I’ll be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong
Supernatural horror.
Nicole Laughton never expected to live long enough to love someone, but now she’s a widow. News of the auto accident and photos of a supposed ghost, makes his death into a public interest nightmare for Nicole by psychics and spiritualists. Nicole is now using her skepticism to expose the fakes.
In hopes of closure, family and friends find a reputable medium and they rent the Toronto Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.
The goal is three sessions but unusual things start happening almost immediately. Locked doors mysteriously open, a neighbor is missing, clouds of insects engulf the house, footsteps overhead, and the creak of an old dumbwaiter from an empty shaft. And then a body is found.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook. The performance is done by Jennifer Pickens and is compelling as the main character goes through skepticism, a little hope, and terror and takes the reader along for the wild ride.
Both the ebook and audiobook are gripping. There are a lot of extended family names and characters which may be slightly easier to follow in the ebook but the pure horror, especially in the last quarter of the story is absolutely riveting.

Nicole works through possible suspects one by one, sure she knows, until something else happens. Riveting horror.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.

Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors so the second I saw the cover and title of this, I had to read it. I loved her first horror novel - Hemlock Island - last year and it’s no surprise I loved this too.

I’ll Be Waiting was incredibly creepy, fast-paced and gripping with a twist at the end that I loved. It has ghosts, séances, possession and is perfect for spooky season!

The main character, Nicola, has cystic fibrosis and is grieving after the tragic loss of her husband, Anton. Needing closure, she begins visiting mediums but easily sees through their tricks. With the help of her loved ones, she finds a reputable medium and arranges one last séance at the beach house Anton’s family once owned. It’s not long before things start happening - locked doors open, the house is engulfed by insects, the sound of footsteps and voices can be heard and objects move on their own. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past and unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead.

I loved how the mystery of Nicola’s past is slowly revealed through her memories. Between learning about her past and the happenings in the present, I was hooked.
It's heartbreaking what she’s going through as she’s forced to adjust to life without Anton. After all, she was never meant to outlive him.

Even as someone who HATES bugs and was completely creeped out by the swarms of insects, I couldn’t put this down.

I definitely recommend picking this up if you enjoy paranormal horror!

Nicola has been living with cystic fibrosis and never expected to live past eighteen, but with medical advancements is already in her thirties. But it wasn't until she met Anton that she believed she could have a future. He is absolutely devoted to helping her live her best life, for however long that is. Until an early snowstorm causes a tragic accident and she loses Anton way to soon. His last words "I'll be waiting for you" are overheard and sold to the press. Suddenly she's hounded by spiritualists promising closure and even though she's a skeptic always finding their tricks, there's always the thought in the back of her mind that the next one might be real. Her family, determined to stop her attempts, give her one last chance by hiring a parapsychologist to come to the lake house that belonged to Anton's family for generations and try to draw his spirit one last time. Almost as soon as they arrive, strange things are happening and Nicola fears they've awoken something far darker... something she hasn't felt in years.
This was the perfect book to start October! Mostly just a great ghost story, but plenty of horror moments thrown in. I love everything this author writes and this story might be one of my favorites! I can't wait to read whatever she writes next.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Listen it’s October so I had to make room for more spooky reads like this one. This is a supernatural horror novel involving a haunted-house, seances, and a sinister spirit out for blood. Also lots of bug horror here so if you don’t like bugs, this might be too squeamish for you. This follows a married couple who get into a car accident and the husband dies. But there’s something strange going on about the scene of the crime so the wife performs a seance and things go off the rails. Atmospheric, perfect for fall.

i’m not sure what i was expecting with this book but it did not disappoint. it was one turn after another and i was enthralled the entire time. i will admit that i did not like the FMC. she just really annoyed me but besides that this was a solid read.

Nic, a woman dealing with the devastating loss of her husband, Anton, in a tragic car accident—a twist of fate made all the more poignant by her own struggle with cystic fibrosis (CF), which she had always assumed would claim her life first. In her hunt for closure, Nic turns to a familiar yet fraught method: a seance. Accompanied by a small group—her brother-in-law, her brother's ex-wife, and Shania, a friend from her grief counseling class— she enlists Dr. Cirillo to lead the seance. Eerie situations start to occur, and it reminds Nic of her complicated past with seances creating the stage for the supernatural to take over.

I liked the first half of this book, but it really fell off in the second half.

I would probably pick up another book if I want spooky vibes.

Probably 3.5 stars. Nicely atmospheric, especially once they get to the vacation house. The last 25% really brought all the threads together in a breathless finale.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this copy of "'I'll Be Waiting."

First I always appreciate when an author gives us a main character with a chronic disorder that they're managing. It's a learning experience that I hope I translate to "real life" as I meet and interact with new people.

Second the book started SO strong with great characters, a creepy intriguing plot, and lots of hooks to keep you guessing and turning pages.

But the ending was disappointing for me. It just screeched to a halt and missed some potentially satisfying details that would have made this a fantastic read.

My favorite read for a perfect spooky season! This was described as "supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood.." and that absolutely got me to request it, along with Kelley Armstrong. This was atmospheric and haunting in a way that made me not want to put it down.

I am a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong's supernatural stories and this book will grab you from the beginning. I was invested in Nic from the sad start of her journey. It kept me up late, I had to finish it. I had it partly figured out and then the reveals kept coming and dropped my jaw. An excellent read perfect for spooky season!

Ahoy there me mateys! Do you like stories about séance and ghosts?  If so, this book is for ye.  Nicola is devastated when her husband dies and she becomes a viral story because bystanders heard his last words "I'll be waiting," Also Nicola has Cystic Fibrosis and, in her mind, was supposed to die first.

Though she knows that spiritualists are fakes, she can't help but want to connect to her lost husband because the grief is so strong.  After the latest charlatan, her friends stage an intervention.  They find her a supposedly reputable professor of parapsychology and will help set up one last séance.  But Nicola's downward spiral with mediums must stop.

This book was excellent fun.  Nicola is an unreliable narrator because of her deep grief and the memories it stirs up of the tragic event that happened when she was in high school.  What this means for the reader is a lot of uncertainty about what is actually happening in the house rented for the séance.  Personally, I kept trying to guess what was real and what was not.  Was her husband's spirit actually present?  Is the professor actually a skeptic?  Is Nicola really in danger?

I couldn't stop turning the pages and was so engaged that I finished this in one day.  Don't worry I won't spoiler the answers.  But this really is the perfect read for the spooky October season.  Arrr!

4,5 rounded up

"I'll Be Waiting had a strong start with an intriguing premise, but it quickly lost momentum toward the middle. Nicola’s grief after losing her husband was really well-written and made it easy to connect with her struggles. The seances and supernatural elements were interesting at first, but they soon became repetitive, dragging the story out and making it harder to stay engaged.

The pacing picked up toward the end, adding some suspense, but the story felt disjointed, and the conclusion left a lot of loose ends. While the atmosphere was solid, the twists didn’t deliver as much as I had hoped. Overall, it was an average read, with some good moments but not enough to make it truly memorable."

I love Kelley Armstrong. Her A Rip Through Time series is one of my favourites and her latest rom-com (yes, she wrote a rom-com) Finding Mr. Write is one of my best reads of the year so far. I know she writes a lot of dark stories (sometimes clearly in the realm of horror, sometimes more in the paranormal) and though horror is usually not my jam, I really wanted to give I'll Be Waiting a chance, because if I was going to love a horror story...it would be Armstrong's.

I have very much decided that horror is not my genre—even if it’s written by one of my favourite writers. So I’m not sure my review will really do justice to anyone who regularly reads the genre. That being said, I was very into the premise at the beginning…trying to figure out what the past events were, who Nicola really was and whether she’d actually get the closure she wanted with Anton.

Fast-forward to about three-quarters of the way through the book, and it not only started to get a little bit repetitive (with the seances and the things that were happening at night) but then the book went in this totally farfetched direction that kind of took me out of the story and was more gory than I needed it to be.

That being said, the writer was beautiful, Armstrong’s character development (as always) is spot-on and the tension is there. I think this genre is just not for me—and that’s not the writer’s fault.

3 STARS

First that you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I did read it before the publishing date but have forgotten to write a review. I read this books so fast while on a short camping trip. 10/10 would recommend as a good book while camping. Honestly I wasn’t sure what direction this book was going in for a minute but it did suck me in right away. I really like the characters in this book, though at times things seemed a little too perfect. Well the characters did. There could have been more flaws for the character to have. That would be the only thing I wished for. The twist with slowly giving background for what occurred in the past and how it affected the character later in life kept me interested. I couldn’t get the details fast enough but once it all came together it was so good.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read an ARC of I'll be waiting by Kelley Armstrong. This was a creepy ghost story, that was fast paced, and although I had to put it down (at night) I couldn't wait to find out how it would end.
As usual, Kelley creates striking and interesting characters. Nicola loses her husband Anton in a car accident. His last words to her was I'll be waiting, and that sends a grief-stricken Nicola to try and contact Anton's ghost. She attends séance after séance only to find out they were all fake. One last séance is set up and the setting is a former home of Anton's family. This is where the story becomes creepy. One of the first things that freaked me out was the description of midges; huge swarms of bugs that seem to hang around the house. And then there was the missing dumbwaiter! I hope I never hear one moving!!! The author does a fantastic job describing Nicola who has lived cystic fibrosis since she was a child. This is a standalone novel, and is perfect for the upcoming spooky season!

I loved this!! I’ll Be Waiting is the perfect ghostly read for October.

I’m giving this a solid five stars as parts of it actually had me a little spooked.

Thanks to NetGalley & publisher for this ARC.

I think this was a case of, "it's me not you." Kelley Armstrong is an autoread author for me, and will also continue to be. I struggled to get into this one. However, it's an interesting concept. A woman, with CF who is not expecting to live long, suddenly loses her husband. Throwing her whole life off it tracks, and messing with her timeline of a short life, she resorts to seance to talk with her husband from the other side. This story got wilder and wilder as it went on, and the second half of the book left me skimming quite alot. However, Kelley knows how to write a twist-and this one is no different. If you enjoy paranormal horror, this one is definitely for you.

Kelley Armstrong’s latest work resonated with me on a deeply personal level, especially as I’ve been grappling with the loss of a loved one, much like the protagonist, Nicola. The way Nicola seeks closure, through self-proclaimed clairvoyants, struck a chord. The struggle to let go and the temptation to hold on to any shred of hope for connection is something I completely understand. It felt authentic and raw, and Armstrong captured that emotional journey beautifully.

As anyone who knows me would tell you, I’ve been a fan of Kelley Armstrong's writing for years, always admiring her creativity and the way she can hook me into her stories, regardless of the genre. This book was no different, especially in the first half. The focus on Nicola's grief journey was compelling, and I found myself wishing that this emotional thread carried through more consistently to the end.

However, the second half of the book felt long and dragged out. It leaned into paranormal elements, that felt somewhat abrupt and not completely necessary. I do understand that Kelley Armstrong is known for her paranormal writing but this left me with a "je ne sais crois" aspect to it that left me dissatisfied. I believe the story would have benefited from more hints of these supernatural forces earlier on, preparing the reader for the shift. While I enjoyed the suspense, I was most captivated by Nicola’s emotional arc and wished it had remained the primary focus.

Overall, Armstrong’s storytelling still shines, but this book left me divided. I adored the beginning for its raw emotional depth but found the latter half didn’t quite align with the story I had connected to. Still, for those who enjoy a mix of grief, mystery, and the paranormal, it's worth the read.

I was looking forward to reading this book and I loved it. It’s a supernatural story and I thought it was really enjoyable. I found a new favorite author and I can’t wait to read more.