When Evelyn Ward returns to her late grandfather’s seaside home, she expects dust, memories, and the bittersweet work of packing away a lifetime. What she doesn’t expect is the leather-bound book she discovers tucked away in his study.
At first glance, it looks like an old ledger. But the entries inside are anything but neat rows of names, each paired with an exact date, time, and method of death. Names she recognizes, names of people in her town, and at the bottom of the final page, her own. Three weeks from now.
Desperate to outwit a fate inked in pages older than her, Evie finds herself drawn into a chilling mystery that spans generations. Every attempt to change the future only twists it tighter, accidents mounting, shadows lengthening. A figure seems to watch her from across streets and behind windows, and whispers from her grandfather’s hidden journal hint that she isn’t the first to bear the burden of keeping the ledger.
But the book is alive, rewriting itself in real time. And the closer the pages turn toward her appointed hour, the harder the ledger fights back.
As friends turn into names in ink, Evie must confront the some debts can’t be escaped, and some books are never meant to be opened.
A haunting blend of gothic suspense and psychological terror, The Keeper’s Ledger is a story of inherited secrets, inevitable endings, and the terrible cost of trying to outrun death itself.
What got me interested in the book initially was the Cover and the fact, that it does not require a long-term commitment time wise. I'd consider it more of something in between a Novella and a short book.
We meet Evelyn on her way to her grandfather's cabin. What the author did well is to describe the journey. I could imagine the waves in the background, the change of scenery, everything you think about doing a long car ride. Once we arrived, it continued with the old cabin. How the floorboards sounded, how you could hear it battling the wind. How an old house sounds in the middle of the night when everything else is dead quiet. The author for sure set the mood for what's to come.
Once she settled in, Evelyn finds the ledger of her grandfather, not thinking much about it initially. After meeting an old friend, the higher than usual death rate in the town sticks with her and when looking at the names in the ledger, they ring a bell. It starts to get worse when suddenly her name is added to the list.
I enjoyed the quick read and it left me wanting more. I'd be interested in the history of the town, how the ledger came to be and a lot of more things. I'm also fine with where it ended. I got what I wanted out of it and that is a good thing.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really enjoyed the concept of this book. It kept me on a bit of an edge as the tale progressed! As a good psyche thriller needs some plot twists and I didn’t see that comings - this book covers all of the bases! I really enjoyed it and very much recommend!