The Ghost Tree: Escape with this magical historical fiction novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Barbara Erskine!

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I’ve read other books by Christina Henry, and already knew how talented she is. The Ghost Tree proves that she’s just as amazing at horror as she is at more fantasy-heavy stories. There was something inside her brain trying to get out, something with a chainsaw howling, but the howling wasn’t pain – it was the kind of howling that meant laughter, and the laughter wasn’t the kind that invited others to laugh but the kind that you ran from while your heart slammed against your ribs and your legs moved of their own volition.” The more we get to know about the town history and the secrets that everyone seems to have forgotten, the creepier and more disturbing the story becomes. And yes, there’s gore and bloodshed, but for me anyway, the scariest parts have to do with the mind control that the town seems to be under, and how inescapable its dark secrets seem to be.

year-old Lauren is our main character. It’s the summer of 1985, and Lauren is looking forward to starting high school, even though she and her best friend Miranda have been growing apart. Lauren wants to keep playing in the woods and riding bikes, but Miranda is more interested in reading Cosmo and flirting with the older boys who drive cool cars. All in all a horror story with much potential and great characters that couldn't quite deliver what it promised. The story is told in many different perspectives of various residents of the town, each giving a different form of insight into what is really happening in the shadows. At first, I was so confused with the memory aspect of this story. Because in some ways the characters seemed to realize girls were being killed and could remember, but in every other situation…it was as if they didn’t. This type of mystery lends a hand to the truly bizarre and disorienting tale that this book is, and allows the reader to feel completely in the dark for most of the book. Just like the MC, Lauren. Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Berkley – Penguin Random House, via Netgalley for an honest review. Mattie can’t remember a time before she and William lived alone on a mountain together. She must never make him upset. But when Mattie discovers the mutilated body of a fox in the woods, she realizes that they’re not alone after all.As the youngest son of a noble family now living in genteel poverty, Thomas always knew he would have to make his own way in the world. Unable to follow his brothers to university, instead he joins first the navy and then the army, rising through the ranks, travelling the world. When he is finally able to study law, his extraordinary experiences and abilities propel him to the very top and he becomes Lord Chancellor. Yet he has made a powerful enemy on his voyages, who will hound him and his family to the death – and beyond. One theory, among believers, suggests that the ghostly figure is Dona Maria, who once owned much of what is now Pebble Beach. Perhaps the Lady in Lace is just surveying her vast property. However, as more sightings are made, others continue to speculate about the lady’s identity. Some people who have seen the Lady in Lace think she is wearing a wedding dress. Her sadness leads people to speculate that she is a jilted bride moping for all eternity. (Another less ethereal explanation is that these are optical illusions created by fog and refracted light.) If you choose to kill the Ghost in the Tree, you’ll immediately start a fight and get the objective “ Destroy the heart in the tree’s roots.”

I’ve got lots of news to share this week, so read on for info about new books, upcoming appearances and my brand-new gig as a podcast host. This book started out dark, then went darker…then even darker. This is not a light read. This is the book that you read when you want all the witches, curses, ghosts, and monsters. The only thing that I didn’t love is the many different points-of-view. I felt that the main characters weren’t completely fleshed out. I did love all the characters, I just wanted the focus on some more than others. I love Alex and his family. It broke my heart to see the aggressive racism that they are exposed to on a daily basis. I think it is important to show that racism no matter how big or small. It shows how it hurts a person and how it is a disease in our society. Smiths Hollow is full of dark secrets, long buried and hidden away. It isn’t long before those secrets are discovered and monsters are unleashed, both human and not. So I regrouped by buying the audiobook, because Emma Gregory’s superb narration really brings Betty’s world to life for me. You don’t have any more choices, so just navigate through the conversations to the end of “Ladies of the Wood.”Welcome to Smith Hollows. A secluded town with the people suffer from short term memory loss about the murders occur there. They look like daytime sleepwalkers when somebody opens his mouth to ask questions what is going on there.