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Nineteen-year-old Katrina Nielsen fled Denmark to live in New York, leaving behind the grief brought on by her father’s sudden death. Now, seven years later, she returns to Copenhagen with her American husband Richard Marchese. Ready to begin anew, they purchase Sound House and begin to settle into their new life. But Katrina starts sinking ever deeper into a place that Richard cannot seem to reach—and Richard, meanwhile, can’t seem to fit into Denmark’s society.
Uncanny events plague the couple. They see mysterious smoke and footsteps, as well as ghostly shapes and shadows, and they begin having vivid nightmares involving the house’s former owner, Karl Damsgaard—a presence who seems determined either to force them out or to get rid of Richard in order to have Katrina all to himself.
Desperate to save his marriage and Katrina’s sanity, Richard hires a religious psychic who claims to be guided by a Catholic priest—a priest whom Richard is never allowed to have contact with. As things become clearer, Richard realizes that there might be more at work here than a mere haunting.
Inspired by actual events, Shadows in Summer unfolds in a cacophony of psychological horror, paranormal happenings, and vague manipulation. Is it just one of those—or all three? As you read, your mind will keep reassessing the events until you’re no longer sure of what really happened at Sound House. In fact, you’ll still be sifting through the information, trying to figure it all out, long after you’ve read the last page.
Since Shadows in Summer is told in six different points of view, you might get confused and have to go back to the chapter heading every once in a while, to remind yourself whose head you’re supposed to be in. However, the multiple points of view do give you a different and absorbing look at what’s going on in Sound House. The narrators open you up to a variety of possibilities—each one equally intriguing.
Author Crescent Varrone often had me stopping to ponder certain scenes and phrases, and I often found myself thinking, Now that’s an interesting way to look at it. Shadows in Summer is one of the most satisfying and thought-provoking paranormal reads that I’ve come across in a long while. Don’t miss this one; I highly recommend it.
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