In honor of Halloween, we’ll be reviewing ghoulishly scary and spooky books throughout the month of October.
Ghost on Black Mountain
Ann Hite (Adult Fiction)
“Mama warned me against marrying Hobbs Pritchard. She saw my future in her tea leaves: death.”
Nellie Clay was only 17 when she married 25-year old Hobbs Pritchard. With just a feed sack of clothes, some trinkets, and a childhood full of memories, she leaves the only home she has ever known and moves to Black Mountain with a man she barely knows and the ghosts he has spent a lifetime creating.
Ghost on Black Mountain is a haunting tale of abuse, power, greed, and fervent love. There is not a soul on Black Mountain that hasn’t been negatively impacted or affected by Hobbs Pritchard, and his toxic anger and avarice blanket the mountain like mist on a crisp autumn morning. Hite does a credible job in conveying the torment and fear unleashed on a tightly-knit mountain community by a man consumed by evil and jealousy. The author keeps the story interesting by having different female characters narrate and share their own histories and perspectives. Near the end of the book, just when you thought you were safely out of the woods, Hite throws in an unexpected twist by introducing an unknown character. Rather than stall the story’s progression with this sudden interruption, this shift actually adds to the story’s mounting tension and brings us ever closer to an inevitable tipping point. As this character’s story is slowly unraveled, we become uncomfortably and painfully aware that the ghost on Black Mountain may never truly rest in peace.
Ghost on Black Mountain is Hite’s first novel and she gives readers a truly gripping and all-consuming story of good versus evil and the price one is willing to pay for redemption. Like the ghosts on Black Mountain, this story and its characters will linger in your mind and lurk in your memory long after the last page is turned.
Rating: 5/5
* Book cover image attributed to http://www.amazon.com
The Dusty Jacket 