The Vines

By: Christopher Rice

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

The dark history of Spring House, a beautifully restored plantation mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans, has long been forgotten. But something sinister lurks beneath the soil of the old estate.

After heiress and current owner Caitlin Chaisson is witness to her husband’s stunning betrayal at her birthday party, she tries to take her own life in the mansion’s cherished gazebo. Instead, the blood she spills awakens dark forces in the ground below. Chaos ensues and by morning her husband has vanished without a trace and his mistress has gone mad.

Nova, daughter to Spring House’s groundskeeper, has always suspected that something malevolent haunts the old place, and in the aftermath of the birthday party she enlists Caitlin’s estranged best friend, Blake, to help her get to the bottom of it. The pair soon realizes that the vengeance enacted by this sinister and otherworldly force comes at a terrible price.

©2014 Christopher Rice (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Sufficiently creepy thriller with a twist.

This book had just enough creepy to count as a decent Halloween story, and the Louisiana setting sets the stage for the supernatural elements.

Christopher Rice has a way of writing a story that keeps the reader second guessing all the characters motivations. This book keeps up the tradition.

Very creative supernatural story.

A great supernatural who done it. The narration was also quite good and kept my attention to the end.

Engaging Read....Mystical experience

My very first read by Christopher Rice and I was very pleased. I enjoyed the intricate interplay between the characters and each chapter was a mystery waiting to be discovered. I will definitely read more from this fine author!

Great Story

I was so into lisening to this book. It is riveting and holds your attention.

great book 👍

a good kind of creepy. if you like creepy. The performance of the narrator was great 👍

Classic kind of story

Who was your favorite character and why?

Blake was my favorite character.

Any additional comments?

The book began pretty basic. Reminded me of the old classic horror stories of the 1990's but it grew about midway into the narrative to be far more interesting than the way it started off. The ending held a possible promise of a sequel (or series) but I also don't think it needs one if it's a stand alone book. I far more enjoyed where it arc'd to a standard happily ever after - every time kind of horror story of those classic 90's days. It was fun.

A quick and entertaining listen

I have enjoyed several of Rice's books and I can add this one to that list. It is a fast paced story that is a combination supernatural horror, mystery and social commentary. The main characters had some depth and "realistic " reactions to horror, plus who doesn't like ghostly voodoo women and flesh eating plants?

Not my favorite narrator

The story wasn't bad. It wasn't great either, kind of meh... I really enjoyed Bone Music, so it was disappointing.
The narrator was awful though. His attempt at women's voices in a southern accent was cringe inducing. The high pitched falsetto was so distracting that I had to stop listening. I finished the book in print.

Not what I expected

Not at all what I expected cheeeseie Campy it made the drive easier. Very very Syfy

Movie of the week caliber

Formulaic, predictable and devoid of atmosphere. It was almost like Rice was ticking off plot elements on a shopping list and working them into the story so he could meet his quota. The premise was a bit strained, and due to the lack of character development needed to coax the characters into helping my suspend my disbelief, I never did find this one riveting or scary.

The performance was good, given what the narrator had to work with.

I'm giving the story two stars instead of just one because Rice knew enough to not make this into a 12 hour epic listen. It's a good thing it was short!