Five Darkling Stars

Jack and Ali, in search of a fresh start, arrive at Rosalind House, a self-sufficient, remote, commune in the Fens, housed in an old psychiatric hospital. The hospital has a dark past, which Seaton Dunsmore, head and founder of the community, feels can be overcome by the community living ‘in the light’. There is usually a strict vetting process for anyone wishing to join them, however, it seems Jack and Ali have been fast-tracked. Introduced to their new ‘family’, Ali is instantly wary of a young woman who introduces herself as ‘Fairy’ Angela. Angela, desperate to prove the existence of an afterlife, is active with her EMF monitors and cameras around the old hospital, convinced she’ll soon have something to report in her journal. Angela longs to see a ghost, Ali would rather not keep imagining them. Creepy, with dark corners hiding darker secrets, where madness and cruelty, control and coercion, has, like some of the inhabitants, never left the crumbling walls. Five darkling stars

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7 people found this helpful

Evocative And Haunting

I loved this book! I adore novels with a creepy edge and The Lingering was such a treat. I listened via audiobook and the narrators did such a great job of bringing the characters to life. The story focuses around three main characters, Ali, her husband Jack and Angela, who all stay in a commune - a former psychiatric home with a very dark past. I adored Angela, with all her theories on the supernatural and funny little quirks. Halfway through the book, the story took a turn - although I won't spoil the surprise for readers here. Just to say that you'll know when you get to it. It was such a great twist to the tale and I raced through the rest of the book. S.J.Holliday is a fantastic writer, she has such a talent for drawing out the darkest emotions in her characters in The Lingering and describes the spooky settings with great poetic flair. The Lingering is evocative and haunting, a truly nerve-tingling read.

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9 people found this helpful

Fill your bath & read this - I dare you!

A change of genre for me & I enjoyed the experience.
The building and the characters became alive (or is that dead) in a fascinating way.
The back stories nibble away without getting in the way of the current situation.
This is well worth a read and will entice you to read more of SJI Holliday.

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3 people found this helpful

Not so sure...

....about this book. I think the story would have been better but I was distracted by the narrator's high pitch voice. I don't think she did the book any favours and certainly didn't sound haunting to me. Wont be listening to it again.

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1 person found this helpful

Chilling

Really enjoyed this!

Genuinely chilling and entirely unpredictable, now I’m off to find more by SJ Holliday!

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5 people found this helpful

Boring story and poor narration from julia Barrie.

The main story had minor glimpses of something interesting but was very anti climactic and seemed to drag on. I found that i had no real reason to root for any of the characters. only Jacks situation evoked some sympathy. considering this story contains ghosts, the author failed to build any real atmosphere. I also found that the voice for angela was very annoying and often took me out of the immersion. Very poor all round.

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Boring.

Couldn't finish this. Can't relate to any of the characters. It moves incredibly slowly. chapter upon chapter of " She saw a shadow, a door opened on it own".

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1 person found this helpful