I'll Be Waiting
A Novel
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood...
Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car crash, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.
Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.
The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.
That’s when she finds the first body....
In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong's full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life--if she can.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Armstrong (Hemlock Island) shines in this nail-biting thriller that hinges on whether its protagonist is dealing with natural or supernatural evil. Nicola Laughton was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child, and told she'd be lucky to live past 20. Despite this prognosis, Nicola, now in her 30s, is running her own company and happily married to Anton Novak. Then their marriage ends tragically when Anton dies in a car crash. Bystanders report his last words to Nicola—"I'll be waiting for you"—to the press, with one claiming to have photographed Anton's ghost as he spoke them, and the publicity makes Nicola a reluctant celebrity. To settle the matter in her own mind, she seeks out mediums to contact Anton's spirit and plans a séance in his family's old beach house. What starts with unsettling noises and weird phenomena, including clouds of insects, eventually leads to violence and threatens to expose secrets from Nicola's past. Armstrong's insightful characterization of her lead, even as it keeps readers guessing about Nicola's reliability as a narrator, makes suspending disbelief easy. Riley Sager fans will be delighted.
Customer Reviews
Dramatic, dark,thrilling
I’LL BE WAITING by Kelley Armstrong is a contemporary, adult, supernatural thriller focusing on thirty something widow Nicola Laughton.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person perspectives (Nicola) using present day, and memories from the past, I’LL BE WAITING follows Nicola Laughton in the wake of the death of her husband. Approximately twenty-two years earlier, a group of high school friends went into the woods to perform a seance but in the ensuing aftermath death and destruction would follow. Fast forward to present day, wherein Nicola’s husband Anton would die tragically in an early winter snow storm, and in the months that follow Nicola would be contacted by mediums and psychics claiming they have been in contact with the dead but when a certified parapsychologist is willing to help NIcola contact her dead husband, the resulting fall-out sees more death and destruction for our story line heroine.
I’LL BE WAITING is a story of obsession and madness, secrets and lies, grief and acceptance, betrayal and vengeance. Nicola’s extended family struggle with her need to contact her late husband; a new friend is determined to help Nicola get the closure she needs and wants; and the angry spirits refuse to give up until everyone has paid. The premise is dramatic, dark and thrilling; the characters are determined, destructive and dynamic.