Bought for someone's present in the 2010 UK Secret Santa, I hope you enjoy the book :-)

Thanks you so much for this wishlist book lucy-lemon & all the other goodies that arrived with it. I hope you've had a very Happy Christmas & wish you all the best for 2011.

Review from play.com
This is the chilling tale of a man in the grip of a small, invisible hand...A ghost story by the author of "The Woman in Black" and "The Man in the Picture", to be read by the fire on a cold winter's night. Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer's evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakeable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, and discovers that the owner's grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, and more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening and sinister...


Mmmm....I've mixed feelings about this book. I have always loved ghost stories & I had high expectations for this tale. There is no argument that it is well-written, atmospheric & creepy towards the end but somehow it failed to reel me in.

The style took me back to the short stories I read as a teenager, it's a "proper" ghost story, one where your imagination can run riot with what is left unsaid - no blood, guts & gore here! But for me, it felt like it should have been set maybe a few decades earlier, indeed the house is first discovered when the narrator is lost & needs a phone, this led me to assume that as he had no mobile or sat-nav, so we weren't in the 21st century - the later mention of e-mails put me straight on that!

On the whole I'd say, yes, I enjoyed the book but sadly not as much as I had hoped it would. Thank you so much lucy-lemon for sending it me, I'm sorry I haven't given it a more glowing review.

Read as part of the 2011 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE (#16)

On it's way as a surprise RABCK to a Bcer who is wishing for it....

Thank you for this surprise wishlist RABCK :) It was a lovely surprise for a very windy Saturday afternoon. Added to my TBR list :)

I started, and finished this book today, as purple-pixie has requested it in a VBB I am participating in :o)

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, as it was on my wishlist but I can't remember what article referred me to it. It was definitely a ghost story and I found myself very much wanting to read continuously. I liked the changes of scenery and the twists and turns of the story. Thanks very much for sending plum-crazy. Will be heading off to purple-pixie when I next get to the post office as part of the 'Previously Bookcrossed VBB'.

To be posted off to purple-pixie when I next get to the post office, hope you enjoy it :o)

It's here - thank you wal-89. I think I'll save this one for a dark autumn evening, perfect for a ghost story.

Well I did indeed read this book in autumn, but in a brightly lit office on a sunny day, and enjoyed it just as much. Very atmospheric, almost gentle in tone for most of the narrative - a very civilised ghost story!

Passed on to an avid reader.