This was my first Tamara Thorne book and it made me a fan of hers. ( )

see http://www.sfsite.com/04b/th198.htm ( )

Kind of the equivalent of the Lifetime Movie of the Week where you know within the first 10 minutes what's going to happen, who is going to do it and how. In other words, utterly predictable. The writing style isn't bad, and I didn't notice a whole lot of editing errors, but overall, I'm not even sure why I finished reading this book. A great premise, just not well delivered. ( )

July 6, 2000
Haunted
Tamara Thorne

WOW!!!

I discovered Tamara Thorne completely by accident by perusing horror titles on Amazon, and the premise of the story attracted me, of course (haunted house). Well, it was even better than I expected. The brief description on Amazon is as follows:

"Hoping for inspiration for a new novel, David Masters and his teenage daughter visit a spooky Victorian mansion that has a grisly past and witness strange occurrences that erupt in a full-blown, terrifying haunt."

That doesn’t really do it justice at all. The “spooky Victorian mansion” (sounds so Goosebumps, doesn’t it?) is Baudey House, the notorious site of two horrendous massacres. The primary protagonist, David Masters, is an author who plans to set his new book in the house (or one like it), so he and his plucky teenage daughter move in amid all the rumors of its being haunted by its former, long-ago owner – a Madam by the name of Lizzie Baudey (hence the house’s nickname, “Body House”).

I REALLY liked this book! It’s the best I’ve read so far this year. I’ve looked at other Tamara Thorne books on Amazon, and have just bought another one (Moonfall). I think I’ve found my new favorite author! I don’t remember being this excited about a writer since Barbara Michaels, and that’s really saying something. ( )

I finished reading Haunted by Tamara Thorne. I had worries that it would be terribly cliched. The opening scenes are of a writer coming to town to live in the local haunted house. It's a premise seen repeatedly on TV movie of the week sort of things. Thorne did a good job of setting it apart from the crowd though. The voodoo tie in with the dolls was an intriguing touch. Although, I think those familiar with the Vooduin religion would probably cringe a bit. There were some contradictory plot holes that I won't go into so as not to spoil it for others. As far as ghost stories go it's a good read. My favorite is still The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. ( )