Kelley Armstrong is the only author to get me to read scary horror. This has all her characteristic great writing and characters, plus a lot of stuff that made me stay up with the lights on! I think people who like horror will enjoy this- unfortunately I’m a scaredy cat so I don’t think I’ll be rereading this as much as I reread her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelley Armstrong and St Martin’s Press for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was so fun. It’s like a spooky locked in mystery with actual vengeful spirits. I flew through it and I really didn’t want to put it down. I loved the characters and the twists. Definitely recommend.

A very spooky ghost story that keeps the twists and turns coming all the way to the end! I was a big fan of this book. A perfect October read for any fans of horror books! The main character, Nicola, starts out a skeptic with an unusual past. But as the story unfolds and you learn more about her past and spooky present things begin to happen that have you questioning what is truly real or fabrication. Having the book from the POV of the widow trying to contact her husband out of love and guilt added such an interesting and important element to this plot that you cannot find in all ghost stories. My only complaint with the book was that it started out a bit slower, but once we got into the action things stayed fast paced all the way to the final conclusion. I am absolutely going to add this to my list to revisit every spooky season. 5/5

This book was quite interesting. Enjoyed all the ghosts and seances. I did like the grieving process the fmc goes through in this. And the emphasis that everyone deals with grief differently

This book started off very strong with a wonderful gothic feel including revealing charlatans for playing on people’s emotions. Then, the house was nice and creepy, especially the dolls. First issue I had with it was the scene where Nicola moved the dolls in a semi-circle around a sleeping Jin, I was giggling about it waiting for him to wake up, but I was sadly disappointed by a dropped plot point. It was a perfect prank that fell flat. That’s about the time it started falling apart. Nicola’s constant guessing at wild theories that I guess were red herrings of the irritating kind (way too many) when I could have told her who the culprit was back at the beginning of the book because I saw it immediately even before knowing all the back story. The saddest part is there was potential for a great story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you St Martins Press for this e-arc via Netgalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

📖A spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood.

What to expect:
👻plague level swarms of insects
👻creepy dolls
👻scary stories within this story
👻set in Canada
👻grief over death of spouse
👻Cystic fibrosis rep

This sucked me in and creeped me out from start to finish! I loved the balance between eerie vibes and humor as the main character's self-talk was full of sarcasm that had me laughing. There was even a dash of swoon as Nic reminisced on memories of her late husband. The pacing in the middle did seem to slow a bit and get repetitive, but overall I ate this up! I also appreciated the chronic illness rep and knew very little about CF before this book. This left me encouraged to learn more by doing my own research so I'd say if there was a goal to increase CF awareness, it was achieved!

If you ever broke out the ouija board with your friends as a kid, this one is for you!

⚠️CW: graphic and heartbreaking depiction of a car accident

I just finished this and maaaannnn, I'm so sad I waited so long! It took me a bit to get into it but when the action started, it didn't let up. I really thought I hadn't figured out around 60-65% through, and I definitely did not. This gets 4.5 stars, but rounded down, because I didn't quite love it enough to rate it 5. But Armstrong is a go-to author for me so I will be continuing to read her books!!

My first Kelley Armstrong, but most certainly enough to make me want to go right back and read every single thing she's written, and to keep an eye out for all future releases. This was the best kind of horror there can be as far as I am concerned - as careful and tender in its approach to the horrors of real life as it is unflinching in its approach to the horrors of a world beyond. I'LL BE WAITING starts off quiet, mellow in its grief, but it slowly becomes an unhinged rollercoaster that makes it nothing short of unputdownable. I find it rare for horror to manage to get a physical reaction out of me, but this made my skin crawl and my hair stand on end on quite a few occasions, and it kept me tense and on edge more often than not.
I cannot recommend it enough.

3.75 stars

Ghost stories are always very hit or miss for me, and I had very high hopes for this until around 85% in when things suddenly got wild and kept getting wilder. The tense atmosphere and creepiness leading up to that was great, and I did not guess what was going on, but really who could have, because it was absurd. There were some moments that did creep me out, though, and the writing was good so I still recommend if you're looking for a fun spooky szn read. 

Nicola's husband died in a car crash years ago just after their wedding, but his final words to her were witnessed and recorded by onlookers: "I'll be waiting." Nicola has cystic fibrosis, and the video and her story went viral. Ever since, she's been searching for a medium who can truly contact the dead, so she can talk to her husband again. She thinks she's found one, and she and two friends plus the paranormal researcher go to her husband's old family cabin for a weekend to conduct a series of seances. But of course, the cabin is ~creepy~. And things keep coming up about Nicola's past that she's tried to keep buried, making her wonder if her husband isn't the only spirit they've summoned. This very much felt like a fun, sometimes cheesy, horror movie, so if that's your vibe check it out! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a bit too much woo woo for me. I loved some of her other books, especially the time travel to 1800's Scotland. But this one just didn't get my interest much.

I am so glad Kelley Armstrong is getting into the horror genre because... DAMN! I loved Hemlock Island and I'm not surprised that I loved I'll Be Waiting too! It's so rare I find a book that I can't predict the ending, but this was one of them! There are so many unique elements to this séance horror - it will keep you on your toes! Even the set up was interesting, and when we get to the actual horror elements it really sucked me in. I couldn't put it down and sped through the last 60% of this book in one sitting (when I definitely should have been sleeping instead).

The story is told through a combination of present day and dream/haunting flashbacks to a couple of key points in the past. It's laid out in a way that isn't confusing, and receiving bits and pieces of the past throughout the story was engaging and made me want to keep reading on (to solve the current mystery AND learn the answers from the past one).

As always, I will read anything Kelley writes (and I hope she continues with more horror books because they've been great)! If I could rate her horrors higher than 5 stars, I would.

Nicola Laughton suffers from cystic fibrosis (CF), and was told that she'd never survive past her teens, but medical advances have greatly helped her, and she found herself making a life for herself, going to university, starting her own successful business, and falling in love with Anton Novak, whom she knew in high school.

They build a happy marriage together, but one night on a snowy ride home, their car was hit and Anton was fatally injured, surviving only long enough to tell the extremely distraught Nicola, "I'll be waiting for you."

Nicola's deeply private last moment with her husband was captured by a bystander and posted online, bringing her fresh grief and a certain notoriety, and attracting supposed spiritualists to her. To prevent her further spiraling, and falling victim to more con artists, her concerned family suggest a carefully selected and reputable medium to help her test whether Anton is still present, and if so, allow Nicola to have a final word with him.

To ensure a peaceful atmosphere, Nicola rents a cabin she and Anton have been at before. Coincidentally, this same cabin was owned by Anton's family in the past and the medium feels that the happy associations there should allow Anton to be present for the séance they intend to hold.

All starts well; Nicola's brother-in-law Jin, and Shania, a friend she met at a grief counselling group and who has accompanied her to previous séances, attend, along with the medium, a professor of parapsychology who has debunked false hauntings in the past. Nicola is not easily fooled, as she tells Dr. Cirillo, and when she begins hearing the occasional footsteps and possibly Anton's voice, she's shaken, and Dr. Cirillo is intrigued.

There are repeated spooky incidents, with everyone getting a little excited and intrigued, then later annoyed with each other as these keep happening with no further development, and Nicola positing different ideas of what could be happening. She and Dr. Cirillo begin butting heads, and the whole weekend seems like a bust, then they find a dead body.

I generally love Kelley Armstrong's works. I think this book started strong, with all the character introductions, some of Nicola's backstory, and her all-consuming grief. The atmosphere at the Lake Erie cabin is nicely built up, from the peaceful surroundings, the unfortunate bug swarms, and the super creepy doll room.

I also really liked the way Armstrong wrote about how Nicola had to manage her condition. It's straightforward, with no melodrama or pity.

Then the story lost a little momentum, as the hauntings became repetitive, but we did get more information about Nicola's girlhood, and understand how incidents then are affecting her present. The reveal of the culprit actually felt a little over the top, including the shocking amount of violence that occurred.

Though I was a little underwhelmed by the back two thirds of the novel, I still found Nicola a compelling character, and mostly enjoyed this book. If it had been a little shorter, or the scenes of hauntings tightened up a little, I would have given this book four stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I was hoping that Kelley Armstrong's I'LL BE WAITING would quench my thirst for a spooky good time. And while there are aspects of this story that are rich in atmosphere, the plot and characters were less than desirable for me. It's just a solid 3 for me.

Wow this book was so much more than I expected. I wasn't a fan of the ending but enjoyed the suspenseful journey the author took us on. The cover is beautiful and this is a book I would recommend to others.

Nicola Laughton, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and never expected to live into her thirties or to meet the love of her life. She and Anton dreamed of many happy years together but then he died in a car crash, his last words to Nicola, 'I'll be waiting for you.'

After she becomes obsessed by spiritual con artists, Nic's best friends, Libby and Jin, intervene and set up a séance with a well reputed professor of parapsychology at the Lake Erie beach house where Nic and Anton had many happy memories.

Odd things start happening there and Nic is haunted by nightmares from her past. There's a crescendo of violence, and ghosts (friendly and vengeful) involve themselves in what transpires.

Nicola always expected to die young given her cystic fibrosis, but new treatments have allowed her to live longer than expected. Now 38 and happy married, she and her husband are in a car crash that takes his life. She is devastated and haunted by his last words, “I’ll be waiting.” Feeling like he wanted to say more, she has been contacting psychics, knowing most are charlatans, to try to find one who isn’t so she can have her husband finish his story. This leads to a week at a house once owned by his family and some spooky goings on before a horrific, gory finale.

I don’t read a lot of horror but enjoy it now and then, often finding it more laughable than scary, but this one got under my skin, disturbing my sleep. I think that’s the marker of a good horror story! I enjoyed the characters and liked the backstory from high school. Another excellent entry from Kelley Armstrong!

I'll Be Waiting was finally my first Kelley Armstrong book, after owning at least five and just... not getting around to them. Well reader, I have been missing out! In this twisty, exciting book, Nicola always planned to be the first to die. She was born with cystic fibrosis, and thanks to medical advances, has far outlived her initial prognosis. Even though she's doing well, she and husband Anton always planned for his survival, not hers. That all changes with a terrible car accident and Anton's untimely death.

Because of her diagnosis, she became headline fodder. "Terminally ill woman outlives husband" was everywhere, and Nicola could not escape it- or Anton's last words to her, the titular "I'll Be Waiting". Was it just him saying he'd be waiting for her in death? Did it mean something more? Nicola has been contacted by all sorts of mediums, psychics, and general fraudsters, trying to use her story to their gain. Eventually, Nicola takes one last chance, on a professor who also studies spiritualism, and they head to a weekend retreat/seance at Anton's childhood house that has been turned into a B&B.

There, things take all kinds of turns. The atmosphere is incredibly on point, and you certainly cannot help but feel for Nicola. Even though she is harboring some secrets of her own, it is still awful to think about what she's been through. And it is clear from the start of the trip that she really can't be sure who is being honest with her and who is using her for their own pursuits.

I enjoyed the many twists and turns, and trying to figure out what had happened, both in Nicola's past, and in the present at the retreat. I also found that I learned a lot about CF, including all the medical advances, so that was a big plus. I found the story to be very readable, though I did find the ending a tiny bit overwhelming, the story as a whole was very much worth it.

Bottom Line: Lots of twists and lots of uncertainly, this one definitely kept me hooked!

Author Kelley Armstrong's newest release, I'LL BE WAITING, is the perfect book to put readers in the mood for the spooky season. A grieving wife's desperate attempt to connect with her deceased husband beyond the grave turns deadly in this highly atmospheric tale of supernatural horror. Make sure you have all the lights turned on before starting this one!
Terminally ill Nicola Laughton considers herself to be a fortunate woman. While she's lived with cystic fibrosis since childhood, modern medicine has improved her quality of life as well as her life expectancy. Married to Anton, the man of her dreams, she's enjoying life to the fullest until the day a car crosses the center line claiming her husband's life. As Nicola kneels on the pavement cradling her husband in her arms, Anton's dying vow is to wait for her. Captured by cell phone cameras, the scene soon goes viral with rumors that Anton's ghost or spirit appears hovering over them while whispering to Nicola. The news is all it takes to bring self-claimed psychics out of the woodwork telling Nicola they can facilitate her reconnection to her dead husband only to leave Nicola disappointed and disillusioned. In one last desperate attempt, friends and family step in to set up one final seance with a reputable parapsychologist to take place at Anton's family's Lake Erie beach house where Anton spent a great deal of time. Soon after their arrival, mysterious events occur indicating the possible presence of entities residing in the old house. Is Anton reaching out? Or has something darker, more sinister been awakened?

I'LL BE WAITING is a tension laden, highly atmospheric paranormal thriller. A foreboding tone is set early enhanced by the setting in a secluded beach house complete with unexplained voices and footsteps, doors opening and closing, a creaking dumbwaiter, a room full of creepy porcelain dolls watching . . . and a history that includes a missing boy and murder. As the story progresses, short flashbacks give readers insight to past events raising more questions while leaving readers to decide what's real and what's not. The author slows the pace through the middle portion of the book, taking time to build the suspense while keeping characters and readers off-balance with a variety of eerie, goosebump worthy incidences only to pick up speed again as danger escalates through the final showdown. Some readers may find it hard to connect with characters who appear illusive due to the mysterious, ever-changing aura and circumstances surrounding them. Readers are challenged with uncovering the truth while figuring out who to trust in this tale of things that go bump in the night.

Author Kelley Armstrong has expertly rendered another paranormal page turner, a smoke'n'mirrors mystery, perfect for fans who enjoy a good ghost story without crossing over into full-blown horror. Armchair detectives will also enjoy the challenge of solving this one.

This is a very haunting ghost story following the grieving young widow, Nicola, who lost her husband to a tragic accident when it should have been her first for the “til death do us part”. Nicola had cystic fibrosis and wasn’t supposed to outlive Anton, so in her grief she tries to contact Anton by going to seances. After many failed attempts, Nic’s family helps her find a professor who will help conduct a seance for their final attempt.

This was such a beautiful and frightening ghost story! Full of grief, wanting to believe in the other side or an afterlife, and full of twists! It was spooky, tense, and just an overall excellent ghost story. The representation of CF felt very well researched and the characters were a fun group to follow. This is such a great book to add to your spooky season reads! 👻😍

This one was such a disappointment for me . I love this author and I loved the idea of ghosts and Seances m( I mean i did have a Ouija board when I was a teen and loved holding seances for fun ) but this was just so slow and at a 100 pages really but much had happened and I found myself scanning to try to the end .

2.5 ⭐️