In The Blink Of An Eye (Paperback)

by Wendy Corsi Staub (Author)
Key Phrases: Lily Dale, Wendy Corsi Staub, Ten Summer Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
With this compelling gothic mystery, Staub (The Last to Know) puts a fresh spin on the haunted house formula. Three years after the drowning of his live-in girlfriend, Kristin, Paine Landry is forced to return to Lily Dale, N.Y., a gated resort community of spiritualists and mediums, to settle his former mother-in-law's affairs. Her equally bizarre drowning there makes staying in the dilapidated Victorian inherited by his blind, six-year-old daughter trying for the skeptical Paine, who wants nothing more than to learn the truth behind their deaths. When Paine's daughter and Julia Garrity, Kristin's erstwhile childhood friend and a practicing psychic medium, admit to "seeing" a tortured ghost in the house, Paine decides to sell it back to its former owner, an elderly man whose only wish is to bring his dying wife "home." Too late, Paine and Julia realize that the ghost was trying to warn them of a dangerous force, the same force that claimed Kristin and her mother. Staub deftly weaves several subplots throughout, but a profusion of secondary characters including a pair of bumbling paranormal investigators, Julia's two-timing boyfriend and Kristin's greedy half-brother only serve to complicate an already complex tale. Still, Staub's prose is energetic, and her characters possess enough genuine warmth to keep readers captivated.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
In An Unusual Town...Lily Dale, New York, is no ordinary town. A sleepy summer resort village, it is home to a population of psychics, and the place where Julia Garrity and Kristin Shuttleworth formed a fast friendship that would only be broken...by death. Lies An Old House...Ten Summer Street is no ordinary house. It was in the huge Victorian that Kristin saw something fifteen years ago on Halloween night. Something that would haunt her for the rest of her days. Since then, Julia has watched both Kristin and her mother fall prey to whomever - or whatever - lurks in the big, old mansion...Where Dark Secrets And Death Reside...Now, Kristin's blind six-year-old daughter, Dulcie, has come to live in Lily Dale - at Ten Summer Street. Julia recognizes a kindred spirit in the gifted child who so strongly resembles her lost friend. Appointing herself protector, Julia is determined to coax the secrets of the house out into the light, to discover who the little girl 'sees' roaming its halls - before the murderous force residing there makes them both its next victims. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 446 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786014237
• ISBN-13: 978-0786014231
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #1 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Staub, Wendy Corsi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spooky!, March 3, 2002

By	sbjfap2 (United States) - See all my reviews

This is the fourth book I have read by Wendy Corsi Staub, and as usual, I was not disappointed! This book took place in Lily Dale, a small town in Western New York known for it's spiritualists (less than an hour from my home town, so I am familiar with some of the things she discussed in the book, which made it even more interesting)!. Staub's excellent use of details truly brings the story to life. Characters are very believable. I couldn't put it down once I started it! Truly a great read, turn the night light on after reading this one!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb mix of horror and suspense, March 2, 2002

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In upstate New York lies the gated hamlet of Lily Dale, a quiet summer resort that is inhabited mostly by spiritualists communicating with the spirits of the dead. Fourteen years old Julia and Kristin are enjoying going trick-or-treating until they reach the Biddle home at 10 Summer Street. While there Kristin sees something there so frightening that she withdraws into herself and when her family moves away, she ends all ties to Lily Dale and Julie.

Years later, an adult Kristin returns to Lily Dale to help her mother move into 10 Summer Street. Kristin is later found drowned in the nearby lake even though she was always afraid of water. When Kristen's mother dies, Kristen's daughter Dulcie and the child's father Paine move in to 10 Summer Street so they can prepare the house for sale. Julia, who is now a spiritualist of considerable power, vows to find out the secrets of 10 Summer Street so what happened to Kristen won't happen to her daughter.

Fans of Peter Straub and Stephen King will definitely enjoy reading IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, a work that is equal parts horror and suspense. Wendy Corsi Staub is a superb writer who creates characters that the audience cares about and places them in a tale that starts out at supersonic speed and only gains momentum with each page turned. The finale is shocking and suspenseful leaving the reader feeling that they got their money's worth and more.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VISIONS OF TERROR, March 20, 2002

By	BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The very real hamlet of Lily Dale, New York, known as a center of spiritualism is the setting for this story.

Two young girls, Kristin and Julia are not immune to the spiritual energy that is radiated throughout their community. One Halloween, the girls, then in their teens make a stop at their neighbors', the Biddles, home on 10 Summer Street. Kristin apparently witnesses an apparition that terrified her to the point of silence. She would never disclose the sight that terrified her in that home.

Years later, Kristin has died under mysterious conditions, leaving behind a boyfriend and 6-year-old daughter, Dulcinea (Dulcie). Themes of vision are rampant throughout the book; Dulcie is blinded after a bout with meningitis at age 3. She can "see" Kristin and other spirits who have passed; once she and her father, Paine, return to Lily Dale from California Dulcie is the receipient of many strange visions indeed.

Even Dulcie's name reinforces the visual theme. Dulcinea is the vision of the ideal woman in literature; her very spiritual sensitivity and heightened awareness suggests that her name is very a propos indeed. Lovable, bright and verbally precocious, Dulcie manages to find a permanent place in the hearts of most people who encounter her. Yet...

Was Kristin killed? If so, by whom? And who killed Iris, the former owner of 10 Summer Street? What REALLY brought Paine and Dulcie to Lily Dale from California? Who can they trust?

This masterfully written book is very compelling indeed and the characters will remain in the memories of all who read this book. The series of mysteries are interlocked; each one segues into the next. The writing is brilliant and one is always left several steps behind in trying to figure out just what will take place.