Hannover House by Brenda Novak is the kick-off story of The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles. It’s a story of Evelyn Talbot who was once a victim of her psychopath boyfriend who not only killed her bestfriends but also abducted, tortured and raped her then left her for dead. Definitely a good book to start the series.
Hanover House by Brenda Novak
Series: The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles , #0.5
Published September 1st 2015 by Brenda Novak, Inc.
Genre: Suspense, Romance
244 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository
Find on Goodreads
Welcome to Hanover House….
Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the antisocial mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don’t they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them?
After having been kidnapped, tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager—by her high school boyfriend—she’s determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she’s established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst.
But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok, is one of them. And yet he can’t help feeling bad about what Evelyn has been through. He’s even attracted to her. Which is partly why he worries.
He knows what could happen if only one little thing goes wrong…
Review
As you may have known, I’m very picky and hard to please in this kind of genre that’s why you can’t see me reading that much from other authors. But I am slowly working on it, *wink.
Looking at the cover and the title, I really thought it’s going to be a horror story. I guess it was the main reason why I decided to try reading the prologue to see whether I will like it or not. Sometimes, all it takes is for me to read the first chapter or the prologue to see whether I will enjoy the whole story or not. And yep, I was curious with the prologue so I decided to go for it.
I don’t read the story’s sypnosis on the same day when I’m to read the book but I accidentally read this one’s sypnosis. Oops! But it still didn’t persuade me to stay away, I think it even intensified my desire to try this story.It was actually a pretty short read but it’s definitely not a novella because it’s definitely longer.
The psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot had a very rough past. She was kidnapped, raped and tortured for three days by her boyfriend when she was just 16 years old. Aside from that, she also witnessed the murder of her three bestfriends by the hand of the same boy. After three days, she was left for dead but miraculously survived. Twenty years after, she worked her best to make Hanover House possible. It’s a maximum-security facility where the main purpose is to study the mind of psychopaths. Why they act as they do? How come they become one? And how to spot them.
Sounds exciting eh? I love suspense and I never read something like this before. I’m not usually fond of reading stories with anything medical and I thought there’s going to be a lot of these going on here. But nope, there’s none. This is the prequel of the series so I figured there’ll be more suspense, medical and ofcourse more Amarok and Evelyn moments on the next book especially after the construction of the Hanover House will finish.
The prologue had me really curious but the next few chapters we’re not really that exceptional. The only thing that it proves to me was how hardheaded the heroine is. She’s been through a lot and I understand her motivation so instead of being annoyed, I have to say that I’m quite impressed. And then when I reached the part where this hot sergeant trouper was introduced, my! The romance part in my head was instantly on high alert haha. Their first meeting wasn’t describe thoroughly. It just said they met in the mayor’s office during the deliberation about the Hanover house and all, and then when she went back to Alaska, she asked him to meet up with her at 9pm on the evening to see the vandal in the building. And then something leads to another making her go to her very first bar trip after so many years. And yep, sparks do fly.
Characters
I’m not quite sure what I will feel about Evelyn but I sure do admire her determination to push through her project. She was a victim when she was just 16 years old by her boyfriend and was there when he killed her best friends so I can’t really imagine how she was able to conquer that. She was tortured for three days and was left for dead. So it was really a miracle that she escaped death the first time and then happening it for the second time, well, I have to say she’s very lucky. It’s been 20 years since the incident happen and I can really understand why she’s still not fully healed considering of what she achieved. Well, something like that sure is hard to forget. Fortunately, there’s nothing in her character that I find annoying so that’s a good sign. Besides, I love her fast thinking during her second abduction. My! I’m not even sure if I could pull that off if I was on that position.
Amarok. Dang! This guy already got my full attention right on the moment when he helped Evelyn win hilltop’s trust (not completely but it really worked). I’m more into bad guys (*currently drooling imagining Mad Rogan),but man! This guy got me in just like two pages when he was introduced. I just love how caring and understanding he was to Evelyn considering he was one of those who strongly disagree about the Hanover house. I also love the fact that whenever he’s around, I feel secured, like no one could really hurt you when he’s around. Also, I always like it when he easily get pissed off when someone commented on his and Evelyn’s age pap, hehe. So yep. Considering Evelyn’s condition, he’s very patient and even helping her to overcome it. My! He sure is a keeper.
Final Thoughts
I always love romance especially if it was incorporated so perfectly with the suspense. And this one sure did it right. The suspense part wasn’t as exciting as what I mostly read from MHC (I always love guessing the culprit, *wink) but this story was a decent one and it sure had me in the edge of my seat a few times.
I don’t think the ending was a cliff hanger, I guess it’s just something that will really make you read the second book since the culprit got away for the second time and also not one from the side of the main characters died. And this time, the culprit will not wait another 20 years to come back. Ooh, scary.
It was my first time from the author but I sure do enjoyed it. No complaints about the words/phrases used. I also love the fact that after meeting the hunk Amarok, the story became fast pace thus didn’t gave me the time to get bored.
And btw, in case you’re curious, Amarok is only a nickname which means wolf. Awooo!
Highly recommended!
Challenges
- 2017 New To Me
- 2017 Mount TBR Reading
- 2017 eBooks Reading
- 2017 You Read How Many Books?
- 2017 Review Writing
Other Books In The Series
About The Author
It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s career as a bestselling author–she caught her day-care provider drugging her children with cough syrup to get them to sleep all day. That was when Brenda decided she needed to quit her job as a loan officer and help make a living from home.
“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda says. But she sold that book, and the rest is history. Her novels have made the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and won many awards, including five Rita nominations, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Book Seller’s Best and the National Reader’s Choice Award.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are proud parents of five children–three girls and two boys. When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising funds for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). So far, Brenda has raised $2.6 million. Please visit http://www.brendanovakforthecure.org to see how you can help.
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