Owl Manor: The Dawning by Zita HarrisonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Where to start?
This is a great story. There's a little of everything: mystery, suspense, romance, ghosts, animals that behave strangely, and a serial killer. It is a great read.
Ms Harrison is a good writer. Multiple viewpoints are tricky and many authors simply don't know how to handle them but she handles them very well. Each chapter is devoted to a single character's thoughts and observations. The transitions were clear and kept the action moving at a steady pace. The technique made it easy to find a stopping place, too. And you'll need that or you'll be reading all night. It is "can't put it down storytelling."
(Warning, there may be spoilers. I'll try and limit them.)
Eva is a headstrong woman with opinions that are 100 years ahead of her time and it brings her more grief than she dreamed. Eva, her husband and their daughter and her mother end up in Denver where she must beg on the streets. After her husband dies, she decides to seek work in a brothel. However, there's a serial killer loose who is killing prostitutes.
Gilbert, the butler for the owner of Owl Manor meets Eva begging on the street and offers her a job as a maid. She accepts but finds the atmosphere at Owl Manor is anything but normal. Eventually, she begins to reconsider her decision but there is no place to go where she'll be safe.
Evil seems to hover over Owl Manor and you just know that this isn't going to end well for someone. Somewhere in the midst of it all I found myself feeling sorry for the serial killer and hoping that Eva could bring redemption to him and find her own happiness. I hoped for a happily ever after for Eva, for Alice, for Gilbert, and even for Rafe. As we all know, redemption is not always possible and happy endings, well, you'll have to decide.
I never saw the ending coming. Rarely does an author surprise me. I usually have things figured out by the middle. Not so for this story. Good job, Ms Harrison.
(I received a free copy of this novel to review.)
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