The Haunting of Hillhurst Manor
The Haunting of Hilhurst Manor
By Vincent Valentean
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
Okay so this one is going to be a bit more difficult for me to get through. Hollywood types are not my favorite and I really don’t care for A-list stars who get all pathetic and mopey when they are past it. It’s no wonder that none of their relationships last. None of them were built on anything real. I will say that the crushing of the cat was horrible! So I agree with Miranda on that one. Pushing 40 though means that you are no longer eligible to play the cute, young love interest anymore. Quite frankly I find those roles to be boring and typically don’t even watch the movies that have those types of roles in them. BORING, BORING, BORING!!
Now let’s talk about the main characters Ava and Chase. Chase is a pathetic looser! He should be glad that they both didn’t become obsolete at the same time. Someone has to keep up their ridiculous Hollywood lifestyle. I’d be perfectly happy being “an accessory” at events and hanging out by the pool the rest of the time. Instead he can’t stand not being the center of attention, the big man on campus and it’s pathetic! I know what is going to happen…Ava is going to buy the house from Miranda because Chase’s hero is Nolan Hillhurst. In the pathetic state that he is currently in he is going to become possessed by Nolan’s spirit. I mean they are two pathetic peas in a pod after all. Hey I love the Schwarzenegger, traditional action films. Quite frankly brining namby pamby BS into these movies ruins them. I don’t want to have to think about them. I want to zone out, escape amide the carnage. Action movies are supposed to have action…it’s in the name. But his winey ass bitch attitude toward his wife is the exact opposite of the men in those movies. Can’t wait for them to meet Michael!
The other two people that I suspect have a hand in things are Lenny the agent and Miranda (Nolan’s widow) who, like I said before is past it. I feel like these two are up to something. She’s pretty much been out of commission for five years and I suspect that this will have a direct link to what they are up to. As we know these people will do ANYTHING to keep, maintain, or reclaim their stardom.
Michael finally shows up in chapter 19. While this is a sort of Michael Merlyn tale it’s only partially so. This was true for the books that included him prior to “The Haunting of Michael Merlyn”. He is not the main character here. However once he gets involved he becomes involved he’s pretty much here to stay. There are some really great quips in this one. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times.
Admittedly I was wrong about Lenny and Miranda doing something to hurt Ava to advance the dying career of Amanda. That’s not to say that there is complete innocents involved (I mean they do work in Hollywood) but it has nothing to do with the occult or anything supernatural. Nolan was pathetic to the very end. Still trying to control everything around him. Bloody ponce! It all comes out in the last couple of chapters and is relatively satisfying. No complaints from me (which is so unlike me).
Closing thoughts:
While in the beginning I was not sure that I was going to be able to feel sympathetic toward some of the characters, (due to the whole fake Hollywood personas) but they kinda grew on me. Ava and Miranda particularly. Too bad that they can’t be their genuine selves. They are not unlikable when they are themselves. The disingenuous pair; however, is disgusting. The jury is still out on Chase. I mean why did it take getting possessed to pull his head out of his ass? As for Lenny, well, he’s a Hollywood agent. I will say that I’m somewhat surprised that he truly seems to care about Ava and Miranda. His feelings about Chase are tied to a much deeper emotional situation, so I’m not surprised that he is ready to write him off. Like I said Nolan was pathetic up to the end. There’s just no getting around that.
Written in the same easily read style that I know to be the norm for Valentean. I think that perhaps I was too quick to judge some of the characters. It just seemed natural that some of them would do self-serving, evil things. Goes with the type A personalities that plague the Hollywood scene. I have to also make mention of a supporting character, Snowball. I love that this cat gets involved in trying to protect the characters. I haven’t seen too many heroic animal spirits in books thus far so this was a part of the story that hit home. I am hopeful that I will connect with my kids (furry family members) after moving on to the next adventure. It’s something that I think about often, Ghoulies.
