She survived the devastation of her husband’s murder, her breakdown and now, in an effort to heal and move on with her life, Madison Hewitt purchases an old home in Hode’s Hill, but will she be able to survive the ghosts that seem to haunt it or is her mind slipping back into the black hole she struggled to crawl out of? Worse, what if it isn’t a haunting at all, but a cry for help from beyond?

Mae Clair’s EVENTIDE takes us back to Hode’s Hill as one woman discovers that ghosts may be real, and the history of her new home may hold dark secrets from the past so evil that if the walls could talk, they would shriek in terror. And. I. Am. Hooked.

Once again, Mae Clair makes things that “go bump in the night” come to life with devilishly detailed scenes, a plot that encompasses decades and a mystery that begs to be uncovered. Will Madison survive intact? IS the house evil? Are the dangers from beyond the veil, from the cemetery on the property, or perhaps the unraveling of unsolved police cases that she may be getting too close to solving?

Great characters, a touch of the paranormal, and a rollercoaster ride to the end! Be sure to keep some candles handy, just in case...because the veil is thinnest at EVENTIDE.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Mae Clair and Lyrical Press! This is my honest and voluntary review.

Series: Hode's Hill - Book 3
Publisher: Lyrical Press (December 31, 2019)
Publication Date: December 31, 2019
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Print Length: 252 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Eventide is a great haunted house-book. The suspense is build up greatly at the start, which made me sit on the edge of my chair for quite some time. I really had difficulty to put it down, which I had to if I wanted to sleep at night.

Unfortunately things flattened for a bit around the middle, at least, for the part that took place in the past. The brilliant pace of events and creepyness did not keep up there. However, they did keep up in the parts of the present day, so it was very easy to read on. Somehow I found Hollande's name a bit ... cringey. It will probably have been an existing name in the area where the story took place, but it's just weird to read a story about someone who is named after a part of your country, and the name made her come across as a snotty whining woman at the start, to me at least. I think I'd personally have gone for a name that's a bit more neutral, for lack of a better word. That is a minor thing, however, I think it's good to realize names can have influence on how a character is perceived.

The ending was well thought out, and I love how not all of the problems were resolved in the same couple of pages, which happens quite often. That made the pacing more realistic than it would otherwise have been, and kept the suspence going exactly like it should have been.

Eventide starts off super creepy and then somewhat plateaus for a bit - with bursts of horrifying and gruesome action in some spots.

Third in a series, Eventide does reference some earlier events which I assume took place in the other books, but this doesn’t negatively affect the reading experience. You could easily read this book without having read the others.

The book includes dual timelines which are interesting at first, but the older timeline lost my attention a bit in the middle. The pay off is decent though, and there are some great reveals if you don’t figure them out first (but realizing what’s coming doesn’t ruin the overall story!)

Thanks to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground for an ARC of this book.

I have read all of Mae Clair's Hodes Hill books, and this one is by far my favourite. I loved the mix of the supernatural with typical ghosts spiced up with a deadly and terrifying ghoul. All in all, this is a great series that works well both to read as a run on and for each book to stand alone, although you get more by seeing the character progression throughout the series if you read them in order. Having read of Madison, the main character, in previous books and seeing her struggle through the eyes of others, it is nice to see her getting a book to herself, and what a strong heroine she turns out to be.

The plot runs both in the past (1800s) and in the present day and gives you plenty of mystery, suspense, and twists in both timelines. While I sussed out that something was up with the historical brothers early on, I completely failed to work out what it was, so kudos to the author for that bit of cunning.

I highly recommend this book and will be reading more from this writer. A solid five star read.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I thought the beginning of this book was a great gothic/ supernatural story, it all worked well, and was very scary, but once I found out this is the third book in a series, for some reason the book and the plot lost its meaning for me. I don’t know why but it was no longer scary, because as a series you always know it’s going to end well. I couldn’t believe the main character didn’t press charges at the end, because you know this will happen again to another girl ( sorry, trying to be vague, so as not to ruin the story) and she could have prevented that.
So... some parts scary, the use of past and present was done well, but I really couldn’t care about. the main character.

Mae Clair offers a well written paranormal horror novel told between alternating time lines. The scene is perfectly set as Clair personifies a macabre old house as its very own character. The storyline is chock full of mystery, gore, and hauntings. The characters are well developed and the plot does pull the reader's interest, especially as the background details of the house and its "occupants" are brought to light. Unfortunately, the trope is a bit too familiar to the genre leaving the overall feel of the book a bit lackluster. 3 stars.



Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #Eventide which was read and reviewed voluntarily by Tarrah Marie (@wayward_readers)

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for the chance to read an advanced copy.

This was a decent ghost story told in past and present timelines. I read many horror, supernatural and haunted house books. I found this book to be pretty typical of the average haunted house story. It was not what I would consider a memorable novel but it was entertaining. The writing was good but it was a little unbelievable (could have done without the ghoul and just stuck with the ghosts) and the mystery was fairly easy to figure out by the half way mark but the story was interesting enough to keep me reading until the end. Easy read. Solid 3 star rating. If you are looking for a fun and spooky book I would recommend Eventide.

This was a solid ghost haunting horror book. I really liked it from the beginning to the end.
I thought that the author did a great job portraying all of the characters in the book and the reasons why they did the things they did.
I thought it was a great story and I loved the connection between the past, the present, and the ghoul!
I think anyone who loves horror will LOVE this book!
Writing was clear, concise, and had a great voice.

The only downfall was if Sylvia was REALLY insane.....was her husband having an affair or NOT?
That was never fully worked out.

Overall, a great book.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Kensington Books and the author, Mae Clair, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Eventide in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I have to say, I loved this book. I was drawn in from the start.
The storyline was well thought out and written with well developed characters. I love the creepiness that was interwoven throughout.
Well worth a read

First up thanks for allowing me to read this book. Sadly.. it wasn't for me. I read 30-ish % just up to the point when the ghoul appeared and then I just skipped to the ending and read around 10% of that. I am sorry, I was already not happy with that we got past/present parts. I just couldn't give a fig about the past parts, but then a ghoul popped up and ripped someone apart and sorry I just got less interested in the story. I came here for a good haunted house story, not for gore and disgustingness.

But the parts that I read (with the haunting of the house, the creepy things that happened inside) + the ending were pretty nice, so I am giving it a 2 stars.

Madison Hewitt is trying to start anew after the murder of her husband. How does she choose to go about it? She moves into an old house with a sealed up well in the cellar and a burial ground in the backyard. Madison is so consumed by grief that it’s not until she begins getting threatening letters and finds her tires slashed that she becomes alarmed. So what’s the relevance of the onsite graveyard and sealed up well? In order to understand what’s happening in the present, Madison will have to look into the house’s past. I never tire of books about creepy old houses that hide a mysterious past; this was a fun read I enjoyed under a fluffy comforter