Review: I'll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie

Title: I'll Never Tell

Author: Catherine McKenzie

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publishing Date: June 1st, 2019

Read: January 23rd, 2023

Pages: 355

Audio Length: 8 Hours 38 minutes

Genre: Adult mystery thriller

TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

What it's about:

Deeply buried secrets make for a disturbing family reunion in bestselling author Catherine McKenzie’s tantalizing novel of psychological suspense.

What happened to Amanda Holmes?

Twenty years ago, she was found bludgeoned in a rowboat at the MacAllister family’s Camp Macaw. No one was ever charged with the crime.

Now, after their parents’ sudden deaths, the MacAllister siblings return to camp to read the will and decide what to do with the prime real estate the camp occupies. Ryan needs to sell. Margaux hasn’t made up her mind. Mary believes in leaving well enough alone. Kate and Liddie—the twins—have opposing views. And Sean Booth, the groundskeeper, just hopes he still has a home when all is said and done.

But it’s more complicated than a simple vote. The will stipulates that until they unravel the mystery of what happened to Amanda, they can’t settle the estate. Any one of them could have done it, and each one is holding a piece of the puzzle. Will they work together to finally discover the truth, or will their secrets finally tear the family apart?

What I thought:

As soon as I started this book I was enthralled by it. I had to finish it, I had to figure out what happened. It was one of those that just suck you in completely. I kept thinking I had it figured out and then BAM she threw something else at me. And then Oh yeah, I definitely know who did it. Then BAM another thing thrown at me. I thought i had it figured out like 5 times. 

Cover:

The cover is what originally caught my eye. It's so beautiful. The colors are stunning, of course they're some of my favorite colors. And there's something so eerie and oddly calm about it. 

Story:

I feel like it's a good story. It's not a super unique story but it doesn't feel like it's something that's over done either. I feel like the author did a good job on just making it her own, even if it's something we've heard before it was still her own. 

Pace: 

I didn't feel bored at all and it didn't feel like it was rushed. So I'd say it had a good pace.  

Writing: 

The author did a good job in keeping the mystery and making you want to know more.  

 

Characters: 

The characters were okay. There was a few of them and I kept getting them mixed up. Which is probably more of a me problem than a her problem. But because it was hard keeping them straight I had to go back and read parts of it again before the shock hit. But other than that the characters are well written and I don't think I particularly liked or disliked any of them. 

 

World building: 

There wasn't much world building I don't think. I can't remember how descriptive she was in her writing, but I knew where it was supposed to be and could picture the area.  

Ending: 

The ending wrapped it up well. 

Narrator:

Just a regular narrator. Nothing bad. 

Overall:

This was the first book I've read by Catherine and I can't wait to read more. This was definitely a good mystery. 

A little Snippet:

“Kate hadn’t remembered. Maybe she’d never known. She wasn’t a collector of facts about people, this birthday, that anniversary. She cared more about the content of a person.”

― Catherine McKenzie, I'll Never Tell

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Website

Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill in History and Law, Catherine practiced law in Montreal for twenty years before retiring to write full time. An avid runner and skier, she's the author of numerous bestsellers including HIDDEN, FRACTURED, THE and the GOOD LIAR. I'LL NEVER TELL was a #1 Amazon Bestseller, a Globe & Mail and Toronto Star Bestseller, shortlisted for the Hugh McLennan Prize for Fiction and has been optioned for a television series by Paramount TV. Her 2022 release, PLEASE JOIN US, has been optioned by Fox Television.

Book Review: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Title: How to Sell a Haunted House

Author: Grady Hendrix

Publisher: Berkley

Publishing Date: January 17th, 2023

Read: January 18th, 2023

Pages: 419

Audio Length: 13 Hours

Genre: Adult paranormal horror

TW: Clowns and dolls

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

What it's about:

Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

What I thought:

I'm a huge fan of Grady Hendrix and his books are now on my auto buy list. 

The one problem I have with his books is they can get a little confusing sometimes. This one wasn't. It had me hooked from the beginning to the end. It gave me the heeby jeebies and it left me wanting more more more. 

Cover:

I love how it looks like a doll house. I love how his covers always seem to be.. unique? I guess. My Best Friend's Exorcism looks like a VHS tape. Horrorstor looks like an IKEA catalog, etc. And I'm a little disappointed this one isn't like that. I still love it though. 

Story:

Okay so like I said, Grady's books are on auto buy. I didn't even really read what this one was about so I had zero idea what it was about going in. I just knew it was about someone trying to sell a haunted house. I was not prepared for the absolute horror fest I was about to enter into.

That being said, it was creepy, it had emotional stuff going on it, it was a really good story about family while also being horror. 

Pace: 

The first like 5 minutes of the book were slow. That's it. Then it was just like BAM HORROR BAM DOLLS BAM SCARY. And then the end kind of felt just a little forced. 

Writing: 

Like I said, Grady's books can be a little confusing sometimes, and I just have a hard time following along sometimes. But not with this one. He wrote it so perfectly creepy and it was so easy to just picture what was going on. I felt so much from annoyance, to anger, to fear, to wanting to laugh out loud. 

 

Characters: 

There was a lot of character growth I felt like between the main character and the brother. But that's about it that's going for them. The main character was so annoying, I kept wanting to slap her. All she did was complain and bitch and moan and expect the worst of everyone. She was incredibly self centered. The brother tried his best... sometimes. But he was also incredibly immature and selfish.  

 

World building: 

I think it was well done. Grady is very good at his descriptive words. 

Ending: 

The ending was a gut punch. That's all I'm going to say.

Narrator:

Oh boy the narrator did such a great job. Especially when singing for Pumpkin. I will never get that song out of my head. 

Overall:

One of my favorite Hendrix books. Creepy and addicting.

A little Snippet:

“I’ll come right out and say it,” Mercy told them. “Strange noises, bad vibes, your mom and dad recently passed— Your house is haunted and I’m not selling it until you deal with that.”

― Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Website

Grady Hendrix is the author of the novels Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is like Beaches meets The Exorcist, only it's set in the Eighties. He's also the author of We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and the upcoming (July 13!) Final Girl Support Group!

He's also the jerk behind the Stoker award-winning Paperbacks from Hell, a history of the 70's and 80's horror paperback boom, which contains more information about Nazi leprechauns, killer babies, and evil cats than you probably need.

And he's the screenwriter behind Mohawk, which is probably the only horror movie about the War of 1812 and Satanic Panic.

You can listen to free, amazing, and did I mention free podcasts of his fiction on Pseudopod. He also does a podcast called Super Scary Haunted Homeschool.

If you're not already sick of him, you can learn all his secrets at his website.

Other books I've read by this author: