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The House of Last Resort
The House of Last Resort: A Novel | Christopher Golden
25 posts | 17 read | 7 to read
The next high concept horror novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden. Across Italy there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuildselling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. Its a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommys grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommys grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house theyve bought. There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didnt know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, theyre certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years...and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina...something stirs.
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ImperfectCJ
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Mehso-so

This one goes a little off the rails in the last 25%, and a couple of the relationship details don't always make emotional sense to me, but I did enjoy Golden's take on the "offer too good to be true" haunted house trope. The audiobook narrators each did an excellent job, but the switch between the two voices could have been a little more seamless with different engineering, I think.

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MaleficentBookDragon
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Mehso-so

I finished my first #aardvarkbookclub pick and my first book here in Virginia. It was okay; not great but not terrible. Thankfully my new home is not haunted or possessed.😁
June #Bookspin Selection
@thearomaofbooks

Bookwormjillk Welcome to Virginia. Congrats on you not haunted house. 4mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo
64 likes2 comments
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SomedayAlmost
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Current lake read. At least last summer‘s trip to Sicily to see my husband‘s family didn‘t involve rats? #amreading #vacation

BookmarkTavern Looks perfect! 4mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful 😍 4mo
19 likes2 comments
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MaleficentBookDragon
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Waiting for my sister to pick me up at the grocery store. Thankfully there‘s a Starbucks with seating.

Meshell1313 Love that bookmark! 😍 4mo
59 likes1 comment
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MaleficentBookDragon
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Since I‘m moving next week, what better book to read than about moving to a haunted (?) house? 😹
This book from my first #aardvarkbookclub box is also this month‘s #bookspin selection.

Avanders Moving!! 😯😄 Good luck with the move! And yay for #aardvarkbookclub! 4mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Best wishes on your move!! 4mo
48 likes1 stack add2 comments
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DavidDiamond
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Mehso-so

More like 3.5 stars.
I loved the concept of an American couple buying an old home in Italy on the cheap as so many fantasize about, including me!
This story though, will give you pause before making that leap.

Didn‘t fully love the supernatural element of it as it felt a bit hokey and the ending resulted in some eye rolling. Also, his physical descriptions of the locations as our characters make their way were a bit confusing.

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MaleficentBookDragon
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My June #bookspin selection is from my very first #AardvarkBookClub box that I'm trying out this month. And with my #doublespin it will be a scary June.

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candc320
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Mehso-so

Meh 🤷🏼‍♀️. Kind of creepy, kind of annoying characters, kept my interest but didn‘t wow me. A true middle pick. 🌟🌟🌟. Satisfies my #tbrtarot (choose a book written by a male author) for May!

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Breanne1
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Mehso-so

Another #aardvark backlog book complete. I did not like these people. In the beginning I even debated that it would be a DNF. That said these entitled Gen Z‘ers got what was coming to them.

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vlwelser
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Mehso-so

I honestly thought I would like this more than I actually did. It's set in Italy. There are ghosts. There's exorcism and other questionable activities involving the church. There are catacombs. It has all of the right ingredients but the end result was a little bland.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

#Aardvark @AardvarkBookClub

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 7mo
47 likes1 comment
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BookishTrish
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Pickpick

5 undulating towers of rats out of 5

CoverToCoverGirl Lovely 😊 8mo
46 likes1 comment
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RobinTheDustCatcher
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I‘m about halfway through, and it‘s decent so far, but…

I‘m noticing something about the newer books I‘ve read lately and I honestly don‘t know if it‘s a new trend in literature or it‘s just me getting older and crankier, but I‘ve been running across a lot of unlikable protagonists.

Sometimes the reader is obviously not meant to like them (Yellowface) but books like this one, I think I‘m supposed to like them but I can‘t stand them.

Just me?

Breanne1 I thought it was me!! Between them calling it the Old country (so often) and stating/feeling they are so disruptive by leaving America and not buying in to the American status quo…I hope this house gets them 😂 7mo
6 likes1 comment
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AardvarkBookClub
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Pickpick

The House of Resort should join your home library if...

🏘️ you browse Zillow in your free time
🇮🇹 you added Italy to your bucket list after watching White Lotus
🎨 you wouldn't dream of painting antique wooden furniture white
🔦 if you hear weird sounds in the night, you go exploring...
💰 you can't resist a good bargain
🕺 you would attend a party in the Catacombs of Paris
🔨 you fancy yourself a DIY-master (you tiled your own backsplash)

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AardvarkBookClub
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Pickpick

The next high concept horror novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden set against the backdrop of an idyllic Sicilian town about an unspeakable horror that will chill you to your bones.

#aardvarkbookclub #jointoday

vlwelser Mine came in the mail yesterday. Super excited. 💙 9mo
57 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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BookwormAHN
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Okay, I caved, big time, and joined #Aardvark 🤦🏼‍♀️
They have a special for new members. $4 for your first book plus free shipping. The code is LOVE4EVER if anyone else decides they need a new book subscription. It open to the US only, and you need to download their app.
It looks like it's about the same price as #BOTM so eventually I'll pick one. Anyone with both? What are your thoughts?

Librarybelle I do both. The titles are vastly different, so I like that I can choose from a variety of genres between the two. I think BOTM has more mainstream authors; I could not see BOTM having a cozy mystery set at a cannabis bakery, but Aardvark did! (I got that one but have yet to read it…so many books, so little time). 9mo
ICantImReading I also do both and love the variety! It‘s also so nice that you can skip either BOTM and/or Aardvark that month if you need to catch up, if the titles aren‘t calling out to you, etc. Aardvark‘s social media and the hints they put out for the next month‘s picks are also so fun!! 🤩 9mo
Avanders Ohmygosh I did the same thing! For the Robert Jackson Bennett of course 😁 9mo
See All 7 Comments
BookwormAHN @Avanders of course 😺 9mo
MaleficentBookDragon I caved this month too. And got the tagged book. Starting it today. 😹🤞 4mo
64 likes7 comments
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vlwelser
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Horror set in Italy? Yes.

#Aardvark @AardvarkBookClub

Megabooks I know! I was very tempted by this one. 9mo
AardvarkBookClub We love us some horror over here ❤️ 9mo
34 likes1 stack add2 comments
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TorieStorieS
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Pickpick

I have read and enjoyed many of Golden‘s earlier novels, so I was excited to check out his latest— a spooky book set in Sicily. Tommy and Kate leave Boston behind to move to the same village as Tommy‘s grandparents to take advantage of a program aimed at revitalizing the dying community. Though slow at first, the second half flies by with rats, gore, ghosts and some genuinely unsettling moments. An update on a sort of classic horror staple!

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Reecaspieces
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Pickpick
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kelli7990
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I was on Fable and saw in the Finished books section that you can now add when you‘ve read books so I added when I read a lot of the books I read. I don‘t have every single book I‘ve read on Fable but I‘ve added the only books I could think of that I know I‘ve read. I tried to transfer my Goodreads data to Fable but it didn‘t work. I think it didn‘t work because I have too many books on Goodreads so I gave up on that.

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kelli7990
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Pickpick

Here‘s my review for a book I just finished reading.

Release Date: 1/29/24

#netgalley #netgalleyarc

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kelli7990
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Here‘s my reading progress for this book I‘m currently reading. I read for 2 hrs tonight. I almost DNF‘d it because it dragged during the first half of the book but I‘m now on the second half of the book and it‘s gotten better. I‘m glad I stuck with it. The reviews I‘ve read about this book have said that it drags during the first half of the book but it gets better during the second half which has been my experience with it as well.

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kelli7990
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I decided to start this book. This is another book I was approved for on Netgalley. This is how much I‘ve read tonight. So far, I think this book is interesting. I like the setting. However, this book has a lot of description about the setting and not a lot of dialogue. The chapters are really long and it‘s making the book drag and seem a lot longer than it is. I‘m used to having more dialogue in a story.

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kelli7990
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I was approved for another ARC from St. Martin‘s Press. This is another book that is being released in January 2024.

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Addison_Reads
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Pickpick

#NetGalley #ARC

When I finished this one, my first thought was WTH did I just read!?!

This book goes a little bonkers in the end, but what a scary wild ride it was to get there.

A couple relocates to a small town in Italy and quickly discovers something isn't right about their house. The way the author uses rats totally creeped me out and made my skin.

Although the ending wasn't my favorite, this was still a great horror read.

LocalTXLibrarian oooooohhhhh yesssssssssss - sounds like it might be up my alley! 🙌 🙌 13mo
48 likes3 stack adds1 comment