I'll Be Waiting: A Novel
From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood...
Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car crash, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.
Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.
The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.
That’s when she finds the first body....
In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong's full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life--if she can.
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Community Reviews
I didn't want to write a review. I dont want to bash an Author because its a hard job and I respect them deeply. I was so excited to read This book. The concept was so intriguing but it was just such a bore... I was holding on to it wowing me as the book went on but unfortunately I found myself pushing through nonstop dragging. This might be a great story for some but for me Ugh such a shame.
First and foremost, I’m a bit of a Kelley Armstrong fangirl. This is the 15th book (three series and several standalones) of hers that I have read. Suffice it to say. I think she’s an excellent writer and storyteller. Secondly, I love scary, ghost and supernatural stories, and when I came across this one, I just had to have it. With ghosts, a haunted house, a séance, and even swarms of bugs that surround you every time you walk outside, all of which makes for a great story for the upcoming Halloween season.
The book summary basically lays out the start of the story and introduces the MC, Nic, a Cystic Fibrosa sufferer who has lasted long past her expiration date. However, her healthy and fit husband, Anton, hasn’t. Fast forward seven months, and Nic is volunteering as a mentor for a grief counseling facility. It comes across as a kind of 12-step facility where newbies can partner up with mentors, supposedly those who have succeeded in moving through the stages of grief. Lol😂 While Nic is nowhere near getting through the grieving stages, she does have a lot of experience in getting duped by a slew of charlatans who target the newly grieved in scamming them into thinking they can help them “communicate” with their loved ones. This is the type of mentoring she provides to Shania, a woman grieving her sister.
However, Nic’s brother, Keith, and his ex-wife, Libby, and his current husband, Jin, all think that the reason Nic can’t move on is because she truly believes that spirits can be summoned, because of her own past experiences. So, they’re all, including a “reputable” medium, off to a lake house where Nic and Anton loved to visit, with hopes of conjuring up Anton’s spirit once and for all. It’s not long before creepy and scary things start happening. There is also a secondary storyline of the missing son, Brodie, of the woman down the road, Mrs Kilmer, who provides the meals to Nic and the rest of the guests. The son is a drug addict and has a history of not coming home sometimes, but the woman believes that something is wrong.
Most of the story revolves around all the creepy stuff happening around the house and the creepy occurences of a few seances. They realized that at some point, Brodie, was in the basement of the house because they find his drug kit. They even start to suspect that Brodie might be involved in some of the creepy stuff going on in the house and that he’s trying to get them to leave. It's not long before they discover that is not the case. It isn’t until deep into the second half that we discover what Nic has been hiding about her past and how it may be connected to her present. Some of the chapters flip back and forth from Nic’s present and past.
The character development of Nic, and even Anton to some degree, was pretty good throughout the story. She kind of started out as this troubled and grieving widow who couldn’t move on and by the end…..wow!!! Unveiling the fact and fiction of Nic’s memories, real and imaginary, as well as her past was a shocker. The pacing was steady, the storyline was very interesting, and the writing was crazy, bizarre, good too. Classic Armstrong with an outrageously, creepy and super scary scenes. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #IllBeWaiting
The book summary basically lays out the start of the story and introduces the MC, Nic, a Cystic Fibrosa sufferer who has lasted long past her expiration date. However, her healthy and fit husband, Anton, hasn’t. Fast forward seven months, and Nic is volunteering as a mentor for a grief counseling facility. It comes across as a kind of 12-step facility where newbies can partner up with mentors, supposedly those who have succeeded in moving through the stages of grief. Lol😂 While Nic is nowhere near getting through the grieving stages, she does have a lot of experience in getting duped by a slew of charlatans who target the newly grieved in scamming them into thinking they can help them “communicate” with their loved ones. This is the type of mentoring she provides to Shania, a woman grieving her sister.
However, Nic’s brother, Keith, and his ex-wife, Libby, and his current husband, Jin, all think that the reason Nic can’t move on is because she truly believes that spirits can be summoned, because of her own past experiences. So, they’re all, including a “reputable” medium, off to a lake house where Nic and Anton loved to visit, with hopes of conjuring up Anton’s spirit once and for all. It’s not long before creepy and scary things start happening. There is also a secondary storyline of the missing son, Brodie, of the woman down the road, Mrs Kilmer, who provides the meals to Nic and the rest of the guests. The son is a drug addict and has a history of not coming home sometimes, but the woman believes that something is wrong.
Most of the story revolves around all the creepy stuff happening around the house and the creepy occurences of a few seances. They realized that at some point, Brodie, was in the basement of the house because they find his drug kit. They even start to suspect that Brodie might be involved in some of the creepy stuff going on in the house and that he’s trying to get them to leave. It's not long before they discover that is not the case. It isn’t until deep into the second half that we discover what Nic has been hiding about her past and how it may be connected to her present. Some of the chapters flip back and forth from Nic’s present and past.
The character development of Nic, and even Anton to some degree, was pretty good throughout the story. She kind of started out as this troubled and grieving widow who couldn’t move on and by the end…..wow!!! Unveiling the fact and fiction of Nic’s memories, real and imaginary, as well as her past was a shocker. The pacing was steady, the storyline was very interesting, and the writing was crazy, bizarre, good too. Classic Armstrong with an outrageously, creepy and super scary scenes. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #IllBeWaiting
Perfect October Read
I only have two qualms. The first quarter of the book moves rather slowly & all the secondary characters are all introduced at the exact same time. So it’s hard to be invested in anyone but the main character.
Otherwise it would have been a 5 star for me.
It’s so rare nowadays that a book is exactly what was promised. Spooky and eerie with a main character searching for answers.
I only have two qualms. The first quarter of the book moves rather slowly & all the secondary characters are all introduced at the exact same time. So it’s hard to be invested in anyone but the main character.
Otherwise it would have been a 5 star for me.
It’s so rare nowadays that a book is exactly what was promised. Spooky and eerie with a main character searching for answers.