Customer Reviews

Moonshadow (Candleglow)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Justine brings the doctor's daughter Madeleine, his new bride, to Steyning Hall after only a six-week courtship. Madeleine had expected a country home, not this imposing, gloomy castle. Nor did she expect to live with ghosts and frightening family history. The sensation of eyes watching quickly gives way to something far more sinister, as Madeleine's dreams begin an account of the past, each night like a chapter from a book.

Justine keeps both his past and much of his present a secret. Servants eventually tell Madeleine of Justin's parent's mysterious deaths, but he never alludes to them. A dinner conversations gives indication of his dangerous occupation when away from home. In addition, Justine does not believe that Madeleine's strange dreams result from any ghostly specters. Rather, he blames her geographical change and adjustment to marriage. As past and present meld for Madeleine, however, the possibility of danger mounts.

While the path is predictable, the journey is pleasant, as two narratives link the traitorous past to the dangerous present in Penelope Neri's MOONSHADOW. Neri's narrative borrows from all the classic gothic techniques to present a surprisingly light-hearted read, maintaining its gothic roots despite its light, sensuous treatment. Indeed, ghosts walk, dreams tell of the past, and betrayal lurks where least expected, but the truly frightening elements seldom appear, leaving the reader with a delightful, slightly offbeat, yet highly entertaining read.

Madeleine knows she is a nothing, just a mere daughter of a country doctor. Justin is one of the leading nobles in the area. However, somehow she and Justin, Lord de Harcourt meet, begin to see each other, fall in love, and marry in six weeks. Now she heads with her new spouse to his home at foreboding Steying Hall.

Her arrival at her husband's home seems eerie to the frightened woman as she begins seeing ghosts, especially of victims of Justin's ancestors. The visits while awake and asleep increase when Justin goes off to work for his government and assist the French nobility escaping the terror. When he returns, he scoffs at her sightings until he realizes that someone, living or dead, wants to murder his wife. Justin willingly risks his own life to try to keep his beloved safe.

Penelope Neri provides her readers with an exciting ghostly historical romance that never slows down until the truth is revealed. The story line haunts the reader with its Gothic late eighteenth century isolated feel as the audience spookily hears the MOONSHADOW with every turn of the page.

Harriet Klausner

I have read and enjoyed a number of books by this author. This was a forced, superficial, pathetic attempt at writing. I only finished it - in speed-reading mode - because I wanted to see if the writing improved, even a little bit. It did not. The story was corny, the characters one-dimensional. Usually when I find a book laborious to read, I either don't finish it, or I thumb through it to see the end. I don't write a review like this one. In fact, I have only written one other negative review out of dozens I have posted. However, I felt strongly that I should warn any unsuspecting potential readers.

Have you ever seen a movie that was so incredibly corny and stupid, you couldn't stop laughing? That's how I felt reading this book! It was like watching a train wreck--so horrifyingly bad that I can't look away, curious as to whether it will get worse. And, in the case of MOONSHADOW, it does.

I'm really not exagerating here. The characters are like something out of a Mel Brooks film. By page twenty-five, I was stricken with the urge to bop the hero, Justin, on the head when he told the heroine, "There's nothing to worry your pretty little head about," and then told her to "run along." The really sad thing is that this was all in earnest. The "love" scenes made wince in order to keep from vomitting, and the way the book is structured is confusing.

All in all, this has to be one of the worst books published this year. It has to be read to be believed how awful it is, but I won't recommend it simply because that would be cruel.

I took MOONSHADOW to Orlando in Florida while I was down there on vacation last week. I spent numerous hours reading poolside with this thriller.(The only problem was the sunburn I received from being so engrossed with the characters that I didn't stop to put sunscreen lotion on!!) I thought this was a great novel, it kept me guessing till the very end. Most exciting and at times -- chilling!

I thought this was one of Neri's better ones, she really makes the characters come alive, even the ones from beyond the grave! It's very different from her typical historicals!

Try Master of Midnight, Enchanted, Stolen, or Scandals.