14 February 2022

Here is a review I am sure you would not have expected on Valentine’s Day. A ghost story with a difference, this book looks at relationships of various kinds. Leaving you curious about how well you know the people around you. When choosing this title, you can expect a light tale set around domestic violence, loveless marriages and murder, and as if that is not enough some ghosts and demons make it all the more haunting. The Ghosts of Thorwald Place is an entertaining read from start to finish.

Helen Power leaves you with a smile on your face despite the dark subject matter in this debut novel. The story is told from Rachel/Kaela’s perspective, and you enjoy the experiences of a “new” ghost who eagerly tries to find a way to have an impact on the living world. She witnesses countless injustices that she would love to rectify. Power keeps her story light and easy to read while digging deep into dark subject matter.

When Kaela’s husband is brutally murdered she is convinced that she will be next. She changes her name and leaves town, with only one person left behind that knows where she has gone. For two years she hides away in her apartment in a highly secure apartment building., not allowing anyone to get close to her. Until she receives a threatening phone call, which leaves her determined to run away again. An hour later, with one bag in hand, she leaves her apartment only to have her throat slit from ear to ear before even climbing off the elevator. Now Kae is a ghost, linked to the elevator where she died with a limited radius around it that she can move around in. While the police and her best friend are investigating her murder, Kae moves through the various apartments in the building, observing her neighbours. Only to discover that what happens behind closed doors are not what she might have imagined. As she witnesses the truths about the people she shared the building with, she is desperate to find a way to communicate so she can help some of these people whose lives are even worse than her own used to be.

I loved how the author managed to wrap real-life issues into a ghost story, keeping it light and entertaining while leaving you with something to think about. Kae’s ghost experiences were brilliant and her realisation that she was not the only one with problems highlighted how we never really know what happens in someone else’s homes.

Kaela / Rachel is a wonderful creation. Kaela, convinced the house she shared with her husband Jay was haunted, there were many unexplained occurrences. When she finds Jay murdered her life becomes a scary place. She changes her name and runs away. Yet even as Rachel, she jumps at shadows, suffers from panic attacks and cannot find any peace, locking herself away within her apartment. When she finally dares to walk through the door, she ends up murdered. Only in death does Kaela find the strength to fight for what she believes in when she finally sees the truth about the world she lived in.  It was sad that she had to die to see reality. Only then did she understand that she wasted precious time which she could never regain.

The author uses this character to show the importance of not taking life for granted, the importance of living every day, opening yourself up to those around you, even if they may end up disappointing you. The author reminds us that we never know how much time we have left.

Paranormal thriller fan or not, you will find this light ghost story a gripping, entertaining read that allows you to escape reality and then leaves you with some food for thought as you close the book.