The Evil Inside - Review

Title:  The Evil Inside (Krewe of Hunters #4)

Author:  Heather Graham

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

For as long as it has stood overlooking New England’s jagged coastline, Lexington House has been the witness to madness…and murder. But in recent years the inexplicable malice that once tormented so many has lain as silent as its victims. Until now…
A member of the nation’s foremost paranormal forensic team, Jenna Duffy has made a career out of investigating the inexplicable. Yet nothing could prepare her for the string of slayings once again plaguing Lexington House – or for the chief suspect, a boy barely old enough to drive, much less kill.
With the young man’s life on the line, Jenna must team up with attorney Samuel Hill to pinpoint who – or what – is taking the lives of those who get too close to the past. But everything they learn brings them closer to the forces of evil stalking this tortured ground.

My thoughts:

This book is set in Salem, MA, around Halloween, making it a perfect October read, in my opinion.  Jenna Duffy is a member of the Krewe of Hunters, an FBI group made up of people with a little bit different skills- they can see ghosts.  Jenna returns home to Salem at the request of her Uncle Jamie, a twee little Irishman, who can spin a good ghost story.  He is also respected psychiatrist in the community, and when one of his patients, a teenager named Malachi,  is accused of a murder Jamie doesn't believe he committed, he asks Jenna to return home and use her gifts to help free Malachi.  They enlist the help of hot-shot attorney Sam Hall; Jenna and Sam inevitably fall in love, but Sam does have to struggle with a few aspects of Jenna's life- such as her ability to see ghosts.  Jenna obliges her uncle, which leads to learning much more about the history of Lexington House, where Malachi lived and his family was axed to death.

In my opinion, we didn't learn enough about the history of Lexington House.  As with all the books in the series that I have read, I have enjoyed them immensely, but was left wanting to hear more of the back story.   This book in particular left me even more curious than the rest.  The house is "evil", filled with tales of murders that have taken place there throughout the decades, all the way back to the Salem Witch era, a period of time that has been an interest of mine for years.  I wanted to know more about the history of the house, and why what happened there, happened. 

This is a fun book, and while it didn't scare me, it did have some pretty gruesome scenes.  I enjoyed this book, and think it was a perfect addition to my October reading lineup.

I also read this for the Frightful Fall Readathon hosted by Castle Macabre.  I had intended to read more, but it just didn't work out this week.