The Torment of Rachel Ames Review! #RACHELAMES

The Book
Suffering from writer’s block, novelist Rachel Ames escapes to a lake cabin to calm her mind and regain a sense of herself. The location is perfect. Isolated. Beautiful. Inspiring. It even comes with a good-looking landlord who shows an interest in her. But she can’t shake the sense that something terrible has followed her to the lake, something just beyond her consciousness, something out on the edge where the sounds of a raging fire and sirens linger whenever she slows down to listen. Determined to make the cabin work, she tries to settle in and give her new life a chance. But when strange things begin to happen around her, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake. As the darkness that’s followed her manifests itself in inexplicable ways, her concept of reality is stretched thin and she realizes nothing at the lake is what it seems. As she fights to survive with her sanity intact, she understands too late that the location she’s chosen for herself is far from perfect.

The Author
Jeff Gunhus is the author thriller and horror novels for adults and the middle grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. His books for adults have reached the Top 100 on Amazon and have been Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalists.

After his experience with his son, he is passionate about helping parents reach young reluctant readers and is active in child literacy issues. As a father of five, he leads an active lifestyle in Maryland with his wife Nicole by trying to constantly keep up with their kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel. 

The Review
The Torment of Rachel Ames is a dark, psychological thrilller in the form of a novella so there is a lot of story told in this short format. Rachel Ames has hit a roadblock in her career as a novelist. When offered the opportunity to go to a cabin on the lake, she is eager for a change. 

Rachel is tormented by things that she can't control. She feels like she is going insane as she experiences things that she can't explain, a creepy neighbor across the lake, a handsome landlord and strange things in her vision. Will Rachel be able to overcome these issues and be able to write again? Why is she having these visions?

What a creepy story, I read this novella fast, not wanting to put it down. Just when I thought I had it figured out and hoped for a happily ever after ending, bam, something else would happen to through me off. Of course I never saw the ending coming, it was one of those jaw dropping moments and then a big wow! I didn't really care for Rachel, until the ending and then it all made sense. 

If you are looking for a short story that packs a wollop, this is it. I highly recommend it!

I received a copy from the author and was not monetarily compensated for my thoughts.