Malachi Hunter always had a fascination with the supernatural, but currently spends his days working for his father’s gardening business. His hobby becomes more important when Anna, one of the friends he hangs around with on Saturday night, asks him to look at a house. Working for a letting Agency, the last two sets of tenants have left in short order, talking about an old woman who haunts the home and she wants to find out what is going on. Agreeing to look into it, Mal stays over the weekend at the house with a variety of equipment to monitor. But when he records what appears to be supernatural events, he invites Anna and her father to the house to report. The surprise of the report is matched only by the history of the house leaving Mal having to decide what the group should do next.

This is an short horror novel that introduces us to the character of Malachi Hunter. The lead into the story is surprisingly mundane, but it quickly turns into a modern take on a supernatural story. The author sets the scene well, not giving away what is happening but building it up as a real investigation into the paranormal. It may start slowly but the tension ramps up as it moves beyond Mal’s day to day thoughts and desires to the slow realisation that there is more than he ever knew. The conclusion is almost more satisfying for it’s incompleteness than if it had been neatly wrapped up and it certainly leads well into the main novels. The characters, especially Mal are grounded in reality and all are taken aback by what they encounter. By setting up things so normally, it’s easy enough to relate to them when things take a turn for the different, although I was intrigued that some of the characters that start the book disappear half way through, although their job is done in giving us people to compare Mal to and shown what they are like instead of just being told about it.

Formatting and layout of the piece worked nicely, no spelling mistakes that took me out of the story and several links to the main novels for the Novice Ghost hunter at the rear if this one takes you fancy. The only gripe I really have with the layout is the switching from Mal’s thoughts to what he says out loud can be easy to miss in transition, and it sometimes required a couple of re-reads to understand exactly which was which.

Overall, it’s an excellent horror story that starts quietly and builds to a decent climax. If you are looking for out and out horror, you won’t find it here, but for something that gives a chill because it could be happening in your street, then this is for you.