I usually enjoy suspense/horror that centers on a seance, and this was a refreshingly clever take on that.

The protagonist, a chronically ill woman in her late 30s, loses her husband in a freak accident, raising questions about what happens when the person who was “supposed to die first” outlives their partner.

I loved that Armstrong gave us a protagonist with Cystic Fibrosis, and that she worked this into the story so well. It’s a sympathetic but also empowering portrayal, which especially resonates if you or someone you love has long term health issues.

The haunting of it all is satisfyingly creepy and Armstrong gives us an excellent gothic slow build. It’s not terribly difficult to figure out a lot of what’s really going on, but the story adds up and there are a few surprises along the way.

Fair warning, this does definitely veer into true horror toward the end. I don’t think it’s an especially upsetting series of events, but if you’re squeamish, you should know the more gothic, eerie hauntings that move through most of the book give way to a bit of gore in the end.

In all, solidly plotted, really well paced, and fun to read.

Every now and then you listen to a narrator that sounds a little too scripted. Unfortunately that’s what I felt listening here. The story was fantastic and I couldn’t put it down which helped overlook the narrator, but not the whole time. I’d find myself focusing more on HOW the story was being told vs what was being read. She definitely sounded more like a news reporter/anchor or a presenter than a storyteller.

Narrator aside, the story was so unique and fun. As a fun of psychics and mediums and connections with the other side, this story was just my kind.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Macmilla Audio the ALC.

What an interesting premise to a book. I loved the darker Gothic side to the story, mixed with the very contrast of present times and technology. When our main character is getting involved in the final seance for contacting her husband, the professor bringing all of the scientific background in provides a good opposition to the traditional thoughts of woo woo spirituality. Although both are present obviously in the story, mixed with teenaged pranks and shenanigans, small town tragedy and folklore, and loss and grief, the author is able to put together a story which although the reader knows is fiction, could come off as a true experience. This might not have been a true story but my Goosebumps were real. The characters were all interesting, and even though the main character had some somewhat unreliable narrator times, I was able to empathize and cheer for her and the ending really satisfied all my questions. A perfect book for coming into spooky season. As a bonus a Canadian author is something I'm always interested in reading and I absolutely wasn't disappointed in my choice. I'm already recommending this book to some people I know.

This was a great haunting read. I enjoyed Nic as the main character as she was both vulnerable for wanting believe she could connect with her recently dead husband but also tough and skeptical when she is constantly revealing these mediums as frauds. This one last attempt and they may have turned their lake house rental into a haunted house.

I was less interested in the dark childhood incident Nic was flashbacking to, but obviously it tied into everything at the end.

I definatly will read more from Kelley Armstrong.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong was perfect for spooky season. The book was creepy from start to finish. I never knew what was going to happen next.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book but the second half gets a little out of control. The first half is full of tension and suspense. The last part is full of over the top paranormal. I would have liked the book more if it continued the same pace and tone throughout. Also, parts of the big twist I guessed early on.

While I will always be a huge fan of this author and continue to read everything she writes, this was not my favorite. I picked this up expecting a scary read, and while it had its creepy moments occasionally, overall it was basically just an angsty story of a woman missing her dead husband. Without giving anything spoilery away, the plot took a great turn and I was excited about the twist- but then it veered a different way and just left me feeling very meh about what happened. Also, the ending was too HEA for me, especially since I wanted a good, twisty horror. I am sure others will enjoy this, especially if you like the paranormal mystery romance vibe the story has.

Special thanks to @stmartinpress & @macmillian.audio #MacAudio2024 for my advanced listening copy‼️

This book started off so perfect it was creepy and gave all the right vibes for a ghost story. However, the last 20-30% of it fell flat and changed my rating. Nicola spent the past year or two visiting different spiritualist and mediums trying to connect with her deceased husband. His last words before dying were “I’ll be waiting for you.”

When she’s connected with a parapsychologist it doesn’t take long for Nicola to get more than what she asked for. The whole time I just knew her husband’s spirit had become something demonic or she connected with someone evil that wasn’t him. Probably would’ve made the book better had she stuck with the husband narrative. I felt the plot twist was meh it was unexpected but not surprising. If you’re looking for a book with a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood you found it.

Rating: 4/5⭐️

I must begin by saying how impressed I am by Armstrong’s versatility—she navigates various genres with such ease and skill!

This one’s a blend of horror and a haunting thriller with a ghost story that’s incredibly atmospheric and a staple for #SpookySeason

This is a compelling mix of horror and a haunting thriller, featuring an atmospheric ghost story that’s perfect for #SpookySeason.

It offers seances, plenty of gore, and countless twists and misdirections to keep you hooked. Although the final quarter felt a bit over the top for me, it remains an engaging and intriguing read overall.

Lastly, I appreciate Armstrong for the well-executed representation of cystic fibrosis, which I thought was handled exceptionally

3.5 stars rounded to 4 for Goodreads

This was good, and I'm glad I listened to it as the audio elements definitely added to the story. I found the story itself a bit repetitive and found myself ready for it to be over - but still, not bad!

I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator, very clear voice with emotions that made the story even better. Very interesting start and it got even better as the story went on and we learned more details. Great, creepy read for the spooky time of year!

I’ll Be Waiting is a paranormal horror that covers many topics. Nic has Cystic fibrosis and never expected to out live her husband. When he passes, he has some famous last words that turn his death into a media frenzy. Nic is determined to see it hear him again, but at what cost. The heaviness of grief is palpable as you read. The atmosphere was tight with an eerie feeling and a determination.This is such a binge able audiobook, the narration just added to the whole experience.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for my #gifted copy.

Nicola, who has CF and lives beyond her life exposure to medical innovation, falls in love in her 30’s. Her husband, Anton, passes away in a car accident just months into their marriage. But he leaves her with a message, “I’ll be waiting for you.” Many seances ensue.


I loved the first maybe half of this story. It focuses on grief and the lengths humans will go to contact the other side. Nicola attends many seances and can easily pick out a fraud. Partly due to her involvement in a few séances gone wrong in her teenage years. It’s heartfelt and creepy at times.


I loved the secluded setting. It added a lot to the overall vibe. House at the edge of a lake isn’t a new setting, but always enjoyable. What is relatively new for me, to my detriment, is an MC with Cystic Fibrosis. It’s a main point of the story, a la zest for life style, but it’s also not. Nicola goes about her daily activities living with CF, and it’s just normal. I’m not sure of the accuracy here because I’m ignorant on the topic, but it is nice to have some inclusion in horror.


The middle of the book is extremely repetitive. It became a bit hard to push through when the same “did you hear that,” scene played over and over. It’s a good thing the narrator was so talented and kept me wanting to engage with the story.


You’re going to have to suspend your grip on reality for the ending. Once you do that, it’s actually super fun. There’s a 90’s throwback horror vibe to the whole thing that I really got into.


I enjoyed this one and think it’s a good addition to your spooky season tbr! That you to @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for my review copy!

I am a big fan of Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip in Town series, a time travel crime series. I also really enjoy old fashioned ghost stories and looked forward to this audiobook, which appeared to involve a young wife missing her husband who died in a car crash. However, it evolved into another more sinister being stalking the young widow. While the beginning of the story is very well written and engaging, the ending caught me by surprise because there were no little hints or nuggets to allude to who or what might be involved in the haunting. Rather than a big reveal that made sense, I was very confused, and went back and relistened to it to make sure I understood what was going on, which was like a double possession. I really enjoyed the narrator and glad I listened to it, Happy Halloween!

Kelley Armstrong is one of those authors that I would read no matter what she writes.....and I pretty much do that. She writes in different genres and I read her books in each of them without fail. Needless to say, when an opportunity came out to read a new spooky read from her, I jumped at it and snagged I'll Be Waiting.

Our main character, Nicola is grieving the sudden loss of her young husband. As if the loss wasn't enough, he was seen telling her "I'll be waiting for you." Onlookers saw it and made a big deal of it which didn't help Nicola dismiss it. This probably wouldn't have felt like such a big deal except Nicola has already been exposed to ghostly haunts in the past so she has a strong belief in the otherworldly and supernatural.

This book revolves around the story from her youth and how that influenced her entire life as well as her recent loss and how that added to the stress and grief she was already balancing from her earlier years. When Nicola decides to try for a seance, her brother is protective and questions if it's okay for her. But she feels like she won't be able to move forward without answers. From the moment the group arrives at the house where they plan to carry it out, things are strange and only continue to get worse.

This book as well-written and twisty. I enjoyed it and could barely put it down.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I was also provided with an early listening copy from NetGalley. I really enjoyed the audio - - the narration was really strong and made the storyline even more believable. I would recommend the audiobook for this book without question. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I’ll Be Waiting- Kelley Armstrong
Narrated by Jennifer Pickens

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Y’all I have read my fair share of horror and thriller books and the sheer fear that this book induced in me has never happened before. I felt like I was right there in the action of the book that genuinely was scared about what was going on. There were so many twists and turns and revelations that I was audibly gasping. This was such a phenomenal book, I’ll be thinking about it for a while.

Jennifer Pickens did such a great performance with this audio. She knew exactly how to capture the fear the characters were feeling and make the listener feel the same fear. Fantastic job!

I was really looking for something spooky for Halloween this month. This book did deliver! I really enjoyed the plot and the build up but I felt like the ending just got a little too out there for my liking. Very reminiscent of The Exorcist or a possession type movie and sometime they just aren't for me. I did enjoy the ride though!

Recently Kelley Armstrong has become one of my go-to authors for several genres from romance to mystery, time travel, paranormal, and horror. I enjoy her stories, settings, characters, etc. and her latest entry into what I would call a mystery/paranormal/horror mashup is just another example of my growing love for her stories. I find them enjoyable, accessible, and relatable. I quickly switched between the ebook and audio for this one because I was too intrigued to put it down. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Pickens who smoothly led me through the story and gave great voices to the characters and suspenseful setting.

Nicola drew the interest of the media when her late husband, Anton, was caught on video in their final moments expressing his sentiments that he would be waiting for her. The drama drummed up by the media implying she is a dying woman is a far cry from her daily life as a cystic fibrosis patient and results in all sorts of spiritualists and frauds soliciting her business to hold seances to provide closure. Nicola’s friends and family are concerned by the way she is coping with her grief. They all agree to one last final attempt at contact with Anton with a reputable professor of parapsychology in an isolated Lake Erie beach house previously owned by Anton’s family.

The story is told in first person by Nicola. I’m not very familiar with cystic fibrosis or how to manage living with it, so I found this aspect of Nicola’s life very educational. The opening accident and subsequent seances quickly drew me into the story fascinated and questioning exactly what was happening. It’s implied early that there are secrets in Nicola’s past that are contributing to the strange events from the seances despite the obvious fraud.

The story alternates between the strange happenings in the rental house and Nicola’s memories of events from high school when something tragic happened in her group of friends keeping me on the edge of my seat. My only quibble is that I figured out a major twist early on, but I still enjoyed the ride and was surprised by quite a few of the later revelations.

Recommended to readers who enjoy ghosts and séance type stories.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for a copy provided for an honest review.

Well that was more gruesome than I was expecting. This started out as a kind of spooky story involving grief, ghosts, and a plague of midges that kept me wondering where this story was really going. Unfortunately I didn’t like what it led up to. Certain actions still don’t make sense to me. The first half was great, but the second half felt rushed and unnecessarily gory. So 3 stars is my final rating.

I received an ARC of the audiobook for free via NetGalley but this did not impact my rating/review.

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the ALC.

I have been a massive fan of Kelley Armstrong’s writing since I started reading her when I was younger. I love how she writes different genres and she always has amazing stories to tell. I’m sad to say that the audiobook for I’LL BE WAITING was a gigantic fail. But I genuinely don’t think this was Armstrong’s fault; I think it was the narrator’s. I can’t remember DNFing a book as early as 10% like I did this one. But Jennifer Pickens made me want to pull my ears off my head because it was so bad. I think the only reason I got 10% into the book was that I liked the story, and I kept trying to find different speeds to see if it worked, but nothing - NOTHING! - worked. 😩 It was so monotone, unemotional, and had this overall blah and blandness that I first thought I was listening to uncorrected ALC. But no, it was an actual finished copy, which I don’t understand how that was allowed out in the world! Maybe it was the intention of the book’s tone, but I couldn’t handle it. Not even with my love for Kelley Armstrong’s writing.

I cannot recommend this audio. Stay away.

I will be getting this book because I want to read it with my eyes. What I heard of the story was very cool and lived up to Armstrong’s creativity. I’m just sad the audiobook did not.

Content warnings: (from what I read): familial death, car accident, chronic illness (Cystic Fibrosis)

Nicola always thought she would precede her husband in death due to her battle with cystic fibrosis, but he is killed in a car accident shortly after they are married.

After an incident from her childhood, Nic is convinced there are ways to talk to the deceased and spends her time trying to find an authentic method of talking to her late husband. Her efforts dredge up memories of her past and her interactions with the paranormal that had catastrophic endings. Was it real then? Is it real now? And when is it time to give up?

Very fast paced and held my attention to the end, but it did feel like it jumped the shark there at the end and turned gruesome.

Great audio narration!