Book Review of Speed Dating with the Dead by Scott Nicholson

Synopsis:

For fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, and James Herbert. A paranormal conference at the most haunted hotel in the Blue Ridge Mountains goes haywire when ghost hunters accidentallystir up demons.

SPEED DATING WITH THE DEAD

When Digger Wilson brings his paranormal team Spirit Seekers International to the White Horse Inn, he is skeptical that his dead wife will keep her half of the bargain. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, and just before she died, she promised to meet him there.

But when one of the conference guests channels a mysterious presence and an Ouija board spells out a pet phrase known only to Digger and his wife, his convictions are challenged.

And when guests start to disappear, Digger and his daughter Kendra must face the circle of demons that view the hotel as their personal playground. Because soon the inn will be closing for good, angels can’t be trusted, and demons don’t like to play alone . . .

Review:


Speed Dating with the Dead by Scott Nicholson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not an avid reader of horror, but I read the blurb and it intrigued me, so I downloaded a copy.

I normally do a character breakdown in my reviews, but this book has too many characters points of view to do so properly. However, I will say that every character is well formed and quite lifelike. Digger and Kendra Wilson may be father and daughter, but they don't seem to be very close. I don't know if it's because of Digger's job, or because Kendra is a teen with normal angst issues. Nevertheless, they don't seem to talk to each other. Kendra is a budding artist, but she has an unusual interest; her drawings are full of demons. I would be interested in seeing them!

I started to read this book, but found it rather difficult to get into at first. The switching of points of view were a bit confusing, and I struggled to remember who was who. Usually, having different points of view helps me to see the bigger picture. Unfortunately, this didn't have the desired effect with this story. Maybe it would have been better to have points of view from one or two of the characters, three at the most. I also found that there was not much action going on in the first 17 chapters. This made reading the book feel rather tedious. However, I persisted and was rewarded when the story started to pick up the pace. Once this occurred, I sat on the edge of my seat! Talk about a total different feel! The ghostly and demonic activity increased and strange things started happening! The twists and turns started to come thick and fast, and my heart beat increased with them! There is a surprising twist at the end of the book, and it left me wondering what Kendra's future would be, and which side she would select when she found out her destiny.

Scott Nicholson has written an intriguing horror. I have never read any other books by this author before, but I would read his books again in the future.

I recommend this book if you love the horror genre. - Lynn Worton

View all my reviews