Diving into "The Residence" by Andrew Pyper was like stepping into a historical nightmare intertwined with the supernatural. The narrative, based on true events, brings forth a tale of sorrow, ghosts, and the chilling aftermath of a tragedy that echoes through the annals of American history.

The story unfolds in 1853, as President-elect Franklin Pierce's journey to Washington, DC, takes a horrific turn, leaving only one casualty—his young son, Bennie. The haunting aftermath, both personal and political, forms the crux of this gripping tale.

Pyper's masterful storytelling weaves together historical facts with elements of the supernatural, creating a compelling and eerie atmosphere. The grief-stricken First Lady, Jane Pierce, becomes a central figure haunted not only by the loss of her son but by a dark entity that has lingered since her childhood.

The intricate details of historical events and the Pierce family's personal anguish blend seamlessly, capturing the reader's attention from start to finish. The author delves into the complexity of grief, guilt, and the unrelenting presence of spirits, bringing a unique blend of horror and history.

As the narrative explores Jane's struggle to reconcile with her husband and the anguish of blaming him for Bennie's death, it adds emotional depth to the supernatural elements. The juxtaposition of the White House's grandeur and the ghosts that haunt its halls creates a spine-chilling contrast.

This is not just a ghost story; it's a reflection of the weight of American history, the burden of leadership, and the personal tragedies that shape a nation. Pyper's writing style is evocative, drawing readers into a realm where spirits coexist with the living, and history casts a long and haunting shadow.

I recommend "The Residence" to anyone who craves a captivating ghost story woven seamlessly into the fabric of historical events. Pyper's narrative skillfully navigates the realms of horror and history, creating an immersive experience that lingers in the mind. It's a tale that invites readers to confront the ghosts of the past, both real and supernatural.

Andrew Pyper's "The Residence" is a novel that had me torn between its potential and its execution. While the premise of the story is undeniably intriguing, the book ultimately falls short of fully realizing its promise.
It is a book with a captivating premise and moments of genuine suspense. However, its pacing, character development, and the uneven execution of its horror elements prevent it from reaching its full potential. It's worth a read if you're intrigued by the concept, but be prepared for a narrative that occasionally stumbles along the way.

THE RESIDENCE is a stunning novel of Historical Fiction, seamlessly woven into the factual framework of American mid-19th century History. Although it is also a novel of the Supernatural, this element stems from Historical facts and the suspension of Disbelief is subtly contrived and becomes natural in the course of events' progression.

The character depth and development is quite extraordinary and the character arcs are readily comprehensible . The Supernatural elements are not superficial but intrinsic, terrifying not just in the present of the characters, but even more so in its prophecies for America's future.

I was unable to download this and read it on time. But thank you for the early access and opportunity to review.

This story isn't the kind of horror to have you on the edge of your seat or afraid of the creaking of your abode settling in its foundations. I read this book quickly, but I found myself wishing some of the cool ideas and descriptions had been delved into a bit more. The supporting characters are in keeping with the time being described here. i.e. The Fox sisters. But they felt underused, and it is a shame.

It's an enjoyable book to read while you try to find something more interesting.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

A horror novel about the White House as a haunted house. In 1853, on the eve of his presidency, Franklin Pierce's only son is killed in a train accident. The grief understandably overshadows life in the White House for Pierce and his wife Jane – especially once Jane summons a demon/ghost/Thing from her childhood and allows it to bring back a not-quite-right version of their son. When the famous Spiritualist Fox sisters are summoned for a secret seance to drive out "Mr. Splitfoot", the dark presence behind the US's facade only grows stronger.

The White House as a haunted house – haunted not just by the Pierces' son, but by the ghosts of the enslaved who built it, by Native Americans killed in various genocides, by the soon-to-come hundreds of thousands dead in the Civil War – is a <i>fantastic</i> idea. Unfortunately, nothing else about this novel is good at all.

One of my main problems is that I really got the sense Pyper had the idea for a haunted house novel set in the White House, and then just randomly chose a president to fit. He didn't seem to care much about the Pierces as historical figures or as characters, frequently got details of the historical setting wrong, and only settled on the Pierces because he wanted to include cameos of the real-life Fox sisters. The idea of the White House as haunted by the sins of the country is, again, great, but is treated so shallowly as to be worse than not including it. As an example of the many problems with Pyper's attempt to grapple with issues of race: Jane has a Black maid who is just <i>so</i> loyal and brave and supportive, standing by Jane even as everything goes to hell – and who is the only Black character who gets more than two lines of dialogue – but she has no interiority or characterization at all. We never even find out if she's free or enslaved! Which, you know, is kind of an important detail when the whole premise of the novel is that the literal Devil is blackmailing Franklin Pierce to be pro-slavery and thus cause the Civil War.

Everyone's characterization is inconsistent, they frequently make incredibly dumb choices, and a thrilling premise is wasted by the author trying to stuff too many things into one book and not succeeding at any of them. There's a nice sentence of prose here and there, but overall, what a waste of a good idea.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4494640199

The novel started out strong but it became very slow. There were no horror scenes in this novel. Still, I found it a sad tale about a couple struggling over the loss of their son. I recommend this for those that love reading about Presidents.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this book. I love a book that involves trains! This book instantly drew me in, I got to explore through the eyes of our main character and this is always my favorite way to discover these details of the story and, it was done very well in this book. I really enjoyed this book and the plot. This author did amazing. I loved the writing style.

I have made the choice to mark this novel as a dnf. I loved the premise. I also loved that it was based on a true story. Unfortunately, the story did not keep me entertained. This could very well be on my end.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.

I don't give five stars freely. I was completely enchanted by this book; from it's oppressively creepy mood that it maintained throughout, to it's actual, historical facts that the story is based on, and the sad parallels to what this country is going thru currently as it deals with/denies the racist history of our country. All of this is contained in a thrilling haunted (White) house tale. This needs to be a major motion picture. (And shame on me for forgetting we'd even had a President Pierce!)

The Residence was an OKAY read for me. Although I appreciated the appearance of various historical figures, the overall development of characters left something to be desired. I was really hoping for a good, creepy ghost story, but unfortunately found the rambling storyline a bit hard to get past. 3/5 stars for me. Good, but left something to be desired.

How creepy! The Residence is a unique horror novel that mixes historical fiction with supernatural spookiness. A little slow to begin, the plot really starts to pick up around Part II, which is a welcome relief. Part I seems to be more focused on establishing the characters and their relationships, but it's definitely a lot slower and made me wish for a faster, more captivating opening. Andrew Pyper is an excellent writer and does a fantastic job putting in creepy imagery that's effective and original without being campy or trying too hard. Overall, I definitely enjoyed The Residence and am looking forward to seeing more of this author's work!

I found this to be an interesting ghost story based on true events. Set in the mid-1800's at the White House, that setting became a character in itself. The events that took place in this book were along the lines of history itself. I found the characters were well written and the story was entertaining. I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

The Residence is a terrifying story based on true events that happened in 1853 surrounded by US 14th President, President Franklin Pierce, and his wife, Jane in the white house.
Unfortunate events start to happen when President Pierce's only living son, Benjamin Franklin killed by a train cash their En route to Washington D.C.
After the tragic death of the son, both parents were heartbroken especially First Lady Jane. Been so hard to part with her dead son and face reality, she sets up a bedroom for Bennie, complete with toys, at the White House spending hours in this room.

soon the unexpected, disturbing events start to happen, Strange sounds seem to come from the walls and ceiling, ghostly voices echo out of time itself, and visions of spirits crushed under the weight of American history pass through empty hallways, and they were greeted with her dead son again.
This is a gothic sad story full of thiller/Suspense and a hint of horror. Most of the time I felt sad, sympathy, and grief but not horror, fear, and super scary, and If you want a true horror story this is not the story for you.

Overall I enjoyed the story, the Author's writing style, and the characters.
I'm looking forward to reading more books from Andrew Pyper especially his horror/Thriller novels.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books/ Skybound Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchanging my honest opinions.

I am on a horror/thiller kick and I enjoyed this book. It goes into when spiritualism and seance first started up. It's interesting to see build-up of the events.

Andrew Pyper + a horror story based off a true incident is all I had to know before I delved into this story. Pyper is a good writer who easily keeps the readers engaged. With this supernatural thriller, I felt the same at the start, although my attention parted towards the middle I was able to enjoy the ending delight. This book is good, but not Pyper’s best.

Thank you for the arc Gallery & Netgalley. This is my voluntary honest review.

As much as I wanted to really get into this story...I honestly could not. After multiple attempts I finally gave up. Wish I was more interested in the storyline but unfortunately became very disinterested by chapter 4.

I thought that this would be more of a conspiracy supernatural thriller, but in reality it is mostly a ghost story that feels like it takes far too long to get going, and then takes the scenic route to get where it wants to go rather than a more direct route. This is frustrating in multiple places, hence the three stars. I think this book had potential, but in order to keep things creepy, the author seems to add things in and fall off course too much. If you give it a chance to bring the story back around, it does have a fairly good and satisfying ending. But I would not be surprised if you DNF it as well. I almost did, but kept with it in order to write this review.

What a fantastically weird and wonderful book. I'll admit that the premise for THE RESIDENCE had me at "haunted White House book," but Pyper is a truly gifted writer. His horror is visceral and cutting and his emotional framework is equally strong. I found myself fully committed to the Pierces and their story, but even more so to the tale of a regular man tasked with voicing the wishes, fears, and goals of a nation.

I found that the book dragged a bit midway through, but what Pyper lacked in propulsion at the time, he more than made up for with the book's stellar ending. Pyper managed to make a very tightly focused book feel representative of a history's worth of bad national politics, and it spoke beautifully to our present-day political landscape. This is my first time reading Andrew Pyper, but decidedly not my last.