Roger Lynch treats his wife Karen to a visit to the his family's old Sumer stomping grounds in Nansquett, and while they're walking through the neighborhood of his grandfather's house, they stumble across the old Pritchard place. Roger's and Karenr's eyes light up when they spy the For Sale sign in the yard and investigate the house, making a quick decision then and their to by the place and to restore it. But during the restoration, Roger finds the diaries of Amy Pritchard and learns what happened between her and her sister, and Amy's impending marriage to a Capt. Calder of the Union Army. No one lived there since the end of the Civil War, after Amy became a pariah of sorts within the small community, shunned by them and in turn shunning them, committing suicide in the property's well.

As he reads further into the diaries, he begins to see parallels between the Pritchards and his own life, especially when his cousin Chas appears on the scene. Vivid memories of their sexually charged youth weigh on his mind, and he can't help thinking that something more is at work, drawing Roger, Karen and Chas into an dangerous, unending cycle that's been running for hundreds of years.

"Looking Glass Lives" tells a decent story, but my problem with the book has to do with the main plot point being hinted at within the first few pages and then being tossed about and hung over the entire story. I like to uncover bits of the plot as I read, and while a small hint every so often of what may lie down the road is fine, mentioning it almost too often slows the pacing down. Which is what happens with this book. From the very beginning, the reader is told that something terrible happened at the Pritchard house and that it was playing out again. That knowledge and its creeping up again and again in most chapters lessened my desire to continue reading. Why would I want to if I already know what's going to happen? It makes the whole story turn overly dramatic and less enjoyable than it could have been.

I'm someone who enjoys ghost stories and tales of the supernatural most of the time, but this one seemed to miss the mark with me. ( )

Familie, geschiedenis en driehoeksrelatie ...