A scary book! (The House That Jack Built - Graham Masterton)

Member Name: karen22382

Product:	The House That Jack Built - Graham Masterton
Date:	17/03/02 (81 review reads)
Rating:

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I thought that I'd write this opinion before I finish the book so I can't be tempted to give the ending away. I'm currently three quarters of the way through. I bought the book at a cheap bookstore down on the beach. It was at a great price of 3 books for £5 so my partner and I got a few different books for our varied tastes.

The author is Graham Masterton who wrote other horror books like Black Angel, Burial, Prey and Flesh and Blood. I can't say much about these books as The House That Jack Built is the first book that he wrote that I read. He first published this book in 1996.

I chose this book because it was in the horror section and I'd never heard of the author. The picture on the front of the book is of a house at night but my picture is different to the one at the top of this opinion. My book was published by Mandarin Paperbacks so I think there may be a difference between my book and the one at the top of this page. This leads to a few let downs that I don't think the original book has. Like the house on the front looking completely different to the image that the words paint in your mind. In other words the house on the front cover looks too small to be the same one in the book.

Another problem with my edition is the amount of spelling mistakes! I've noticed a few which I think is probably Mandarin Paperback's fault not Graham Masterton's.

Ok now to tell you what its about. One day a succesful young lawyer called Craig Bellman is conned by a young girl into going into a derelict building to save her friend from two guys. Its a trap and hes mugged by two guys who hurt him in a very bad way. If you don't want to know how skip the next line. They hit him in the testicles with a hammer!

Obviously this has a bad effect on him and his confidence. he turns bitter and even though he can have sex he refuses has he feels hes no longer a man. His wife Effie decides that they should
take a break in the country where he finds an old and severely run down mansion called Valhalla. Craig falls in love with it but his wife has serious reservations espeically has she hears a woman crying and sees a man walking about on the stairs. But something strange is happening to Craig. He seems to have his confidence back and their sex live is better than ever. The main thing to him is that hes buying the house no matter what.

A few comments on the book:

"One of the most original and frightening storytellers of our time" PETER JAMES

"Graham Masterton's novels are charming, dangerous and frightening...but all based on immense erudition" L'EXPRESS PARIS

"One of the few true masters of the horror genre" JAMES HERBERT

The book is really good! Its been a long time since a book has actually made me physically scared and James herbert is my favourite horror writer so if he likes it then I'm sure fans of his will love it!

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