The Strange Case of Susanna

by G.H. Komali, G. Komali

When Clara decides to become a foster parent, she has her own doubts about her capabilities. Susanna-an eleven year old girl comes into her care after her entire family perishes in a suspicious fire. Susanna’s mother used to suffer from a severe mental illness and believed that the devil possessed her daughter.

After a shaky start, just when Clara thinks that things are going well with Susanna- strange things start taking place. Susanna has severe mood swings and starts talking to an invisible entity. An unexpected shocking incident sends Clara into a devastating downward spiral, threatening her own existence. Unknown to Clara, a terrible secret has both their lives irreversibly intertwined.

As Clara desperately tries to claw her way out of the yawning black chasm her life has become, her only hope lies in uncovering the terrifying truth about Susanna and the secret that binds them together. Is Clara ready to face the truth?

Author's note: I'm an avid reader of fiction, especially creepy horror stories that have a strong plot with unexpected twists and turns. Once I had the idea for this book, I was so excited that I could not stop writing. This is exactly the type of book that I would love to read. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did, writing it. The story will keep you guessing until the end.

You can reach me on http://ghkomali.com/

Genres: Horror, Amazon, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2014

Reviews

[Paula Margulies · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should be a warning to all self-published authors out there who refuse to have their books edited before they publish them. The storyline is intriguing and there are some really great creepy moments. But there are too many instances of the characters speaking in clumsy, overly formal dialogue (due to a lack of contractions), along with a number of grammatical errors, words missing, and sentences that make no sense at all. What a shame -- this should never happen. I hope the author reads these reviews and hires an editor before publishing next time.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't understand the very end at all. It made no sense.

[Deanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs a proofreader!

The storyline was decent, nothing I would recommend to others. It was a bit juvenile, neither the storyline nor the characters were well developed. The story ended very quickly, as though the author ran out of steam. The biggest problem with the book was the need for proofreading! The book included random commas and hyphens, glaring grammatical mistakes and sentences that don't read correctly because words were omitted or added. There is a sentence about someone being murdered to death, as though someone could be partially murdered. Here are sentences taken directly from the book: "My cooking skills were limited, but people usually people appreciated whatever I cooked." and "I stood there uneasily, not knowing what to do to." I'm glad the book was free!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line was pretty good. I kept reading because I was genuinely curious about what what going to happen next. The twist at the end was also really good. However, the author NEEDS an editor. There was so much stilted language, bad grammar, typos, etc. that there were many times I had no idea what I just read. The lack of punctuation also made it really difficult to figure out who was supposed to be talking.

[Bridgewes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Strange Case of Suzanna is a story of a woman who decides to adopt a young girl after her family has been killed in a home fire. The girl. Is both troubled and strange. Her adopted mother does her best to make a home for her. The storyline is complex and very misleading. The book is filled with many grammatical errors and poor grammar. The ending is rather confusing and leaves you incomplete.

[Reading_Utopia! · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

The Strange Case of Susanna is a total mind-blower! It follows Clara, a young woman who decides to foster a child despite her nagging doubts. Then we meet eleven-year-old Susanna, who's had a really challenging upbringing, but Clara is hell-bent on making a positive impact on her life. Clara and Susanna’s wild, twisted journey will absolutely blow your mind!

[Debra Barstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was good. There were many spelling, grammar errors but if you can look past them to get the story this book would surprise you. If this author would have had proper editing done on this book this would have easily been a 4 to 5 star book.

[Miranda · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was compelling enough to read through to the end, despite a great need for editing. In the end, it turned out to be an exceptionally ill-informed and badly handled take on a commonly demonized group of people. I was left disappointed.

[Susannah Budd · Rating 1 out of 5]

was recommended to me (honestly disrespectful) so i read it bc it was free and susanna/h solidarity, but i wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. predictable and played out plot, terrible writing, seriously needs an editor. waste of time LOL

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably believable, incredibly inventive, immensely intriguing, empathically emotional, this novel unravels the enigma of our minds in a way that is impossible to comprehend unless you are privy to it!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! When you get to a certain part (I won't spoil it) and you think "how can you be so stupid", well....just wait. You'll get it later on.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

PG 17
Very disturbing mental illness

[Anne Perlman · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible story

This book was poorly written with a very weak storyline. Disappointing read. It was unlikely and unbelievable from the beginning

[Deborah Finco · Rating 3 out of 5]

ending confusing

Book was ok but confusing ending - I assume there really was no nurse Clara but it was not clear

[Erica smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I happened to be searching books about evil children and came across this book . this was a great read , I couldn't stop reading it . I'm glad I found this book .

[Kerita Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engrossing from the start. The story moves along pretty predictably. The ending felt a little rushed, and the twist was almost too easy. There were clues along the way, though.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was terrible, but could someone please tell me what the ending meant?

[Jamie Calhoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Audio

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. So the editing was nonexistent for this book. So many spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Australian English isn't that different, I don't think! :-( The story intrigued me. A single woman feeling the maternal instincts and taking on a foster child. But, wait, the foster child is just never believable to me at all! Too contrived. The events that take place in the story weren't that "surprising"--very predictable, to be honest. I kept thinking that it would get better as I read it, but it just got weirder. The ending was not a surprise, but still was okay for this plot. I like mystery/suspense books, but this didn't hit the mark as being great, by any means. It was okay...and it was a quick read. Best advice for this author.....get your books edited BEFORE printing. It is very distracting!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eerily Entrancing

Imagine being a young single professional with your biological clock ticking, yet still searching for "the one". What better way to stop that clock then to foster an orphan. Clara opens her heart and her home to poor little Susanna, an 11 year old girl who's entire family died in a horrible house fire. Sad little Susanna who's already been through several foster family and just wants to be loved. When Susanna introduces Clara to her invisible friend Maggie, things start getting weird. A Strange and twisted tale well worth the read.

[Peter Mckinskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

G. Komali is an amazing writer. The Author writes with such detail that I can picture the characters in my head, and every gory and frighteningly horrific scene pops from the page. Her writing style will leave you wanting more while being afraid to turn the page to see what happens next. Not for the faint of heart for sure but if you enjoy horror, this is a book you shouldn't miss out on.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would give this 2.5 stars. The story itself was really good and I did enjoy it but...this book is in DESPERATE need of some editing. There are sentences with missing words and tons of redundancy, some things are completely unreadable and don't make sense at all. This would be a really great book with some if all the problems were fixed.

[Shawn Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A LOT of spelling and grammatical errors! Despite that, I completed the book and enjoyed it overall. The ending was a little disappointing as I feel that avenue has been a little overused in this type of book. It did provide just the right on amount of creepy while remaining realistic. Quick fun read. :)

[Estter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice read but where was the editor??? Too many errors it was distracting!!!!

Nice read but where was the editor??? Too many errors it was distracting!!!!

poor editing way too distracting and annoying!! how was this book even released? good story but careless execution. Too bad

[Bothenjs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have been a 4 except

The ending was patently ridiculous. Spoiler Alert- mentally ill people can develop other personalities but the book if based on that premise just did not cut it. Additionally some weird writing like "she had just murdered him dead". I'm pretty sure you can't murdered alive. Enjoyed it til the end ruined it

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars This book is creepy and very fast paced. It is still in desperate need of editing. With some good editing this book could be a really good book. Not a good book to read if you're wanting to sleep at night, though. :)

[Theresa Sivelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a hard time with this book. It didn't flow well and there were either a lot of spelling and grammatical errors or the Australian English is very different from the American English. In any event, I didn't care too much for this book.

[Asurede Wilkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The was a line in there where then main character said that she found it un fathomable to think that a little girl could 'murder a grown man to death'. Basically I was asking myself why and what the hell throughout the entire story

[Sheryl Staub- conforti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was debating between giving this book a 4-4.5-
This book had my attention and I couldn't seem to put it down- (my reasoning for giving it a 5 - however , I do agree- the ending was confusing and didn't make any sense

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

if I could give a 2.5 I would. I couldn't understand why Clara tried to cover up foster daughter, Susanna's criminal behavior. I found it very bizarre until I got to the end where we learn the relationship of Susanna and Clara. Twisted for sure.