Starter House by Sonja Condit

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Sonja Condit's creepy debut, Starter House.

Lacey and Eric are expecting their first child and are in search of the perfect first home. But until she sets eyes on the house at 571 Forrester Lane, none of them feels right to Lacey. After a lifetime of moving place to place, the house calls to her - it seems meant to be. Eric is less smitten with the home but the asking price is low and their search has yielded no results to this point, leaving him inclined to agree to any place that suits their list of needs and location. Even learning that previous owners had died there can't sway their decision to buy; the house is old enough, after all, that this is an inevitable reality. Unfortunately, Lacey's dream home has a nighmarish history, one that only begins to reveal itself to the couple after they've moved in. And those dead previous tenants? This house has seen more than any home ever should.

Sonja Condit's debut is a poetic and chilling read! The perfect blend of creepy suspense and lyrical prose, I feel Starter House is sure to appeal to readers who enjoy literary fiction as well as the darker stuff.

I would technically place this book in the horror category but with the understanding that it's much more of an atmospheric horror rather than a gore soaked read from the other end of the genre's spectrum. This is a haunted house/ghost story but one with a very unique twist, something I really appreciate considering ghost stories are my favorite! I've read a lot of haunted house books and Condit still managed to put a new twist on it for me.

Lacey and the reader meet Drew in the opening chapters of the book and soon realize that he's more than just a local wandering child. Lacey's next door neighbor ominously answers her queries saying the boy has never revealed himself to him, meaning we know he's a ghost even before Lacey realizes it. But Lacey's approach to Drew even after beginning to learn his nature is pretty fabulous. Condit's lead character is a teacher who prides herself on bringing out the best in unruly young boys, putting her talents to the test with her spectral houseguest.

I loved the way the story played out with Lacey eventually learning more and more about the previous inhabitants and incidents in her house. The added stress of a risky pregnancy and her husband's issues make the book a tense read even without the haunted house aspects. Condit easily fits all of these pieces together to create a captivating and hair raising tale.

Rating: 4.5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Sonja Condit and her work, you can visit her website here.