- austrianspencer
The Patience of a dead man - by Michael Clark
I heard a lot of hype from Ross Jeffery and Well-read beard about this series – I couldn’t have told you what exactly because I try to avoid spoilers, but I knew the series was one I had to try out, so I bought the three books in their collected edition – I’m breaking them down into the three books and compiling a separate review for all three books collected. Only fair, I think.
So – I’ve heard that Michael is the swag king, but I have to stay true to my climate-friendly persona – so I actually asked Michael not to send any gear – it’s an amazing thing he is doing, but let’s save the planet bit by bit!
This book has a creepy, paranormal haunting the bejeezus out of you feel. It’s not a stalker threat or a jump scare, it’s potential that threatens here. This ghost can do anything she sets her crazy mind to – and honestly, the lurking threat of what could go wrong is the selling point. It makes for a constant underlying tension, that dials up the page-turning. This book is over before you even know it.
The story is based on a haunted house – not just one but three ghosts are plaguing a house and its inhabitants, as we join Tim, our MC after he buys the property and sets about to renovate it. Michael nailed the descriptions of the house and grounds – not surprising because I have since learned that the house is based on the real-life house Michael grew up in – amazing – stables and all. There are illustrations and a map upon opening the book, which I always love – (hint to other authors – start making maps!) it sets the scene, and helps us visualize the story and where it takes place – great idea, Michael.
I liked the author’s use of journals to tell the story of the previous owner of the house’s own hauntings – it added a layer of tension and depth. Now – the book is written – get this – in Omni pov. That’s pretty rare, and honestly, not my thing – but I rolled with it because the mystery of the novel is its selling point – but – yeah – it did make me stop and worry – and there was one line that, for me, could have been cut – “Using the powers learned from her Evil forebears” – which tells you nothing – it’s actually obscuring more than it’s clarifying – but that’s a personal opinion. My reasoning behind it is that it implies she thought of them as Evil, yet she decides to do something evil in the end – hypocritical and I think it more a comment from the author rather than her own thought – though I have yet to read the other books of course. I know from reading comments used as blurbs for the other books, that praise has been given for the level of detail included in the books, so this may yet be an ongoing thread – I am pretty sure we will find out the history of Mildred and how she “escaped” her upbringing, yet was cursed to live it anyway.
Holly, the love interest and brains in the novel was a welcome addition, adding not only the love interest but a capable female lead. I applaud her inclusion, Michael, it counter-pointed Tim and we watched love blossom slowly. It gave us more to lose, of course, and added that tension only felt when fearing for another person’s safety. Likewise, Tim’s kids on a visit to the new house, and Tim’s desperate attempts to shield them from the horror.
That was a lot of fun. Horrible fun, but fun nevertheless.
There are things in the novel that were never explained to my satisfaction – one for example - what was the dressing up of the girls all about if the Main antagonist was following in her own footsteps? Whatever the reason – it was a nice creepy addition to the general mayhem the antagonist brought to the plot.
I think this was a good read, it sped by and I was eager to finish it and see how it all ended. This is a solid 4 ⭐’s from 5 for me. Well worth a read, and I’m looking forward to the next installment in the series. Job done, Michael.
Let’s hope for more maps!
You can buy The patience of a dead man - by clicking the appropriate Amazon link below:
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