Book Review - The House in the Hills by Rowan Hanlon

Title:The House in the Hills

Author: Rowan Hanlon

Publication Date: June 4, 2018

Genre: Horror

Pages: 345 pages

Rating: 2/5 stars

Buy It Now: https://amzn.to/2uuFcG1

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Goodreads Blurb:
The House Always Wins...

A young couple is surprised to find out their ultra cool mid-century modern Hollywood Hills dream house has a past steeped in blood and debauchery. But when the house starts exhibiting paranormal activity, they realize they've truly gotten more than they bargained for.

The House in the Hills is a novel about how the house of your dreams can sometimes turn into a nightmare.

My Thoughts:
Oof. This was rough. The premise was really intriguing: a couple buys a charming home that they get for an amazing price due to a past domestic dispute that resulted in the previous homeowners dying. Harmony, being the more superstitious half of the couple, is a bit wary of the prospect, but her handsome, successful realtor husband Marc wears her down and they buy the home. Ghosty shenanigans ensue. 

Unfortunately, the author doesn't deliver on the promise of the haunted house thriller. Most of the novel reads like a bad episode of House Hunters; there's more detail about the home itself than about its history or even the horror. Then there's the fact that Harmony and Marc are a horrible, horrible couple. They're mismatched, they lie to each other, they fight constantly then immediately make up (usually with Harmony mooning over what a lucky woman she is to have a handsome husband)...It's just bad. The writing itself is also very, very rough around the edges. The timelines don't match up from one paragraph to the next, there are lots of typos and misused expressions, and I think just cutting down on Harmony's repetitive narrative could have shortened the book by a third, it was that prevalent.  
  
All in all, I didn't hate this book. The pace was quick and it was an easy read with enough suspense to keep me mostly interested, but the immature, unfocused writing style and the incredibly rushed ending kept this from being anything more than a quick, completely forgettable popcorn read. 

**Note: Book provided by NetGalley and Reverberator Books in exchange for an honest review.**