Hanover House: Kickoff to the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles (Evelyn Talbot Chronicles, #0.5)

by Brenda Novak

This is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets Karen Rose...

The stunning prequel to New York Times bestseller Brenda's Novak latest thriller Her Darkest Nightmare, described as 'gut-gripping suspense' by Karen Rose, introduces new series lead Dr Evelyn Talbot. Welcome to Hanover House...

Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to analysing psychopaths. Why they act as they do. How they come to be. Why they don't feel remorse. Her only goal is to use her knowledge to find and stop them.

Having been tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager by her high school boyfriend, Evelyn's determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. Establishing a revolutionary new medical health centre in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she observes these killers is the final step in years of studying which will give her the answers she needs.

Keeping these killers inside and the residents of Hilltop safe is Evelyn's responsibility, but it will only take one little thing to go wrong for the danger they pose to become all too real...

Look for the other gripping novels in the Evelyn Talbot series - Her Darkest Nightmare, Hello Again, and Face Off, available now.

• ISBN10: 1928068723
• ISBN13: 9781928068723
• Publish Date: 1 September 2015
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Brenda Novak, Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 242
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

Hanover House by Brenda Novak is the prequel to The Evelyn Talbot series. I am new to Brenda Novak’s work, and I must say I had a good time with this book. It fueled my desire to pick up the next book in the series. Filled with nail biting suspense and a little creepiness, Hanover House kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Ms. Novak impressed me with the way she delved into the mind of both the victim and the villain, allowing readers to understand their thought processes.

The protagonist Dr. Evelyn Talbot was a victim of a psychopath when she was a teen. Now an established psychiatrist, she has made it her mission in life to figure out what make psychopaths tick. To aid her in endeavours, she created Hanover House where she can study these serial killers.
Persons close to her wanted her to give up her dream because of the danger it posed,, but she refused to allow her fears to control her. The trauma of the event never left her, which drove her desire to delve deeper into the mind of a psychopath. She struggled with socialisation and as a result, persons perceived her to be an ice queen. Sergeant Amarok will discover that this was not the case the more he got to know her.

Amarok had not been keen on the establishment of Hanover House in his district, but he resigned himself to accepting it. In the process, he found himself falling for Evelyn and would do anything to protect her. I enjoyed their interaction, which was steamy and humorous. I loved his patience with Evelyn.

The story featured two psychopaths, the creepiest one being Jasper, Evelyn's ex. He definitely had a sick mind. His obsession with Evelyn was his primary driving force and it fed his lust for killing. I enjoyed getting the POV of the villain as it gave me a bird’s-eye view of his mental capacity.
I enjoyed the pacing of the story. The romance and suspense were well balanced, which I found refreshing.

Narration
Being fairly new to audio books, I have been introduced to a variety of narrators. This is my first time listening to Therese Plummer. I believed she did a good job with the voices.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Despite this being a short story I enjoyed every moment. Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this prequel to what appears to be an exciting and chilling series. I am looking forward to reading Her Darkest Nightmare.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Novak takes us to Hilltop Alaska with the intro to this dark romantic suspense featuring Evelyn Talbot a psychiatrist whose past drive her s to unlock the mysteries of psychopathic minds. Edgy and suspenseful Hanover House gave us a taste of the darkness to come. As a teen, Evelyn was kidnapped and tortured at the hands of her high school boyfriend. Damaged and driven she is determined to understand. She has secured the funding for Hanover House and Hilltop, Alaska will now house some of the most dangerous sociopaths.

The small-town of Hilltop did not have the political muscle to stop the medical center and their only officer, Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok finds himself conflicted. He is not happy about these offenders being housed in their backyard but he is curious and attracted to Evelyn Talbot.

Novak really delivered the suspense and thrills from introducing sociopaths to taking us inside the mind of a serial killer and introducing threats. Evelyn carries the scars of her nightmare both physically and emotionally but that does not deter her. While I admired her tenacity, a part of me thinks she is a bit of a daredevil. Novak did a great job of fleshing her out and allowing us to understand her drive. She is strikingly beautiful, but socially inept. Her poor mother, I felt for the woman and have to wonder how she sleeps at night or for that matter how Evelyn functions.

The perspectives, letters and other tools Novak used to relay this tale added suspense and pushed this into thriller territory. I loved the dark tones, and perspectives from a serial killer and those of a prospective patient. Those sensitive to rape, torture and mental abuse may find some chapters disturbing even though Novak was not overly detailed.

What makes this a romantic suspense is the relationship that develops between Evelyn and Sergeant Amarok. This will be a slow building relationship but the chemistry is there. I was surprised to see the age difference. Amarok is younger but so far, the relationship feels genuine. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[whisperingchapters]

Evelyn Talbot is a psychiatrist about to open Hanover House. There, she will be studying serial killers and how their psychotic mind works. This job won't be easy for her since the patients will not make it easy. They do not want to be transferred to Hanover House and the people at Hilltop, Alaska do not want to have serial killers near them. But Evelyn wants to see what drives these killers to do such horrible things because her high school boyfriend tortured her best friends and her then killed her best friends in front of her... Then he leaves her for dead.

This prequel to Her Darkest Nightmare, which comes out in 2016, is absolutely amazing. While I'm not a fan of third-person POV's, this story gripped me right from the start and I'm pretty sure my heart was racing all the way through the end, wondering what was going to happen. Evelyn has to face a lot with those serial killers and we get some glimpse on how bad they can be, at least with one of them. This will obviously make for a very interesting and extremely intriguing series! There's also a romance that I totally started shipping between Evelyn and Amarok, the trooper in Alaska and I have to say I want more of them! Evelyn is scarred by what happened to her so she's reluctant in having any relationship with a guy but I'm sure Amarok will gain her trust in no time. Amarok didn't want the Hanover House facility to be in Hilltop, Alaska but now that he has gotten to know Evelyn, his focus has shifted into protecting her at all costs while helping her to have fun and enjoy life. I think this romance will help both characters in their growth and I think they could end up complimenting each other very well as the series progresses.

As I mentioned before, this story is told in third-person POV and we see it from Evelyn and Jasper, Evelyn's ex-boyfriend and murderer. His introduction to the story gave me chills. His thoughts are scary and I definitely do not like him at all but he makes the story a whole lot interesting and chilling with his presence.

I cannot wait to see what Her Darkest Nightmare will bring. This story had enough suspense as it is so imagine a full-length novel! I'm beyond excited to see what happens next!

This review was published on 12.16.15 on Latte Nights Reviews.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of Hanover House from Brenda Novak via Netgalley in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

Hanover House is really, really creepy! And well written with an amazing main character who has been through hell, and now wants to help figure out what it is that makes a psychopath. Filled with suspense and a little romance, this prequel definitely made me want more!

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews