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Cades Cove #1
The Curse of Allie Mae
ASIN moved from less recent edition
***This newly revised edition of "Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae" is only available for the ebook and print editions. ~ Aiden James, April 14, 2017***
Buried deep in a ravine in the picturesque Smoky Mountains is a very dark secret.
David Hobbs, vacationing with his wife Miriam, inadvertently stumbles upon a small cloth ‘keepsake’ bag and a broken tooth. A human tooth. Miriam begs David to hand the bag and tooth over to park officials, but he ignores his wife’s pleas and secretly keeps the ‘harmless’ items. The action opens a doorway that had been closed for nearly a hundred years and unleashes hell on earth, or at least hell in the lives of David and Miriam.
Following the brutal murder of his best friend in Denver, and unprovoked attack on his oldest son, David desperately seeks to understand why a mysterious teenage girl has chosen to terrorize him and the males closest to him. To prevent further devastation to his family and end the wanton bloodshed, he returns to the enchanted hills of eastern Tennessee, where a terrible truth awaits discovery... one that forces him to face the consequences for the unpaid sins of his ancestors.
***This newly revised edition of "Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae" is only available for the ebook and print editions. ~ Aiden James, April 14, 2017***
Buried deep in a ravine in the picturesque Smoky Mountains is a very dark secret.
David Hobbs, vacationing with his wife Miriam, inadvertently stumbles upon a small cloth ‘keepsake’ bag and a broken tooth. A human tooth. Miriam begs David to hand the bag and tooth over to park officials, but he ignores his wife’s pleas and secretly keeps the ‘harmless’ items. The action opens a doorway that had been closed for nearly a hundred years and unleashes hell on earth, or at least hell in the lives of David and Miriam.
Following the brutal murder of his best friend in Denver, and unprovoked attack on his oldest son, David desperately seeks to understand why a mysterious teenage girl has chosen to terrorize him and the males closest to him. To prevent further devastation to his family and end the wanton bloodshed, he returns to the enchanted hills of eastern Tennessee, where a terrible truth awaits discovery... one that forces him to face the consequences for the unpaid sins of his ancestors.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 3, 2010
1409 people are currently reading
3901 people want to read
About the author
Aiden James
84 books309 followersedit biographydelete
Biography
Aiden James is the bestselling author of "Cades Cove: the curse of Allie Mae", "The Judas Chronicles", and the "Nick Caine Adventures" (with J.R. Rain). The author has published over forty books and a new series is set to begin in the fall of 2022 (The BloodStar Chronicles). At present, he resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Fiona, and an ornery little dog named Pepper.
To learn more about Aiden James and his latest books, please visit AidenJamesNovelist.com, or look for him on Facebook (Aiden James, Paranormal Adventure Author) and Twitter (@AidenJames3).
You can also learn more about Aiden and Fiona, and their interests, at the links below:
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/ManorHousePu...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 309 reviews
June 6, 2020
Damn! 😳
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
January 23, 2012
Didn't know what to expect with this book. It (and it's sequel) were free for Kindle. It was great. This may have been the scariest book I have ever read. I have read over twenty Stephen King books but this one is far scarier than any of King's that I have read. This is also a great read for anyone who is familiar with eastern TN.
It is very well written and the creepiness starts almost at the beginning. If you want a genuinely scary book, give it a shot.
It is very well written and the creepiness starts almost at the beginning. If you want a genuinely scary book, give it a shot.
May 9, 2012
Interesting story, overshadowed by the WORST WRITING EVER. I can't seem to just give up on it, but it is excruciatingly painful. I have no idea how it's gotten such good reviews. The author apparently has no idea how grammar works. And he insists on narrating every move each character takes. If they step from the kitchen into the livingroom he has to tell you where they ended up standing. It's like reading stage directions. And if one more person smirks or snickers, I will spontaneously combust.
**************
Finally finished. It remained horrifically bad, with the exception of one section that I suspect someone re-wrote for him. The vast majority of the book was full of run-on sentences, fragments, and just basic terrible structure - sins obviously committed out of ignorance and not for creative effect. For example, "Surprised that the camera wasn't broken, his prized lens received a mere scratch on its black casing."
It was a fairly interesting story which could not stand up against the clunky, undeveloped and painfully amateurish writing.
**************
Finally finished. It remained horrifically bad, with the exception of one section that I suspect someone re-wrote for him. The vast majority of the book was full of run-on sentences, fragments, and just basic terrible structure - sins obviously committed out of ignorance and not for creative effect. For example, "Surprised that the camera wasn't broken, his prized lens received a mere scratch on its black casing."
It was a fairly interesting story which could not stand up against the clunky, undeveloped and painfully amateurish writing.
May 27, 2012
I love any books set in the southern Appalachians, and this one did not disappoint. In many ways it reminded me of the "Ballad Novels" by Sharyn McCrumb, with old legends or events overlapping with current times. In this case they did more than overlap, the old event became a current manifestation of the past. While vacationing in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee, David and Miriam Hobbs take one day to visit a little-seen ravine in Cade's Cove where a small keepsake bag is found. Instead of turning it in at the visitor center as a possible artifact, David is compelled to take it home with him to Denver. Unfortunately, as a result of this decision, they take home something much more malevolent. Without spoiling the story, after many different tries the spirit is finally put to rest.
Or is it? As part one of "The Cade's Cove" series we can be assured that there was more to the haunting, and the worst may still be to come. Personally I'm looking forward to reading the next installment and I hope many of the cast of characters will be back from book one.
Or is it? As part one of "The Cade's Cove" series we can be assured that there was more to the haunting, and the worst may still be to come. Personally I'm looking forward to reading the next installment and I hope many of the cast of characters will be back from book one.
April 13, 2020
Holy smokes! I couldn’t put this book down! After struggling to find something to catch my attention after my last book, I picked this up with no intention of loving it as much as I did. I haven’t read a scary book like this in a long while. This one kept me looking over my shoulder and keeping the light on beside my bed at night.
David Hobbs and his family seem like the normal Leave-It-To-Beaver type. Everybody is happy-go-lucky and their life is seemingly perfect. But after David and his wife Miriam return to CO from a weekend getaway in Gatlinburg, TN, they unknowingly bring more with them than their luggage. From this moment on, all hell breaks loose. Will returning to Gatlinburg fix this problem or only make it worse?
I can’t wait for you to read and find out. Just don’t read with the lights off 😏
David Hobbs and his family seem like the normal Leave-It-To-Beaver type. Everybody is happy-go-lucky and their life is seemingly perfect. But after David and his wife Miriam return to CO from a weekend getaway in Gatlinburg, TN, they unknowingly bring more with them than their luggage. From this moment on, all hell breaks loose. Will returning to Gatlinburg fix this problem or only make it worse?
I can’t wait for you to read and find out. Just don’t read with the lights off 😏
January 16, 2012
Loved it!! It was fun reading about an area that I am familiar with. It totally makes me want to visit Cades Cove again soon. The characters are so well written they could be your next door neighbors. While reading, I found myself experiencing a plethora of emotions... sadness, affection, sorrow, fear, suspense, anger, contempt, happiness, and sheer joy for spending time with such a wonderful book. I also loved how Indian folklore was woven into the story. Hoping to read more of that in the next book, which I *cannot* wait to read. Although I might wait a bit since the 3rd book won't be coming out til 2013. Can ya write a little faster Aiden?? :-) I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's books.
July 25, 2018
Good ghost story. If one is afraid of ghosts, this could ignite your fear. Allie Mae is one ghost I would not want following me home. As I said earlier, when out hiking if one finds a bag of treasure out in the forest, leave it there! I haven't read a ghost/horror novel in a while, it was a nice change of pace. The ending leads one right into wanting (or not, if one does not want to run into any more ghosts) to go on to book 2 in the series. This novel was not a very scary read for me, there were others I have read that were much more frightening than this one.
May 5, 2012
This is an amazing book creepy yes..very and a real page turner.
I love Aiden's style and he certainly captured me in this thriller of a story!
I love Aiden's style and he certainly captured me in this thriller of a story!
August 20, 2012
HORRIBLE! The protagonist stumbles across a mystery 100 years old and blah, blah, blah…it’s stupid. The dialog is totally unoriginal. The main characters seem to be talking to each other in sound bites from a bad movie trailer and I wanted to pull my hair out. It was all,
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you too, babe. I’m afraid of the evil in our house.”
“I know, babe. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay. I love you, babe.”
Puke. The characters themselves were incredibly flat and while the concept behind the plotline was good, that was about all I can say that’s positive. Not only that, but the plot was incredibly repetitive. How repetitive? Twice I lost my spot when I stopped reading and when I came back to it, it took me awhile to realize I was in the wrong place. That repetitive. I kept reading because I really wanted things to get better. I think I may have paid attention somewhere near the end, but it’s hard to say because I was bored most of the time.
In short, don’t waste your time. This was a free book I downloaded for my Kindle, and I deleted it from my library so it wouldn’t take up precious space. I know, Kindles can hold something like 3,000 books, but I didn’t want to risk it.
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you too, babe. I’m afraid of the evil in our house.”
“I know, babe. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay. I love you, babe.”
Puke. The characters themselves were incredibly flat and while the concept behind the plotline was good, that was about all I can say that’s positive. Not only that, but the plot was incredibly repetitive. How repetitive? Twice I lost my spot when I stopped reading and when I came back to it, it took me awhile to realize I was in the wrong place. That repetitive. I kept reading because I really wanted things to get better. I think I may have paid attention somewhere near the end, but it’s hard to say because I was bored most of the time.
In short, don’t waste your time. This was a free book I downloaded for my Kindle, and I deleted it from my library so it wouldn’t take up precious space. I know, Kindles can hold something like 3,000 books, but I didn’t want to risk it.
July 16, 2020
Spooky thriller/ghost story
A very good ghost story/thriller in which people must pay for the wrongs of the past. Parts of it are edge of the seat suspenseful. Don't touch dead things or even a little piece of a dead thing.
A very good ghost story/thriller in which people must pay for the wrongs of the past. Parts of it are edge of the seat suspenseful. Don't touch dead things or even a little piece of a dead thing.
October 30, 2024
When David and Miriam Hobbs visit Cades Cove in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, they find a small and very old cloth bag with a few small keepsakes. Although he should have turned it in to the park rangers, David ends up taking it home to Colorado where strange things start happening in their home. They hear creaking sounds, voices, and their kids are even attacked by some malevolent force. But David's attempts to send the bag back fail until he is forced to return to the Smoky Mountains and face the evil he's inadvertently awakened.
For anyone who's ever pocketed a rock or arrowhead or something from a state or national park (in spite of the warnings to leave everything where you find it), this is a great spooky read. Allie Mae is pretty scary, and with the attacks on their children it's clear she means business. This book has lingered on my kindle shelf for several years, but needing something spooky for Halloween reading, I decided to give it a try. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. It gets a bit long toward the end, and there's a lot of discussion about tarot cards and Cherokee magic, but this was a fun October read. I've got the next one on my kindle and will probably be reading it sooner than next Halloween.
For anyone who's ever pocketed a rock or arrowhead or something from a state or national park (in spite of the warnings to leave everything where you find it), this is a great spooky read. Allie Mae is pretty scary, and with the attacks on their children it's clear she means business. This book has lingered on my kindle shelf for several years, but needing something spooky for Halloween reading, I decided to give it a try. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. It gets a bit long toward the end, and there's a lot of discussion about tarot cards and Cherokee magic, but this was a fun October read. I've got the next one on my kindle and will probably be reading it sooner than next Halloween.
September 4, 2012
This book is one of a series and is entitled Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae. The story line is that of a young girl, Allie Mae, whose angry spirit comes to terrorize the Hobbs family after the parents, David and Miriam, have a romantic interlude in a Cades Cove ravine. While there, they find a small bag stitched with “Allie Mae’s Treasures,” and despite David’s intention of turning it in to the park authorities, he finds himself unable to do so. That’s where the “fun” begins.
Allie Mae recognizes David’s resemblance to her ruthless attacker, and thus begins to seek revenge on him, his family, and his best friend. Desperate for relief, David returns to the park to personally return Allie Mae’s bag, and that’s when he meets John, a ranger and Cherokee Indian, and John’s granddaughter Evelyn. Knowledgeable about spirits, incantations, herbs, and rituals, John and Evelyn set about to free David from Allie Mae’s spirit. Are they successful? You’ll have to read the book and find out for yourself.
Allie Mae recognizes David’s resemblance to her ruthless attacker, and thus begins to seek revenge on him, his family, and his best friend. Desperate for relief, David returns to the park to personally return Allie Mae’s bag, and that’s when he meets John, a ranger and Cherokee Indian, and John’s granddaughter Evelyn. Knowledgeable about spirits, incantations, herbs, and rituals, John and Evelyn set about to free David from Allie Mae’s spirit. Are they successful? You’ll have to read the book and find out for yourself.
June 7, 2012
Cades Cove is the Scariest book I have read in a very very long time... a pure terrorizing Ghost Story! Aiden James Brings the characters Of David and Miriam Hobbs and their Children to life in such a way that you feel their terror! In the Beginning you hate the Ghost of Allie Mae and the pain she brings on the Hobbs Family and their friends.. but as the story unwinds and you learn about the Brutal death of Allie Mae and how it connects to David and his family... even David cries for her spirit... Aiden brings the characters lives together in a remarkable way. As I was reading this book I felt like I had to very carefully peek to the next page so Allie Mae wouldn't "Ping" me ..I give this story 5 pppiiiinnnngggsss Very scary...
February 9, 2025
The Curse of Allie Mae Cades Cove
This was not my kind of read, but I couldn’t put the book down. The writer has you in the book. The twist and turns were so good. You want to find out what was next and not stop reading.
This was not my kind of read, but I couldn’t put the book down. The writer has you in the book. The twist and turns were so good. You want to find out what was next and not stop reading.
April 28, 2015
I wanted to like this book, really and truly. Unfortunately, it just got worse the longer it went on. I started skimming whole pages of teeth brushing and showering after the author details every single thing a character does. The plot is a great idea but the story isn't scary or even creepy. It reads like a PG-13 movie aimed at 14-year-olds. The dialogue is juvenile and bland, and it's hardly believable that everyone, including the cops, just goes "Oh, you're being haunted by a 100-year-old ghost? We totally believe you!" Don't even get me started on the Native American trained by a Shaman and using tarot cards and Norse runes.... Disappointing, but at least I didn't pay for it.
October 4, 2012
This was the first book by Aiden James that I have read and I want to say that this book was really amazing.I can't even think of one thing that I didn't like in this book. I loved the descriptions that he gave about the area. The details that he gave us about Allie Mae and her anger were outstanding. I had to make a trip to that area while reading this book and honestly felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck just for seeing a sign pointing towards Cades Cove. Any book that makes me get the heebie jeebies just from seeing a sign definitely gets a 5 star rating from me!
November 9, 2011
GREAT story!!! Oh my gosh!! Aiden has a way of writing that makes me feel like I am in the moment with the characters. Allie Mae is a scary scary girl! This is DEFINATELY a story that will send chillls up your spine. I LOVED it and can't wait to read another Aiden book!
May 8, 2020
Not for me, it started off well enough but could have been wrapped up in half the time it took. The chapters were long and drawn out......I almost gave up on it, but saw it through to the end, underwhelmed..
April 21, 2020
Ridiculous
Weak character perspectives and awkward geographical references. Forced and unnatural, not suspenseful and supernatural. I do not recommend this book.
Weak character perspectives and awkward geographical references. Forced and unnatural, not suspenseful and supernatural. I do not recommend this book.
May 24, 2020
Okay, I’ll just say it. Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae, by Aiden James, is one mother of a scary book. Immediately, I became caught up in the story of a man with questionable judgment who, through a seemingly innocuous act, stumbles into a world of sheer mayhem. As a result, he puts not only himself but his family in danger. What starts out as the innocent taking of a souvenir from a magical vacation spot soon turns into an unrelenting reign of terror conducted by the vengeful ghost of a dead girl.
This kind of story has been told countless times. In lesser hands, it might have been trite. But the author has taken great pains to create a rich world of Appalachian and Native American folklore that lends an incredible depth to the haunting tale of a young Tennessee girl wronged in another century. I particularly enjoyed James’s meticulous description of a Sioux ritual meant to protect the protagonist, David Hobbs, and his family.
If you enjoy novels that harken back to an earlier, less civilized time in America and feature nail-biting scenes of supernatural horror, then I suggest you read Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae. It will be well worth the nightmares.
This kind of story has been told countless times. In lesser hands, it might have been trite. But the author has taken great pains to create a rich world of Appalachian and Native American folklore that lends an incredible depth to the haunting tale of a young Tennessee girl wronged in another century. I particularly enjoyed James’s meticulous description of a Sioux ritual meant to protect the protagonist, David Hobbs, and his family.
If you enjoy novels that harken back to an earlier, less civilized time in America and feature nail-biting scenes of supernatural horror, then I suggest you read Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae. It will be well worth the nightmares.
March 15, 2020
Oh my goodness!! This book was fantastic! I love suspense, thrillers and scary stories and this book really hits in all these areas. From the first page you are hooked. And, it really has moments that make you look around and make sure the lights are on. I am very familiar with Cades Cove as I live in the Western NC foothills and have been there hiking several times over the years. Needless to say I may never look at the area the same way again. I am trilled that this is a three (3) book series and I cannot wait to read the other two (2)!!
April 10, 2020
Seriously creepy good. I couldn't put the book down. one of the scariest books i have read. it made me look over my shoulder quite a few times. and a few times i had to put it down and walk away because it make the hairs on my neck stick up. Loved it.
December 5, 2024
Great story. Just a little too creepy for my taste considering I’m from the area and the wind has blown something crazy tonight!
April 28, 2020
I couldn’t finish this book, it was too scary for me and gave me nightmares (lol I’m a thirty year old woman). I made it about 60% of the way through before I had to remove it from my life and try and forget about it. I actually made a friend read it and tell me what happened, and hearing the rest of the story I’m glad I stopped where I did!
A good book if you like horror stories and can handle them better than me!
A good book if you like horror stories and can handle them better than me!
March 3, 2020
Thrilling and scary
I’m not a huge fan of scary books, but I love Cade’s Cove and the Smokey Mountains so this book sounded interesting to me. Wow what a page turner! I had a very hard time putting this down down.
I’m not a huge fan of scary books, but I love Cade’s Cove and the Smokey Mountains so this book sounded interesting to me. Wow what a page turner! I had a very hard time putting this down down.
April 22, 2025
Definitely an interesting book. I would say this book would be best ready around October when things go bump in the night 😉
It took a little bit for me personally to get into it for it to bed good but I’m glad I stuck it out. It also could be because I’m VERY ADHD and my brain plays out scenarios before they happen 😂😂
It took a little bit for me personally to get into it for it to bed good but I’m glad I stuck it out. It also could be because I’m VERY ADHD and my brain plays out scenarios before they happen 😂😂
April 10, 2012
I'll stack up to the "well at least I got what I paid for" pile. It was a free download, actually a group of 3 books and I liked the other 2 in the package fairly well. At least all I lost was time, but it was a fair amount of time because this book was long. Some of the characters were reasonably well developed but not as much as I would have liked, especially since this was a fairly long book. The author pretty much put all of his energy into plot and even the plot got rather repetitive. It's a ghost story with the ghost being malevolent, even murderous but the reader does at last get to find out where much of that anger comes from. The editing was very poor, with homonym errors and quite a variety of grammatical errors. While I can get around it, I find that kind of sloppiness aggravating. The basic premise is that David, a CPA, and Miriam, a pediatrician take a short vacation from their home in Colorado to the Smoky Mountains to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary and attempt to rekindle their romance. While on vacation, they climb up to Cades Cove, which is a secluded area and find a little bag that looks very old. Miriam wants David to return the bag and he agrees but can't make himself do it. For the rest of the story, this bag, which is tied to the ghost Allie Mae, looms large. This was a book that should have stopped a few hundred words before it actually did. It seemed to have come to a satisfactory conclusion, but then the author kept going. I thought perhaps it was a rather cheesy way to set up a sequell, but at least I didn't see one hawked on the end pages. I would not particularly recommend this book.
October 26, 2024
3.5⭐️ rounded up. I love the smoky mountains so when visiting this year had to make sure I picked this up in Pigeon Forge! Loved the vibes and the seeming accuracy of the setting. Also enjoyed the tie of the Native American history into it. I’m just not much of a horror person after all. But if you love mountains and spooky vibes this is a must in October.
February 7, 2020
Allie Mae
I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes excitement and drama , to anyone that has been to Cade’s Cove it is a must read!
I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes excitement and drama , to anyone that has been to Cade’s Cove it is a must read!
July 11, 2018
I almost didn’t finish this one. Childish writing. Weird conversations between David and Miriam. Calling each other babe and hon, constantly. The plot was lost many times. An old fashioned ghost story. David brings home a bag that does not belong to him from Cade’s Cove. Allie Mae’s ghost is angry and invades their home and lives including there children. She is very violent and finally the story gets interesting. Indian medicine and witchcraft. Won’t read the next one. But I did finish it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 309 reviews