The Secret of Cold Hill

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And suddenly, strange things start happening in Jason and Emily’s house, and it feels like they’re not alone. Then they discover that no one has ever lived beyond the age of 40 in Cold Hill

During the Second World War, the house was used to billet Canadian soldiers. After the War, during the second half of the twentieth century, three couples bought it – and all subsequently divorced. We were the third. Was the Grey Lady in any way responsible? I’ve been a fan of Peter James for years but it’s hard to believe that the Cold Hill books are written by the same author that brings us the excellent Roy Grace series. The plot itself - a boilerplate ghost story - is fine if you don’t think too hard, but the writing really grated with me and it took a while to figure out why: the dialogue is dreadful. Every spoken interaction sounds like it was written by a chatbot that has never heard an actual human conversation. Random slang in all the wrong places, stilted and repetitive phrasing, and sentence structures that I’ve never heard a real person use when speaking. It’s honestly the weirdest thing, especially when you compare it to James’s other books - and once you spot it, it becomes hugely irritating.I am a big fan of Peter James novels and especially enjoy the Roy Grace series but he does write exceptionally good ghost stories. At the time he was officially the Vicar of Brighton – but with another hat, he was also officially, the Chief Exorcist of the Church Of England. That wasn’t his actual title, which was the less flaky-sounding ‘Minister Of Deliverance.’ A former monk, the son of two medics, a university double first in psychology, he was as far from Max Von Sydow’s Father Merrin in The Exorcist as you could get. He is a delightful human being, with whom I had become good friends, and still am to this day. He is a modern thinker, a clergyman who has a problem with the biblical concepts of God, yet still retains an infectious faith. His views, for instance, on the Ouija board are, that far from putting its participants in touch with the spiritual world, it actually opens up a Pandora’s Box of their own inner demons. Jason and Emily Danes move into their new home on Cold Hill, and right away strange things begin to happen. Shadowy figures roam the hallways of the house, thumping noises can be heard from the attic studio, lights turn on and off for no reason. Scariest of all, Jason, an artist, and Emily, a caterer, can hear people talking in their house -- sometimes right in the same room that they're in. Adding to their unease is a sense of isolation resulting from the fact that they are only the second family to have moved into their new housing development. The looming presence of Cold Hill House is now a distant memory. In its place stands a new development of modern homes, built after the devastating fire that burnt the house to the ground.

But it’s not long before both couples begin to realize they are not alone in their new homes. For Cold Hill House may be gone, but none of the previous inhabitants have ever really left . . . Things start smoothly but both couples sense a feeling of others in their new homes. This only gets worse when one of the locals points out that nobody has ever survived beyond forty in Cold Hill House and no one has ever truly left. This is a great read with strong characters and an addictive story. There are even touches of humour within the haunting chills. Despite the warmth of the sunlight, I felt a sudden chill. I knew at that moment she had seen something uncanny. But I did not want to spook my wife on our very first day in this house. We were both townies, and this was our first move into the countryside. She was already apprehensive about the isolation of the property. The last thing I needed was for her to be unnecessarily scared by a ghost. So I shook my head and told her I had not seen anything. But in truth, I was feeling a little spooked.

eBook Details

The Secret of Cold Hill isn’t drastically different from the first book in many ways, and it’s not James at his best by any means. I could never quite make my mind up about the ending of The House on Cold Hill. This time out, the resolution is rather a cop-out and not much of a surprise in the scheme of things. There are a handful of genuinely spooky moments where I was glad I had the lights on, but they’re a bit thin on the ground and rely on a fair bit of repetition. I did like the fact that it seemed very similar at first, because I was expecting it to go off in a different direction, like these guys would do something to break the chain. Again, it was a bit different because there are different ghosts featured than were in the first book, but that really didn't change things much. Nothing amazing happens that didn't happen already in the first book. From the number one bestselling author, Peter James, comes T he Secret of Cold Hill. T he spine-chilling follow-up to The House on Cold Hill . Now a smash-hit stage play.