Halifax

by Joan Mauch

HALIFAX by Joan Mauch is the story of a middle-aged woman leading a life of quiet desperation. Living with her nagging mother in the shadow of her accomplished sister, she works at dead-end jobs to make ends meet. One day at the amusement park, a gunman breaks into the fun house where she works threatening to murder those inside. In a single moment of violence, she manages to kill the man and save the children. Rather than being repulsed by having taken a life, she feels empowered and now itches for the trigger of a gun whenever she's the subject of ridicule. Fearing she may be turning into a serial killer, she flees to Halifax where she becomes entangled with two people who have murderous pasts of their own.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

At age six Joan Mauch excitedly recognized the letter "A" in her mom's newspaper and has been fascinated with the printed word ever since. For most of her professional life she's been involved with writing in one form or another ranging from writing news releases to promotional copywriting. Over the years she became something of a vagabond, having lived in Washington state, Oregon, Illinois and most recently Iowa, working at everything from teaching to selling real estate. When she isn't writing, Joan enjoys visiting her son in Florida or just hanging out with family and friends. REILLY'S DILEMMA is her sixth novel. Visit her website at joanmauch.com or facebook.com/joanmauch.author

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend sent me this book and said, please just read the first chapter. I did. Then I read the second, and before I knew it the book was over-- I couldn't put it down! If you're in the mood for a page turner, this is absolutely the book you want. It's short (300+ pages), has a good story and is, for the most part, very well written.

The main character, Ellie, is a meek and downtrodden 40-hr-old woman whose life is dull, circumscribed and pretty miserable. She lives with a harridan of a mother who never misses a chance to put her down or to compare her with her very attractive older sister. Virtually everyone treats her like S*** . Then one day she saves a group of children from a gunman--by shooting him with his own gun (yes, it's written to be believable) and this opens up a whole new world of self-understanding and discovery. One discovery is that she might be fully capable of killing the people who are making her life miserable. This leads her to leave home and journey to..............well, where do you think? The title of the book is Halifax! There she finds friendship, love, betrayal, has sex for the first time, almost kills again.

The descriptions of Halifax are wonderful and make me want to go there. I highly recommend this book.

[Michael McCarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

HALIFAX by Joan Mauch is a sojourn of discovery spanning two countries from sunny Florida to eastern Canada. This is Joan Mauch debut novel and she begins her novel writing with such an impressive piece of work. Highly, Highly recommended.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eleanor tries to flee from her terrifying thoughts only to naively find more

Eleanor. An almost middle aged woman still living at home. Unmarried, uneducated, unattractive, she is expected to stay provide for and take care of her demanding entitled mom. Eleanor gets no respect at home, from her sister or nieces, her work. She has little self respect of her own, when she saves a bunch of children from a gunman. She realizes she enjoyed killing him.
Eleanor is suddenly adored and famous. But it does not change anything at home or work. Her Mom still mistreats her sister takes advantage of her, the school children are jerks. A righteous rage engulfs her to the point that she felt like she wanted to kill too.
I found Eleanor irritating naive. Granted the woman has not experienced life like a normal 40 something. How could anyone, but anyone expect commitment after one single encounter? Over and over her actions feel over the top ignorant, childlike.
And the ending was just plain stupid.
Thought this would be more suspenseful and it was not.
Good description of Nova Scotia

[Ken Grater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good mystery

It was an interesting story with several surprising twists which led to an unexpected conclusion. I enjoyed the ride and recommend Halifax to anyone who likes a good mystery adventure!

[Kristy McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie Hurley is a frumpy 40-year-old who has suffered verbal and emotional abuse her entire life from her mother, with whom she lives, and her more attractive and successful sister. It's no wonder that her self-esteem is low and that her coping mechanism--to stuff down her feelings and accept her lot--is finally reaching its breaking point. This comes at the hands of a violent encounter at a local carnival when an armed gunman hunts down children to shoot. When a young boy is killed right before Ellie's eyes, she snaps, and shoots the man herself. This incident makes her a hero, but also unleashes a latent violence within herself. While she never acts on her impulses, her growing desire to murder her own mother frightens her enough that she flees her hometown to discover if life has anything left to offer. She makes her way to Canada and settles in Halifax. She soon befriends Jake, owner of the B&B where she's staying, and although she has reservations about him, they embark on a romance, Ellie's first. But Jake has his own secrets. To reveal more would ruin the ending, but suffice it to say, this story will keep you reading into the night. Halifax is a dark psychological thriller that while not always pleasant to read, will grip you with its subtle character development and plot twists. Ms. Mauch has done an excellent job!

[Alyson Larrabee · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Joan Mauch as your travel guide, you'll see a different side of Nova Scotia: the dark side. Following heroine Ellie Hurley's sightseeing itinerary,I raced through this fast paced read.The author pauses here and there, to describe some of the locations worth visiting and set the mood for Ellie's adventure. Otherwise, the plot speeds along like a race car heading down a narrow, winding road on the side of a steep mountain.
Emotionally abused by her family, stuck in a job where no one respects her, Ellie's transformation begins when she shoots a mass murderer and becomes a hero. As a result of this traumatic event, she struggles with a growing temptation to use violence as an effective way to solve problems. Because she's afraid she'll strangle her annoying mother or self absorbed sister, Ellie eventually packs up her car and leaves town, heading North. Like Cinderella, she finds romance and adventure. Unlike Cinderella, she also finds sex and violence. Load this ebook into your Kindle and you'll be staying up past midnight just to find out what happens next.

[Kevin R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expect the unexpected...You can run, but you can't hide...from yourself. Joan Mauch's debut mystery explores how we perceive (or deceive) ourselves and justify our actions. Told from the point of view of spinster, Eleanor Hurley, Halifax is a Cinderella story with a dark side. Having killed a madman to save a group of children in a carnival fun house, Eleanor's simple, structured life is shattered. But life is not always fair and she flees to Halifax, Nova Scotia to find out who she really is.

While trying to sort out her life, Ellie becomes the unwitting catalyst that determines the fate of other Halifax residents who also have a skeleton or two in their closets to hide.
The pacing is good with a mysterious stalker thrown in to up the suspenseful ante.

A great twist at the end adds to make Joan's first novel a tasty treat leaving the reader wanting seconds.

[Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the quirkiest books I've ever read. Took some getting used to before I realized the voice was unusual and ultimately drew me in. At first it just felt like bad writing. So glad I stuck with it. The ending was a tad unsatisfactory for me, just before the big time jump. I felt the author could have carried the scene to a more satisfying conclusion rather than leaving the reader hanging. And Luke could have been developed into more than just a two-dimensional character. I didn't get the true motivation for his change of heart--it felt contrived. All in all, though, a very entertaining read.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually tracked this down because of the ratings, but unfortunately my first impressions held throughout the book. The main character is ridiculous and the other characters are just as bad. All of the characters are equally stupid and it just doesn't make for good reading. I guess there are people like this in the world (women who love men who treat them like *** from the beginning), but I don't want to read about them! An example of the main jerk, "As far as he was concerned, she could stay out for the rest of the year . . . what was she to him? Just a dried-up prune, that's all." There are also several contradictions in the book that editors didn't catch.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many readers here, I immediately felt empathy and then compassion for the self-deprecating protagonist who has as many inward challenges as external. Her honest and naïve internal dialogue kept me reading until I learned her final fate. The added benefit is the travelogue from Florida to Nova Scotia filled with stalkers, thieves, and traitors and especially Ellie's perceptions of them all. ~Robin Throne, author of Her Kind: A Novel

[Mary Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just received Halifax and finished it within 24 hours. I loved the raw honesty with which Ms Mauch describes Ellie's roller coaster of emotions after murdering an amusement park gunman and during her interactions with her cruel mother and maladjusted boyfriend. The settings, the plot and the characters were all totally engaging and kept me turning its pages hours past my bedtime.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was OK but not great. It tells the story of Ellie, a middle aged woman living under the thumb of a nagging controlling mother. One day, Ellie intervenes when a man begins to shoot people at an amusement park where she works. She kills the man and is feted by the town as a hero for a short period. As the glory dies down, she begins to feel a rage against the unfair treatment she has received from her family. She knows that feeling may result in violence and so she leaves her small Florida town and travels to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She checks into a bed and breakfast run by Jake MacNeil and they soon become friends and then lovers. He is a man with a troubled past that he is trying to hide and Ellie is hiding her own troubled past. Enter Gina, the local hairdresser, who hires Ellie to work for her. She has her own history with Jake which culminates in more secrets and more violence. This book was OK but it just didn't have that oomph I look for in a suspense novel. I never felt the story would end any way other than it did but it just lacked the suspense.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

There were many ways the author could have gone with this writing. I enjoined reading it very much thank you

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The basic story here is pretty interesting, but much of the action is pretty unrealistic and is presented stiffly and without engagement. The book needs some editing for grammar and structure as well.