Turn Off the Light: A Novel by Jacquie Walters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Turn Off the Light is a Horror novel from Jacquie Walters that blends many different subgenres. It’s part Domestic, part Paranomal Mystery, part Historical, part Thiller and part Haunted House. That sounds like a lot, but I felt like Walters effortlessly put it all together.
This engrossing story is set on the Coast of Virginia, and features both a past and present perspective. I didn’t know what to expect going in, I’m not even sure I read the synopsis, but I ended up really, really enjoying it.
At the heart of the story is one of my favorite tropes, a character returning to their hometown after a long period away, and ending up embroiled in some sort of mystery.
We follow Claire, who is returning to her childhood home to assist her sister and bro-in-law with the care of their ailing father. The house itself has a lot of history, and something about it has Claire unsettled. She’s not sleeping well, hearing things and sensing things that may, or may not, be there.
Walters also brings us a past perspective, Edith, a healer with knowledge that isn’t necessarily encouraged, or appreciated, by her tight-knit, religious community.
Edith’s perspective, as a woman working with natural healing in the past, goes about as well as you would expect. She faces many discriminations against her, but she’s still driven to help all she can with her unique skills.
As a Reader, it’s clear that these two women, they’re going to be connected, but how is it even possible?
Walters succeeded in pulling me along, into both Claire and Edith’s lives, as we barrelled towards the answers held within the conclusion.
Walters did a great job of presenting both the current perspective and the historical perspective, and ultimately connecting them. I enjoyed Dearest, it was fine, but this one was definitely more to my taste as far as content.
I did feel a bit more intrigued by Claire’s perspective, but Edith’s was necessary in order to make the story work. This was reminiscent to me of things I have enjoyed from Jennifer McMahon and Simon St. James, so if you’re a fan of those authors, I would recommend checking this out.
There was quite a bit of mystery as well, and Walters did a great job at pacing the reveals. At no point did I feel like I knew all of the answers. I didn’t know what was happening until Walters was ready to show me, which was nice.
Thank you to the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m jazzed about my experience with this one.
I’m definitely looking forward to picking up more from Jacquie Walters. I’d love to see more from her in this lane.