SHELF STALKER
  • Blog
  • Looking for a new read?
  • About Me
  • Connect

WE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING—Hunter Shea

9/30/2018

0 Comments

 
I love a good slow-burning novel, where the tension really keeps you on edge, not knowing when the lid is going to pop off and all the proverbial you-know-what is going to hit the fan. 

This book did not check those boxes for me, try as it might.

The whole premise is based on these strange notes, left on paper, in mirrors, on the side of the house, telling West and his family that they are being watched. But I was so confused, as I spent more than half the book thinking that it was one type of story, and I just didn't understand the way that all of the characters just accepted the grandfather's (lack of) explanation of the notes—all of them just giving in to the fact that there wasn't anything they could do and that they would be stalked and watched no matter what they did. 

It is hard to explain my frustration and confusion without potentially spoiling the plot, so this next part is spoiler-y. Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to read it. Basically, I think you're supposed to think the house is haunted, but none of the characters ever do . . . They all think that it is some group of people. But the way the notes are left—one on the bathroom mirror in the steam while someone is showering, for example—it seems crazy to think that people are doing that. How do they have access to the house? How are they so quiet? ERG. It doesn't make any sense, and neither do those weird messages.

The main thrust of the plot follows West, but the book does switch perspective to his mom and dad and a few other characters, which I found jarring. I wish it could have been contained to one perspective, or the narration could have been smoothed out a little more.

This book also falls into my least favorite storytelling trap, which is that there is no chance that the reader could have solved the mystery. You are not given all the pieces of the puzzle to figure out exactly what's going on until it is revealed to you, with plenty of backstory over-explaining. Snore.

If you're looking for a great book by Hunter Shea, I much preferred Creature and would recommend that one.

My thanks to Sinister Grin Press for sending a copy of this one to read and review.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Audra Figgins

    Associate editor, amateur photdographer, bibliophile, and occasional sleuth.

    I support National Haunted House Day, the Second Friday in October!
    The Willoughby Book Club

    Categories

    All
    2016 Hardcover
    2016 Paperback
    2017 Hardcover
    2017 Paperback
    2018 Hardcover
    2018 Paperback
    2019 Hardcover
    Author Interview
    Blog Tour
    Crime Fiction
    Fiction
    Horror
    Literary Fiction
    Short Stories
    Thriller
    True Crime
    YA

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • Looking for a new read?
  • About Me
  • Connect