Depressing with no suspense
356458
Very dark.  Pitch black.  Sad and depressing.  It was very clear from the very beginning who the murderer was, so no suspense to take your mind off the numbing bleakness.
I previously read all the Sejer books.  But this book is like Fossum is dying or really mad, and she wants us to suffer as much as she is.
1343396
This is beautifully written but I had to put it down because it is so depressing. I'll return to it after some lighter reading, e.g. Grisham/Connelly.
3974986
I so enjoyed Jen Holling's Brides of Bloodstone trilogy I had to find all she had written. The two following the trilogy with the vampire twist is not to my taste but still, I like the way Holling writes.

And maybe others will appreciate being forwarned that this book is just dark and depressing. When I read fluff I want a happy or exciting moment somewhere. There wasn't one. Even the ending left me flat. Besides other issues I have with the characters, the heroine couldn't seem to make up her mind whether she was staying in the past or going back to her time. She stayed because she was sure the hero was going to commit suicide like her first husband. I never got that he was suicidal - just noncommunicative. I trudged through this and the only happy moment I had was when I got to the last page.
1643103
Interesting, but depressing.  Not much to be gained by reading this sad book.
2421088
This book is totally depressing yet I was compelled to finish it anyway. Each character has their own evil selfish thoughts exposed as their lives intermingle in a twisted tale revolving around the death of one man. Graphic descriptions, language and deviant sex descriptions don't usually bother me but there was absolutely NO redeeming goals or happiness to be found in any of the towns peoples' lives. This is the first book I have ever written a review on and I've read a lot over 60 years! I am just amazed at how the same person who wrote the magical Harry Potter books could have also written this. Sure there was some child abuse and evil going on in HP but there was also good triumphing over evil. In The Casual Vacancy, there's just the evil. I will delete this book from my ipad and do NOT recommend reading it.
1159203
This story was entirely too depressing. Georgina and Adam get about 20 pages of happiness together. The rest of the story is dark and highlights the worst of humanity. I read to escape to a happy place in romance. No thanks!
4617271
A depressing story with very little redemption in the ending. I kept waiting for some vindication or anything to make it worth trudging through that bog of a story,  but no.
4764560
Warning  this book is very depressing and unsettling. I wish I had read the one star reviews before I read the book. I kept reading it because I was waiting for it to get interesting; that never happened. There are books that can show the darker side of life, but its OK if there is a purpose to the story, or it leads to a better understanding of human nature or has some redeeming quality. This book wasn't one of them. I don't know what the purpose of this book was and Im not sure there was even a plot. It wasn't chilling; it wasn't haunting; it was only depressing and miserable. I'm sorry I read it.
2548222
I keep hoping it will get better. I only have a few pages left, so I guess not. A predictable pile-on of one tragedy after another told in a flat, somehow unemotional way (whichis almost a difficult thing to do with this type of subject matter). You can see the main character's miss-steps and severe consequences coming a mile away. It is really painful to endure. I read a lot of books and rarely do I ask myself multiple times "why am I reading this?!"
4420438
OK -So reading the reviews from before I thought I would give this book a shot. It was sad and depressing and nothing but people hurting each other around every turn. I kept waiting for something positive to happen  but even up to the very end kept me disappointed.
2962181
Totally devoid of suspense despite many opportunities. All the suspenseful parts must have made it to the cutting floor on purpose.
I suppose if the story started out with the population struck by severe tunnel vision it would be worth one star.
It is almost as if someone wrote a story and the producer/director of this movie deliberately tried to sabotage it.
Rife with unrealistic characters;
A Jehovah Witness that would pretend to strike an unwary person in the head with a baseball bat as a fun gesture.
A drunken priest with a 2 foot long black cross tattooed on his back.
The red letters without a messenger.
A reluctant prostitute that could have been teetering on agoraphobia. ( another ball dropped)
None of the zombies were brought out as a foremost character.
This is too far away removed from classic suspense, horror, logic and character representation to be of any value.
864050
What a beautiful setting for such a depressing story.  I kept reading it hoping it would redeem itself, but it never did.  Even at the end I felt like I'd wasted my time and I really wanted to like this book.
1102814
There was enough suspense to keep me reading but it was not a pleasant or exciting read. The protagonist was annoying as hell and there wasn't even one sympathetic character in the book. A 3 star 'meh'.
4362709
I listened to this on audio today and it was such a disappointment. No humor, no golden retriever's and a bland leading man who finds himself in an unthinkable situation when his wife is kidnapped and held for a ransom he can't possibly meet (he's a gardener). Chaos ensues, secrets are revealed and all ends relatively well. It had its moments of suspense but overall was a pretty blah Koontz novel. Not horrid but nothing I'd be interested in reading again.
2650709
I took interest in this book because I used to live in Colorado Springs and the castle was intriguing. The book is well written, but I only gave 2 stars because it is the most depressing, hopeless story I have ever read! I actually wish I would not have finished it.  I have read fiction and non fiction books that have tragic events, but they include purpose and hope. This tragic story line leaves you feeling empty. I don't recommend it!
2518433
This is a really depressing book. After 'Call the midwife' and 'Shadows of the workhouse', this was a real let down. It is filled with endless terrible tragedies and leaves one feeling hopeless.  There is a story about a mother with 6 children - every one of them dies of TB. Then there are the explicit details about an abortion procedure that was unsuccessful as well as a woman living on a ship 'servicing' the men from age 14.

The only part I enjoyed was the last chapter which described what the author and nuns did after leaving Nonnatus house.

Not recommended if you are sensitive or like uplifting books. I struggled to finish it.
2735517
Ths was one of the saddest , most depressing books I have ever taken the time to read.  I continued to read it to the end , hoping to find a  plot somewhere. Tried my darndest to find something pleasant or happy about it, never happened. I felt the whole book was just wallowing in poverty, bad luck, and human shortcomings of all types. If this had been a hardback book of mine, I would have promptly thrown it in the trash can when I finished reading it.