Malefic

House of Souls, Book 2

By: Ambrose Ibsen

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

“Something is watching from behind the walls....”

The move into 889 Morgan Road was supposed to be a fresh start for Joseph Dubois and his family. What they got instead was a nightmare.

Dark shadows in the halls are only the beginning. At night, guttural noises issue from behind the walls, and the family reports seeing a terrifying figure wandering the premises. Desperately seeking someone with experience in supernatural matters, Joseph calls upon his uncle, Marcel.

Retired surgeon Marcel Dubois has a special gift: The ability to communicate with his dead wife. Harnessing this gift allows him to plumb the depths of the afterlife and to confront the paranormal. Arriving in Detroit, Marcel seeks to uncover the truth about the strange figure seen in his nephew's new house.

But when his questions are finally answered, Marcel finds himself at the center of a horror without parallel.

The House of Long Shadows seeks another lodger.

Malefic is the second novel in the House of Souls series.

©2018 Ambrose Ibsen (P)2018 Ambrose Ibsen

Love

Love this series! Can’t wait to start the third book. Definitely recommend the House of Souls series

This One's A Winner

Though, as I've said before and I'm sure I'll say again, it's literally impossible to go wrong with an Ambrose Ibsen / Joe Hempel combination. I can honestly say that I will listen to absolutely anything that comes from this duo!

'Malefic' is a fun follow up to book 1, 'The House of Long Shadows,' though I do think you should read book 1 first to get the full effect of this one. If you like super natural horror stories, then I really don't know why you wouldn't listen to this one. It's a pretty fabulous one!!!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Chilling

This book is spooky, scary and just plain creepy. It is exactly what I expected! The narrator did an excellent job as usual. I didn’t want it to end and when it did, I wanted more. I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out. This author is the best horror writer in my opinion and the narrator never disappoints.

This house gets creepier and creepier

The house of long shadows was terrifying. The story takes place ten years later. The house and it’s inhabitants have grown even more powerful than before. After all, they have fresh spirits to feed off of. More of the houses history comes to light in this macabre tale. A family has now moved in and they have connections to the other side that the other inhabitants never had. So this help them or hasten their demise? What will become of this new family? What will become of the house of longshadows at a ghastly inhabitants? I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

this is my favorite book

I love the haunting storyline and it kept my wanting more and the details on characters and house was amazing 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Pretty good, could've been great

Overall, I feel like I enjoyed this book slightly less than the first in the series. I really like Joe Hempel but I'm not a fan of the halting, jerky way he chose to narrate/speak as the Marcel character (other characters he doesn't do this). In general, this storyline moved faster and fit more "story" in than the first book but I feel like there were several elements that could've been much more interesting (e.g. Constance) if they were explored in more depth.

Don't Buy the Cheap House in a Nice Neighborhood

Follow on to the first book titled, The House of Long Shadows. While this is a series, this book stands alone quite well and while you would miss out on the origins of the house, you get enough of a recap to understand what is going on. Ambrose Ibsen does really good series so I would recommend that you start with the first one, just so you get to experience all this haunted house has to offer. The neat thing about this story is that while this is based on the same haunted house from the first book, it is taken in a completely different direction and provides both a great story and more explanation about the haunting.

The plot to this book is quite a bit different from the first story and is a bit more like a standard haunted house story, something Ibsen has perfected. I really liked how Dr. Marcel interacted with the ghost world through his deceased wife. That piece of the plot was something I wish there was more to and I hope it continues into the next book. The one thing I was thinking the entire time I was listening was that I want an uncle like Dr. Marcel.

Much like the first book in the series, there are not a lot of characters. Those who are in this are fleshed out quite well and you can’t help but root for Dr. Marcel. His nephew seemed weak and inept and his inability to handle the situation made me dislike him. Dr. Marcel reminded me of the original Van Helsing, an older and fairly competent paranormal hunter, helping out his inexperienced nephew by taking on a task way out of his league. Even though he might not be as competent as he needs to be to tackle the house, he is someone I would want on my side. I really hope to see more of Dr. Marcel in the next story. Lastly there is Fiona, one of the evil presences who happens to share my daughter’s name. Been looking at her closely lately to make sure her imaginary friends are just that, imaginary.

The Ibsen – Hempel team is fantastic. The two work very well together and between Hempel’s fantastic narration and Ibsen’s ability to create tension, I couldn’t stop listening. Hempel provided, as always, a narration that brings you into the story and provides the right amount of emotion and personality to each character. I was super excited to start this book and now that I’m done I can’t wait for the next.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Another win for Ambrose Ibsen

I am a huge fan of Ambrose Ubsen and Love it when Joe Hemple reads to me. Both are amazing.

This is the 2nd book in the House Of Souls series. The book picks up decades after Flipper Kevin Taylor succumbs to the house he was remodeling to flip. This time a young family has moved into the house and the horrors continue.

Original, engaging and fun sequel to The HoLS

Malefic, Book 2 in the House of Souls trilogy was a terrific sequel to the original House of Long Shadows book. I think I might actually say that I liked Malefic even more! If you haven't read/listened the first book, I would definitely recommend it prior to reading/listening to this one. The book definitely holds it's own as a standalone if you haven't listened to the first book, but knowing the first story adds to the listening enjoyment of Malefic. Joseph and his family are a hot mess. They're convinced that crazy things are happening in their house. Joseph call upon his elderly Uncle Marcel to come and check things out, as he knows that his uncle has a interest and a bit of experience in the supernatural. Marcel books a flight and makes his way to Detroit and that's when the fun starts...

I loved this book. Mr. Ibsen always, always comes up with new and unique twists with his novels and this one is no exception. Without giving away any spoilers, I'll say that I loved the addition of Constance and how things were tied in throughout the book with whatever or whoever was in the house. Just a really solid story and I didn't see the ending coming until the very end and then it all made sense. Oh, and the ending wasn't just some random ending that you couldn't look back upon to see the...writing on the wall...It was a well thought out and carefully planned ending that tied into this that had happened throughout the book. I'd recommend this series to anyone that lives a good supernatural thriller.

Joe Hempel did a great job narrating Malefic. He always surprises me with how versatile his narrations are. For example, in The House of Long Shadows, he played the main character with a voice of that of a younger man so well. Then in Malefic, he voiced Marcel, who is an older gentleman, perfectly as well. He handles the other characters, including female characters just a well and I never find his narrations distracting or taking away from the story. Just a solid, entertaining narrator that I know will do a great job. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

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Great Haunt!

For those looking for a good scare, get this book! it's not a King book, but nevertheless it will make you wonder what's hiding in your walls at night. Check it out!