The Siren and The Specter

by Jonathan Janz

"Worth every bit of praise it has received so far, The Siren and the Specter should definitely be on your top 10 list of horror books." — The Splatter Geist


Goodreads Choice Award finalist for Best Horror


When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. 

Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. 

And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

• ISBN10: 1787580075
• ISBN13: 9781787580077
• Publish Date: 6 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Flame Tree Publishing
• Edition: US paperback edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

O…M…G…

Ok, I think that I have got that out of my system! Maybe not… this book chilled me to the core.

Do me a huge favour, do not read this in bed late at night…do not read on your own, in fact, go and find a hot sunny patch and stay there until you finish it, I am being deadly serious! I was reading it at home in bed late at night, the boy is away and the little one is asleep, then I heard something. Through the walls, I could hear my little one talking in her sleep, great just as I come to a bit in the book which freaked me out to do with a little girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I go on to what I loved about the book, I had one gripe (sorry not a good choice of word there!) with it, and it was the first ending we get (I will explain this in a moment!) I thought it some things were just not explained clearly…or maybe I was reading too quickly to take it in. I was not clear on a couple of things but I didn’t let it dampen my review.

So let me tell you what I did love about the book…

EVERYTHING

This book was freaky and creepy and at times damn right frightening and I had goosebumps. Haunted houses always intrigue me and I will admit I am a believer of all things supernatural.

So, we open David Caine, a non-believer asked by a friend to stay in the house, not just any house but Alexander House and prove that the supernatural exists to make his friend’s wife happy (and rich!). David and his friend Chris, have a grief that weighs heavily on them both, a death of someone dear to them, Anna. David never properly grieved for her, and always felt he owed something back to her. Her story playing a part in this story in more ways that one.

He moves into the house for a month, and he is there to write his book. For a while, he does not go upstairs to the second floor (I don’t blame him) and all the while his subconscious is ridiculing him about why is he scared. Well when we do head upstairs in the Long room, it freaked David out. I am sorry but it FREAKED ME OUT! Sod David! I don’t care he lived it, I was sitting at home on my own what about me! (I am getting the chills just thinking about this book!). The detail we get, the descriptions of the room and the house, I was there seeing it, living it and breathing it!

The worst was meeting the Shelby’s, god what a messed up family completely but two quite cute kids. The family is terrifying and when you get to the end of the book and you realise how messed up they really, and it rocks you to the core.

It was also an interesting subplot to discuss a previous investigator, Weir, who apparently died in the house while writing about it. Reading his diary alongside David’s experience. There are so many characters in this book, but my gosh they all played a part in this story, and I loved Jessica and Ivy!

So a quick note about my comment to the first ending, well once we get over the ending of the book, you breathe a sigh of relief. Wait a minute…. just a minute…BAM it is over! You are left with an ending which just blind sighted me, and there was no fricking relief. I closed the book and thank god I had to rush out the door as I was meeting friends because I could not process it. I still don’t think I can!

So, yes I thoroughly recommend this book, it is a hair-tingling book and my god I want to jump right back into another of Jonathan’s book if this introduction was anything to go by! Wowee!!!!!!

Rumour has it that there is another tour coming up for one of his books…so fingers crossed I shall see you then.

[kalventure]

The forest was not intended for exploring. More like a barrier to keep outsiders away."

It's 7:33 p.m. on a balmy summer evening in Northern California. I am about 25% into this book when the narrative creeps me out so thoroughly that I turned on every single light in my apartment (and it doesn't get dark for another hour). For the remainder of the book I am captivated by the terrifying story and oscillate between abject horror of both the human and spiritual variety. Honestly I think I have like 8 highlights in my eARC that just have "NOPE" as a comment.

"So what do you think?"
Ralph peered over the river. "I think that's the creepiest fucking thing I've ever heard

Same Ralph, same.

As is usual with my horror/thriller reviews this will be a bit shorter in the interest of not spoiling this intricately plotted story. But I do want to say that this book is not for the faint of heart. I'm a lover of horror and find that it is difficult for me to be scared/surprised, but this one is absolutely haunting. The Siren and the Specter handles difficult topics that will not be for every reader. While I do not want to dissuade anyone from reading, I'd recommend checking my content warnings and the context spoiler at the bottom of my review to determine if this is the right book for you.

David Caine has been invited to an old friend to stay in "the most haunted house in Virginia" with the hopes that he would write a book about his experiences. The Alexander House has a long and haunted past, and one that interestingly intersects with his career as he's following in the footsteps of essentially his professional idol Weir; who disappeared while investigating this very house. Books written about the event David largely debunks as hogwash that painted a skeptic as a converted believer, and there is definitely the hope that he can clear his idol's name. The history of the house and region are revealed slowly though a historical record of sorts and found the pacing for that information to be perfect.

David's a renowned skeptic and absolutely hilarious. His quick wit and sarcastic banter with his inner monologue and other characters provides much needed comic relief and cuts the tension that builds as this story unfolds. Similarly I found the other characters to be well developed, each with their own unique personality.

Though the notion of a house having a personality was antithetical to his beliefs, he did like to think of a house as possessing character.

There are a lot of threads here: the horror of the MC's past, the horror of the Shelbys and their abuseful neglect, the horrors inside the Alexander House and the terror that Judson Alexander sowed hundreds of years in the past. Janz is an incredibly talented writer that can build and maintain suspense with amazing imagery and description. This is a well plotted story that I enjoyed even though parts of it made me uncomfortable. A big theme of this book is complacency and standing up to evil.

"Evil can only triumph when good people allow it to."

There were a couple of plot points that didn't really make sense to me though. I was bothered by the Sheriff's actions with the Shelbys; while as a person she likely would have wanted to stand up like that she seems to be a Letter-of-the-Law kind of person and unlikely to succumb to this instinct. I also was bothered with everyone placing blame for the suicide of a woman he loved 22 years ago. Yes he was a dick but he didn't do anything, and unless his recollection of what happened that night was marred by time (which I don't think is the case as he appears to be reliable) it doesn't line up with the idea of driving someone to suicide. I can understand personally feeling guilty but not necessarily everyone else holding him accountable. This is just my opinion though!

Overall I really enjoyed this book: it was spooky, haunting, chilling, and honestly just horrifying. I liked the combination of the past and present, as well as the juxtaposition of supernatural horrors with horrible freaking people. This book won't be for everyone but it is a great addition to the horror genre. I look forward to reading more from this author (and this new fiction imprint)!

cw: use of slurs (addressed), suicide, child neglect (present) and abuse (MC's past) inferred child molestation, intense sexual imagery, sexual assault. Context for these warnings matters here, The Shelbys are neighbors of the Alexander House and have two small children who do not have the best home environment. The parents do not appear to be attentive, there are questions about the nutrition given to them (but kind of explained when reported to the sheriff), and the parents participate in rough sex and watching pornography with the children in the room/house. This situation for the children isn't condoned and everyone else tries to help the children. .

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an electronic advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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