Timothy J. Paterson

Review of eBook

Mark Stafford is used to being new in school. With his father, Alan, having served twenty years in the Air Force, he moved around quite a bit. But now his dad was retired, and still they’d moved . . . clear across the country from Connecticut to Empire, Colorado so his dad could manage the town’s big outdoor wilderness store. His mom, Paula, worked as a registered nurse and found a job as the elementary school’s new nurse.

Mark was pleased when Gina Wilson invited him to eat lunch with her. He told her about all the places he’d lived and she told him all about Empire. But her friendliness toward Mark angered Eddy Turner, a bully who liked to pretend that he ran the school.

When Mark rescues a couple of girls from a stray dog, it isn’t long before everyone knows about it. And, although he had no way of knowing it, one of the little girls was Gina’s sister, Beth.

Eddy makes fun of “the hero” when Mark walks into homeroom the next day. He challenges Mark to spend a night in the haunted house on Halloween hill. At lunchtime, Gina tells Mark the sad legend about the house and the family that lived there some one hundred years ago. Despite knowing the history of the haunted house, Mark is not one to back away from a challenge and agrees to spend the night in the haunted house.

What will happen when Mark spends the night in the haunted house? Will the ghost appear? What will Mark discover?

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This is a gem of a short story with its believable characters, its unexpected revelations, and its perfect ending. It isn’t long, so there’s not much time for character development; it’s not particularly scary, but it is clever and well-plotted. It’s less a haunting story, more a brief character study speaking to doing the right thing, to determination, to relationships.

Although readers might guess the surprise Mark’s parents have for him, this heartwarming story promises to leave readers with a smile or two.

Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)