Moonrise

By: Cassandra King

Narrated by: Jennifer James Bradshaw, Willow Hale, Elle Newlands

When Helen Honeycutt falls in love with Emmet Justice, a charismatic television journalist who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident, their sudden marriage creates a rift between her new husband and his oldest friends, who resent Helen's intrusion into their tightly knit circle. Hoping to mend fences, the newlyweds join the group for a summer at his late wife's family home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Helen soon falls under the spell not only of the little mountain town and its inhabitants, but also of Moonrise, her predecessor's Victorian mansion, named for its unique but now sadly neglected nocturnal gardens. But the harder Helen tries to fit in, the more obvious it is that she will never measure up to the woman she replaced.

Someone is clearly determined to drive her away, but who wants her gone, and why? As Emmet grows more remote, Helen reaches out to the others in the group, only to find that she can't trust anyone. When she stumbles on the secret behind her predecessor's untimely death, Helen must decide if she can ever trust - or love - again.

©2013 Cassandra King (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

King’s latest novel takes inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, keeping the best of the latter’s atmospheric tension without falling into melodramatic cliché...A suspenseful Gothic that gives a nod to its predecessors while still being fresh." (Publishers Weekly)

“Moonrise touches all the night notes to make it a suspenseful story and also a romantic one. Kudos to Ms King for getting it right…this is a story that impacts the reader, and its mixture of emotions will linger long after you have closed the book." (Huffington Post Books)

“Though darker than King’s other novels, Moonrise succeeds at what she does best: masterfully weaving a story with threads that bind some characters together while pulling other strands loose. Moonrise dives into the waters of women’s friendships with the same level of honesty readers admire in Margaret Atwood’s “Cat’s Eye” and “The Robber Bride.” Moonrise further cements King’s high standing as a writer of contemporary women’s fiction.” (Charlotte Observer)

Cannot listen to this narrator

I realize narration is very personal. She has a professional manner. But whatever it is that is annoying me...I just cannot take it. Sorry, maybe you could read this book.

Narrator for Tansy Awful.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would definitely have a different narrator for Tansy and the male characters. She read in a monotone, emphasized the wrong words and used a sing-songish method that was very annoying. The narrator for the males made them sound like women which really detracted from their characters. It detracted a lot from my mental vision of the characters.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

How could anyone be as naïve as Helen? The portrayal of her as a bright intelligent woman was not consistent with her naivete' in not seeing the motives of Kit nor would she not be able to figure out that copying a cake recipe from her grieving step-daughters dead mother might not go over so well.

How could the performance have been better?

Different voice for Tansy.

Do you think Moonrise needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed Cassandra King's previous books. This one not so much.

Having a hard time...

What did you like best about Moonrise? What did you like least?

I haven't finished the book yet. I'm struggling through the Tansy parts, which I find VERY irritating! Lilting one's voice up and down the scale does not equal expressive! I find the reader's performance overblown, with too many long, dramatic pauses, and so many vocal acrobatics that my ears have a hard time following the story.

What three words best describe the narrators’s performance?

Tansy reader: Overblown, sing-song, excessively dramatic.

Any additional comments?

Listen before you buy!

The setting & storyline had so much potential. The characters were easy to fall for.

The ending was too abrupt & left unsaid after developing a beautiful the plot. I wanted more!

Pretty torturous for the most part

The story, as mentioned elsewhere, is not all that interesting. The voice of Tanzy is awful to listen to for the most part. But, overall, the mean, petty behavior of these so-called adults just drove me up the wall. Not sure I can finish it as it feels like a waste of my time.