Soul-Eater

By: Dana Brookins

Narrated by: Jeffery Lynn Hutchins

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

No one lived in the house in Pellam Woods....

The mansion in Pellam Woods had been shipped in, piece by piece, and reconstructed in the forest at the edge of town. The citizens of Edgar Falls wondered who would build such a grand house in their sleepy little backwater. But the house sat vacant....

Then the dying began....

A mother lights her home ablaze, burning her six children alive....

A young boy drowns himself in a lake....

Twelve-year-old Bobby Topin sensed something evil inside the house. Something that tried to crawl inside his mind. One by one, the townsfolk are falling victim to their darkest impulses. And only Bobby knows that the house where no one lives is home to a malevolent force....

Soul-Eater

©1985 Dana Brookins (P)2018 Eric Hoheisel

Great Story!

The citizens of Egar Falls was your typical small town folks, so when a house was being assembled in Pellam Woods, it brought excitement to the town as they wondered who will bring a house piece by piece and place it in the woods. And from what they were able to find out, the house belonged to someone who once lived in town and this was their way to thank them for the house was to be a museum and they thought it was great. Except for one person. A young boy by the name of Bobby Topin who felt the evil coming from the house, yet no one believed him. One by one people started to die in a tragic death, even his beloved grandfather. This novel is full of suspense, humor and will keep you entertained until the bitter end! The author wrote a great novel and the narrator did an awesome job telling it.

Soul-eater

I gave this book 4 stars, I found it a little hard to follow. The story it’s self jumped from talking in the present to talking in a back story mode. I found this hard to follow. I also didn’t much care for the narrator, he was kinda hard to follow as well, he had frequent pause in his narration, overall he did a good job with the character voices. Dana, has given this book a pretty good storyline, it was fairly interesting. This book was given to me in exchange for a review, Overall I still have to give the book and narrator a 4 star performance. 😉👍

edge of seat

love this book. it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happens next. a house that gets shipped in piece by piece to a town only to possess people in the town causing them to kill. only one boy knows what is going on but will the town listen? NO!

the narrator is awesome and the author is captivating.

Good....ish read.

So this book was good...ish! There were some positives but more negatives yet overall I enjoyed the plot enough to finish it!

I'll get the bad out of the way first. The main thing that bugged me was the number of POVs. It felt like it was chopping and changing too much for any of the characters to be fully developed!! I didn't connect to most of them and didn't really care what happened them. I feel like this could have been so much better had it been told by one person rather than so many! I also found the pacing to be hit or miss. I liked the build up to the house, and when something interesting happens with it, it was fast paced, but every other part was slow going and for the most part boring. I also didn't much like the ending. It just sort of ends. Maybe there's another one lined up, but I wish this had ended better.

Another thing that annoyed me was the whole town felt like a cliched kind of town. There's the obligatory "white trash" with a load of kids, a disabled child that the community feels like it needs to help and a few other characters that had me rolling my eyes. I didn't like when the rich lady rolls up and they were all shocked that she was black! I know it's set in the past, but still!!

Yet despite the negatives, I was still strangely enthralled with the story!! I liked some of the characters, I liked the atmosphere and the way the author builds up to the house, I liked the fact that the house had an effect on everyone and I liked the twist there was! I actually read this quickly enough and did end up enjoying it.

Jeffery Lynn Hutchins did a good job reading this. He was able to capture the personalities of the characters easily and bring each of them to life. He was clear and easy to listen to and I'll have to check out more from him.

I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

This was an interesting book

The biggest drawback to this book it had a lot of audio issues, and I mean alot. other then the drops and 2-4 second skip it was an interesting story not what I would call award-winning however it's worth a listen.

The soul eater will fill you up with . . . terror

Dana Brookins most definately has the chops to write modern horror. In this case, I will say that I don't want to compare Brookins to other others in the genre, but I will just to give you a feel. I am sure most people would say that Brookins writing is similar to Stephen King, but I don't think so. Brookins comes across like Koontz or even Joe R. Landsdale when he was writing The Nightmare People. The writing is crunchy, as in well written and something you'd have to gnaw on to get the full meaning. It is flavorful, if we are going to stick to the food metaphor, and sticks to your ribs when you are finished. The story unfolds one layer at a time, and things are all revealed at the proper speed. This is not a jump scare kind of story, like I say it has depth, layers and some meat on that bone you will be gnawing on later.

Jeffery Lynn Hutchins narrates with a a deep and resounding voice. Yeah, I said resounding. His voice carries a weight I don't see in a lot of narrators today. It has a rich vibrancy and timbre that is pleasant to listen to, and he plays this with just the right accent, with voices to match. I really liked his style, but this is the first time I have listened to him so I don't know what hes "normal" narrator voice sounds like. He is someone I would love to hear again. He was a very nice fit for this book.

The one thing that kind of got me wa the ending. There just didn't seem to be one. Yes the story stopped, but this feels like it wasn't finished. I don't know if there is a sequel planned, or if Brookins felt that the finale was ambiguous enough to just make you think about things. I don't think every story should end with the hero riding off into the sunset, or a they lived happily ever after any more than I do that horror should always end with the thought that the hero failed and that the evil really isn't stopped or slain, but I do like definitive endings. Cliffhangers are ok if they are followed up, and let the reader know that there is a following story to be read. Here, it doesn't feel that way. I oculd have used a better way to tie things up. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Evil House story ... powerfully written

I received a free copy of this title and freely offer this honest review.
Dana Brookins's powerful writing captures the listener's attention from the outset. Brookins masterfully switches POV between the characters to reveal how the house attracts and seems to possess each one.
Jeffery Hutchins's voicing presents an innocent observer that keeps the listener hoping for the evil Soul Eater to be exposed and explained. Hutchins creates recognizable characters and appropriate emotions for each. A heavier, brooding narrator would have spoiled the listen. This is just right, to compel the listener to keep listening to the very end of this 10 hr book, always hoping to find who is behind this gift to the town. I was disappointed when Brookins revealed the Evil of the house, just as Bobby Topin had known all along.

great haunted house

Great haunted house story. Very detailed and great character development. I do think it could been a little shorter.

Soul Eater

A mansion is being erected in the forest of Edgar Falls, every original part of the mansion, brought in piece by piece. There are a few words to describe this mansion. Spacious, gorgeous, the envy of all, and vacant except for the evil that dwells inside.

With his deep rich voice Jeffery Lynn Hutchins brings this story to life in a frightening way.

I received a copy of this audible free at my request. All comments in my review are strictly my own thoughts and opinions

Didn't Like It

I don't like saying anything bad or give a bad review but this one I just didn't like. I didn't like the story line and for me this story just did not hold my interest at all..