Title: The House on Abigail Lane

Author: Kealan Patrick Burke

Release date: June 17th, 2020

Kealan Patrick Burke is a man of many hats; writer, cover designer and one of the most engaging authors on Twitter.
His new releases are always cause for celebration, and so it was that the horror world erupted in jubilation when Tracy aka @tracy_reads79 essentially leaked the secret that a new book had been unleashed. There was almost a palpable rush to Amazon, as more and more people caught on that Tracy wasn’t reading an ARC (advanced readers copy) but was in fact reading a book that Kealan had released without any pre-release build up.
The cover was both stark but intriguing. Featuring sunflowers and a house, it left a lot of imagery up for the readers imagination.
I’ve read a number of Kealan’s books, and still have a number of more to read, but this particular one spoke to me. So, after snagging it, I jumped it to the top of my TBR, as I suspect a number of readers have already done.

What I liked: ‘The House on Abigail Lane’ is a very different type of book than I’ve become accustomed to with Patrick Burke. Written in faux documentary/non-fiction style, the reader is treated to a straight forward historical telling of the events at house number 56. For fans of the paranormal, this was incredibly intriguing and in typical Kealan fashion, he continued to give us just the bare minimum details in each incident, while introducing a singular new action element that pulled you into wanting to know what would happen to the next home owners or investigators.
I particularly enjoyed the commentary on paranormal investigators through the years with their embellishments and sensationalism, when for the most part, what they tried to add to make money wasn’t even close to the real issues going on with the house.

What I didn’t like: I’ve seen a few reviewers already mention that once they’ve finished, this didn’t read like a ‘normal’ Kealan book, and I think the thing for me personally that I found, was that I wished for a specific person or character to latch onto and watch them investigate. This was very much a ‘historical telling’ as Patrick Burke mentioned in the synopsis, but I still, at times wondered who the person telling the events was.

Why you should buy it: If you are a fan of Patrick Burke, you’ve probably already bought this – let’s be honest here. If you’ve not read Kealan, this is a really great book and is a great paranormal investigative story to dive into to. I really enjoyed how this played out and when we get to nearer present day and Patrick Burke introduces some technology into the events, what you discover will visit your dreams.

5/5