Author: Matthew O’Connell
Published: April 2023
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
The House on Tyner is about a retired baseball star turned chef, Jackson, who purchases a house on Lake Tahoe that might be haunted. He drinks a lot since he lost his wife and two kids years ago and isn’t sure if the ghost in his house and the messages being left for him are his imagination.
I loved the description of the house. It is described as being nestled amongst pine trees, high up on a mountain with a breathtaking view of a lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks. I could understand why Jackson chose to live there despite its dark past. I liked that Matthew O’Connell describes every character, even minor characters, in sufficient detail to make them feel like real people walking around in the real world. I also enjoyed the vivid descriptions of food and drinks in the book.
Unfortunately, the writing failed to elicit the sense of foreboding and fear that one would expect from a book about a possibly haunted house. There were a couple of reasons the whole thing felt contrived. Reason one: There was no build-up to the conclusion that there might be a ghost. Reason two: Almost every character Jackson told about his suspicions that the house may be haunted took it in stride like it was a regular occurrence. There was no scepticism, no shock, and the conversation went straight to what the ghost may want. Reason three: The implication in the book was that since the ghost is a child, they are benign, so the stakes felt very low.
The book felt slow despite there being plenty of action. The twist at the end was average. Overall, the book was an okay read. It wasn’t a bad read, but not extraordinary, either. If you want to read something that will give you goosebumps, this book isn’t for you. But, if you want to read a cozy, low-stakes horror/suspense story, this book will hit the mark.
I enjoyed the setting of the book and the writing. But I was hoping for goosebumps and a better twist at the end.
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