Review Title: A mysterious house holds a terrifying truth
Summary:
A researcher, a computer specialist, a young girl, a photographer, and a reporter. People dying in strange and horrifying ways around the world. A mysterious “house” that appeared before the start of World War 2 links them all but they don’t know it. Each has their own reasons pulling them ever closer to the to the odd town of Einback that lies just outside a restricted mountain range in England. As these people find their way to the “house” they must evade a government determined to keep the horrifying history of the object a secret.
In the shadows something else works to slow down all sides, eliminating anything that gets in its way. The house and it’s inhabitants have waited a very long time to open their door to world and if they succeed reality will have to be redefined.
My Thoughts:

This was an interesting slow burn thriller. It has some interesting ideas that could have been explored a little further, but I guess that’s half fun imagining what the author is hinting at with nature of the house and it’s inhabitants. The characters are well written even if some of them have a short existence due to needing the plot to move along. The main characters at least aren’t one dimensional and don’t have too many smack your head moments. The plot moves along at a pretty good pace, though this story is more about the journey to the destination than the actual destination which isn’t a bad thing, as it’s never a guarantee who is going to make it to the finish line. If your looking for a pretty good thriller with a few nature of reality bits thrown in give this one a read. ( )

I read this book as part of a BookCrossing ring in 2003.

It seems to start off well, but the end is a disappointment, and a bit too "Hollywood". On a more positive note, the characters were well written and it was pretty easy to identify with them. I think this book would have been a much more satisfying read had the ending not felt like it was slimmed down and tacked on in a rush -- the earlier part of the novel provides some good character development and building of suspense, and then it seems like the author noticed his deadline was imminent and hastily churned out the last couple short chapters in order to clumsily but quickly resolve the plot.

To summarize, this is definitely not the worst book I've ever read, but if you have time constraints and like to choose your reading material carefully to ensure maximum enjoyment, you'll probably want to skip this one.