Given to me by a friend whom I hope to interest in Book Crossing.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Placed in KateKintail's LGBT Bookbox.

Oh, this looks like fun! From the cover: "High on a hill near the New England town of Salem, an elegant Mansion stands deserted. Something happened there twenty years ago, something so horrible that those who remember keep it a secret. Now Scott Evans, haunted throughout his life by vague childhood memories of the house, has inherited the estate and its secrets. With the help of his handsome lover, Michael, Scott enlists the aid of Howard Roth, a psychologist who specializes in the supernatural, and his son, Ken, for a trip to Salem. They soon discover that in China House, anything can happen."

The blurb suggests a gay Gothic, and the cover-art (which I shall scan in and upload so everybody can see it) does the same - though instead of the "brooding mansion with one lighted window and heroine fleeing in filmy nightdress", this cover has an antebellum-style mansion with one lit window, and two denim-clad lads embracing!

[Should be interesting to see how this compares to Gaywyck...]

Later: Apologies for taking so long to move this along; it's been lost among my waiting-to-be-journaled books for a couple of years now! Anyway: this was an entertaining read, though it took longer to get the story going than I'd have liked. The mix of characters made for some worrying bits, especially with the father/son thing going on - in fact, I found that a bit more disturbing than any of the hints of ghostly activity, which may have been the point. I was also disturbed by the manipulative Alice, though perhaps there has to be a sinister figure in a story like this one!

Lots of suspense, some very disturbing dreams and visions, and an intricate plot (if a bit unbelievable in places), with a surprising denouement; I really hadn't guessed who was going to wind up with whom, and why. Thanks for sharing!

I'm adding this book to the I Hate SF bookbox, which will soon be on its way to BCer grubsneerg in Pennsylvania. Hope everyone enjoys the selection!