Craven Manor

Darcy Coates is one of my favorite writers, with a writing style that never lags and offers original takes on whatever she is writing. Craven Manor is no exception. While satisfying the genre conventions of the gothic novel, it offers fresh turns and surprises and likable characters in a unique situation. It's more intriguing than scary, but is a very enjoyable read due to its beautifully written prose and compelling story.

I really liked this book. Daniel is a perhaps overly compassionate character, naive and definitely too trusting. He's always putting others before himself. He's also really down on his luck. After his grandmother died, he went through a period of homelessness. His cousin took him in, and he was earning enough for rent by working whatever odd jobs he could scrounge up, but then his cousin brought in another roommate. Fortunately for Daniel, after he'd been relegated to the too-small couch so the new roommate could have his room, he did have another option. A very strange job offer---an envelope slid under the door, with his name on it, offering him the position of caretaker at an isolated, abandoned mansion. Eventually he gets to meet the reclusive, mysterious owner. There are mysteries surrounding the family history, and Daniel tries to unravel events that happened two hundred years earlier. The story unfolds in a satisfying way. We piece together the clues along with Daniel. There is genuine suspense, as Daniel tries to figure out if his employer is a hero or a villain. I did get a little tired of Daniel getting beat up. The guy kept getting his head slammed into the wall or the marble floor or whatever. That's what it seemed like, anyway. I remember thinking, "Oh no, not again." But that is the only criticism. A great read!

Bought two copies of this for christmas gifts to a couple friends, they both loved it a lot. I bought it a couple of years ago and also enjoyed it.

Not gory or scary. I enjoyed the story. The writing was competent. Not a great book but a pleasant diversion.

This book was marvelous. It is everything I want in a book. Haunted house. Ghosts. Well drawn characters. A smashing plot. I don't want to give away any secrets in the book. I was going to buy a different book by this author, but a reviewer gave away who/what the antagonist was and ruined it for anyone who read her review.. What's the point of reading it then? I will say that the story and the characters are written so that they are believable. The book is what I would call scary but not gory. I don't like torture and reading about the details of what some horrible kook does to other people. I appreciated Ms. Coates' ability to scare without resorting to cheap tricks. The protagonist is someone I cared about and there was a mystery I was anxious to see explained and resolved. I listened to this book while driving from Florida to Texas and the trip was made so much easier because I was thoroughly invested in the characters and the plot. In fact, I was on an exit ramp when I received a text and the sudden unexpected sound made me nearly jump out of my skin. I felt a great sense of satisfaction when the book was concluded and the person who read the story did a really good job. I think there was one curse word and no sex. I get so tired of authors who pepper their stories with such things. It is truly a talented author who can eschew those cheap tricks. There was a story to tell and it was told without burdening the book with unnecessary details that would not have moved the plot along. The book was such a delight.

Daniel is a good man, but a desperate man. Employment is hard to come by. So money? Even harder. When we first meet our protagonist, he's living with his jerk cousin, Kyle, after having been homeless for six months. Obviously, Daniel is desperate to stay off the streets. He earns money wherever he can, but it's not enough for Kyle. Daniel has a stroke of luck. He receives a mysterious letter from a man named Bran offering an on-site groundskeeper job at Craven Manor. In his desperation, Daniel gives it a try. Now, this series of events may beggar belief. Unless you've hit rock bottom and have nothing to live for (which doesn't describe Daniel at all), why would you accept such a mysterious offer? The plot point itself feels contrived. Press on. As the story progresses, you get a good idea of what kind of man Daniel is, and that kind is the good kind. Generous, thoughtful, loyal, brave, and compassionate, Daniel is driven to help those around him and pay his fair share, and eventually, to help the residents of Craven Manor. In all this, you get the sense that Daniel isn't very bright. The plot point with the letter is one of the earliest examples. Another good example is that Daniel still is quite loyal to Kyle, despite Kyle being a jerk to him and nearly costing Daniel...a lot. Daniel is quite credulous as well. Questions and answers pile up, but are the answers the right ones? Has Daniel been asking the right questions in the first place? Who's a friend and who's a foe? Daniel will insert himself into a 200-year-old family drama and find out the hard way. "Things that die here have a tendency to linger." Craven Manor is a solid book. It's nice seeing a character who's essentially good but not slick and smart like most protagonists are. The settings are sufficiently creepy, some of the descriptions will absolutely ignite your mind's eye. All that said, Craven Manor isn't that scary. I was hoping for something more scary after reading some of this author's other works.

Ich liebe ihre Geschichten. Immer wieder gruselig und schön zu lesen!

I liked the style of writing, it is so easy and smooth. It will keep you wanting for more until you finish it in a day! Would recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of mystery.

I love reading most specially when it's scary thing.

Great read captured me from beginning to end. Very well put together without loosing the horror of it all. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

I have read two of darcy coates books the carrow haunt and the house next door but this has to be the best book I've read for a long time from the ist few pages I was gripped I couldn't wait to find out what happened next to Daniel and the characters were so believable the story was easy to picture I got totally lost in to the book I found myself eagerly wanting the end to be a good one.and I loved the twist with the cat, highly recommended this book if your a huge darcy coates fan like myself even if you haven't read any start with this one.ive just ordered my next darcy coates kindle book and I am excited to start!