The House

By: P.M. Prior

Narrated by: Elizabeth Klett

It was meant to be a place of safety. Their home. Her sanctuary.

When Prue Bridgewater first glimpses the abandoned old house, it's love at first sight. Her husband, Ray, is not so sure. The property has been neglected for decades, and Ray can't help wondering why. But with Prue on the brink of a nervous breakdown, he'll do whatever it takes to keep her sane, even if it means he has to live there.

Once ensconced in their new home, Prue begins fixing up the place while Ray is away at work. But after a series of disturbing discoveries, she fears she's losing her mind. She hears things and sees people who couldn't possibly be there, and she can't shake the feeling she's being watched.

As Prue's hold on reality begins to disintegrate, along with her marriage, she struggles to tell truth from delusion. But things go from bad to worse, and soon not just her sanity, but her survival hinges upon the long-buried secrets of the house.

©2016 P.M. Prior (P)2016 P.M. Prior

ending

I would have liked to see just what happened to the main character. I would have also liked to see her get her revenge on David.

Gripping, intelligent thriller

Would you consider the audio edition of The House to be better than the print version?

At least as good as. Elizabeth Klett does a great job as narrator. She captures the emotion, the suspense, and if anything heightens the tension.

What other book might you compare The House to and why?

The Basement by the same author. Both tightly written, close point of view, and extremely engaging.

What does Elizabeth Klett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a great delivery -- clear, nuanced, and with just the right degree of emotion.

Who was the most memorable character of The House and why?

Pru -- convincingly written as emotionally disturbed and somewhat unreliable. We get to see events mostly through her eyes and almost end up as paranoid as she is. A great creation.

Any additional comments?

Well worth my time both reading and listening to.

A new take on the old haunted house!

Unique voice, something different, something new, something that makes your skin crawl. I hope P.M continues to write, I can't wait for more of her spine-chilling work.

the creepiness of human psychology

This was an excellent horror/ghost story which played heavily on the creepiness of human psychology as well as ghosts.
Prue and her husband Ray move into an old run down house, the first thing that Prue's been enthusiastic about since the beginning of her troubles at work. While she starts renovating this house, she tries to work through the problems she's been having at work as a professor.

This is a great example of an unreliable narrator, we know that Prue's been under a huge amount of stress and everyone around her assumes that she's losing her grasp on reality - as the story is written from her perspective, how much of her story can we take as the truth? This was my favourite part of the book, playing with the mind of the reader (listener) to decide how much to believe.

The atmosphere of the book was creepy and perfectly suspenseful but I wish that it had been longer, I was so disappointed to hear it come to an end. Initially, I was really disappointed to not know the origins of the haunting in the house and why Prue was drawn to it but an interview with the author on the title's Amazon page says:
'As for the open-ended questions, there are loads of clues woven into this story about the history of The House but they are deliberately kept in the background so as not to distract from Prue's story. In writing this, I was very much thinking about what it would be like to live in a home once owned by a serial killer whose crimes went totally undiscovered and whose victims were completely lost to time...

I was also going for a Sixth Sense kind of reveal that makes you want to go back again and look for clues. They are all there. So, if you have the inclination and time, The House bears revisiting specifically to uncover them'

So obviously, I'm going to have to go back and listen again!

Elizabeth Klett, the narrator, makes this a pleasure to do - she brings the character of Prue to life in every respect. Prue is a wonderful main character, she's troubled and struggling with every day life but her true character is an intelligent, kind and loving person who just wants to be treated with respect by those who owe it to her. Elizabeth fully embodies her vulnerability and confusion, without betraying her better nature and also keeps us guessing about the direction the story will take right until the bitter end.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Enjoyable, but could have been better.

Would you listen to The House again? Why?

No. I did enjoy the story, such as it was but found the narrator to be too sterile and clipped. She did the voices of the characters well, but the narrator parts seems stiff and emotionless. The story is what kept me listening, but even that left a bit to be desired.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Elizabeth Klett?

I'm not sure. Her voice is great, she just needs more depth and a touch of emotion.

Any additional comments?

I found the story to be interesting but it seemed as if it just skimmed the surface. There was no real explanation as to why what happened happened the way it did. There wasn't a conclusion, it left me disappointed and conffused.

Very Disappointed

What would have made The House better?

The performance was adequate but the story plundered on too slowly. The characters weren't fleshed out, the character of David only spoken about but never really known. I was disappointed in this book.

What could P.M. Prior have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I would've liked to know the characters better. The protagonist is made to seem completely undone and mentally incompetent but that wasn't the case in the end. Neither she, nor David, nor the Dean nor her husband were ever really revealed as their true selves.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance was adequate with the material given.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really. A complete disappointment for me.

boring

this book is not a good read or listen. it never really develops into anything. you don't really care about any of the characters because the author doesn't even try to give them purpose. the narration is awful. do not waste your money.

No story. No nothing

Literally the worst thing I've ever tortured my ears to listen to. Save your money kids.