree with the other reviews, the writer drones on and on about things that don't matter and uses odd descriptors. I didn't really mind the way the narrator mispronounced some words because I was too annoyed with the unnecessary inner monolog. The storyline is good but he needs a new editor.

I liked the story and the narrator’s performance.

The narrator does a great job with this book, however, she has a problem pronouncing the word library, which in itself wouldn’t be a big deal if one of the main characters wasn’t a librarian working in a library. She leaves out the middle “r” pronouncing the word libary and libarian over and over throughout the entire story.

Has Potential

It reads like the author used a thesaurus to find EVERY word available to describe EVERY little thing. I consider myself well read and intelligent and listening to this gave me a headache because of the unnecessary word salad that comprises this story. It has a lot of potential (which is why I chose it), but I absolutely cannot listen to it.