The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St James

Title: The Haunting of Maddy Clare 
Author: Simone St. James
Softcover: 318 pages
Pub Date: March 6, 2012
Publisher: NAL Trade (Penguin)
Rating: ++++

Summary from goodreads:

Sarah Piper’s lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis – rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts – has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah’s task to confront her in death.

Soon Sarah is caught up in a desperate struggle. For Maddy’s ghost is real, she’s angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair’s assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, where she came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance – before she destroys them all?

Review:

If you enjoy a scary ghost story, you will wnat to pick up this book right away!

I have always thought ghost stories were a lot of fun as long as I didn’t read them right before bed. Lately, I haven’t found much that has a good story, enjoyable characters, and not a ton of gore or things just added to shock you. There always seems to be something lacking and I can’t get through them. This book did not have that problem!

What makes this so great is that it isn’t just the story of the ghost, which is heart breaking and sad, but it is also the story of veterans of war and the story of a young woman finding her strengths and herself.

The reader sees the story through Sarah’s perspective, a young woman living in London after the first world war who is working for an agency. She has no experience with ghost hunting and doesn’t even believe in them at first, which made it a better story. She was intelligent, so they didn’t have to explain things to her like was five, but the basics of types of ghosts and haunting was still explained.

The ghost hunter and his regular assistant are also such great characters too. Since they were both in the war, they have their own different reasons for being interested in ghosts and learning those was very eye opening and insightful. I found myself nodding and stopping to think about what they were saying, since it was so expertly written!

The ghost is scary. She wants to hurt people and finds many ways to do it in terrifying ways, but it is easy to see why she does it as you learn her story and find out where the true evil lies.

My only problem with this book is that it was too short! The story didn’t feel short or that it fell together too quickly or perfectly, I just wish there had been more, especially in the middle of the book when they were trying to figure everything out. It was jsut so fascinating that I wanted to see more of what the ghost could do!

What are some of your favorite scary stories?