Book Impressions - Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi

Simply put this is an incredible read. In a perfect world that would be enough for you to immediatly go off and read it, but it it isn't so let me tell you why I enjoyed reading this so much. We can start with the story as that's what really matters when you get down to it.

The book tells of Travis Glasgow moving back to the US, he's a successful author but has hit a blank with his latest working. He's also haunted by a terrible secret and he moves to a house with its own secret, just as dark as his own. So far nothing spectacular you might think and that is often the case with ghost stories, but the author manages to bring something new to the table.

The first is that while the overview may seem nothing new the story evolves in a direction that surprised me, and I can typically predict a book's ending quite accurately. So I like being surprised in a book, so that was a plus for it, but I didn't know the full outcome until the end, so what kept me enthralled throughout?

The actual writing itself is a work of art. The author has an elegant turn of phrase that would be a joy to read even if it wasn't telling a great story. There is almost a poetic nature to the language that I really enjoyed reading, it's not perfect and that was my only gripe with the novel. Occasionall;y it goes too far with the language, ladels it on a bit thick. Compared to the joy I had reading it I feel amost churliosh mentionming it, but in a good review you should always mention what you didn't like it.

That incredibly minor nitpicking aside this is a fantastic ghost story and a five star read if ever I've read one. Go on, buy it now and see what you think!

Following the success of his latest novel, Travis Glasgow and his wife Jodie buy their first house in the seemingly idyllic western Maryland town of Westlake. At first, everything is picture perfect—from the beautiful lake behind the house to the rebirth of the friendship between Travis and his brother, Adam, who lives nearby. Travis also begins to overcome the darkness of his childhood and the guilt he’s harbored since his younger brother’s death—a tragic drowning veiled in mystery that has plagued Travis since he was 13. Soon, though, the new house begins to lose its allure. Strange noises wake Travis at night, and his dreams are plagued by ghosts. Barely glimpsed shapes flit through the darkened hallways, but strangest of all is the bizarre set of wooden stairs that rises cryptically out of the lake behind the house. Travis becomes drawn to the structure, but the more he investigates, the more he uncovers the house’s violent and tragic past, and the more he learns that some secrets cannot be buried forever.

Floating Staircase is available from Amazon (and is an incredible read)