This was just a meh for me. While the book was very descriptive and built the characters decently, I found myself just not enjoying the atmosphere or the book in general. At times the descriptions were almost too much, and too much was put into the descriptive statements over character development and or story line development. There were times I was lost as to what was happening and what was supposed to be happening and lost interest fast. It was well written, just not something that I personally liked or would suggest for others. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. However, I was left wanting more. It didn’t feel complete in some respects. I did love the writing and the atmosphere and characters.
This will definitely be an author I start keeping my eye on.

Maxine Forest, twenty-five, lives in Washington, DC and is a crime victim. She has just lost her job when she receives a missive from Charleston, South Carolina, her hometown informing her that she must take possession of the contents of a safe deposit box she holds with her mother within just a few days. She believes this means her mother has finally left her father.

When she arrives in Charleston and goes to her family home her father is also not there and she is left to reclaim the mysteries of her past.

This was just OK for me. There’s a lot that seems to go unexplained and that Maxine doesn’t even seem to wonder about, which struck me as a little odd. This is a novella, not a full length book.

An interesting story about childhood trauma. Loved some of the descriptions in the book. A nice quick read horror novella.

Eerie and foreboding. Royce manages to squeeze so much atmosphere into this teeny tiny book with not a word wasted. The sense that something is wrong pervades the novella from beginning to end making it a real page turner.

I for one will be running to read ALL of The Selected Papers from the Constortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena as soon as I can!