[Mrs. Y Reviews] A House Out Of Time by John Decarteret

Book cover via Amazon.com

Time is a precious resource and often lost so quickly. Today we are reviewing a book about a house that isn’t out of this resource if anything it’s holding onto it. Today's review is of a book which challenges the finite portion of time as a resource. What would you do if you had all of the time in the world but were bound to a set of circumstances, would it give you good things or bring you to total damage? Get your key at the desk, head up to the red room, and be sure you are kind to the doctor, he’s up to his elbows with work. It’s time for a review of “A House Out Of Time” by John Decarteret.  

Opinion
This is something I’ve wanted to review, as you all know I do love short stories. Today we are reviewing a book I found in my Kindle Unlimited recommendations, and I’m glad it pointed me here.

To start, let’s talk about the first impressions I have of “A House out of Time.” This book is well written and so very comfortable to read. The descriptions are beautiful and give a solid idea of what it is we are encountering and enjoying. We get to watch a couple who come in for a vacation to a bed and breakfast sounding place. It’s also got a lot of character in both the house to some unusual characteristics of the main characters and the secondary ones.

Let’s go into critiques, and the first is under my “Whole Story” portion of scoring for my reviews. As you guys know, I love a complete story, and I also love short stories. This was not a whole and complete story. However, I do not think that the reason for the missing pieces at the end which would have completed it,   I believe from what it reads to me as, more to do with a stylistic choice to the mystery of the overall story. 


Let’s go into what I enjoyed about “A House Out Of Time,” and that has to do with the fact that the antagonist is impressive. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but sometimes in literature, you can have an antagonist that isn’t necessarily a villain character. In this case, it’s that way. We have something that is fundamentally strange and different going on with an antagonist who effects many different characters in the interactions. I found this dynamic so exciting and refreshing for a change of pace on your traditional thriller or even horror novel.

Next, I want to rave about how good the grammar, spelling and spot checks were on “A House out of Time” because it is lovely. I think the consistency is excellent, the pacing is terrific, and there is a horrific tension which is good for the tale itself.

Another thing I love about the story writing is the overall detail work and presentation of the story. I found that the layering of the stories in the way they were presented in a short story format, the reader is slowly drawn into a web of horror. I found this layering to make the overall story both creepy and mysterious. I enjoyed that the overtly horrific parts were tastefully presented and very classy. I liked that the doctor character was so personable for who he was and what he represented.

Score
With the math in mind and everything into consideration, “A House Out Of Time” has a score of 80/100 which is a 4 Star Review on Amazon and Goodreads.  If you want to read a short story that is a mix between the “Addams Family”, “The House on Haunted Hill” and a pinch from and the clock level from “Mario 64” this may be the right kind of short story for you.