Xpresso Reads

"It's been exactly ten weeks and eighteen days since I killed three of my closest friends."This is how it starts. I love it when a book can get you intrigued by its very first sentence. The owner of these colorful thoughts is our damaged, but wonderful protagonist, Heath- a troubled soul who is trying to live with himself after a car accident killed his friends. He's been sent to spend the summer with his uncle where he'll be working at the newly rebuilt Opera House. What he doesn't know, is the ghost of Catherine who is haunting this place is looking for revenge. Heath is a surprisingly deep, sympathetic character. Once a popular jock, he's now struggling to get through the days. He's living in guilt and O'Dell's writing has a way of making us really feel for him. His thoughts -cynical and forlorn, drives us deep into his soul so we get to understand what he's going through. Soon after Heath arrives at his uncle's, he realized something isn't right. Strange whisperings, sightings and incredibly melancholy- yet realistic- dreams. While Heath is trying to find out more about this ghost, her story is told to us in short, journal style spurts. This is a great way to build anticipation, it makes it mysterious and captivating. We learn bit by bit what happened in her past, and with every piece we're left with the challenge of putting it all together to try to find what is really happening. And then, the murders start.Combine a fast pace with a constant eerie vibe and we've got ourselves a pretty decent thriller. I've always been a fan of scary stories, and even though I can't say this one's the scariest I've come upon, I was left with the satisfaction of a thrilling ride. I enjoyed the suspense of trying to decipher who or what was killing Heath's friends. I did eventually figure it out, but only pages before it was all revealed. The ending leaves us hanging quite a bit, though. So much so that I double checked to make sure my copy wasn't missing the final pages. It isn't without some closure, but it's incredibly abrupt. This is the only real qualm I have towards this book. I just wish we had one more tiny chapter. Equally creepy and exciting, fans of thrillers will be easily found captivated by O'Dell Hutchison's The Weeping. It's a quick read with an easy to like protagonist and absorbing storyline that I certainly recommend despite the hasty ending. --For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads