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Within These Walls Ania Ahlborn Books

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Within These Walls Ania Ahlborn Books

What makes this book special for me is the author's way with words. The plot is far-fetched and at times convoluted: A washed-up true crime writer receives an offer he can't refuse from an incarcerated cult leader. He takes his teenage daughter and, following the directions in the letter, moves cross-country to a house in a small town in coastal Washington where Manson-like deaths occurred.

The writer, Lucas Graham, is an interesting character with depth and the reader comes to care about him, which is essential in a house-based horror. His daughter, Jeannie, is a teen with grievances, attitude and an interest in the paranormal. She's tempted by a supernatural scenario that tempts her in the way a girl like Jeannie would credibly be tempted. Will it own her?

The cult was too similar to the Manson Family for me. In the tradition of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" I would call this "Helter Skelter and Ghosts." There were a bunch of plot holes, one of which -- and this is not a spoiler -- sinks everything. It's a call someone makes to the police about a Congressman's daughter possibly being in trouble, and it's deemed "Low Priority." No 911 call about a Congressman's daughter would ever be marked low priority, let alone in a small town. It doesn't unravel things but it's a head-scratching detail that adds nothing to the plot.

It's easier to get past these plot holes because Ahlborn's prose is outstanding. The action past the halfway point is relentless -- the first half of the book is like that slow, nerve-wracking climb to the top of the roller coaster and the second half is the thrilling downward rush. Ahlborn's imagery is terrific and adds a great deal to the book. She's got a way with words better than most authors writing in any genre. And that's what makes the book a winner, the beautiful use of language in service of a plot that takes its time turning into terror, but when it gets there, it's lights-on scary.


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Within These Walls Ania Ahlborn Books Reviews

The author definitely gains points with the scary factor. She incorporates many aspects popular in the ghost genre with great effect shadowy figures, voices, poltergeist activity, eerie feelings, and things seen out of the corner of one’s eye. I got chills up my spine and hid my eyes (which while reading a book shows how effective this book was with my imagination!) more than once. His gift with description shows itself vividly here as I could picture each supernatural encounter with spooky accuracy.

The story itself and characters, though didn’t work quite as well. Not to say they were BAD per se, but I saw room for definite improvement.

Reading like a classic horror movie, the book’s overall story was intriguing enough. Cults, mass suicide, murder, supernatural powers, and a father/daughter relationship on the brink all made for a good story. I liked how the author presented the story half in modern times and half in the early ‘80s with Audra’s story, interspersed with police reports, newspaper articles, and paranormal investigative reports. That multi-layering of storyline and plot helped this book a lot, giving it added depth and liveliness.

Yet, as the book got further along, the story started to get predictable and stale. Reading like a classic horror movie got to be less of an asset and more of a millstone around the book’s metaphorical neck. I could predict what was going to happen, who was going to die, and how the ending would roll out long before events actually happened. Not a good thing in a horror novel.

Characters, too, got more and more predictable and irritating as time went on. Jeanie and Lucas started out fresh, two individuals trying to find themselves again after economic hardship and a family life in freefall. Lucas’ grasping at what seemed like a grand opportunity to rebuild his and his family’s life caught my heart and got me into the book.

But once poop started hitting the fan and life started to get weird, both he and Jeanie fell into ruts of behavior. They would react to each supernatural encounter with the same methods and thought patterns, not even c hanging as the ghost stuff escalated in the latter half of the book. They started to fall into the patterns of characters in horror movies; those people that do stupid things when faced with horrific elements and keep on doing it. It’s no wonder that what happened to them in the end did…

The horror ghost elements were done right. They made me jump and gasp in all the right places, enough to give me chills down my spine. The overall plot was good, intricate and detailed. However, as it wore on, it got predictable and stale. The characters fell into that same mold, started out intriguing but never changed throughout the book. The ending I saw coming a mile away, not a good feature for a horror novel. Would I recommend this one to horror fans? Probably not the diehard ones; they’d probably be disappointment. But for the casual horror fan who doesn’t read it often, this might be a good diversion, if only for the ghost elements.
What makes this book special for me is the author's way with words. The plot is far-fetched and at times convoluted A washed-up true crime writer receives an offer he can't refuse from an incarcerated cult leader. He takes his teenage daughter and, following the directions in the letter, moves cross-country to a house in a small town in coastal Washington where Manson-like deaths occurred.

The writer, Lucas Graham, is an interesting character with depth and the reader comes to care about him, which is essential in a house-based horror. His daughter, Jeannie, is a teen with grievances, attitude and an interest in the paranormal. She's tempted by a supernatural scenario that tempts her in the way a girl like Jeannie would credibly be tempted. Will it own her?

The cult was too similar to the Manson Family for me. In the tradition of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" I would call this "Helter Skelter and Ghosts." There were a bunch of plot holes, one of which -- and this is not a spoiler -- sinks everything. It's a call someone makes to the police about a Congressman's daughter possibly being in trouble, and it's deemed "Low Priority." No 911 call about a Congressman's daughter would ever be marked low priority, let alone in a small town. It doesn't unravel things but it's a head-scratching detail that adds nothing to the plot.

It's easier to get past these plot holes because Ahlborn's prose is outstanding. The action past the halfway point is relentless -- the first half of the book is like that slow, nerve-wracking climb to the top of the roller coaster and the second half is the thrilling downward rush. Ahlborn's imagery is terrific and adds a great deal to the book. She's got a way with words better than most authors writing in any genre. And that's what makes the book a winner, the beautiful use of language in service of a plot that takes its time turning into terror, but when it gets there, it's lights-on scary.