Sunday, September 28, 2014

The house of the rising ghosts

Hannah Smith is a fishing guide and part time investigator in the Sanibel Island area of Florida. She's invited to her friend, Birdy's wealthy aunt's home.

When Hannah meets Aunt Bunny, Hannah is asked to check out a home called the Cadence House, named for the first owner of the home who died there.

Aunt Bunny is locked into a real estate investment that includes this home. Due to the owner's death in the house and other mysterious happenings, the home is said to be haunted. Thus, the home and property it's on, are difficult for Bunny to sell.

Hannah and Birdy arrive at the house and soon a nest of spiders fall on Birdy and one of them stings her. Thereafter, a string of unexplainable events occur.

There is also interest in a Civil War battle that was fought in the area. Heather finds her uncle's diary. He had been active in the area of the Cadence House during the Civil War. Hannah reads from her uncle's diary and it's as if events of the Civil War that took place in Florida are being described again.

A colorful cast of characters are introduced, from an eighty-year-old archaeologist looking for his son and civil war relics, to a number of women who claim to be witches and to a con-man who has trained two large chimpanzees to do as he commands.

The story displays Hannah's fear after dealing with one of the chimpanzees named Oliver.

There are good descriptions of the Florida swamps, lots of action and good characters.
However, the story was longer than it needed to be and there were times that the suspense lagged.
I enjoy Randy Wayne White and await his next Florida adventure story.

1 comment:

skkorman said...

Thanks for the review, Mike—I love White's work!

Stay well,
Sheila K.

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