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It was a fairly good ghost story that displayed shades of Stephen King's
The Shinning, and Shirley Jackson's
The Haunting of Hill House...both of which are favorites of mine. The fact that is a YA book may explain why the author didn't develop his characters to a greater extent. He relied on the "scare factor" to carry out the story. Might have worked for a 14 year old but fell short for an adult. The main characters, Jen and her father, are the most damaged people I have ever encountered. Their personalities throughout the book go from perfectly happy to murderous rage in 0.2 seconds and the constant throw back and forth between the present and the past will give you whiplash. This flaw is present in every single character in the story.
If you are looking for a scary, chilling, dark read...
Harmony House will certainly fill the bill but if you are expecting something in the same class with the Stephen King and Shirley Jackson novel...you might want to pass it by.
