"Good old-fashioned gothic ghost story"

Ever since Kate was a little girl, she saw ghosts but her parents never believed her and she finally learned to say nothing about the spirits who drifted in and out of her life. When Russell came into the video store in New York City, it was a case of love at first sight. They married three months after they met but she never told him about her ghosts and he remained silent about his first wife.

Russell's twin sister Rosalind convinces him to move back to the family home in Wrightsbridge, Connecticut. When he broaches the plan to Kate, she eagerly agrees thinking that she will finally have a chance to write her novel. From the time they enter the door of Russell's ancestral home, he becomes distant and moody, a stranger to Kate. She believes the ghosts that inhabit the place are playing tricks with their minds. She intends to exorcise them, not realizing how powerful they are and that they mean her harm.

WHEN DARKNESS LIVES is a good old-fashioned gothic ghost story that is very scary. The audience really doesn't know if it is the ghosts or a human presence that is trying to hurt Kate. That makes the finale all the more satisfying. Robert Ross is the latest rising star in the horror galaxy. Bentley Little fans are going to love this book.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 24, 2002