Where Darkness Lives

Rating:
Summary: good old-fashioned gothic ghost story
Review: Ever since Kate was a little girl, she saw ghosts but her parents never believed her and she finally learned to say nothing about the spirits who drifted in and out of her life.
When Russell came into the video store in New York City, it was a case of love at first sight. They married three months after they met but she never told him about her ghosts and he remained silent about his first wife.

Russell's twin sister Rosalind convinces him to move back to the family home in Wrightsbridge, Connecticut. When he broaches the plan to Kate, she eagerly agrees thinking that she will finally have a chance to write her novel. From the time they enter the door of Russell's ancestral home, he becomes distant and moody, a stranger to Kate. She believes the ghosts that inhabit the place are playing tricks with their minds. She intends to exorcise them, not realizing how powerful they are and that they mean her harm.

WHEN DARKNESS LIVES is a good old-fashioned gothic ghost story that is very scary. The audience really doesn't know if it is the ghosts or a human presence that is trying to hurt Kate. That makes the finale all the more satisfying. Robert Ross is the latest rising star in the horror galaxy. Bentley Little fans are going to love this book.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Horrific-and not in a good way
Review: First off, the dialogue is atrocious. This is not a period piece; however, Ross insists on making his characters sound like they are straight out of the 19th century. "It's been a long time since anything I've seen frightened me so." Ross needs to spend some time in the local diner honing his ear to realistic dialogue.

Second, the plot "twists" are too predictable. No surprises here.

Third, the characterizations are annoying. None of the main characters are worth caring about. The heroine is whiny and you just can't shake the feeling that if you met her, you'd smack her and tell her to act like a self-sufficient adult and not a dependent 5 year old.

Her husband fares no better. While Ross tries to make Russell appear as a gentle, tormented child turned brooding adult; Russell simply comes across as a weak-minded, self-centered jerk.

The only redeemable character is 98 year old Aunt Cecilia who isn't in the book nearly as often as she should be. The rest of the characters you hope will just be put out of their misery-and yours.

Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Talk about mind games, this takes the cake!!!!
Review: I hold Robert Ross personally responsible for me getting only three hours of sleep last night. This book is impossible to put down. The suspense rate is sky high. This is what I call a true mind meld.

I really love ghost stories. Poor Kate gets stuck in a countryside where she is unable to escape the evil forces that make her go crazy. Her husband, prince charming starts acting strange and nobody can figure out what is going on.

The only one on Kate's side is Erik, her best friend (an author on the paranormal) in New York. He has warned her from the beggining not to leave New York.

Kate's husband's late wife died under mysterious curcumstances. Then there are other parties involved who make Kate wonder 'Is she losing her sanity?' since there is a lot of lost time unaccounted for that Kate does not remember.

Also, the local townspeople don't accept Kate.

I will stop here as I feel the reader should find the answers for themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Talk about mind games, this takes the cake!!!!
Review: I hold Robert Ross personally responsible for me getting only three hours of sleep last night. This book is impossible to put down. The suspense rate is sky high. This is what I call a true mind meld.

I really love ghost stories. Poor Kate gets stuck in a countryside where she is unable to escape the evil forces that make her go crazy. Her husband, prince charming starts acting strange and nobody can figure out what is going on.

The only one on Kate's side is Erik, her best friend (an author on the paranormal) in New York. He has warned her from the beggining not to leave New York.

Kate's husband's late wife died under mysterious curcumstances. Then there are other parties involved who make Kate wonder 'Is she losing her sanity?' since there is a lot of lost time unaccounted for that Kate does not remember.

Also, the local townspeople don't accept Kate.

I will stop here as I feel the reader should find the answers for themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Classic, melodramatic, gothic novel
Review: I love the genre, so I am a little biased. It was fast, enjoyable read that I couldn't put down. I loved the setting and the plot ideas. True, it wasn't believable, but that is the nature of the gothic novel. I enjoyed the dramatic dialogue and I really like the ghosts.

But, I do have a couple of complaints. The plot was way to predictable. I kept turning the pages waiting for the twist, but I already knew all the secrets pretty much from the first third of the book. This didn't stop me from enjoying it though.

And the female character, Kate, really wasn't all that loveable.

To sum it up, if you love gothic ghost stories, it is a must read, but it is not the very best I have read.

Rating:
Summary: Classic, melodramatic, gothic novel
Review: I love the genre, so I am a little biased. It was fast, enjoyable read that I couldn't put down. I loved the setting and the plot ideas. True, it wasn't believable, but that is the nature of the gothic novel. I enjoyed the dramatic dialogue and I really like the ghosts.

But, I do have a couple of complaints. The plot was way to predictable. I kept turning the pages waiting for the twist, but I already knew all the secrets pretty much from the first third of the book. This didn't stop me from enjoying it though.

And the female character, Kate, really wasn't all that loveable.

To sum it up, if you love gothic ghost stories, it is a must read, but it is not the very best I have read.

Rating:
Summary: ROBERT ROSS BOMBS ON THIS ONE...
Review: I LOVED PREVIOUS BOOKS BY ROSS, BUT THIS ONE HAD PREDICTABLE CHARACTERS AND A WEAK TO SAY THE LEAST PLOT. IN FACT, THE BOOK WASN'T IN THE LEAST HORRIFYING, UNLESS A TRULY WORTHLESS BOOK HORRIFIES YOU. IF I COULD SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK I WOULD HAVE TO COMMENT THAT THEY WERE, IGNORANT, IMMATURE, AND FRANKLY I WANTED TO SLAP SOME COMMON SENSE INTO THE GIRL. WHAT NITWIT TAKES OFF WITH A GUY SHE BARELY KNOWS TO AN ISOLATED HOUSE INHABITED BY GHOSTS WITH HILLBILLY MENTALITY THEN STICKS AROUND "CAUSE SHE WON'T LEAVE HER MAN"? THE PREMISE WOULD MAKE A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED TWANGY COUNTRY WESTERN TEARJERKER SONG, SAY CIRCA TAMMY WYNETTE. THERE IS USUALLY A NITWIT TO BE FOUND IN THOSE TOO. SOME WOMAN WHO'LL STICK AROUND EVEN THOUGH HER MAN HIT'S, BELITTLES, AND TRIES TO KILL HER... NEED I SAY MORE? JUST TO ADD THIS LAST BIT: THE WRITING IN THIS ONE ALSO MEANDERED AND DRUG ON AND ON TO THE DREARY END... I HAD THE FEELING THAT ROSS COULDN'T DECIDE WHERE HE WANTED TO TAKE THIS ONE. HIS HEART WAS DEFINATELY NOT IN IT. WHAT WAS HIS EDITOR THINKING? SO SAD FOR ROSS... HOPE THE NEXT ONE IS BETTER.

J.M.