Enjoyable - If Unoriginal - Story. Miscast.

Books of this type (family moves into "haunted" location) typically trigger one of two reactions in me: "Wow. That was a ludicrous but fun, gory "cartoon".." or "Okay, but why the hell didn't they just leave!?!"
Janine Galliano's take on the genre, however, had me believing the terror - *and* the characters' reactions to it. Yes, the writing quality is imperfect: Galliano draws out some terrifying instances for uncomfortably long periods and the setting (a New England property called 'Willow House') is inconsequential to the plot, for example - but the creepy events, paranormal experiences, glimpsed demonic figures, and actual attacks on family members are described cinematically with an admirable sense of both tension & realism.

On the less fortunate side, QUEST Audio/W.F.Howes Ltd. cast British reader Christopher Weeks to narrate this American ghost story. Weeks is a legitimately good reader (above-average in terms of understanding the author's intended tone, in fact) - but asking him to read American accents was a bridge too far (he delivers Southern Drawls for characters in Massachusetts for some reason). Repeatedly referring to a child's creepy artwork as "draw-rings" likewise had me chuckling.. taking me out of the illusion of reality far too often.

'The Inheritance' was appropriately included as part of the 'Plus' initiative (as a "free" option it was an entertaining distraction for a couple of quiet afternoons). The moderately confusing delivery of this 7/10-star offering renders it unworthy of a Credit, however.

[Note: I would have scored the writing higher, but Galliano falls victim to relying on some overused tropes: an old Diary found in the old house; a Ouija Board as a source for the Malevolence; a Catholic Priest-led Exorcism; and "Help-The-Ghost-Cross-To-The-Other-Side-So-She-Stops-Being-Evil" plot devices]

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ok story, bizarre narration

Perfectly decent haunted house story. Not the most thrilling or tense or scary, or, if I'm honest, heavy on plot, but it was alright.
My one issue? The narration was bizarre. British person writes story set in the US, casts a British narrator who uses American accents for the characters but his natural accent for everything else. It's written in first person singular, so he thinks/narrates in British English but then speaks in American. It was such a weird choice.
I don't understand why English authors choose to set stories in the US when the setting is so unimportant that it could be set anywhere without it making a difference, but then also not getting the language right. This one wasn't as bad as many for that (drives me nuts when an American character say rucksack or trainers or calls someone a wanker...), but the narration was enough to push it over the edge into What? Seriously? territory.

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