William Butler (10)

I thought my family was strange but this Balestrom family beats even us. Not by much mind you! Sisters Sara and Susan could not be more different and the secrets, well all I can say is WOW. Sara is called to the island where her sister lives due to the unexpected death of her husband (or was it unexpected?) and as soon as Sara sets foot on the island she is stepping into another world. A world of lies, secrets, not so nice people, murder? and all around strangeness. And what kind of person show more is Susan? Is she a cold blooded killer or just getting a raw deal? Oh, we find out and I will not give it away.

All of the above for me is just about a guarantee of a great book. I like families that have skeletons and are not your Leave it to Beaver type of family. Trust me, the Beaver could never have been part of this bunch!

We get a hint of what will be happening in the chapter titles. I really liked that. Before I started the chapter I would try to figure out what was about to take place. I was wrong more than I was right!

The twists and turns had my head spinning at times, a good spinning, I had to keep reading and never did I see what was coming at the end. The only complaint that I had and again, it's just my opinion is that at times the writing was hard to read, didn't flow smoothly in some places and I had to re-read.

A great suspense book with a touch of what I call Gothic horror and creepiness added in. I look forward to more from Mr. Butler.

~this book was received free from the author for review consideration~

See what Telly Says About Things show less

Let me first say that House of Balestrom was nowhere near what I expected it to be. Looking at the cover, you expect, well, maybe historical fiction, or a tale about a rich family or something. You expect that it being a rich family means they will have secrets. What you do not, by any means, expect is the level of intrigue that is held within the pages.

Mr. Butler is a gifted storyteller. While the beginning of the book gets off to a slow start, it will quickly suck you in once you get to show more the meat of it. You cannot seem to walk away. Be warned that your spouse may feel neglected, your children shall go hungry and your pets will not get out.

Sara is the type of character you love and Camille is the type of character you love to hate. Susan, well, I still have not decided how I feel about her.

The degree of manipulation that occurs within these pages may somewhat remind you of watching Jerry Springer, but at the same time, it may just remind you of home. In some small way, every one of us has at least one of these characters within our own family, if only you are willing to look deep enough.

The reason I had to rate this at 3-1/2 stars is due to editing. Some of the grammar and sentence structure was a little spotty. It is a testament to the skill in storytelling that I kept reading, though, because I have had books where the errors were distracting enough to keep me from reading the book. That was not the case here.

I don't know if there will be a sequel or not, and maybe somehow the author will weigh in on this, but if there is, I will be interested to see what is going to happen to the characters and how they will continue on in their individual paths.

If you want a book that will transcend expectations and leave you wondering "What the hell just happened here," than this is the book for you! show less

Let me first say that House of Balestrom was nowhere near what I expected it to be. Looking at the cover, you expect, well, maybe historical fiction, or a tale about a rich family or something. You expect that it being a rich family means they will have secrets. What you do not, by any means, expect is the level of intrigue that is held within the pages.

Mr. Butler is a gifted storyteller. While the beginning of the book gets off to a slow start, it will quickly suck you in once you get to show more the meat of it. You cannot seem to walk away. Be warned that your spouse may feel neglected, your children shall go hungry and your pets will not get out.

Sara is the type of character you love and Camille is the type of character you love to hate. Susan, well, I still have not decided how I feel about her.

The degree of manipulation that occurs within these pages may somewhat remind you of watching Jerry Springer, but at the same time, it may just remind you of home. In some small way, every one of us has at least one of these characters within our own family, if only you are willing to look deep enough.

The reason I had to rate this at 3-1/2 stars is due to editing. Some of the grammar and sentence structure was a little spotty. It is a testament to the skill in storytelling that I kept reading, though, because I have had books where the errors were distracting enough to keep me from reading the book. That was not the case here.

I don't know if there will be a sequel or not, and maybe somehow the author will weigh in on this, but if there is, I will be interested to see what is going to happen to the characters and how they will continue on in their individual paths.

If you want a book that will transcend expectations and leave you wondering "What the hell just happened here," than this is the book for you! show less

I thought my family was strange but this Balestrom family beats even us. Not by much mind you! Sisters Sara and Susan could not be more different and the secrets, well all I can say is WOW. Sara is called to the island where her sister lives due to the unexpected death of her husband (or was it unexpected?) and as soon as Sara sets foot on the island she is stepping into another world. A world of lies, secrets, not so nice people, murder? and all around strangeness. And what kind of person show more is Susan? Is she a cold blooded killer or just getting a raw deal? Oh, we find out and I will not give it away.

All of the above for me is just about a guarantee of a great book. I like families that have skeletons and are not your Leave it to Beaver type of family. Trust me, the Beaver could never have been part of this bunch!

We get a hint of what will be happening in the chapter titles. I really liked that. Before I started the chapter I would try to figure out what was about to take place. I was wrong more than I was right!

The twists and turns had my head spinning at times, a good spinning, I had to keep reading and never did I see what was coming at the end. The only complaint that I had and again, it's just my opinion is that at times the writing was hard to read, didn't flow smoothly in some places and I had to re-read.

A great suspense book with a touch of what I call Gothic horror and creepiness added in. I look forward to more from Mr. Butler.

~this book was received free from the author for review consideration~

See what Telly Says About Things show less