Possessed [Hardcover]

Kate Cann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

A dark, gothic tale set in modern-day England, this thriller love story will captivate fans of Twilight and Wicked Lovely.

Rayne can't wait to start her summer job at a remote country mansion, far from the crowded, noisy London she so desperately wants to escape. But the retreat soon turns into a nightmare -- the mansion is creepy, the legends of ghosts keep Rayne up at night, and she doesn't feel safe anywhere.

Can Rayne figure out why she's so freaked -- before she becomes a ghost story herself?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Rayne Peters hates being poor and cramped in London, so she leaves her tough-guy boyfriend and whining mother for a waitressing job at the mysterious and overgrown Morton’s Keep. Immediately upon arriving at the manor she is struck by the sense of menace and foreboding emanating from the place. As she learns her job, she also learns the Keep’s unpleasant history, including the cycles of sadistic violence that have occurred in the house because of its original owner. Rayne can feel something building, and it appears that the next cycle is about to begin. This atmospheric and deliciously chilling British import gets off to a quick start, and readers will empathize with the very likable 16-year-old protagonist, who is clearly out of her element. Gothic touches (gloves embroidered with tortured faces), local lore (morris dancers and fire brigades), and a darkly handsome (and very evil) young man are all excellent ingredients for a bewitching brew. With a minimum of actual bloodshed, this supernatural delight can even be enjoyed by the faint of heart. Grades 9-12. --Cindy Welch

Review

Praise for Possessed

"[A]tmospheric and deliciously chilling." — Booklist

"[A] spooky mystery." — Publishers Weekly

"Deftly striking just the right balance between the horror of the supernatural and the reality of human nature gone awry, Possessed will keep readers turning the pages... A highly readable and wonderfully frightening tale." — School Library Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Point; First Edition edition (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545128129
• ISBN-13: 978-0545128124
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Diversionary Read, December 26, 2009

By 

Karl Bielefeldt (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Possessed (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

As a 34 year-old father of three, I'm not exactly in the target demographic, but still found "Possessed" very entertaining. The suspense was very well done and the concept of recognizing good and evil was explored in an interesting way. Much of the story took place in the protagonist's head in a way that makes you wonder whether she was imagining the danger or not. The typical ingredients in juvenile fiction of teens' struggle for independence and for figuring out their relationships were there without falling into the all-too-common modern author's trap of trying to be too edgy. I wouldn't be uncomfortable letting my children read this, but neither is it so tame they wouldn't enjoy it.

After such an excellent build-up of suspense, my one criticism is that the conclusion seemed a little weak in comparison. However, everything wrapped up nicely, and overall the writing was very solid. It was a great diversionary read for my Christmas break.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much fun, I finished in two days!, December 10, 2009

By 

Hedera Femme (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Possessed (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

When I opened the book, I was not initially impressed. The urban British dialect was a little odd at first, and the main characters felt off-putting, but this changed very quickly. Main character Rayne was frustrated with exactly those surroundings--her boyfriend, her single-parent mother and small child, the noise, the street culture. Her longing to escape all this takes her out to the country where begins her new life working at the old and mysterious Morton's Keep.

The pacing perfectly builds suspense, never feeling forced or contrived and tempered by subtlety, and the "teen angst" subplot doesn't feel obnoxious as it so easily does, text messages notwithstanding. The characters are developed just enough to be believable, but very much in the style of a movie, not so much that it weighs down the story's progression. (In another genre, that might be an issue, but for a ghost story, it works very well.)

"Possessed" quickly becomes a page-turner that, for someone like me, makes you just a little afraid of the dark. I recommend it for both teens and adults as a very fun, light read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Keep Thinking It Is Going Somewhre, May 18, 2010

By 

Sistertex (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Possessed (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This book was an easy read, I didn't see any problem with the dialect. It is nicely written but the storyline, I feel is fairly weak. Rayne is a teenage girl who wants a change in her life and doesn't seem to feel that she can find it with her boyfriend or family members. In order to get away and stay away from them and the 'big city life' of London she seems to take on the role of serious 'story teller'. In other words lying becomes pretty much a habit for her to keep everyone at home off her back and on the back burner in case she 'needs' them again. Takes a live-in job in a fairly far away place and the issues ensue from that point on, none of which really seemed all that daunting and mysterious. Basically it was an easy read and I kept reading it thinking 'ok something is going to happen anytime...anytime now.' But honestly nothing much did until about the last fifth of the book. I didn't really think the characters were very deep and this was one of the things that made the book feel so shallow. Even when the 'end' comes you are still not feeling very mystified, scared, or any of the emotions that so often accompany a really good book.

This book is ok for a quick summer read, it wasn't horrible, it was just 'ok'. Certainly fine to read if you have nothing else going on and someone gives it to you. I have seen worse in that it wasn't necessarily boring either...it just seemed to never really turn the corner to 'a real page turner'.