Hanover House

By: Brenda Novak

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Hanover House....

Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don't they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them?

After having been kidnapped, tortured, and left for dead when she was just a teenager - by her high school boyfriend - she's determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she's established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst.

But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper Sergeant Amarok is one of them. Yet he can't help feeling bad about what Evelyn has been through. He's even attracted to her. Which is partly why he worries.

He knows what could happen if only one little thing goes wrong....

©2015 Brenda Novak, Inc. (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Loves this book!

I am not really a fan of this type of book but I love Brenda Novak so I wanted to give it a try. I loved every minute. I will definitely read the rest of this series.

Great story-HORRIBLE narration

The story is actually really good. Great intro for the next book. However, the narrators voice is horrible. It really makes it hard to get through the book.

Finished in 1 day

Great book. Left me ready for the 2nd one. everything was great. love the relationship between 2 main characters.

Wow - Just Wow!!

This is my first reading of a Brenda Novak book and I can honestly say I now get the hype! She is totally drew me in to the story from the opening chapter. What a talent Brenda has with building interest and suspense with such economy of words. I’m now in it for the duration of the ride to arrive at Blind Spot! My purchase is that book is what spurred me to first read the back story leading up the conclusion. I am really enjoying the develop of all the characters, both the good and bad. Well done Mrs Novak!!

A little more than basic. Likeable character.

A great prequel to what seems like a promising series. Hopefully the rest of the books are more suspenseful but I understand this book was an important part of understanding the series. However, I find the resistance to her having an intimate relationship drawn out.

Hanover House

Hanover House by Brenda Novak is the prequel to The Evelyn Talbot series. I am new to Brenda Novak’s work, and I must say I had a good time with this book. It fueled my desire to pick up the next book in the series. Filled with nail biting suspense and a little creepiness, Hanover House kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Ms. Novak impressed me with the way she delved into the mind of both the victim and the villain, allowing readers to understand their thought processes.

The protagonist Dr. Evelyn Talbot was a victim of a psychopath when she was a teen. Now an established psychiatrist, she has made it her mission in life to figure out what make psychopaths tick. To aid her in endeavours, she created Hanover House where she can study these serial killers.

Persons close to her wanted her to give up her dream because of the danger it posed,, but she refused to allow her fears to control her. The trauma of the event never left her, which drove her desire to delve deeper into the mind of a psychopath. She struggled with socialisation and as a result, persons perceived her to be an ice queen. Sergeant Amarok will discover that this was not the case the more he got to know her.

Amarok had not been keen on the establishment of Hanover House in his district, but he resigned himself to accepting it. In the process, he found himself falling for Evelyn and would do anything to protect her. I enjoyed their interaction, which was steamy and humorous. I loved his patience with Evelyn.

The story featured two psychopaths, the creepiest one being Jasper, Evelyn's ex. He definitely had a sick mind. His obsession with Evelyn was his primary driving force and it fed his lust for killing. I enjoyed getting the POV of the villain as it gave me a bird’s-eye view of his mental capacity.

I enjoyed the pacing of the story. The romance and suspense were well balanced, which I found refreshing.

Narration
Being fairly new to audio books, I have been introduced to a variety of narrators. This is my first time listening to Therese Plummer. I believed she did a good job with the voices.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Despite this being a short story I enjoyed every moment. Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this prequel to what appears to be an exciting and chilling series. I am looking forward to reading Her Darkest Nightmare.

What Makes a Psychopath Kill?

HANOVER HOUSE – A prison for psychopathic serial killers and those who treat them.
This is a prequel to Brenda Novak’s - Evelyn Talbot’s Chronicles. As a teenager Evelyn Talbot’s boyfriend Jasper tortured, raped, and left her for dead with her throat cut along with her three girlfriends.

She dedicated her life to find out what made killers like Jasper tick. She headed up the construction of a prison for high-profile serial killers in Alaska. Not everyone was happy about the prison coming to their community; not with all the psycho killers and the trouble they would cause. The main opponent is State trooper, Sergeant Amarok. A relationship buds, but goes nowhere as Evelyn is still traumatized by what happened in her youth.

The story is graphic and well written and ends leaving you with a lot of questions. Hopefully they are answered in subsequent books.

More romance than thriller

I wanted a thriller but this is Definitely a romance in my book! Good if that’s what you are looking for.

what happened??

Good book but the series left too much unresolved. so many unanswered questions. was disappointed in the end

Okay, I’ll listen to the next

1) Overall okay listen. Solid one or two stars for a significant portion of the book, but enough plot to round to three.
2) At the beginning of the story the romance that buds is disgustingly cliche and is NOT what I would expect from a strong female lead. If that’s not better, I’ll stop after the next book.