She blinked in surprise, wondering if this too, was the voice of some ghost….

PLOT SUMMARY:

Across Italy, there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years.

It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought.

There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.

GRADE: C-

REVIEW:

I was looking forward to reading this book as I was a huge fan of the author’s book The Road of Bones, although I must admit since this novel took place in Sicily (where I’m from) I was a bit hesitant as I didn’t enjoy the inaccuracies in Diavola (another horror book set in Italy). The premise of this novel is very intriguing, an American couple Tommy and Kate leave the United States for Sicily after they purchase one of those one euro homes with the promise of rebuilding the old home. But the couple doesn’t know that their home was owned by the Catholic church which would send their worse cases of demonic possession there.

Now, all that sounds very thrilling and scary. However, the execution wasn’t so. First of all, the couple Tommy and Kate are highly unlikable and entitled. They move to Sicily but instead of trying to befriend the local community, they’re only interested in becoming friends with other foreigners known as the imports and trying to convince their friends in the United States to leave Boston and follow them to a ghost town that doesn’t offer much in regards to economic growth or resources. Not to mention, that they suddenly decide the town has to pay to get their catacombs up to safety norms because they want to attract tourists to Becchina. This is highly improbable, as a dying town wouldn’t have the resources to do that. We never know what jobs these two people have that they can easily work from home, but for them to think that their friends could easily move across the globe just to keep them company is absurd.

Another con is that so much of this book is telling. Not much actually happens in the book until the very end. Not to mention that the author thinks Sicily is like California having earthquakes every three seconds (this isn’t true, yes Sicily gets earthquakes but they’re rare and when they do occur they’re bad). I do give the author props for having done some research in regards to how Sicilians are and the typical foods they have, but anytime the author has Italian characters use Italian, the grammar is incorrect in some cases. Note to authors, if you or your editorial team cannot ensure that something in a foreign language is correct, maybe don’t use it.

This book might appeal to those who want to read horror taking place in other places other than the U.S. But if you’re looking for a genuine possession or haunted house story, this straddles both but ultimately doesn’t explore either very well.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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