The Grip of It

By: Jac Jemc

Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Michael David Axtell

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Julie and James settle into a house in a small town outside the city where they met. The move - prompted by James' penchant for gambling, his inability to keep his impulses in check - is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to leave behind their usual haunts and start afresh. But this house, which sits between lake and forest, has plans for the unsuspecting couple.

As Julie and James try to settle into their home and their relationship, the house and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The architecture - claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms - becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall - contracting, expanding - and map themselves onto Julie's body in the form of bruises; mold spores taint the water that James pours from the sink. Together the couple embark on a panicked search for the source of their mutual torment, a journey that mires them in the history of their peculiar neighbors and the mysterious residents who lived in the house before Julie and James.

Written in creepy, potent prose, The Grip of It is an enthralling, psychologically intense novel that deals in questions of home: how we make it and how it in turn makes us, inhabiting the bodies and the relationships we cherish.

©2017 Jac Jemc (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Many many words, few few scares

I typically LOVE a good horror story, much to the chagrin of my husband when I awake in bed soaked in night sweats. However, the rather boring narration and overly abstract wording in the book sucked all of the horror right out of it. I had to rewind it at several parts as say "wait. . . was that supposed to be scary?". Half of the time, I'll be honest, I had no idea what was even going on. I remember several points where the author would go into these long overly florid metaphors that didn't even make sense and I would think to myself "what the heck is going on?." It felt like maybe the characters were going insane so I wasn't really supposed to know or understand anything. Maybe I was going insane? I kind of thought so by the time the book was (finally) over. Oh and there really is no ending, just a bunch of little "clues" you can go ahead and piece together yourself and hope the book kind of makes sense. I really just wanted a book with a direct story line where a lot of scary stuff happens, and maybe a couple of night sweats. . . . this wasn't it.

starts strong but never finishes

as much as I wanted to love this book, I didn't find the story all that compelling. starts off of the great premise, but deteriorates into flowery language that leaves the reader more confused than anxious or scared. book starts out with a lot of plot motion but then gets stuck in a cycle that never goes anywhere.

Subtle and creepy

This is one of the better "horror" novels I've read in quite some time. Subtle yet genuinely creepy.

Great story, not a great cast

Loved the story by Jac Jemc! Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s novels! However, the female narrator was not easy to listen to. The male reader was great! Female not so much. She didn’t fit the feel of the story. She would be great for another genre, maybe romance or mystery, just not horror.

Ultimately disappointing

I think the best kind of horror stories build. You get to uncover some mystery in bites and pieces. This novel seemed to stall for a long time in the middle. No new information, just the couple being subjected to the same "haunting," chapter after chapter after chapter.

Julie's narrator was awful but the book was good

The book was creepy and paranormal. Definitely some bone chilling scenes, however Julie's narrator spoke so awkwardly, it made it hard to concentrate on the novel. I kept focusing on how awkward she was speaking and wondering if I was listening to a robot or a human... overall, it's a quick read that gives you the paranormal creep feeling. The ending was sub par. There were no answers to the questions. Maybe that's what makes the book perfectly analytical, because you can create your own ending from the author's story line. However I prefer the book to have the answers to why, rather than have the reader determine that.

Excellent narrators . . .

Suspenseful and intriguing! The readers did a terrific job of bringing the characters to life…very easy to listen to! Great company on a road trip!

Stars Awesome - Ends...Abruptly

S P O I L E R S


This was somewhat of a disappointment at the end.

James and Julie move into a haunted house to run from James’ demons in the city. Unbeknownst to the you couple, the demons in the home they move in to are bigger. Mysterious rooms, odd writing, replicant beings and shadows in rooms, a neighbor who will not stop looking into the home from his window, an overall feeling that something is off, bruises covering Julie’s body, and lapses in time that somehow disappear. This is what you can expect with this book.

It’s a quick read. It’s fast paced and it’s definitely creepy as hell up until the end. The book flips between both peoples perspective of the events occurring giving you both perceptions. Then, sadly, the book outpaces itself and just - ends.

Honestly, I’m fairly certain the scene of James being under the bed, the Julie sex scene with “not James” and the James scene where he sees her standing with the mask on (and she’s in bed when he walks in to get in bed) will probably sit with me for the next several months. Creepy as hell.

When I say it ends - I mean - it just ends. Abruptly. Almost like the author got tired of maintaining the terror and said - okay we’re done here so they’ll just sell the place and move on with their lives like nothing ever happened. Started off with a bang - ended with barely a ripple.

Also question - if the house had such a mold issue - could you sell it? Maybe I missed it but - fairly certain you can’t.

Good if you like a lot of explative

I felt the ending was unsatisfying but I get where the author was going with it.

Ending was a let down, seemed rushed.

Started off great, but the story fell flat at the very end. Ended abruptly and was expecting more.