Old Country

When I received this book in the mail and read the synopsis I was definitely intrigued. I have to say that I was not disappointed. This story is scary, thrilling and will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book.

Harry and Sasha are a married couple in their thirties. Harry is a veteran a who met his wife in college, and they have now decided to take the plunge and go live out their dream of living in the mountains. The find the perfect place, a small ranch in the Teton Valley in Idaho. It's a remote, 55 acre spread with just two neighbors and a national forest nearby. The perfect, secluded place they've always been dreaming of. 

They load up and take their dog Dash off to their new adventure arriving in early spring. Not long after arriving their neighbors, the Dan and Lucy, introduce themselves and start to fill them in on the "rules for surviving living in the valley".  Harry does not take kindly to them spinning what he believes to be crazy tales of a vengeful spirit that haunts the valley and how to perform seasonal rituals in order to survive. Things between Harry, Sasha and Dan and Lucy are rocky at first but soon they begin to believe the older couple about the spirit. 

Once they start to experience the spirit and the manifestations, they fall into a nice routine of living on the ranch and all that comes with that. However, Harry starts taunting the spirit and what happens next is nothing short of shocking, scary and sad. The spirit manifestations change with the seasons and with winter approaching, Harry is warned that it will be the worst one to get through and it'll be a fight for survival to say the least. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the basis of the story-an ancient spirit is haunting the valley and you must adhere to certain rules in order to live there. However, there were a few issues I had with the story. First, Harry is an ex-marine. I felt the authors went on and on about how awful the military is and how it's a construct that is unnecessary. As the daughter of a veteran, this hit hard and it was at times hard to read through. At times war is unnecessary, unless drafted, the military career is a choice and one that a person should thoroughly investigate before joining. But I digress. Second, there was another issue I had with a part of the storyline with Sasha that I felt was a bit preachy but Ill not give spoilers. The end of the story definitely had me wanting more and I really would have liked more information on a few loose ends. However, overall this a great book and you will not want to put it down.