Starter House audiobook

Starter House by Sonja Condit is William Morrow publication and is scheduled for release in December 2013.I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.Lacey and Eric are a married couple expecting their first child and looking for the perfect "Starter House". When Lacey sees the house on Forrester Lane she thinks the house "speaks" to her. The real estate agent really tries to talk them out of buying this house and even pleads with the owner not to sell it to them, especially since Lacey is pregnant. But, the owner has no qualms about selling and gives the young couple a good bargain.Right away Lacey feels like this is "her" house. But, she is also seeing a little boy, that being a teacher, she senses he is trouble. But, she sort of befriends him.Eric, is a trust fund baby, but now he doesn't have a trust fund. He has a job as the low man on the pole in his uncle's law firm. His first case is a divorce case in which a man that maybe a little slow, who thinks his wife is not caring for their small daughter and wants a custody of his daughter. So Eric sets to work on the case.But, the marriage become strained when Lacey begins to have trouble with her pregnancy and the money issues start to weigh on Eric. So, Eric calls Lacey's eccentric mother to live with them for awhile.Things begins to go from bad to worse with Lacey having vivid dreams and spending more and more time with the little boy only she can see.This is an above average haunted house/ ghost story. Lacey's pregnancy plays a big part in story as does the case Eric is working on.A feeling of unease starts off slowly, and then builds and builds.There are some twist that are unique for a ghost story, and obviously a lot of thought was put into it.I wish this book had been released around Halloween. It would make a perfect holiday read.Overall this one gets a B.

For debut author Sonja Condit, STARTER HOUSE is a knock-out, hands down. What starts out as a ghost story, transforms into a mystery--yet, ghosts and mysteries are often inexplicably intertwined, no? Beautifully written, with care and detail to every word, every sentence, STARTER HOUSE is a story of a young, married couple--he's a newbie attorney and she's a 4th teacher on leave as she prepares for the birth of their first baby. Looking for a home in fictional Greeneburg, S.C. is no easy task. The couple has seen too many to count, none of which have the charm and durablity our protagonist, Lacey is lookin for. We learn she comes from a single-mother household, a mother who is slighy cooky with a penchant for moving around. Lacey wants a permanent place to lay down roots. Ah yes, the colonial cottage will do! But not so fast. Despite warnings from the realtor and future neighbors, Lacey and her husband plonk down the cash for the cottage--getting the goods at a steal. Yet, strange--cruel--things happen within the walls of this perfect little home. When Lacey "befriends" the young ghost, the story escalates. Blood, fear, unborn babies, trailer-trash law suits, and more ensue as Lacey and her mother--along with a stinky poodle--try to make sense of the starter house. Meanwhile, Lacey's husband is skeptical of these ghostly claims. Condit does a fantastic job of capturing the newness, the anxiety over a first pregnancy, interjecting sensations and memories I thought were long behind me since my youngest was born 7 years ago. At times, I found it hard to sympathize with both Lacey and her husband (Eric), and found their marriage to be somewhat of a mess, but since the overall story was focused more on the house--and the ghosts that lie there--take that literally and figuratively--I didn't dwell on the marriage too much. I found THE STARTER HOUSE TO be a stunning debut and can't wait to read more for Ms. Condit.

Lacey and her husband, Eric are house hunting. Lacey finds the perfect house. This house has a history, It is known as a murder house. It is evil. Everyone one that has lived here prior has moved. They all have one thing in common. All the women who lived in the house never gave birth to a child. The house feeds on them. Lacey soon realizes why when she meets Drew. Drew is a ghost in the house. He starts to get violent towards Lacey to the point that she fears for her unborn baby's life. She must figure out what happened to Drew before she becomes the house's next victim. If you are looking for a really good book to read, then you don't need to look any further than Sonja Condit's Starter House. I instantly became enthralled by this book. While I enjoyed everyone who was featured in this book, my favorite parts were involving Lacey and Drew. These scenes were haunting and exciting to read. I was trying to figure out Drew's story before Lacey. I kind of had a clue but had not fully put all the pieces together before she did. I have to give it up to Lacey however as I don't know I would have stayed in the house as long as she did with a ghost that wanted to harm my baby. Plus you know things are crazy when your mom, who is a bit of a kook herself does not believe you when you tell her that you are just playing a game of chutes and ladders with a ghost. Starter House will have you thinking twice before purchasing a home without knowing its past history.

Okay, so, you know the feeling when you're reading a really, really intense book and you get incredibly annoyed when the people in your "real" life interrupt you with unimportant issues like dinner and laundry and sleep? And then, when you finally put the book down, you realize that your neck and back are sore because you have been sitting so tensely hunched up, holding your breath in suspense?Well, that's the kind of book Starter House by Sonja Condit was for me. I loved this debut novel, which is by turns beautiful, haunting, heart-breaking, and just plain scary.Without giving too much away, the basic premise of the story is that newly pregnant Lacey and her husband Eric move into what they think is their perfect "starter house." On the evening that they move in, Lacey lies on the front lawn to this description of the summer evening:"When the wind brushed her face, the blades rubbed against each other, sharing friendly news. Bees worked the blossoms of the tall purple clover and the short white clover, the small sweet buttercups....Children's voices rang, far off." Sonja Condit captivates the reader, along with Lacey, with the sense of beauty and welcome that initially surround the house. However, in short order, strange things begin to occur, when Lacey meets a mysterious neighborhood boy named Drew. Lacey's dreams for the future twist into nightmares as she becomes involved with something evil and dangerous in the house.I loved so many things about this novel. First of all, the writing is gorgeous. This makes for a unique kind of scary ghost story, because the novel manages to be both lyrical and terrifying. Condit's lovely prose gives the novel a unique and haunting quality. Also, Condit has created compelling characters, especially her main character of the pregnant Lacey. Lacey is intelligent and courageous, and it is interesting to see how she uses her knowledge as a teacher of troubled children in her dealings with Drew. On top of this, there is definitely an intriguing mystery element to the story. We know that there is something evil in the house, but we, along with Lacey, don't know exactly what it is, why it is there, or what it wants. Lacey's investigation into the tragic history of the house is enjoyable to follow. And, as mentioned above, especially for the last third of the book, it is almost impossible to stop reading. Starter House is one of the most gripping novels I have read in years, all-consuming in a way that is somewhat comparable to how I felt when I read Gone Girl, although the two books are nothing alike. I marvel at how Condit is able write a story that manages to be both absolutely beautiful, and absolutely terrifying.There are also a few things in the story that I was less sure about. I had a hard time figuring out Eric, Lacey's husband. He had a lot of unlikeable qualities, and I really wasn't sure whether I wanted him and Lacey to stay together or split up after the traumas that they endured. I felt that perhaps his personality could have been portrayed more clearly (either positively or negatively), because as it was, I felt ambivalent about the way things turned out between them.Secondly, and this is a tiny, miniscule, thing, but there was one line in the novel, about 2/3 of the way through, which was sexually crude and clashed with the tone the rest of the narrative. The sentence was not crucial to the plot, and I literally read it over several times in confusion, because it seemed so out of place in this story. I will be interested to see if other readers react to it like I did. What bothered me about the sentence was not its inherent crudeness; I have read plenty of gritty, violent, thrillers, but rather that it seemed to disrupt the haunting tone that Condit had so carefully constructed in this novel, the fine line between beauty and tragedy, which was part of what gave it so much impact.And finally, Sonja Condit currently lives in South Carolina, but grew up in both Canada and the UK. Starter House is set in a fictitious town in South Carolina, but I often found myself feeling like it was set in Britain. To me, this wasn't a bad thing, because I love stories set in the UK. I simply found it interesting that Starter House had a decidedly British tone, despite its North American location.All that said, I highly recommend this book. I checked it out from the library, but I plan to buy it, because it is a novel that I want to add to my treasure trove of favorites. And I hope Sonja Condit starts writing her next book right away, because I can't wait to read more of her stories.

Intelligently written throughout, Sonja Condit's Starter House is everything a psychological thriller should be; both tense and suspenseful while maintaining a natural believability that sucks you in despite yourself; makes you believe all is safe and well, while somewhere, deep in the dark recesses of your mind, your prefrontal cortex is frantically trying to puzzle through and dissect the horror that you know is lurking behind a corner. Starter House's storyline somehow manages to be forthright while at the same time, its edges blur into something shifty and unconscionable; duplicitous. An urban legend that knows you by name.At times I found this title terrifying to the point that I had to consciously relax my body and unfurl my tightly clenched fists. Her characters, from the protagonist, to antagonist and everyone in between each showed unique tenderness and depth of character with a complexity that evolved as the story progressed; they were strangely captivating and singularly deceptive in their seeming straightforwardness. Full of subtleties that twist the plot, events maintain a level of truthfulness that is disarming, making it easy to doubt the existence of the monsters that most certainly are hiding under the bed, until, too late, you realize they've swallowed you whole.A lovely story; a touching, terrifying read.

Back in February I attended Bookmarks Moveable Book Feast. I purchased Starter House after reading the back of the book. I was accidentally fortunate enough to meet the author. She was interesting and really got me excited to read her book. Because it's a ghost story, I decided to save it and read it this month. Nothing like a good ghost story for October, right?It's Sonja's first book, so my expectations were a little low. But I must tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. Or rather pleasantly scared, which is what I was hoping for. It's so hard to write ghost stories involving a house that's being haunted. I mean, why do people stay in the house, right? First sign of ghostly disturbance I'm out of there!So yes, the main character made some stupid choices. But that didn't overly bother me. I was very interested in finding out what happened and why. And honestly, the ending is very different.

If you're a fan of ghost/haunted house stories like I am, this is a must read.

Really enjoyed this a lot! It was the kind of horror that suits me perfectly, interesting, but not too outlandish. Listened to audio with the Cassandra Campbell

Wow. I've been an avid reader of suspense and horror since I was a Young child and over the years, a lot of plots sound so much the same that it's very rare for a book In this genre to actually invoke genuine "edge of your seat" nail biting suspense, and actually give me the heebie jeebies but this book reminded me of how much I miss that feeling because it brought it all....big time. I can barely believe the is her début book....it shows a VERY promising future if her following books are as well written and masterfully thought out. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in many years. It's going to be one of those precious few that I will read over again more than once. I highly recommend that you don't pass this experience by...I would recommend this book to anyone... Even those who don't normally read this genre. Pure genius and I'm waiting with baited breath for the next book she puts out!

I actually really enjoyed this one. I had put off reading it for a while due to some negative reviews, but I found it to be better than anticipated. What is handled well here is the tension among family (and extended family) and the way the characters interact with each other. More is left unspoken than told, which i also like. The ghost story aspect felt a little clunky at first, but that portion also came together as the book progressed. The character development was realistic, the pacing was good, and the story itself was well designed. No real complaints here other than the lack of “chilling” bits. While this could be classified as a horror/thriller, i found it to be much more of a character study. Not a homerun by any means, but worth a read.

Eric and Lacey are the embodiment of every day experiences and life. They are very different people but equally perfect for one another. Eric keeps Lacey grounded, and she keeps him adventurous. When they finally find a house they can agree on, for a lot less than they originally planned to spend, they jump at the opportunity. However, never judge a house by its first appearance. Terrible things happened in that house, and a lot of those things reflect Eric and Lacey's deepest fears.

WowI don’t even know what to say but WOW. This book sucked me in almost immediately. I found myself staying up late at night when I needed to sleep for work, just to read “one more chapter”. It was creepy and eerie and clever and well written and I felt everything the main character did. This is not your average ghost story. It had a lot of depth and emotion and a really good twist.

Starter House is vastly underrated and deserves a much higher average rating than it currently has. This is a solid ghost story with many themes, ranging from the isolation of a difficult pregnancy to how haunted we can become from our past actions and mistakes. I particularly enjoyed the book’s resolution and everything it symbolized. To avoid spoilers, I’ll only say that I think some readers didn’t understand its intended symbolism and impact, and that’s definitely a shame.

I first started this about a year ago and it creeped me out so much I had to put it away. This time I was hooked very quickly, no idea what changed, but I flew through it in less than 3 days. It's gripping, creepy whether you believe or not but it also explores so much more than just a haunted house. Relationships between couples, parents and children, mental health, anxiety and so much more.