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Material Type | Library | Call Number | Item Barcode | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Chelmsford Public Library | FIC/GRANT | 31480011275580 | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library | SF GRANT | 31330008827358 | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library | FIC GRANT | 30470001743607 | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Haverhill Public Library | SCIFI/GRANT M | 31479007025736 | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... West Newbury - G.A.R. Memorial Library | F GRA | 32135001458286 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"Nature abhors a straight line. The natural world is a place of curves and softened edges, of gentle mists and welcoming spirals. Nature remembers deviation; nature does not forgive... For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But teen is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, its up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory. Welcome to Spindrift House. The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that theýll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House - and why. The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery. Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go. Nature abhors a straight line. Herés where the story bends."--Publisher description.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Stranger Things fans are likely to be engrossed by Grant's seductive account of four teens who band together to solve paranormal mysteries. Harlowe, whose parents were killed by a cult when she was four, became friendly with schoolmates Kevin, Andy, and Addison in third grade, and the quartet has spent nine years hunting mummies and explaining why some ducks floated in midair. With high school ending, their fellowship faces its end, too, until Harlowe proposes that they travel to Maine to seek a $3.5 million reward. That bounty will go to anyone who enters a haunted house long enough to track down the original deed and resolve a dispute among three families as to its current ownership-a mission that has already left several people dead. Despite a formulaic setup, Grant makes the horrors of Spindrift House palpable. Gradually readers come to understand the implications of the entrancing opening passage about humanity's imposition of the "mathematical aberration of the straight line" on nature. This strong standalone from Grant (the Newsflesh series) will satisfy fans of classic tales of horror and the eldritch. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Andy, Addison, Kevin, and Harlowe gained local childhood fame as the Answer Squad. Now college-age, most of the team wants to move on. Harlowe, however, does not want the group to disband. After her parents were savagely killed, Harlowe was raised by her grandparents in a sterile environment; the Answer Squad became her replacement family. When the chance for a massive payday comes their way, the squad embarks on one last case: the supposedly haunted Spindrift House in Maine. The ownership of the house is in dispute and the Answer Squad is there to find the original deed. But it doesn't take long for the house to start affecting Harlowe. This novella reads like an episode of Stranger Things crossed with Lovecraft and Scooby Doo, and will remind readers of the superior Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (2017). Grant (Kingdom of Needle and Bone, 2018) excels at atmospheric writing but the short length of the story hampers her character development and dampens some of her scares; still, fans looking for a quick, spooky read will enjoy.--Lynnanne Pearson Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Grant's ("News Flesh" series) latest begins as a promising mixture of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Harlowe wants to persuade her friends to avoid beginning conventional adult lives, and maybe to find some connection to the supernatural forces that left her an orphan. She persuades the group to investigate haunted Spindrift House to prove its ownership and settle a long-standing legal dispute. Of course things do not go well, and the short tale quickly descends into death and possession. The characters are well fleshed out, but without the florid descriptions and atmosphere of Lovecraft or Jackson. The relatively simple and predictable plot offers the characters little to do between arriving at the house and their exits, living or dead. The reader, Jesse Vilinsky, fits well into the role of Harlowe as she narrates the story with an emotionally dense but understated performance. VERDICT Fun but too reliant on famous previous works, this will hold little for widely read horror fans, but it may be an easier entry for readers just getting into the genre. Recommended for older YA listeners and new horror fans.--Tristan Boyd, Austin, TX