Member Reviews
Before I started reading, I had no idea what to expect, but as soon as I did, I became completely engrossed in the story and the characters. It’s safe to say I was hooked from the very first page. I loved the dual timeline, which flits between 1952 and present day. I felt the author hit the balance perfectly, with each timeline working seamlessly with the other. The characters are believable, likeable, and well written – I felt an instant affection for the impeccably dressed Miss Green.
NYPD Homicide detectives Maria and Frankie. They deal with the graphics and the unflinching facts. For them, catching bad guys (and girls) is nothing new. But when a murder takes place at a Greenwich Village brownstone in what appears to be a quiet neighborhood, Maria is left with more unanswered questions and a cold case. But Maria and Frankie soon learn that this isn't the only horrifying murder to take place in this brownstone. This novel does an excellent job of connecting everything together since it uses two perspectives: Maria's present-day perspective and Emilia's historical perspective. As she pursues the case, Maria becomes the killer's next victim, but will Frankie and anybody else from the past help save her in time?
I adored this book utterly. It was incredibly simple and quick to read. Maria and Frankie have a great relationship, and I hope to read more books with them in the future. I had never read anything by this author before, so I was thrilled to discover another one whose books I liked.
I will admit some of the verbiage didn't make sense to me, I found myself confused with the wording. I would send snippets to my friend to see if they understood the same thing that I did. other than this I highly recommend this book. I just assumed the phrases that were used are native to where the author is located. There was parts of this book that had me cringing and there was parts of this book that had me laughing outloud. I kept finding myself grabbing this book in the middle of the night.
For my arc, I'm grateful to Storm Publishing and Net Galley.
⭐️: 5 / 5
Publication Date: October 19, 2023
I want to thank Storm Publishing, and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The prologue did a great job at hooking you into Christmas time at New York City, when Detective Maria Miller and her partner are called to a crime scene and the story takes off 3 years after that fateful night.
One of the coolest aspects of this story, was the history of murders being investigated, not to mention including an Ouija board and other satanic/supernatural elements. The shorter chapters make this a breeze to read through as well. I’m not gonna lie I really loved the 2 older women as the story develops and as they take more of a role in the developing story.
As for my reservations, my only issue is that I want more books with these characters! This is my first time reading this author and I can’t wait to read more.
Overall I was absolutely enthralled in this story from beginning to end. There’s so many lovable characters you’re bound to find one that you like. This is also the perfect read for spooky season!
Would recommend for those who are fans of
- Supernatural Mystery
- New York City setting
- Plot driven stories
- Non-Linear timelines
- Multiple POVs
⚠️ gore, violence
A good, well written paranormal, murder mystery. A cold case links to a similar, even older case with devastating consequences. Maria and Frankie are on the case, but it pushes them to their limits and start to question their beliefs. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
There was so much packed in this book, and I was quite hooked going through it. The entire time I kept thinking about Amityville Horror and the Haunting of Hill House. But this book has its own haunting merit, so it does deserve to stand out on its own.
There are two storylines in which eventually they will meet with an ultimate conclusion. I was more interested in reading about Maria and Frankie, the police procedural parts, and the eventual action-packed events. The creepy and supernatural parts were gory, and haunting, and the author did quite well making this book spooky. Yet I was more pulled into Maria's fate. Maybe this is a good thing because it looks like the author isn't done with Maria yet beyond this book.
I was left wanting more about the main villain guy (not the evil demon smoky entity). We get into his head a bit but after the climax, he is gone. But like...I need to know more! And then there was (during the 1952 portion) a neighbor lady, who acted like she knew everything but didn't add anything to the story but false hopes for the girls. The book moved quickly from one event to another, but I really was hoping for a more complex conclusion to all things encompassing this house on West 10th Street. Either way, I still really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Helen Phifer for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I've read some of Helen Phifer's other books (Lucy Harwin trilogy & started Morgan Brooks). This one sounded a little different, but I was intrigued.
Whilst different from her other books, I still enjoyed this. The supernatural content is an interesting element to the story but doesn't take away from the detective side. A good balance is struck between the 2. The dual time line works well and explains how the present situation came about. I liked the main characters of Maria & Frankie, both well developed.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I always enjoy Helen Phifer's books although this is the first of her horror stories I've read (not usually my favourite genre). Saying that it did have a great detective story going on as well so that made it very readable. I enjoyed the split time narrative once I got used to it and the description of the street in both eras was brilliant. I could still take or leave the demons and power of God bits of the book as it reminded me of nothing more than Ghostbusters! However, the characters were well written and it was an enjoyable read. I will probably give the next in the series a go as well.
This is a great read.
Detectives Maria Miller and Frank Conroy are called out to a house on West 10th Street and it's the worst they have seen.
They never found the killer and three years later their boss asks them to review the case. As they start to look into it strange things start to happen and Maria is in danger.
I love Helen Phifer’s other books and this one was a great read too.
Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The haunting on West 10th Street is a very good crime thriller, with supernatural elements and a classic New York setting. I totally felt transported there and the atmospheric backdrop was one of my favourite aspects of this book. Both detectives are solid characters that I can definitely see leading a series. I was pleasantly surprised about the horror components, as I initially suspected it would go more of a “nothing is what it seems” route. The ending was somewhat of an anticlimax and while it didn’t ruin the book I would have loved more background info/history being explained.
Wowzers! This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Great read for Halloween season, so grab your pumpkin spiced latte, lock the doors and settle in for a page turner.
This book definitely has the creep factor built in. It is a solid book, great characters and storyline. I much loved many of the characters that were introduced.
I definitely recommend it and anything from Helen Phifer really.
Thank you to Helen Phifer, Storm punlishing and NetGalley for the ARC.
I loved this book. I literally couldn't put it down and stayed awake hours after my usual bedtime to finish it. Chilling, spooky, intense. Great characters. Perfect location. My October book of the month so far
I've enjoyed Helen Phifer's writing in the past, so I couldn't resist adding this reprint of the first book of a paranormal thriller series to my TBR. The blurb sounded like it was going to be perfect for spooky season, and I've been looking forward to dive in... I'm not sure if it was the reading slump talking, but unfortunately I did end up having mixed thoughts instead. I'm not saying it's a bad read, but some elements worked better for me than others.
I can't deny that I still love the premise of The Haunting On West 10th Street. The brutal murders, the satanic ritual, the house with a bad vibe... It all has so much potential, and the paranormal horror element is most definitely very much present in this book. Things can get pretty graphic, and the descriptions of both the house and the horrors inside were well done and really set the right atmosphere. The dual timeline helped add more suspense and tension as well, as you slowly learned more about what happened in 1952 that seemed to have started it all. For that reason alone I could appreciate both timelines almost equally, which doesn't happen often.
BUT. And here is where it mainly went wrong for me with this story. Sadly, there is a lot of focus on the romance in the plot, and we have to contend with not only TWO love triangles but also a cheating element. To say that I strongly dislike both tropes is an understatement, and their appearance really put a damper on things. I personally feel this story would have worked so much better without the romance; I felt like it undermined the impact of the rest of the story. A strictly friendly banter between Maria and her partner would have added so much more than the whole pining vibe.
I also can't say that I was a fan of the main characters in general. There was just something about Maria that made it quite hard to warm up to her, and I felt like her character lacked fleshing out. The same goes for the rest of the characters for that matter; there were a lot of cliches involved and not enough dept in general. It's a shame, because as a result I didn't really care too much about what happened to them, and I wasn't as invested in the outcome as expected.
In short, there were things I enjoyed in The Haunting On West 10th Street, but there were also elements that made it harder to properly enjoy this paranormal thriller. The romance kind of spoiled things for me, and the pace itself wasn't as fast as expected. The paranormal horror element was well developed, but as a whole I don't think I will be continuing this series.
My initial expectations for the book were high, as I was excited to delve into the narrative and explore the themes presented. However, as I began to read through the pages, I found that the story failed to entice and grip me. The characters lacked depth and development, and the plot felt predictable and uninspired. Despite my best efforts to engage with the text, I was left feeling disconnected and disinterested. I have since come to the conclusion that this particular book is not for me.
This review is based solely on my personal preferences, which should not be taken as an indication that other readers may not derive enjoyment from the same content. It is simply a reflection of what personally appeals to me.
Scary occult vibes for NYC Detective Maria Miller👹
4.5🌟stars
The Haunting on West 10th Street was fast-paced, exciting and a story that had me hooked from the start. This was totally different from the Morgan Brookes British police thrillers that I am used to from author Helen Phifer. Those are scary, too, but this one is frightening in an Exorcist manner, with pentograms, brutal killings for a dark power and priests with holy water helping to battle a dark presence in a house on West 10th St in The Village in NYC. The action weaves back and forth between present day and 1952 when the family that occupied the house was torn apart by the first murder in the house attic.
I liked that the creepy and gory bits are offset by subplots about Maria's partner Frankie's marital woes and Maria's developing attachment to Harrison who is heavily wealthy and unafraid to use it to woo her. And the little old lady brigade who prepare for battle are endearing, particularly natty dresser Missy Green.
This appears to be the start of an adventurous new series featuring Maria and Frankie that I could definitely get into.
Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.
"𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮, 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴, 𝓭𝓲𝓻𝓽𝔂 𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓮𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽."
𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: the writing style was beautiful. it’s very fast paced. in fact, i think it was TOO fast paced that it’s seemed distorted and the connection was a bit lost and i didn’t really enjoy it as much as i would have loved to. it was creepy but was not scary one bit.
however, if you’re into paranormal investigations, you should totally read this. there is sequel, which i would most likely pick up (because this is my first from the author, and i’m ready to try more). 🤞🤞
BOOK:THE HAUNTING ON 10TH WEST STREET
AUTHOR: HELEN PHIFER
PUB DATE: SEPTEMBER 2023
👮🏼♀️👵🏻
REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
👵🏻👮🏼♀️
I went into this book thinking it would be a normal crime thriller, but it was not. While I would have preferred to be informed through the synopsis, I still liked what I read. This is surprising because I normally stay off books in the horror genre.
👮🏼♀️👵🏻
This book was nice with amazing characters and an exciting storyline. I enjoyed the dual timelines and the older characters who witnessed the first horrible crime . I also liked Maria, she was an okay character and a good police officer. I'd like to see what she does next.
👵🏻👮🏼♀️
This book was good, if you're a fan of horror books, you should read it!
First, thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this advanced copy.
Unfortunately this book fell a bit flat for me. It was jarring to read so many Britishisms in a book set in NYC with a born and bred New Yorker as the main character. The bones of Maria made for a great female lead, but most everything about each character didn't go beyond surface level. There were also a lot of broad generalizations about devil worship/Satanism. I did enjoy the dual timelines, definitely liked the glimpse into the past and how it wove into the present day. But I did feel like the romance b-plot and Frankie's personal life didn't add much to the story. I know it's to be the first in a series, but there were a lot of different things going on, introducing so many characters and pieces of their lives that didn't relate to the cases. I really wanted to like this more, especially since the premise and cover are so intriguing!
I have received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!
I loove haunting novels and thrillers. They are always so fun to read. Because it keeps you on your toes and it is so unpredictable and when it is done well it turns into an amazing reading experience.
And this one was done quite well. I loved it.
4/5
This was not what I expected. With the title The Haunting on West 10th Street, I expected horror, or at the very least, a spooky ghost story. The one part where I thought it could get good and scary, was glossed over and finished so quickly that what little tension was built dissipated so quickly that there as not time to be scared. This leaves us with a cold case that is eerily similar to a current case and that is solved in a lackluster manner. This was trying to be too many things and ended up being not much of anything except for a few unanswered questions. I wish I had liked it more; there was so much potential there.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for the ARC #TheHauntingOnWest10thStreet by #HelenPhifer. Demons, sacrificing and murder make up this chilling book that I could not put down. Absolutely loved it!
As detective Maria Miller dives into a new case, she is not prepared for what will greet her and her partner. The murder they are looking into has too many similarities into a decades old murder. Throw in a missing persons case, their new case looks like it may just close out a couple more.
I absolutely LOVED this book!! I did not want to put it down. I loved the two main detectives. They have a great relationship, and the banter back and forth was sincere. These are characters you can relate to - and want to see more from!
Now, I cannot wait to see the additional books in this series. Fantastic book, with a few twists and turns, and bumps in the night.