3 out of 4 stars
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Through a Glass Darkly, written by Donald Allen Kirch, is a ghost/horror story.
Johnathon Holzer is a well-known parapsychologist who is given the opportunity to investigate an infamous haunted house in Kansas reputed to be haunted by a ghost known both as ‘The Shape’ or ‘The Ghost Bride of Manchester. Over the years, multiple deaths and mysterious disappearances have been linked to the house including the disappearance of an entire regiment of Civil War soldiers never to be seen again.
A local police detective is fed up with the murders and deaths attributed to this house and reaches out to Johnathon for help. Johnathon assembles a team to investigate the strange occurrences at the house. His team, known as S.O.U.R.C.E, wants to prove the house is haunted and make contact with the ghost if possible. To their horror, they discover the house is in fact haunted and there is an evil presence more sinister and deadly than The Shape lurking in the Manchester House.
The theme of the book is a common one for horror stories. There is a house haunted by a spirit taking its vengeance out on anyone foolish enough to buy the house. The characters making up Holzer’s research team also follow the typical cliches associated with book or movies of this genre. Besides Johnathon, there is a powerful psychic, a skeptic cameraman, a beautiful but smart archaeologist and a mysterious lone ranger type who draws heavily on religious influence. However, the author redeems himself by creating a high level of suspense from the very beginning and is able to maintain the tension throughout the entire novel without leaving the characters barely a pause to come up for air.
Although I felt the characters were a bit generic, enough detail was included to flesh them out and give the reader a sense of who they were. The book reads like a movie which makes it easy to visualize the characters and the situations they encounter. The 3rd person narrative is used which allows for the story to jump back and forth smoothly between present day and flashbacks that fill in the backstory of the house. At times, the author was able to vividly bring forth a scene in my mind. One example of this is:
Some readers may find that statement distasteful but it definitely brings a very dramatic image to mind.The man looked like a living abortion spewed forth from the earth.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. Donald Allen Kirch was able to keep me interested and wondering what would happen next throughout the entire novel. At times, the novel was creepy and made me uneasy which rarely happens because I love horror stories and read them frequently. I will never look at a plastic tarp hanging in a house quite the same way again after reading this book. You will have to read the book to find out what I mean by that. I have only a few criticisms. I felt slightly underwhelmed when the driving force behind The Shape is revealed and this is the reason why I rate it a 3 out of 4. I was hoping for something a bit scarier and creepier than what I got. At times I felt like the climax was a tad cheesy. Besides that, it was still a well written ghost story that I would likely pick up and read again in the future.
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Through A Glass Darkly
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