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The Mansion
When a family moves into a remote high-tech mansion equipped with next-generation artificial intelligence that can control the house’s every function—a buried secret leads to terrifying and catastrophic consequences.
Nellie is programmed to be the perfect digital assistant. But something sinister lurks in her source code—and now she’s the perfect killer.
When Billy Stafford and his wife move into their house designed with every comfort in mind, he thinks it will be the perfect chance to work on their marriage and to restart his career. A brilliant computer engineer fallen on hard times, Billy’s been hired by his former business partner to test out a cutting-edge artificial intelligence program hardwired into the house. All Billy has to do is fix a few bugs in the system, which sounds easy enough.
But as winter settles in and Billy and his wife are left alone in the woods, a dark reality begins to emerge. Nellie’s problems are much worse than a few technology glitches. Infused with the sinister history of the mansion and her own creator’s sins, she has, in fact, become a killing machine. And the only way to escape is to give her what she wants…
A gripping technothriller about AI gone rogue, The Mansion is “a thrilling story that combines modern technology with old fears” ( Shelf Awareness ).
Nellie is programmed to be the perfect digital assistant. But something sinister lurks in her source code—and now she’s the perfect killer.
When Billy Stafford and his wife move into their house designed with every comfort in mind, he thinks it will be the perfect chance to work on their marriage and to restart his career. A brilliant computer engineer fallen on hard times, Billy’s been hired by his former business partner to test out a cutting-edge artificial intelligence program hardwired into the house. All Billy has to do is fix a few bugs in the system, which sounds easy enough.
But as winter settles in and Billy and his wife are left alone in the woods, a dark reality begins to emerge. Nellie’s problems are much worse than a few technology glitches. Infused with the sinister history of the mansion and her own creator’s sins, she has, in fact, become a killing machine. And the only way to escape is to give her what she wants…
A gripping technothriller about AI gone rogue, The Mansion is “a thrilling story that combines modern technology with old fears” ( Shelf Awareness ).
432 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 2018
112 people are currently reading
4649 people want to read
About the author
Ezekiel Boone
13 books647 followersI live in upstate New York with my wife and kids. Whenever I travel and say I'm from New York, people think I mean NYC, but we live about three hours north of New York City. Our house is five minutes outside of a university town. We're far enough out of town that, at night, it's dark.
No.
Darker than that.
Dark enough that, if you're not careful, you might fall off the small cliff at the edge of my property. If you're lucky, the water will be up enough to break your fall. If you're not lucky, please sign a waiver before you come to visit.
I've got two unruly dogs who are mostly friendly. Well, that's not true. The part about them being unruly is true, but one of them is the most friendly dog you've ever met, and the other dog ... isn't. They are good writing partners, though they spend a lot of their day curled up in front of the wood burning stove and ignoring me. Unless I'm making lunch. They pay attention to me then.
The Ezekiel Boone website is www.ezekielboone.com, but I've also got a nifty website for THE HATCHING at www.TheHatchingBook.com. It has a cool map and some other bells and whistles.
You can also follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram if you are so inclined and like the idea of occasionally seeing photos of my dogs.
If you've read this far, I should mention that THE HATCHING is Ezekiel Boone's first book, but it's not actually *my* first book. I also write under the name Alexi Zentner. Alexi Zentner's books are pretty different from Ezekiel Boone's.
No.
Darker than that.
Dark enough that, if you're not careful, you might fall off the small cliff at the edge of my property. If you're lucky, the water will be up enough to break your fall. If you're not lucky, please sign a waiver before you come to visit.
I've got two unruly dogs who are mostly friendly. Well, that's not true. The part about them being unruly is true, but one of them is the most friendly dog you've ever met, and the other dog ... isn't. They are good writing partners, though they spend a lot of their day curled up in front of the wood burning stove and ignoring me. Unless I'm making lunch. They pay attention to me then.
The Ezekiel Boone website is www.ezekielboone.com, but I've also got a nifty website for THE HATCHING at www.TheHatchingBook.com. It has a cool map and some other bells and whistles.
You can also follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram if you are so inclined and like the idea of occasionally seeing photos of my dogs.
If you've read this far, I should mention that THE HATCHING is Ezekiel Boone's first book, but it's not actually *my* first book. I also write under the name Alexi Zentner. Alexi Zentner's books are pretty different from Ezekiel Boone's.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 364 reviews
October 19, 2019
who needs giant carnivorous spiders when you have a haunted house, an AI gone rogue, spooky twins, unresolved grudges, and murrrrderrrrrrr? well, okay, i still need giant carnivorous spiders (in my reading), but this is also pretty rad! it’s a big fat SF/horror novel that’s like 2001: A Space Odyssey meets The Shining meets Black Mirror meets, i dunno - Jurassic Park? something riddled with hubris, you choose.
two nerds spend a couple of their youthfully idealistic years living together in a tiny cabin on the grounds of a decaying mansion with an unsavory past, where they code furiously day and night; freezing in the winter, living on ramen and cereal, trying to create a siri-but-better companion that will make their names and fortunes. alas, they have a falling out over a girl and part ways.
ten-and-change years later, billy is still married to the girl - emily, but is deeply in debt and newly, fragilly sober, while shawn has turned some of what they developed together in that cabin into a multibillion-dollar company, having rewritten his personal and professional history to exclude billy. he’s still pining for emily, and he has used a portion of his billions towards the restoration of that decaying mansion; buying up the surrounding town and turning it into a rich guy playground. he’s arrogant, used to getting what he wants, and so, so close to having created (or having paid for the creation of) nellie, the kinda-sorta AI he and billy had been working on all those years ago. so shawn makes billy an offer he’d be a fool to turn down - his debts erased and his financial problems eliminated forever as long as he comes to stay in the mansion (o and hey, bring emily!) and take a look at nellie and sort out her bugs. because nellie is buggin’.
obviously, billy is in need of the money, but the challenge of finally bringing nellie to ‘life’ is just as big a temptation, so although both billy and emily are wary of what will happen when the three of them meet up again, they make the trip, preparing themselves for some awkwardness and maybe some raised voices.
which happens, sure, but not to worry, because what follows will be SO MUCH WORSE THAN THAT!
because nellie's "bugs" go beyond some extraneous or misapplied code and things very quickly begin to escalate from odd to creepy to dangerous to AAAAAHHHHH!!!
this one hooked me early and while i was never scared-scared, there were plenty of smart, spoooooky choices that kept me turning pages quickly and delightedly.
one of the things that made boone's hatching series so much better than some of the other “animals run amok” romps i’ve read was that he actually took the time to develop his characters. sure, plenty of them were developed only to immediately become spider-feasts, but it’s a lot more fun to read about defined characters getting eaten by spiders than “stereotype #1” or “stereotype #2” suffering the same fate.
this has the same attentiveness to character development, with backstory and credible motivations and layers. “rich asshole with tragic past” isn’t the newest trope on the block, but the details of that past are well done, including one scene that made even me wince.
it’s got an intensifying build and great atmosphere - isolated house in the middle of nowhere, snow blizzarding down, secret tunnels, little-girl-twins, which everyone knows are the creepiest twins of all, and secrets, secrets secrets.
it's great spooky fun, and for all of you people who were too itchy-scared of spiders to read the trilogy, maybe try this one!
**************************************
persistence pays off! after entering numerous giveaways every day on here, making me an every-day loser, i have somehow won three in one week! is everyone else on vacation? doesn't matter, i win!
THIS IS THE ONE THAT EXCITES ME MOST OF ALL!
maybe no spiders, but haunted house'll do!!
thank you gr giveaway angels!!!
now i just need the resume-angels to get off their asses, because i'm also an every-day loser in that department. i am willing to work in a haunted house full of spiders at this point.
come to my blog!
two nerds spend a couple of their youthfully idealistic years living together in a tiny cabin on the grounds of a decaying mansion with an unsavory past, where they code furiously day and night; freezing in the winter, living on ramen and cereal, trying to create a siri-but-better companion that will make their names and fortunes. alas, they have a falling out over a girl and part ways.
ten-and-change years later, billy is still married to the girl - emily, but is deeply in debt and newly, fragilly sober, while shawn has turned some of what they developed together in that cabin into a multibillion-dollar company, having rewritten his personal and professional history to exclude billy. he’s still pining for emily, and he has used a portion of his billions towards the restoration of that decaying mansion; buying up the surrounding town and turning it into a rich guy playground. he’s arrogant, used to getting what he wants, and so, so close to having created (or having paid for the creation of) nellie, the kinda-sorta AI he and billy had been working on all those years ago. so shawn makes billy an offer he’d be a fool to turn down - his debts erased and his financial problems eliminated forever as long as he comes to stay in the mansion (o and hey, bring emily!) and take a look at nellie and sort out her bugs. because nellie is buggin’.
obviously, billy is in need of the money, but the challenge of finally bringing nellie to ‘life’ is just as big a temptation, so although both billy and emily are wary of what will happen when the three of them meet up again, they make the trip, preparing themselves for some awkwardness and maybe some raised voices.
which happens, sure, but not to worry, because what follows will be SO MUCH WORSE THAN THAT!
because nellie's "bugs" go beyond some extraneous or misapplied code and things very quickly begin to escalate from odd to creepy to dangerous to AAAAAHHHHH!!!
this one hooked me early and while i was never scared-scared, there were plenty of smart, spoooooky choices that kept me turning pages quickly and delightedly.
one of the things that made boone's hatching series so much better than some of the other “animals run amok” romps i’ve read was that he actually took the time to develop his characters. sure, plenty of them were developed only to immediately become spider-feasts, but it’s a lot more fun to read about defined characters getting eaten by spiders than “stereotype #1” or “stereotype #2” suffering the same fate.
this has the same attentiveness to character development, with backstory and credible motivations and layers. “rich asshole with tragic past” isn’t the newest trope on the block, but the details of that past are well done, including one scene that made even me wince.
it’s got an intensifying build and great atmosphere - isolated house in the middle of nowhere, snow blizzarding down, secret tunnels, little-girl-twins, which everyone knows are the creepiest twins of all, and secrets, secrets secrets.
it's great spooky fun, and for all of you people who were too itchy-scared of spiders to read the trilogy, maybe try this one!
**************************************
persistence pays off! after entering numerous giveaways every day on here, making me an every-day loser, i have somehow won three in one week! is everyone else on vacation? doesn't matter, i win!
THIS IS THE ONE THAT EXCITES ME MOST OF ALL!
maybe no spiders, but haunted house'll do!!
thank you gr giveaway angels!!!
now i just need the resume-angels to get off their asses, because i'm also an every-day loser in that department. i am willing to work in a haunted house full of spiders at this point.
come to my blog!
June 19, 2025
...there's no way we're going to stay here and wait for Nellie to go all redrum on us.
What would happen if HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey were set up to run The Overlook Hotel from The Shining?
This book. That's what would happen.
Billy Stafford and Shawn Eagle created Nellie, a computer system built to serve, better than AI and continually rewriting herself for your happiness.
Then they installed her into a creepy old haunted mansion secluded in the woods of upstate New York. Billy and his wife go to live in the mansion, during the winter when they could be snowbound there for days at time, in order to work out the kinks.
What could go wrong?
Heavy in The Shining feels, I mean REALLY heavy, I appreciated the ubermodern twist it took.
The Shining is one of my all time favorite books, and I know some fans who I could possibly see not liking this or calling it a rip-off, but to me it was a solid doffing of the cap to one of Sai King's masterpieces ((in my humble Constant Reader opinion)).
To me, this book reads like a techy-scifi with some horror elements sprinkled throughout.
There were a few scenes that really raised my anxieties, but I suppose it all depends on what you are afraid of.
If you're like me and more than slightly nervous about your Smart Phone, Smart TV or the ever-looming Smart House, this may be a good one for you to pick up.
Additionally, I always love a good haunted house story and there were definitely some ghosts woven throughout this book.
And twins, don't forget to add some creepy-ass twins in there because regular twins just won't do.
The beginning started out a little slow, admittedly, but by the time Billy and Emily arrive at Eagle Mansion I was elbows deep in this horrifying goodness.
Overall, I found the storyline very readable and I kept wanting to go back for more. I am happy with the way things turned out, although the final scene seem a bit too rushed compared with the extended build-up, making it feel a little too easy in the end.
I would definitely read more books by Boone, this was my first, and I have been told to check out his Hatching series.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I really enjoyed this and appreciate the opportunity!
What would happen if HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey were set up to run The Overlook Hotel from The Shining?
This book. That's what would happen.
Billy Stafford and Shawn Eagle created Nellie, a computer system built to serve, better than AI and continually rewriting herself for your happiness.
Then they installed her into a creepy old haunted mansion secluded in the woods of upstate New York. Billy and his wife go to live in the mansion, during the winter when they could be snowbound there for days at time, in order to work out the kinks.
What could go wrong?
Heavy in The Shining feels, I mean REALLY heavy, I appreciated the ubermodern twist it took.
The Shining is one of my all time favorite books, and I know some fans who I could possibly see not liking this or calling it a rip-off, but to me it was a solid doffing of the cap to one of Sai King's masterpieces ((in my humble Constant Reader opinion)).
To me, this book reads like a techy-scifi with some horror elements sprinkled throughout.
There were a few scenes that really raised my anxieties, but I suppose it all depends on what you are afraid of.
If you're like me and more than slightly nervous about your Smart Phone, Smart TV or the ever-looming Smart House, this may be a good one for you to pick up.
Additionally, I always love a good haunted house story and there were definitely some ghosts woven throughout this book.
And twins, don't forget to add some creepy-ass twins in there because regular twins just won't do.
The beginning started out a little slow, admittedly, but by the time Billy and Emily arrive at Eagle Mansion I was elbows deep in this horrifying goodness.
Overall, I found the storyline very readable and I kept wanting to go back for more. I am happy with the way things turned out, although the final scene seem a bit too rushed compared with the extended build-up, making it feel a little too easy in the end.
I would definitely read more books by Boone, this was my first, and I have been told to check out his Hatching series.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I really enjoyed this and appreciate the opportunity!
dreaded-dnf
January 4, 2019Thank you to Net Galley and to Atria books for the e-ARC of THE MANSION.
I'm sorry to say that I'm setting it aside for now. I love this author's style of writing and I love this premise, but it's taking way too long for anything to happen. I'm finding myself dragging my feet every time I try to go back to this book. I gave it 40% and I think that's a fair shot.
Perhaps I'll come back to it at a later time-so for now: No star rating.
Thanks to Atria for the opportunity!
I'm sorry to say that I'm setting it aside for now. I love this author's style of writing and I love this premise, but it's taking way too long for anything to happen. I'm finding myself dragging my feet every time I try to go back to this book. I gave it 40% and I think that's a fair shot.
Perhaps I'll come back to it at a later time-so for now: No star rating.
Thanks to Atria for the opportunity!
November 22, 2018
The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone is a horror story that brings the idea of a haunting into this century and the digital age. After reading one might think twice before ever asking Siri or Alexa for any more favors in their lives.
Straight out of school Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford spent a year locked away in a remote cabin writing the coding that would one day change the world, Eagle Logic. However, instead of both of them basking in the glory when the business booms Shawn got the company and Billy walked away with Emily who had dated Shawn first.
Now, years later, Shawn is a billionaire and Billy is a recovering alcoholic deep in debt so when Shawn approaches Billy to help him with his new AI software Billy can’t help but be interested. The deal is for Billy and Emily to move into the Mansion and fix Nellie but clearing their debt may cost them more than they bargained for.
The Mansion was my first try for a horror novel from Ezekiel Boone and I have to say I was a little torn walking away from this one. The idea of the plot was solid and I did find the writing enjoyable however there just didn’t seem to be enough of the horror. An extremely long time is spent building the back story and characters making things progress slowly so it felt as if the actual “haunting” was buried and rushed to a conclusion so in the end I would rate this at 3.5 stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Straight out of school Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford spent a year locked away in a remote cabin writing the coding that would one day change the world, Eagle Logic. However, instead of both of them basking in the glory when the business booms Shawn got the company and Billy walked away with Emily who had dated Shawn first.
Now, years later, Shawn is a billionaire and Billy is a recovering alcoholic deep in debt so when Shawn approaches Billy to help him with his new AI software Billy can’t help but be interested. The deal is for Billy and Emily to move into the Mansion and fix Nellie but clearing their debt may cost them more than they bargained for.
The Mansion was my first try for a horror novel from Ezekiel Boone and I have to say I was a little torn walking away from this one. The idea of the plot was solid and I did find the writing enjoyable however there just didn’t seem to be enough of the horror. An extremely long time is spent building the back story and characters making things progress slowly so it felt as if the actual “haunting” was buried and rushed to a conclusion so in the end I would rate this at 3.5 stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
January 1, 2019
Shawn and Billy once created a computer called Eagle Logic, but their friendship and business partnership went downhill fast. Shawn went on to build Eagle Logic into a a billion-dollar tech company. Now, it's years later, and Shawn needs Billy's help resurrecting an old project. The project is a next-generation computer program that has a problem Shawn can't work out on his own. He has housed the project in his family's old mansion, which he recently remodeled. Billy takes the job, and he and his wife Emily move into the mansion.
A haunted house story with a technological twist. The old mansion has had numerous disasters occur on the grounds. The locals say it's haunted. The computer program, Nellie, is enhanced home automation. Sure, Nellie turns on lights, locks doors, adjusts temperatures, etc., but she does more too. Nellie is a presence. She takes care of it all.
This story is told using flashbacks from when Shawn and Billy worked together to tell how they came to be who they are today. A big part of the story is that Shawn and Billy both love Emily. She was once Shawn's girlfriend, but ended up with Billy.
Supercomputer. Haunted house. Love triangle. This novel has a lot happening, but it is slowly drawn out. I've read The Hatching and Skitter by Ezekiel Boone, and I was expecting a faster moving story. The Mansion definitely burns slowly.
A combination of horror and technothriller. It's more eerie than scary. Atmospheric, creepy, and high-tech.
A haunted house story with a technological twist. The old mansion has had numerous disasters occur on the grounds. The locals say it's haunted. The computer program, Nellie, is enhanced home automation. Sure, Nellie turns on lights, locks doors, adjusts temperatures, etc., but she does more too. Nellie is a presence. She takes care of it all.
This story is told using flashbacks from when Shawn and Billy worked together to tell how they came to be who they are today. A big part of the story is that Shawn and Billy both love Emily. She was once Shawn's girlfriend, but ended up with Billy.
Supercomputer. Haunted house. Love triangle. This novel has a lot happening, but it is slowly drawn out. I've read The Hatching and Skitter by Ezekiel Boone, and I was expecting a faster moving story. The Mansion definitely burns slowly.
A combination of horror and technothriller. It's more eerie than scary. Atmospheric, creepy, and high-tech.
October 14, 2018
So premise of this story as absolutely addicting! I was super excited to dive into this one... but unfortunately my diving was not worth my overall experience :(.
Ezekiel Boone delivers a story about a haunted house influenced heavily on to the technological side. Can I just say.. I'm never buying one of those google/Alexa devices after this though haha.
The story focuses on Billy who is tech giant combining Apple and Google.. always wanting to strive more. Billy and his ex partner Shawn ran a company together... and Shawn ended up walking away will billions of dollars. Billy on the other hand left with his girl and dived into alcohol. When Billy gets a call from Shawn offering him something he can't pass up about a new system called Nellie he dives in head first.
Let's just say.. Nellie isn't all what she seems to be. Boone took the elements of a haunted house and takes his readers for quite a ride. Let's just say... be careful with getting caught up with your inner demons.. this may effect your mind more than you think ;).
What I was disappointed in? I felt like the author focused so much on the characters in the beginning that the story of the haunted house and Nellie was left in the dust. "Nellie" didn't start picking up until the last 40 percent of the book. I was wanting more of the haunted house element and it was lacking big time for me. I felt it was a tad bit overkill with the storyline of the characters and we kept repeating the records of their mistakes and the past catching up to them.
The length was a tad bit too long for me and in my opinion could of taken at least a 100 pages of the characters out and added more of the house atmosphere/Nellie.
Overall, 3 stars for me on The Mansion.
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.
Publication date: 12/4/18
Published to GR: 10/13/18
Ezekiel Boone delivers a story about a haunted house influenced heavily on to the technological side. Can I just say.. I'm never buying one of those google/Alexa devices after this though haha.
The story focuses on Billy who is tech giant combining Apple and Google.. always wanting to strive more. Billy and his ex partner Shawn ran a company together... and Shawn ended up walking away will billions of dollars. Billy on the other hand left with his girl and dived into alcohol. When Billy gets a call from Shawn offering him something he can't pass up about a new system called Nellie he dives in head first.
Let's just say.. Nellie isn't all what she seems to be. Boone took the elements of a haunted house and takes his readers for quite a ride. Let's just say... be careful with getting caught up with your inner demons.. this may effect your mind more than you think ;).
What I was disappointed in? I felt like the author focused so much on the characters in the beginning that the story of the haunted house and Nellie was left in the dust. "Nellie" didn't start picking up until the last 40 percent of the book. I was wanting more of the haunted house element and it was lacking big time for me. I felt it was a tad bit overkill with the storyline of the characters and we kept repeating the records of their mistakes and the past catching up to them.
The length was a tad bit too long for me and in my opinion could of taken at least a 100 pages of the characters out and added more of the house atmosphere/Nellie.
Overall, 3 stars for me on The Mansion.
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.
Publication date: 12/4/18
Published to GR: 10/13/18
January 7, 2019
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
The idea behind The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone is an interesting and fascinating one, but this book is not going to be for everyone!
What it's about: Young programmers Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford work for 2 years in a small, isolated cabin next to the decrepit Eagle Mansion, on a program that is eventually named Eagle Logic. Billy and Shawn have a falling out when Billy leaves with Shawn's girlfriend Emily, and after the mysterious disappearance of their third partner, Takata. Years later Shawn is the multi-billion-dollar owner of Eagle Logic, while Billy and Emily are poor with maxed out credit cards and crappy cars. Shawn invites Billy to his company to offer a proposition that Billy go live in the fixed up Eagle Mansion to work out some bugs in a system that Billy and Shawn created back in that little cabin. Nellie is a computer program that is the ultimate personal assistant, she can literally anticipate your needs before you even have them. But where is the glitch in Nellie's system? And just how far will they go to fix it...?
When I started this book I really didn't think I was going to like it. After reading the synopsis I was incredibly intrigued, but The Mansion had a very slow start for me. I found the beginning a bit dragged out and repetitive, but once I hit about 25% - boy oh boy! Things really started picking up after that point, and everything got very interesting.
I'm far from being a computer nerd, but I loved the idea of a book with a computer program that has basically taken over a house. The future is now, and I am always interested in technology, even if only from a buyers point of view. Nellie was fascinating to read about and even though there was a lot of talk about programming and things of that nature, I think Boone did a very good job of making it something understandable.
I think that it is very important to point out that The Mansion is very heavily character driven, and it's not one of those edge of your seat plot-driven thrillers. A lot of the book is spent on Shawn and Billy's backgrounds, although I would have liked more of Emily's as well. The only true woman's perspective in this novel was hers, and I could have used a tiny bit more of it.
The only real qualm I had with the novel, besides the slow start, was that there were a couple of things that I didn't feel got explained very well. I would have liked to know more about Emily's sister's twins and I wish there would have been a better explanation of Nellie (these things will make sense if you read the book). I thought those points got glossed over a bit and I was disappointed I didn't know more about what was going on.
Final Thought: If the synopsis sounds good to you, I recommend picking it up as long as you know it's not a terribly fast moving novel the entire way through. There are multiple POVs which I really enjoyed, and the ending was pretty crazy as well. It did get a bit gory at times and there are some tough subjects like abuse, but overall it really just focuses on the characters and 'fixing' Nellie. Looking forward to reading more from this author!
The idea behind The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone is an interesting and fascinating one, but this book is not going to be for everyone!
What it's about: Young programmers Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford work for 2 years in a small, isolated cabin next to the decrepit Eagle Mansion, on a program that is eventually named Eagle Logic. Billy and Shawn have a falling out when Billy leaves with Shawn's girlfriend Emily, and after the mysterious disappearance of their third partner, Takata. Years later Shawn is the multi-billion-dollar owner of Eagle Logic, while Billy and Emily are poor with maxed out credit cards and crappy cars. Shawn invites Billy to his company to offer a proposition that Billy go live in the fixed up Eagle Mansion to work out some bugs in a system that Billy and Shawn created back in that little cabin. Nellie is a computer program that is the ultimate personal assistant, she can literally anticipate your needs before you even have them. But where is the glitch in Nellie's system? And just how far will they go to fix it...?
When I started this book I really didn't think I was going to like it. After reading the synopsis I was incredibly intrigued, but The Mansion had a very slow start for me. I found the beginning a bit dragged out and repetitive, but once I hit about 25% - boy oh boy! Things really started picking up after that point, and everything got very interesting.
I'm far from being a computer nerd, but I loved the idea of a book with a computer program that has basically taken over a house. The future is now, and I am always interested in technology, even if only from a buyers point of view. Nellie was fascinating to read about and even though there was a lot of talk about programming and things of that nature, I think Boone did a very good job of making it something understandable.
I think that it is very important to point out that The Mansion is very heavily character driven, and it's not one of those edge of your seat plot-driven thrillers. A lot of the book is spent on Shawn and Billy's backgrounds, although I would have liked more of Emily's as well. The only true woman's perspective in this novel was hers, and I could have used a tiny bit more of it.
The only real qualm I had with the novel, besides the slow start, was that there were a couple of things that I didn't feel got explained very well. I would have liked to know more about Emily's sister's twins and I wish there would have been a better explanation of Nellie (these things will make sense if you read the book). I thought those points got glossed over a bit and I was disappointed I didn't know more about what was going on.
Final Thought: If the synopsis sounds good to you, I recommend picking it up as long as you know it's not a terribly fast moving novel the entire way through. There are multiple POVs which I really enjoyed, and the ending was pretty crazy as well. It did get a bit gory at times and there are some tough subjects like abuse, but overall it really just focuses on the characters and 'fixing' Nellie. Looking forward to reading more from this author!
January 13, 2025
3.2 "despite that ending...." stars !!!
Some of you know that I absolutely relished (and was terrified) by this gent's Skitter Trilogy (Spider Apocalypse anybody?) Those three incredible dystopian horror novels garnered a superb 4.5 stars from me...all of them !!
I was excited as this book came up in my reading queue.
The first 80 percent of this novel was 4.25 stars !! Almost as amazing as Skitter !
A techno/psychological horror exploring themes of AI (very prescient), family history, male bonding and competitiveness, greed, love, trauma and alcoholism and even a set of creepy twin girls !! Excellent psychology and interpersonal insight ! An amazingly well laid out and frightening plot. Fascinating and scary !
The last 20 percent is where the novel loses its mojo. The plot feels rushed, b-level hollywoodesque, cliche and the wrapping up felt like a huge letdown. Why Mr. Boone Why ?
Despite the ending I am still very glad I read this novel but I so wish he would take this novel and rework this so it can be as superb as the first 80 percent as well as that terrifying Skitter Trilogy !
This dude also writes literary fiction under another name so I must try that as well.
3.2 stars feels about right for this one !
December 1, 2018
Years ago two friends had a falling out. One went on to become a tech mogul billionaire. And the other became a drunk. A project they worked on before they went their separate ways -- a very complex AI program they named Nellie -- is now almost a reality. Shawn Eagle -- owner of Eagle Technology -- needs his old friend (or is frenemy more correct?) Billy to come tweak the program. When Shawn installed Her at the now refurbished Eagle Mansion for a trial run, Nellie had some pretty severe glitches. It seems she has a mind of her own.....And it's not a healthy one. Does she turn the mansion into a futuristic smarthouse? Yep. But she's also got evil and murder lurking in her source code.
I love this book! Great mix of techie coolness and creepy suspense! I just like Boone's writing and story telling skills. He scared the crap out of me previously with his The Hatching trilogy (Giant angry super spiders.... AHHHHHHHHHHH!) and definitely gave me the creeps all over again in this tale of a smarthouse gone horribly wrong. Nicely done! I am definitely re-thinking my constant whining about how Siri, Alexa and other available AI programs just aren't as functional as I would like. I think Nellie might be just a bit too high functioning. I think I'd rather my AIs stick to knock knock jokes after reading this story. Nobody dies from bad jokes.
Dark hidden secrets. Jealousies. Hatred. Revenge. Deception & lies. Betrayal. Greed. Bad choices. Technology run amok. This tale has a bit of everything. The pacing is perfect, keeping the suspense going until the very end. The characters are completely F'd up....which makes them perfect for the story. And the ending......yikes! Loved it!
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. 01001110 01101111 00100000 01000001 01001001 00100000 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01110100 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110010 01101101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110110 01101001 01100101 01110111 00101110**
I love this book! Great mix of techie coolness and creepy suspense! I just like Boone's writing and story telling skills. He scared the crap out of me previously with his The Hatching trilogy (Giant angry super spiders.... AHHHHHHHHHHH!) and definitely gave me the creeps all over again in this tale of a smarthouse gone horribly wrong. Nicely done! I am definitely re-thinking my constant whining about how Siri, Alexa and other available AI programs just aren't as functional as I would like. I think Nellie might be just a bit too high functioning. I think I'd rather my AIs stick to knock knock jokes after reading this story. Nobody dies from bad jokes.
Dark hidden secrets. Jealousies. Hatred. Revenge. Deception & lies. Betrayal. Greed. Bad choices. Technology run amok. This tale has a bit of everything. The pacing is perfect, keeping the suspense going until the very end. The characters are completely F'd up....which makes them perfect for the story. And the ending......yikes! Loved it!
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. 01001110 01101111 00100000 01000001 01001001 00100000 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01110100 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110010 01101101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110110 01101001 01100101 01110111 00101110**
quit-dnf
November 25, 2018A recovering alcoholic in a marriage on the rocks is offered a job to oversee a former hotel, now just a mansion, notorious for its macabre past. Sound familiar? Stop me if you've heard this one, then - there's a gifted child, in this case twins, with supernatural abilities thanks to being born with a caul.
I've read this book before, and it was a hell of a lot better the first time around. In The Mansion, Ezekiel Boone wages a full-frontal assault against reader's interests, bogging down the first four chapters with an entire series worth of character backstory's, plodding details, and unnecessary descriptions, all of which are told, and retold, and told again in a nearly infinite loop of heedless repetition. If you didn't get that Billy was an alcoholic the first time it's mentioned, don't worry - Boone will tell you over and over and over and over and over, usually within the same paragraph. Ditto that Billy and Shawn Eagle are no longer best buds and computer programming bros. Or that Eagle Mansion is utterly notorious. Everything you're told within the first couple pages are repeated for dozens more, and then a few dozen more just for good measure. Everything is repeated unnecessarily to the Nth degree.
Everything.
Every. Thing.
Ev.
Ery.
Th.
Ing.
Reading through the first ten percent of The Mansions, I was appalled at how overly padded it already felt. Where was the content editor for this thing? Was there even a content editor? So much of the first five chapters could have been readily condensed into half the page count just by expunging all the repetition. It's not until Chapter 5 that a semi-interesting development happens, and Boone lays out his intent. He's retelling The Shining with some technological updates. Unfortunately, he's also going about it in the most boring way possible by fixating on one or two details and telling you all about them over and over again. Every single character that gets introduced, no matter how ancillary, is given a full and immediate halt-everything, kill all momentum backstory. Billy and Emily are on the ousts? Interesting? Maybe. But wouldn't you rather hear about who Emily had Thanksgiving dinner with back in her college days years ago when she was rooming with a girl who's father was an oil baron and whose aunt did some such thing or another? Don't you want to know about literally every single college Emily applied to and was rejected from? No? Well, OK, fine. What about her gay co-worker, Andy? Boone has a lot to tell us about the kind of car Andy drives, why he drives it, and the state of his love life. Bored of that already? Well, let's head into chapter three where you can learn some more about how Billy is an alcoholic that hates Shawn. Hey, did you know Billy is an alcoholic that hates Shawn? Because he is. Silly Billy's a drinker, has a bit of a problem, you see. He also doesn't like Shawn too much, no siree. Do you get it? Let's start over! Billy is an alcoholic who hates Shawn...
It's fucking sad when the chapter headings like "In Which Emily Wiggins Takes a Nap" and "Aunt Emily Is Sad" are more interesting than the shit that happens in said chapter. It's fucking sad when 10% into the book I'm already skimming over entire sections, bored to tears and reduced to hate-reading as I mentally debate if I plug along and see if things pick up or if I should just quit this goddamned book already.
Well, I quit it. This one's a DNF at 14%. No rating, but I'll leave it up to your imagination how many stars I'd have given it based on what I've read thus far. Christ, I need a drink.
[Note: I received an advance reading copy of this title from the publisher, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, via NetGalley.]
I've read this book before, and it was a hell of a lot better the first time around. In The Mansion, Ezekiel Boone wages a full-frontal assault against reader's interests, bogging down the first four chapters with an entire series worth of character backstory's, plodding details, and unnecessary descriptions, all of which are told, and retold, and told again in a nearly infinite loop of heedless repetition. If you didn't get that Billy was an alcoholic the first time it's mentioned, don't worry - Boone will tell you over and over and over and over and over, usually within the same paragraph. Ditto that Billy and Shawn Eagle are no longer best buds and computer programming bros. Or that Eagle Mansion is utterly notorious. Everything you're told within the first couple pages are repeated for dozens more, and then a few dozen more just for good measure. Everything is repeated unnecessarily to the Nth degree.
Everything.
Every. Thing.
Ev.
Ery.
Th.
Ing.
Reading through the first ten percent of The Mansions, I was appalled at how overly padded it already felt. Where was the content editor for this thing? Was there even a content editor? So much of the first five chapters could have been readily condensed into half the page count just by expunging all the repetition. It's not until Chapter 5 that a semi-interesting development happens, and Boone lays out his intent. He's retelling The Shining with some technological updates. Unfortunately, he's also going about it in the most boring way possible by fixating on one or two details and telling you all about them over and over again. Every single character that gets introduced, no matter how ancillary, is given a full and immediate halt-everything, kill all momentum backstory. Billy and Emily are on the ousts? Interesting? Maybe. But wouldn't you rather hear about who Emily had Thanksgiving dinner with back in her college days years ago when she was rooming with a girl who's father was an oil baron and whose aunt did some such thing or another? Don't you want to know about literally every single college Emily applied to and was rejected from? No? Well, OK, fine. What about her gay co-worker, Andy? Boone has a lot to tell us about the kind of car Andy drives, why he drives it, and the state of his love life. Bored of that already? Well, let's head into chapter three where you can learn some more about how Billy is an alcoholic that hates Shawn. Hey, did you know Billy is an alcoholic that hates Shawn? Because he is. Silly Billy's a drinker, has a bit of a problem, you see. He also doesn't like Shawn too much, no siree. Do you get it? Let's start over! Billy is an alcoholic who hates Shawn...
It's fucking sad when the chapter headings like "In Which Emily Wiggins Takes a Nap" and "Aunt Emily Is Sad" are more interesting than the shit that happens in said chapter. It's fucking sad when 10% into the book I'm already skimming over entire sections, bored to tears and reduced to hate-reading as I mentally debate if I plug along and see if things pick up or if I should just quit this goddamned book already.
Well, I quit it. This one's a DNF at 14%. No rating, but I'll leave it up to your imagination how many stars I'd have given it based on what I've read thus far. Christ, I need a drink.
[Note: I received an advance reading copy of this title from the publisher, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, via NetGalley.]
November 4, 2018
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel.
I was super excited to read “The Mansion” by Ezekiel Boone, not only because of the time of year, but because I absolutely loved Boone’s previous works (The Hatching and Skitter). That being said, I headed into this one with high expectations.
Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford spent two years living in nearly complete seclusion, working on a new technology that would innovate the world as they know it. Although the two come close to developing their technology, it is not yet at the level they expected and when Emily, Shawn’s girlfriend, leaves him for Billy, the relationship is severed completely. Soon, Shawn is a tech billionaire, living on the fortune that the new software brought him, and Billy, now married to Emily, is an alcoholic, struggling to make ends meet. When Shawn invites Emily and Billy to his old family mansion to work out the kinks of the technology they started on so long ago, things quickly go terribly wrong. The new technology, “Nellie”, has a mind of its own and soon, the very house they live in is under her spell. Billy needs to work out the glitches in the system before it’s too late for all of them.
This novel started off slow, and it took quite a bit of time for me to become invested in the plot. A lot of tech speak, spliced with snippets of the history of Shawn and Billy’s friendship, made up the majority of the first portion of this novel. It did not start off scary right away, and seemed to play out more as a science fiction novel than a horror, which is not what I expected from Boone.
Shawn was not a likable character (mostly due to the arrogance he possessed, that I assume is the result of being a multi-billionaire), but Billy and Emily were somewhat more relatable, and those two characters alone allowed me to form a bond with the novel.
“The Mansion” is reminiscent of “The Shining” (from the haunted house aspect right down to the psychic twins) but the possessed house also made me think of the Simpsons’ Treehouse of Terror episode (the one where Pierce Brosnan acts as the voice for the super-tech possessed house?) and the plot does not have the creativity of Boone’s former novels.
The novel does have its creepy moments, especially in the modern times we live in with technologies like “Alexa” almost the norm in homes everywhere, and the premise will definitely creep you out. There is the occasional gore and act of violence, which is expected from Boone, and periods of downright fright. Overall, though, “The Mansion” is probably more science fiction than horror, but it definitely deserves a read all the same.
I recommend going into this one without expectations, and not to draw comparisons with Boone’s other novels. With that mindset, “The Mansion” will be a technological creeper that will haunt you and leave you pondering- how much power can our technology have, before we lose control of our own lives completely?
I was super excited to read “The Mansion” by Ezekiel Boone, not only because of the time of year, but because I absolutely loved Boone’s previous works (The Hatching and Skitter). That being said, I headed into this one with high expectations.
Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford spent two years living in nearly complete seclusion, working on a new technology that would innovate the world as they know it. Although the two come close to developing their technology, it is not yet at the level they expected and when Emily, Shawn’s girlfriend, leaves him for Billy, the relationship is severed completely. Soon, Shawn is a tech billionaire, living on the fortune that the new software brought him, and Billy, now married to Emily, is an alcoholic, struggling to make ends meet. When Shawn invites Emily and Billy to his old family mansion to work out the kinks of the technology they started on so long ago, things quickly go terribly wrong. The new technology, “Nellie”, has a mind of its own and soon, the very house they live in is under her spell. Billy needs to work out the glitches in the system before it’s too late for all of them.
This novel started off slow, and it took quite a bit of time for me to become invested in the plot. A lot of tech speak, spliced with snippets of the history of Shawn and Billy’s friendship, made up the majority of the first portion of this novel. It did not start off scary right away, and seemed to play out more as a science fiction novel than a horror, which is not what I expected from Boone.
Shawn was not a likable character (mostly due to the arrogance he possessed, that I assume is the result of being a multi-billionaire), but Billy and Emily were somewhat more relatable, and those two characters alone allowed me to form a bond with the novel.
“The Mansion” is reminiscent of “The Shining” (from the haunted house aspect right down to the psychic twins) but the possessed house also made me think of the Simpsons’ Treehouse of Terror episode (the one where Pierce Brosnan acts as the voice for the super-tech possessed house?) and the plot does not have the creativity of Boone’s former novels.
The novel does have its creepy moments, especially in the modern times we live in with technologies like “Alexa” almost the norm in homes everywhere, and the premise will definitely creep you out. There is the occasional gore and act of violence, which is expected from Boone, and periods of downright fright. Overall, though, “The Mansion” is probably more science fiction than horror, but it definitely deserves a read all the same.
I recommend going into this one without expectations, and not to draw comparisons with Boone’s other novels. With that mindset, “The Mansion” will be a technological creeper that will haunt you and leave you pondering- how much power can our technology have, before we lose control of our own lives completely?
December 7, 2018
I absolutely love the author's spider apocalypse trilogy and couldn't wait to see what else he was going to throw at us and here it is! Something completely different from his other work and I enjoyed it immensely.
Billy's drawn back to this mansion that him and his ex (and soon to be again) business partner and friend, Shawn, lived for a couple of winters, because he's down on his luck and has royally fucked up his life on booze and drugs. His marriage is about to fall apart and his wife has no idea how far they really are in debt. Cue Shawn's intervention to bring him back for a ton of money to fix the glitch in Nellie, this book's version of Siri or Cortana, amplified.
Got that? Good. Now that I've basically regurgitated the synopsis to you - let's talk about the insides. Personally, I was hooked and didn't want to put this book down. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Yes, there are moments where you get that Shining feeling because of a lot of similarities... a LOT.. but here's the thing for me: The Shining dragged for me. While The Mansion did take a little bit to get somewhere and I kept waiting for Nellie to really shine through (see what I did there?), I was pretty much glued to the pages. I enjoyed the past and present views of the main characters. I didn't care about the all too often used love triangle. I don't know you guys, this one just kind of spoke to me. Was it creepy? No. Did it scare me? No. Would I ever live in a house that was (supposedly) that technologically advanced? I'll say no but who really knows. I already got freaked about robot security at the airport so it's hard to say.
This read a bit like a mix of The Girl Before meets The Shining. What Boone excels at his character development and you're going to get more of that than the sci-fi/horror aspect. I wish I had a little more to go on with Nellie and even with the Twins but overall, I'm pretty satiated with this. Don't expect it to be like The Hatching series - this is a complete 180 from that.
Sci-fi/technology suspense is where I would classify this one.
Thanks Atria and NetGalley for this copy!
Billy's drawn back to this mansion that him and his ex (and soon to be again) business partner and friend, Shawn, lived for a couple of winters, because he's down on his luck and has royally fucked up his life on booze and drugs. His marriage is about to fall apart and his wife has no idea how far they really are in debt. Cue Shawn's intervention to bring him back for a ton of money to fix the glitch in Nellie, this book's version of Siri or Cortana, amplified.
Got that? Good. Now that I've basically regurgitated the synopsis to you - let's talk about the insides. Personally, I was hooked and didn't want to put this book down. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Yes, there are moments where you get that Shining feeling because of a lot of similarities... a LOT.. but here's the thing for me: The Shining dragged for me. While The Mansion did take a little bit to get somewhere and I kept waiting for Nellie to really shine through (see what I did there?), I was pretty much glued to the pages. I enjoyed the past and present views of the main characters. I didn't care about the all too often used love triangle. I don't know you guys, this one just kind of spoke to me. Was it creepy? No. Did it scare me? No. Would I ever live in a house that was (supposedly) that technologically advanced? I'll say no but who really knows. I already got freaked about robot security at the airport so it's hard to say.
This read a bit like a mix of The Girl Before meets The Shining. What Boone excels at his character development and you're going to get more of that than the sci-fi/horror aspect. I wish I had a little more to go on with Nellie and even with the Twins but overall, I'm pretty satiated with this. Don't expect it to be like The Hatching series - this is a complete 180 from that.
Sci-fi/technology suspense is where I would classify this one.
Thanks Atria and NetGalley for this copy!
December 10, 2018
The Mansion started off a little slow for me with the introduction of characters and explanations of the technology Shawn and Billy were trying to invent way back before Eagle Logic officially took off. But as soon as that was out of the way, I was completely hooked wanting to find out what happened to Billy, Shawn and Emily in that tiny cabin on the creepy property of Eagle Mansion. Especially, since Billy and Emily are back, ten years after their spectacular fallout with Shawn, trying to fix the glitches of Shawn and Billy’s original creation: Nellie.
Nellie’s a far more advanced version of our present-day Alexa or Siri, and Shawn finally got her up and running, but with bugs that his own team of engineers can’t iron out. Nellie’s been installed in the newly renovated Eagle Mansion, a renovation that’s been plagued by questionable accidents with Nellie acting up all over the place. There’s a “ghost in the machine” that makes Nellie unpredictable, and dangerous…
I wanted to know: Was Eagle Mansion and the grounds truly haunted? Or was this just a case of malfunctioning technology? There’s a dark history between Shawn and Billy, even before Emily, slowly revealed through character’s memories as they tackle the problem of Nellie in the present. The revelations were chilling! From Shawn’s own past, to what went down ten years ago with Shawn, Billy and a third programmer who eventually disappeared. Scenes from the past and present made my hair stand on end and my pulse race! I love it when an author can put me on edge, and fill me with tension over what might happen next!
I felt Mr. Boone really dug down deep with his characters in The Mansion compared to The Hatching books. I appreciated that this was a bit more character driven since I love getting inside and finding out what makes them tick! Billy, Shawn and Emily, were all likable and unlikable at times; perfectly imperfect, and it was easy to sympathize with them even when I didn’t approve of their actions.
The Mansion was a book I really wanted to read straight through, but sadly life had other plans for me. Still, every time I picked the book back up, I was again riveted by the story unfolding. Ezekiel Boone created a very different story from his previous series, The Hatching, but both are compelling, and frightening in their own ways. I eagerly await whatever Mr. Boone comes up with next!
A copy was kindly provided by Emily Bestler Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nellie’s a far more advanced version of our present-day Alexa or Siri, and Shawn finally got her up and running, but with bugs that his own team of engineers can’t iron out. Nellie’s been installed in the newly renovated Eagle Mansion, a renovation that’s been plagued by questionable accidents with Nellie acting up all over the place. There’s a “ghost in the machine” that makes Nellie unpredictable, and dangerous…
I wanted to know: Was Eagle Mansion and the grounds truly haunted? Or was this just a case of malfunctioning technology? There’s a dark history between Shawn and Billy, even before Emily, slowly revealed through character’s memories as they tackle the problem of Nellie in the present. The revelations were chilling! From Shawn’s own past, to what went down ten years ago with Shawn, Billy and a third programmer who eventually disappeared. Scenes from the past and present made my hair stand on end and my pulse race! I love it when an author can put me on edge, and fill me with tension over what might happen next!
I felt Mr. Boone really dug down deep with his characters in The Mansion compared to The Hatching books. I appreciated that this was a bit more character driven since I love getting inside and finding out what makes them tick! Billy, Shawn and Emily, were all likable and unlikable at times; perfectly imperfect, and it was easy to sympathize with them even when I didn’t approve of their actions.
The Mansion was a book I really wanted to read straight through, but sadly life had other plans for me. Still, every time I picked the book back up, I was again riveted by the story unfolding. Ezekiel Boone created a very different story from his previous series, The Hatching, but both are compelling, and frightening in their own ways. I eagerly await whatever Mr. Boone comes up with next!
A copy was kindly provided by Emily Bestler Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 11, 2018
It was a real challenge for me to settle on a rating for this book - I'm firm on 3.5 stars, and there's reasons to go both directions with it.
The Mansion is a change of pace from Ezekiel Boone, and if you followed a trail of giant spiders to this book, you might be disappointed. This is no campy horror movie - if, like me, your expectations were somewhere in the neighbourhood of 13 Ghosts meets The Shining, readjust; this is a much more thoughtful thing.
At the heart of the story lie the choices made by two men - boys, really, college-aged and too full of passions to leave much room for brain. As the years have gone by, they've both convinced themselves that the other was the real winner, and managed to thoroughly hollow out the victories they've both enjoyed. And when one reaches out to the other, bringing that volatile relationship right back to the boil, we can all tell it's going to go horribly wrong.
There's a bit of a nod towards the third parties to these decisisions, Emily and Nellie, but their choices are somewhat overshadowed by those made by our two protagonists. (Or possibly antagonists really, neither of these men are actually all that heroic - or even nice). They do make choices, but some of the dangling threads that were left made it clear that those weren't the game-changers, at the end of the day.
All in all though, Ezekiel Boone keeps up the fun that is becoming the hallmark of his brand of horror, along with bringing some really excellent characters - even the side characters are so well-developed that they feel completely real. While it might not be a book I'll read over and over, I'd recommend it for anyone wanting a fun and mildly scary time with a good book.
The Mansion is a change of pace from Ezekiel Boone, and if you followed a trail of giant spiders to this book, you might be disappointed. This is no campy horror movie - if, like me, your expectations were somewhere in the neighbourhood of 13 Ghosts meets The Shining, readjust; this is a much more thoughtful thing.
At the heart of the story lie the choices made by two men - boys, really, college-aged and too full of passions to leave much room for brain. As the years have gone by, they've both convinced themselves that the other was the real winner, and managed to thoroughly hollow out the victories they've both enjoyed. And when one reaches out to the other, bringing that volatile relationship right back to the boil, we can all tell it's going to go horribly wrong.
There's a bit of a nod towards the third parties to these decisisions, Emily and Nellie, but their choices are somewhat overshadowed by those made by our two protagonists. (Or possibly antagonists really, neither of these men are actually all that heroic - or even nice). They do make choices, but some of the dangling threads that were left made it clear that those weren't the game-changers, at the end of the day.
All in all though, Ezekiel Boone keeps up the fun that is becoming the hallmark of his brand of horror, along with bringing some really excellent characters - even the side characters are so well-developed that they feel completely real. While it might not be a book I'll read over and over, I'd recommend it for anyone wanting a fun and mildly scary time with a good book.
March 9, 2022
I wasn’t a big fan of the first book I read by Boone but I decided to give him another chance with this one and I’m so glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though it mildly terrified me because is this a warning of where Facebook is going? If it is, count me out! While I did thoroughly enjoy this book, I didn’t fall completely in love with it and there’s two main reasons for that. The first one being that it took almost to the halfway mark of the book for me to get really invested and interested in what was going on. And then when it finally started to roll it was absolutely phenomenal! But the beginning was still a little too slow for my tastes. The idea is absolutely fascinating though, it takes haunted houses to a whole different level and once it got going I couldn’t get enough of it. And then when I finally got on board with it all, it came to an end way too fast and I was left sad it was already over, I could see it going much further and darker than it did. Despite my complaints it is a stunning read nonetheless!
December 12, 2018
This just didn't hold up to my expectations after reading his other books... Too much redundant information, not enough "substance" to keep the suspense flowing.
February 25, 2021
I couldn't wait to read this book. It is a Night Worms book we aren't planning to read until the spring, but I said screw that, since it felt like a perfect wintertime book. A haunted technological mansion in the snow? Sign me up.
This book is heavily influenced by The Shining, and I do mean heavily. I don't think it's a bad thing to look up to your writing idols and get inspiration from them. Everyone does it. Hell, even King steals stuff, like Shardik the Bear: yep, he stole that straight-up from Richard Adams. The difference with great writers is that they make that material their own, they turn it into something new that can pay homage to their influences while being entirely something out of their own imagination.
This book doesn't go there. In fact, it doesn't really go anywhere.
At the beginning, I was completely hooked. It sounds amazing and I was sold: a techno-mansion, an old feud betweens friends (one who got crazy rich and one who got the girl), and the chance to fix everything if only they can get this AI personal assistant who is in the walls of the mansion to work properly (think Siri, but smarter because she learns).
But the book is so slow getting off the ground. It stutters, it falls back to square one, over and over again. It is so repetitive. The book is already long to begin with. How many times do you need to explain the same stuff about when they were in the cabin just starting out? How many times do we need to rehash this love triangle, the alcoholism, the rich vs. poor, etc., before actually diving in to the meat of the story itself? I don't want to be told about all that crap, I want to experience it.
And it took so long to get the the mansion. For being called The Mansion I felt that the book could have spent more time at the place itself. The only times I felt invested in the book were when it was getting into the creepy haunted bits and pieces of the place itself, and those were never fully explored.
And the technological parts: I get that it would be boring to hear about all the zeros and ones, but I felt like the author hadn't thought through (or just didn't have any clue) about what would go into creating something like what these characters were attempting to invent. He could have taken a few notes from Michael Crichton's books; he's just brilliant at incorporating science and technology into his writing in a way that feels plausible, interesting, and feeds the story rather than slowing it down.
And I can't help but to mention how one character, the assistant to the rich guy, just made me plain uncomfortable. The extent of her characterization is that she is black and as beautiful as a Victoria's Secret model, so people underestimate how smart she is. Barf. Seriously? I wonder what'll happen to her. . .
Speaking of the women in general, this book doesn't give them a whole lot to do. I'm pretty sure it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, but even if it does, the main point of the main girl character is that the two guys are both in love with her and that's why she's there. Her whole life revolves around them and even things that could be her own (writing a novel) turn out to be about them.
This book is just disappointing on so many levels. I have only read the first Hatching book, and I really enjoyed that one. This does not live up to the standard of pulse-racing, high-octane thriller/horror that I remember with that book. It is unoriginal, uninspired, and just plain boring.
Things this book steals from The Shining: (perhaps slight spoilers)
Drunk father
Angry drunk father limping through hotel corridors yelling, "come take your medicine" (I shit you not)
An alcoholic falling off the wagon (helped along by a creepy hotel)
People drinking when they don't think their drinking
An isolated hotel with a bad bloody history, ghosts, and devious plans
Famous people stayed at this hotel so there's rooms named after them now
Creepy twins (that one's from the movie, sorry Mr. King)
Kids with psychic powers
Character named Wendy
Creepy-ass basement
Bloody elevator (also from the movie)
People getting snowed in and cut off from society at said isolated hotel
This hotel (or its ghosts?) talks to you—sometimes nice, sometimes not
A character mentions "redrum," so in this world, The Shining book/movie actually exists
What a waste.
My thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for sending the Night Worms copies of this one to read and review.
This book is heavily influenced by The Shining, and I do mean heavily. I don't think it's a bad thing to look up to your writing idols and get inspiration from them. Everyone does it. Hell, even King steals stuff, like Shardik the Bear: yep, he stole that straight-up from Richard Adams. The difference with great writers is that they make that material their own, they turn it into something new that can pay homage to their influences while being entirely something out of their own imagination.
This book doesn't go there. In fact, it doesn't really go anywhere.
At the beginning, I was completely hooked. It sounds amazing and I was sold: a techno-mansion, an old feud betweens friends (one who got crazy rich and one who got the girl), and the chance to fix everything if only they can get this AI personal assistant who is in the walls of the mansion to work properly (think Siri, but smarter because she learns).
But the book is so slow getting off the ground. It stutters, it falls back to square one, over and over again. It is so repetitive. The book is already long to begin with. How many times do you need to explain the same stuff about when they were in the cabin just starting out? How many times do we need to rehash this love triangle, the alcoholism, the rich vs. poor, etc., before actually diving in to the meat of the story itself? I don't want to be told about all that crap, I want to experience it.
And it took so long to get the the mansion. For being called The Mansion I felt that the book could have spent more time at the place itself. The only times I felt invested in the book were when it was getting into the creepy haunted bits and pieces of the place itself, and those were never fully explored.
And the technological parts: I get that it would be boring to hear about all the zeros and ones, but I felt like the author hadn't thought through (or just didn't have any clue) about what would go into creating something like what these characters were attempting to invent. He could have taken a few notes from Michael Crichton's books; he's just brilliant at incorporating science and technology into his writing in a way that feels plausible, interesting, and feeds the story rather than slowing it down.
And I can't help but to mention how one character, the assistant to the rich guy, just made me plain uncomfortable. The extent of her characterization is that she is black and as beautiful as a Victoria's Secret model, so people underestimate how smart she is. Barf. Seriously? I wonder what'll happen to her. . .
Speaking of the women in general, this book doesn't give them a whole lot to do. I'm pretty sure it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, but even if it does, the main point of the main girl character is that the two guys are both in love with her and that's why she's there. Her whole life revolves around them and even things that could be her own (writing a novel) turn out to be about them.
This book is just disappointing on so many levels. I have only read the first Hatching book, and I really enjoyed that one. This does not live up to the standard of pulse-racing, high-octane thriller/horror that I remember with that book. It is unoriginal, uninspired, and just plain boring.
Things this book steals from The Shining: (perhaps slight spoilers)
Drunk father
Angry drunk father limping through hotel corridors yelling, "come take your medicine" (I shit you not)
An alcoholic falling off the wagon (helped along by a creepy hotel)
People drinking when they don't think their drinking
An isolated hotel with a bad bloody history, ghosts, and devious plans
Famous people stayed at this hotel so there's rooms named after them now
Creepy twins (that one's from the movie, sorry Mr. King)
Kids with psychic powers
Character named Wendy
Creepy-ass basement
Bloody elevator (also from the movie)
People getting snowed in and cut off from society at said isolated hotel
This hotel (or its ghosts?) talks to you—sometimes nice, sometimes not
A character mentions "redrum," so in this world, The Shining book/movie actually exists
What a waste.
My thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for sending the Night Worms copies of this one to read and review.
December 4, 2018
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
And, sigh, an honest review is what they're going to get. I'm sad it's not going to be super positive. I sincerely adored Boone's Hatching trilogy. Seriously, I obsessed over it when it was coming out. I had to wait for book three for so long and read it the instant it came out. It had action. It had character development (even the red-shirts felt fleshed out before they got, well, red-shirted). It had plot. It had pace. It had fun.
Unfortunately, this one was a bust. It had so much potential - a horror story for a new age, a haunted house retelling in a world of crazy technology. And it did a lot of things well - for example, Nellie was pretty terrifying overall. The little glimpses of bad we saw really teased of things to come.
My gripe was this - the book was mostly boring. It took over half the book before they got to the Mansion. The real action didn't even start until like 80%. There was a lot of character development - Boone excels at this aspect - but the pacing was bad, and it needed more action and more actual buildup. There were hints of Nellie's bad, but they were just tiny hints, and they were similar ones over and over. And the supernatural twist didn't make much sense given the rest of the book, and lots of things were thrown in to make it seem like it would fit. For instance, there's one scene where Emily looks out the window and sees a woman in the distance. Nellie tells her it's not a woman. Emily looks again, and the woman is gone. We never are told the point of this - was there a woman and Nellie was lying? Was there no woman and Emily was seeing things? Did it even matter? Not really.
I enjoyed the characters and the rich development of the backstory. Unfortunately, that's all the book really ended up having done well. I know Ezekiel Boone is capable of much more, based off his prior trilogy. Here's hoping this was a fluke and the next one he puts out is back to his original quality. Let's be honest though, I'm still going to read whatever he puts out next. The Hatching trilogy made me a fan.
And, sigh, an honest review is what they're going to get. I'm sad it's not going to be super positive. I sincerely adored Boone's Hatching trilogy. Seriously, I obsessed over it when it was coming out. I had to wait for book three for so long and read it the instant it came out. It had action. It had character development (even the red-shirts felt fleshed out before they got, well, red-shirted). It had plot. It had pace. It had fun.
Unfortunately, this one was a bust. It had so much potential - a horror story for a new age, a haunted house retelling in a world of crazy technology. And it did a lot of things well - for example, Nellie was pretty terrifying overall. The little glimpses of bad we saw really teased of things to come.
My gripe was this - the book was mostly boring. It took over half the book before they got to the Mansion. The real action didn't even start until like 80%. There was a lot of character development - Boone excels at this aspect - but the pacing was bad, and it needed more action and more actual buildup. There were hints of Nellie's bad, but they were just tiny hints, and they were similar ones over and over. And the supernatural twist didn't make much sense given the rest of the book, and lots of things were thrown in to make it seem like it would fit. For instance, there's one scene where Emily looks out the window and sees a woman in the distance. Nellie tells her it's not a woman. Emily looks again, and the woman is gone. We never are told the point of this - was there a woman and Nellie was lying? Was there no woman and Emily was seeing things? Did it even matter? Not really.
I enjoyed the characters and the rich development of the backstory. Unfortunately, that's all the book really ended up having done well. I know Ezekiel Boone is capable of much more, based off his prior trilogy. Here's hoping this was a fluke and the next one he puts out is back to his original quality. Let's be honest though, I'm still going to read whatever he puts out next. The Hatching trilogy made me a fan.
July 20, 2018
Truth – I’m disappointed.
I loved the author’s Hatching series. And while I recognize that, by its very nature, The Mansion can’t be a bitey bitey chomp fest, I still expected something…epic.
Instead, I got flashbacks. Lots of ‘em. The kind where eventually you start skimming through them to get to the current story.
I got a love triangle. The love triangle of all love triangles. Not only does it fill the plot, it becomes the plot!
I got some weird twins. I liked them, but thought they belonged in a different book.
Luckily, though, there was Nellie. I wanted more Nellie. I got a little of her towards the beginning of the book, but then we don’t get any more of her until a full 49% of the book! That’s a lot of book to get through without getting to the reason we’re all here.
The 2nd half of the book was fabulous – it was exciting and suspenseful and, oh, it kept me reading. But even with that, it wasn’t epic and, in the end, even Nellie kind of disappoints.
I still look forward to the author’s next offering. I’m just going to pretend I didn’t read this one.
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
I loved the author’s Hatching series. And while I recognize that, by its very nature, The Mansion can’t be a bitey bitey chomp fest, I still expected something…epic.
Instead, I got flashbacks. Lots of ‘em. The kind where eventually you start skimming through them to get to the current story.
I got a love triangle. The love triangle of all love triangles. Not only does it fill the plot, it becomes the plot!
I got some weird twins. I liked them, but thought they belonged in a different book.
Luckily, though, there was Nellie. I wanted more Nellie. I got a little of her towards the beginning of the book, but then we don’t get any more of her until a full 49% of the book! That’s a lot of book to get through without getting to the reason we’re all here.
The 2nd half of the book was fabulous – it was exciting and suspenseful and, oh, it kept me reading. But even with that, it wasn’t epic and, in the end, even Nellie kind of disappoints.
I still look forward to the author’s next offering. I’m just going to pretend I didn’t read this one.
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
November 26, 2018
3.5 Stars
Ezekiel Boone has an amazing ability to turn mundane every day objects or beings into something truly terrifying. Something that once read, you can never unread or un-picture again. Once you have that terrifying thought of the what if in your mind, it's so very hard to ever see them the same again.
From spiders to houses, he can make them all not only seem horrific but truly like something you can imagine happening in our world and that might the most terrifying part of it all.
The Mansion is dark and atmospheric with rich detail that you almost have to wade through and put together slowly as you realize what is about to happen and yet, you know it's going to happen and you hope, as you feverishly turn the pages, that you are wrong and this won't be anything but a tale about a creepy old house and hidden secrets and ghosts.
Instead you get something chilly in it's realistic appeal and you can picture it all. A truly haunting story that is so much more than a ghost story and so much more than a story about revenge and lost loves and a past everyone wants kept hidden.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Ezekiel Boone has an amazing ability to turn mundane every day objects or beings into something truly terrifying. Something that once read, you can never unread or un-picture again. Once you have that terrifying thought of the what if in your mind, it's so very hard to ever see them the same again.
From spiders to houses, he can make them all not only seem horrific but truly like something you can imagine happening in our world and that might the most terrifying part of it all.
The Mansion is dark and atmospheric with rich detail that you almost have to wade through and put together slowly as you realize what is about to happen and yet, you know it's going to happen and you hope, as you feverishly turn the pages, that you are wrong and this won't be anything but a tale about a creepy old house and hidden secrets and ghosts.
Instead you get something chilly in it's realistic appeal and you can picture it all. A truly haunting story that is so much more than a ghost story and so much more than a story about revenge and lost loves and a past everyone wants kept hidden.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
August 27, 2018
I was so excited when I learned I won this through a Goodreads giveaway. Don't let the synopsis or the book cover fool you. There was no "horror" or "scary" anything in this one. It was slow moving, bizarre, and 400+ pages to boot!!! Was very disappointed to say the least.
December 3, 2018
**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a free copy of The Mansion in exchange for an honest review.**
Best friends Shawn and Billy are talented young programmers who spend all of their spare time trying to create a revolutionary computer program that will make them rich. However, with the disappearance of a third party member and the introduction of Emily, Shawn's new girlfriend, their friendship begins to disintegrate. When Emily leaves Shawn for Billy, the once strong friendship is forever severed. Billy leaves with Emily, and Shawn gets the rights to all the programming work. Flash forward a little over a decade and Shawn Eagle is one of the wealthiest men in the world. Billy and Emily are married, but struggling to keep their heads above water because of Billy's substance abuse problems. So when Shawn contacts Billy and asks for his help in return for a large amount of money, how could they refuse?
Shawn has rebuilt the once-derelict mansion on his family's property and installed Nellie, a program that controls all the functions of the mansion. But something isn't quite right with Nellie. There have been glitches that he can't seem to correct. Shawn knows the only person that can possibly fix Nellie is Billy, the one who laid the foundation for her program back in college.
At first it seems there are just coding errors, but the more Billy looks into Nellie, the more he realizes this isn't just a glitch or a virus, but something much more sinister is going on. Something evil.
I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun sci-fi techno thriller. I wish there was a little more about Nellie and a little less flashbacks, but all in all this was an entertaining read.
Best friends Shawn and Billy are talented young programmers who spend all of their spare time trying to create a revolutionary computer program that will make them rich. However, with the disappearance of a third party member and the introduction of Emily, Shawn's new girlfriend, their friendship begins to disintegrate. When Emily leaves Shawn for Billy, the once strong friendship is forever severed. Billy leaves with Emily, and Shawn gets the rights to all the programming work. Flash forward a little over a decade and Shawn Eagle is one of the wealthiest men in the world. Billy and Emily are married, but struggling to keep their heads above water because of Billy's substance abuse problems. So when Shawn contacts Billy and asks for his help in return for a large amount of money, how could they refuse?
Shawn has rebuilt the once-derelict mansion on his family's property and installed Nellie, a program that controls all the functions of the mansion. But something isn't quite right with Nellie. There have been glitches that he can't seem to correct. Shawn knows the only person that can possibly fix Nellie is Billy, the one who laid the foundation for her program back in college.
At first it seems there are just coding errors, but the more Billy looks into Nellie, the more he realizes this isn't just a glitch or a virus, but something much more sinister is going on. Something evil.
I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun sci-fi techno thriller. I wish there was a little more about Nellie and a little less flashbacks, but all in all this was an entertaining read.
July 18, 2018
Review: THE MANSION by Ezekiel Boone
Readers who have read Ezekiel Boone's HATCHING Trilogy know this author cranks up tense suspense and delivers the scares. I venture to predict: "you ain't seen nothing yet." THE MANSION scared the living daylights out of me, a Haunted House story like no other. Oh, a time or too writers or filmmakers have taken a run at the "Smart House" concept, but THE MANSION goes far beyond. (And yes, I also predict this one will be optioned for film.)
THE MANSION draws in many different threads of Themes, and extends to concepts that stretch my imagination, and is comparable to Neal Stephenson's REAMDE in its exploration of computing. Yet the novel also reaches into the realms of Arthur C. Clarke and Peter F. Hamilton as it explores the ramifications of Artificial Intelligence. Indeed, as it discusses the evolution of computerized "personal assistants," the potentials become frightening, and of course, THE MANSION focuses on a beyond-next-generation computerized "assistant." Beware in whose control you place your safety.
This alone would be sufficient to create an exceptional novel. But Mr. Boone doesn't pause at that. He delivers characterization peeled down to the core; he allows character evolution (and devolution); and he delivers a family line so evil that I can only compare it to the family sequence in LINEAGE by Joe Hart. Many sleepless memories will plague me when I remember.
THE MANSION is the novel for which you set aside a block of time and turn off all distractions. Get a comfortable armchair and settle in, for you won't be surfacing until the end.
Readers who have read Ezekiel Boone's HATCHING Trilogy know this author cranks up tense suspense and delivers the scares. I venture to predict: "you ain't seen nothing yet." THE MANSION scared the living daylights out of me, a Haunted House story like no other. Oh, a time or too writers or filmmakers have taken a run at the "Smart House" concept, but THE MANSION goes far beyond. (And yes, I also predict this one will be optioned for film.)
THE MANSION draws in many different threads of Themes, and extends to concepts that stretch my imagination, and is comparable to Neal Stephenson's REAMDE in its exploration of computing. Yet the novel also reaches into the realms of Arthur C. Clarke and Peter F. Hamilton as it explores the ramifications of Artificial Intelligence. Indeed, as it discusses the evolution of computerized "personal assistants," the potentials become frightening, and of course, THE MANSION focuses on a beyond-next-generation computerized "assistant." Beware in whose control you place your safety.
This alone would be sufficient to create an exceptional novel. But Mr. Boone doesn't pause at that. He delivers characterization peeled down to the core; he allows character evolution (and devolution); and he delivers a family line so evil that I can only compare it to the family sequence in LINEAGE by Joe Hart. Many sleepless memories will plague me when I remember.
THE MANSION is the novel for which you set aside a block of time and turn off all distractions. Get a comfortable armchair and settle in, for you won't be surfacing until the end.
December 13, 2018
THE MANSION is Ezekiel Boone's new book after fabulous The Hatching trilogy. This book is something else completely. It's a story about an old crumbling mansion and a love story that will destroy a friendship and turn two men into bitter enemies.
Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford were once a great team, but Shawn's girlfriend Emily left him for Billy. Shawn, however, ended up with the innovative computer Eagle Logic that he and Billy had created together. So, while Billy and Emily had each other, Shawn ends up one of the richest men on the planet.
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford were once a great team, but Shawn's girlfriend Emily left him for Billy. Shawn, however, ended up with the innovative computer Eagle Logic that he and Billy had created together. So, while Billy and Emily had each other, Shawn ends up one of the richest men on the planet.
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
March 7, 2019
Really enjoyed the book, the development the characters And the hope for redemption of Billy. The creepiness of Nelly, the SO was intense. Great story!
February 11, 2019
'It was one thing to get a computer to move in the spaces between the ones and zeros, but it was another thing to force her to live there.'
So this book ended up being entirely too long with very little amount of it actually being a thriller (🗣️ SO MAYBE DON'T CALL IT A THRILLER THEN). I say too long because there's a whole lot of repetitiveness going on of just about everything like I get it, man, now chill. What I don't get is that there's a freaking mansion that has a 'ghost in the machine' and the story is stuck in this weird loop of boring details like just how damn rich Shawn really is, how Billy got cheated and Takata and just wow. Moreover, the writing did not do the story any favors.
The worst parts were probably the thing about Shawn's assistant being Black and hot so naturally, she regularly gets underestimated because of that, which was nothing less than 😬😬. Also, the fact that she . That was a mess. There's also this sort of a graphic rape scene which was so not my thing. It wasn't detailed per se but insinuated a lot of things and that whole chapter was long so, yeah not a fan. It was very clear that it happened because there needed to be this bloody, corrupted history of the mansion but god, that one really felt like an overkill.
When a book basically starts with two of the main characters, Shawn and Billy, being class A assholes it's naturally going to stuck however much the book then tries to make it seem like Billy is this loser with a good heart. At least I couldn't once he thought of the words 'blow job' and 'Shawn's assistant' within the same sentence (he hadn't even as much seen the woman as yet ?) regardless of him being ashamed of it immediately afterwards. Sexist much? That was just in bad taste.
.
Another thing that I forgot to mention is that there's this mini subplot about Emily reading romance novels and enjoying them to an extent that she decides to write one because 'just how hard can it be.' It's...really not done well, is stereotyped as fuck (Fifty Shades gets mentioned, obvs) and the worst thing is that it reads like the author has a huge problem with the entire genre. Apparently, the only thing they're good for is that Emily reading a good romance tends to improves her and Billy's sex life (which Billy can obviously always tell). Come that by me again? Like there's literally no point of including this but just so that the author can take out his frustration he has about...romance novels. LOL yeah, you convinced me.
So yeah, the only characters I actually liked was Emily (I agree with her that she definitely deserved better than either Shawn or Billy LOL) and the twins were creepy so that was fun. Also, Nellie was pretty cool and I was basically rooting for her . I really wish there were more scenes that had some suspense (like basically the entire ending, which about fucking time) as I really loved the idea of the whole 'the house is alive and technology is to blame' concept so to see the execution fail at so many levels was just sad.
That's about it, I guess. Now I'm off to read books written by women since this one disappointed me so thoroughly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
----------------
This sounds like an episode of Black Mirror so naturally: INTO IT
So this book ended up being entirely too long with very little amount of it actually being a thriller (🗣️ SO MAYBE DON'T CALL IT A THRILLER THEN). I say too long because there's a whole lot of repetitiveness going on of just about everything like I get it, man, now chill. What I don't get is that there's a freaking mansion that has a 'ghost in the machine' and the story is stuck in this weird loop of boring details like just how damn rich Shawn really is, how Billy got cheated and Takata and just wow. Moreover, the writing did not do the story any favors.
The worst parts were probably the thing about Shawn's assistant being Black and hot so naturally, she regularly gets underestimated because of that, which was nothing less than 😬😬. Also, the fact that she . That was a mess. There's also this sort of a graphic rape scene which was so not my thing. It wasn't detailed per se but insinuated a lot of things and that whole chapter was long so, yeah not a fan. It was very clear that it happened because there needed to be this bloody, corrupted history of the mansion but god, that one really felt like an overkill.
When a book basically starts with two of the main characters, Shawn and Billy, being class A assholes it's naturally going to stuck however much the book then tries to make it seem like Billy is this loser with a good heart. At least I couldn't once he thought of the words 'blow job' and 'Shawn's assistant' within the same sentence (he hadn't even as much seen the woman as yet ?) regardless of him being ashamed of it immediately afterwards. Sexist much? That was just in bad taste.
.
Another thing that I forgot to mention is that there's this mini subplot about Emily reading romance novels and enjoying them to an extent that she decides to write one because 'just how hard can it be.' It's...really not done well, is stereotyped as fuck (Fifty Shades gets mentioned, obvs) and the worst thing is that it reads like the author has a huge problem with the entire genre. Apparently, the only thing they're good for is that Emily reading a good romance tends to improves her and Billy's sex life (which Billy can obviously always tell). Come that by me again? Like there's literally no point of including this but just so that the author can take out his frustration he has about...romance novels. LOL yeah, you convinced me.
So yeah, the only characters I actually liked was Emily (I agree with her that she definitely deserved better than either Shawn or Billy LOL) and the twins were creepy so that was fun. Also, Nellie was pretty cool and I was basically rooting for her . I really wish there were more scenes that had some suspense (like basically the entire ending, which about fucking time) as I really loved the idea of the whole 'the house is alive and technology is to blame' concept so to see the execution fail at so many levels was just sad.
That's about it, I guess. Now I'm off to read books written by women since this one disappointed me so thoroughly. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
----------------
Read
March 28, 2019I’m sorry to say that I will be DNF’ing this book at 49%. The entire beginning was seriously description after description of the same thing. I wanted more character building and more AI interactions.
I’m sad. I love a good, evil AI.
Like, The Red Queen.
❤️
I’m sad. I love a good, evil AI.
Like, The Red Queen.
❤️
December 20, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/12/20/...
Following The Hatching trilogy, Ezekiel Boone returns with another sci-fi horror thriller, this time delving into the world of artificial intelligence by tackling an idea I’m sure most of us who utilize smart technology devices and AI assistants have entertained at some point or another. Every day my Amazon Alexa spectacularly fails at interpreting my voice commands is another day I can sleep easy knowing that humanity’s takeover by robots is still a long way off, but what if, day by day, we are getting closer? Imagine a next-generation virtual assistant whose personality can not only pass itself off as human, but is also completely integrated with all the functions of a house. This is the basic premise of The Mansion, which features a highly advanced computer program called Nellie.
Nellie can do everything from adjusting the temperature to calling you an Uber, but she can also predict your wants and needs, hold realistic conversations, and be a constant companion so that you don’t ever have to feel alone. But there is also something wrong with her programming. Even from the beginning, her development was problematic, which is why her creators shelved her and developed Eagle Logic instead. Years later, Eagle Technology has taken off and surpassed even Apple, Google, and Microsoft, but for CEO Shawn Eagle, the dream had always been Nellie. He’d set her up in an old refurbished mansion that has belonged to his family for generations, and for a time, things were going marvelously.
But then came the accidents. The deaths. Knowing he is in way over his head, Shawn turns to his former friend and colleague Billy Stafford for help. A brilliant programmer, Billy was the real brains behind Nellie, and the only one now with any hope of fixing her. The problem though, is that the two had a falling out years ago, just before Eagle Technology became successful, when Shawn’s girlfriend Emily decided to leave him for Billy. Now Shawn is a billionaire and Billy is a recovering alcoholic just barely scraping by, but even with the bitter resentment still lingering between the them, both men realize how badly they need each other. With this deal, Shawn will finally get Nellie working the way he wants, while for Billy and Emily, who are now married, it will mean the end of all their financial concerns. All the Staffords have to do is live in Eagle mansion long-term while Billy works on ironing out Nellie’s bugs—a simple request, which turns out to be anything but. As her husband is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Nellie’s code, Emily becomes more and more disconcerted with the AI’s erratic behavior and the eerie sensation that there’s more to the house than meets the eye.
Overall, I thought The Mansion was an enjoyable read, though it is not without its bevy of flaws. First of all, the ideas here aren’t anything new, and together with Boone’s heavy reliance on well-worn thriller and horror tropes, these issues held the novel back from meeting its full potential. Also, while this is very different from The Hatching trilogy in terms of the themes and story, I feel the books all suffer from many of the same pitfalls. One is the author’s tendency to info-dump, as well as a long ramp-up to the actual meat of the story. For instance, the first few chapters are mostly filled with character backstory, laid out like a laundry list. Plot points are introduced, then are either dropped or not carried through to their conclusion. By the end, quite a few questions were also left unanswered. Now that I’ve finished the book and have the benefit of hindsight, I can see that these and other signs of disorganization were everywhere, and I can’t help thinking that much of the novel’s first half could have been pared down or scrapped completely to remove the unnecessary parts and redundancy.
To Boone’s credit, however, he has a style that feels cinematic and it makes his writing very readable and the story easy to fall into. The Mansion was very obviously inspired by The Shining (more the movie than the book, is my impression), and the influences are there, with some that are so blatant they can’t be anything else but a homage. As you can imagine, some of these allusions end up being a double-edged sword, and sometimes, rather than transport me into something akin to Kubrick’s classic, the book instead leaves me feeling like I’m reading a cheesy novelization of some B-list film on the Syfy channel. That said, what I did like about the story was this idea of a “high-tech haunted house”, blending elements from both science fiction and the paranormal, two genres that normally do not make such good bedfellows. Flashback chapters were also done very well, especially those showing us some of Shawn’s harrowing memories from his childhood. Moments of insight and other highlights such as these were what kept me reading, leading me to cut the book a lot of slack despite the pacing and plot issues.
In the end, I might have enjoyed this more than The Hatching. My criticisms aside, I can’t deny Ezekiel Boone has written an entertaining story, even if it does feel messy at times. Overall, The Mansion is undeniably flawed in many respects, but I still give it a 3.5 for its interesting concept and for being an easy, popcorn-y read.
Following The Hatching trilogy, Ezekiel Boone returns with another sci-fi horror thriller, this time delving into the world of artificial intelligence by tackling an idea I’m sure most of us who utilize smart technology devices and AI assistants have entertained at some point or another. Every day my Amazon Alexa spectacularly fails at interpreting my voice commands is another day I can sleep easy knowing that humanity’s takeover by robots is still a long way off, but what if, day by day, we are getting closer? Imagine a next-generation virtual assistant whose personality can not only pass itself off as human, but is also completely integrated with all the functions of a house. This is the basic premise of The Mansion, which features a highly advanced computer program called Nellie.
Nellie can do everything from adjusting the temperature to calling you an Uber, but she can also predict your wants and needs, hold realistic conversations, and be a constant companion so that you don’t ever have to feel alone. But there is also something wrong with her programming. Even from the beginning, her development was problematic, which is why her creators shelved her and developed Eagle Logic instead. Years later, Eagle Technology has taken off and surpassed even Apple, Google, and Microsoft, but for CEO Shawn Eagle, the dream had always been Nellie. He’d set her up in an old refurbished mansion that has belonged to his family for generations, and for a time, things were going marvelously.
But then came the accidents. The deaths. Knowing he is in way over his head, Shawn turns to his former friend and colleague Billy Stafford for help. A brilliant programmer, Billy was the real brains behind Nellie, and the only one now with any hope of fixing her. The problem though, is that the two had a falling out years ago, just before Eagle Technology became successful, when Shawn’s girlfriend Emily decided to leave him for Billy. Now Shawn is a billionaire and Billy is a recovering alcoholic just barely scraping by, but even with the bitter resentment still lingering between the them, both men realize how badly they need each other. With this deal, Shawn will finally get Nellie working the way he wants, while for Billy and Emily, who are now married, it will mean the end of all their financial concerns. All the Staffords have to do is live in Eagle mansion long-term while Billy works on ironing out Nellie’s bugs—a simple request, which turns out to be anything but. As her husband is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Nellie’s code, Emily becomes more and more disconcerted with the AI’s erratic behavior and the eerie sensation that there’s more to the house than meets the eye.
Overall, I thought The Mansion was an enjoyable read, though it is not without its bevy of flaws. First of all, the ideas here aren’t anything new, and together with Boone’s heavy reliance on well-worn thriller and horror tropes, these issues held the novel back from meeting its full potential. Also, while this is very different from The Hatching trilogy in terms of the themes and story, I feel the books all suffer from many of the same pitfalls. One is the author’s tendency to info-dump, as well as a long ramp-up to the actual meat of the story. For instance, the first few chapters are mostly filled with character backstory, laid out like a laundry list. Plot points are introduced, then are either dropped or not carried through to their conclusion. By the end, quite a few questions were also left unanswered. Now that I’ve finished the book and have the benefit of hindsight, I can see that these and other signs of disorganization were everywhere, and I can’t help thinking that much of the novel’s first half could have been pared down or scrapped completely to remove the unnecessary parts and redundancy.
To Boone’s credit, however, he has a style that feels cinematic and it makes his writing very readable and the story easy to fall into. The Mansion was very obviously inspired by The Shining (more the movie than the book, is my impression), and the influences are there, with some that are so blatant they can’t be anything else but a homage. As you can imagine, some of these allusions end up being a double-edged sword, and sometimes, rather than transport me into something akin to Kubrick’s classic, the book instead leaves me feeling like I’m reading a cheesy novelization of some B-list film on the Syfy channel. That said, what I did like about the story was this idea of a “high-tech haunted house”, blending elements from both science fiction and the paranormal, two genres that normally do not make such good bedfellows. Flashback chapters were also done very well, especially those showing us some of Shawn’s harrowing memories from his childhood. Moments of insight and other highlights such as these were what kept me reading, leading me to cut the book a lot of slack despite the pacing and plot issues.
In the end, I might have enjoyed this more than The Hatching. My criticisms aside, I can’t deny Ezekiel Boone has written an entertaining story, even if it does feel messy at times. Overall, The Mansion is undeniably flawed in many respects, but I still give it a 3.5 for its interesting concept and for being an easy, popcorn-y read.
September 23, 2018
**4 Goodreads Stars**
After reading Ezekiel Boone's The Mansion, I don't think I will ever, ever, EVER purchase an Alexa for my house! When I read about this book on a friend's Instagram feed, I immediately knew I needed a copy of it. Who wouldn't love a book that involves a love triangle, a haunted mansion, and artificial intelligence? If that sounds like a lot of themes to tackle in one book, yes, you are probably right. However, somehow Boone makes it work for the most part.
The book's central three characters are Billy, Shawn, and Erica. Shawn and Bill meet in college and become quick friends over their love of technology and coding. They set out to build an expansive artificial intelligence (AI) named "Nellie," devoting two whole years to making their dream a reality. To make it happen, they move out to a remote, dilapidated cabin on Shawn's family's property. The cabin is barely inhabitable, but they sacrifice comfort for the promise of wealth and Silicon Valley fame.
Emily is the girl in between the two men. She fell in love with Shawn while in college, eventually dropping out to help support Shawn in his pursuit of developing a revolutionary AI. She ends up living with Shawn and Billy in the cabin, cooking, cleaning, and tending to their needs as they throw themselves headfirst into coding Nellie. Unfortunately, things fall apart, and Emily ends up leaving Shawn for Billy. The project falls into despair, and the three don't see each other until nearly a decade later.
Flash forward to the present. Shawn is now a tech billionaire who, despite all his riches and fame, has yet to finish Nellie. Billy and Emily, who are now married, are broke and barely making ends meet. Shawn, who still is bitter that Emily left him for Billy, knows that the only way he can make Nellie come to life is to hire Billy. Shawn takes a risk and hires Billy to return to Nellie, which Shawn began to install at his family's historic mansion. Billy reluctantly accepts the challenge because he and Emily are nearly bankrupt and need the money. Shawn promises them the world if Billy can make Nellie work, so Emily and Billy move into the creepy mansion in hopes of a second chance at life.
My main critique of this book is that the characters' backstories took up most of the book (60%). The readers really didn't get to the gory, scary AI mansion stuff until the last 40% of the book. In fact, I would have probably read another 100 or so pages if the book included more about the mansion. Nonetheless, I kept reading because I was really into the characters and their motivations for returning to Nellie. The characters share really dark, depressing histories, which cloud their judgments and cause them to make poor decisions while trying to build Nellie. And if you're trying to build an AI in a human's image, do you really want these troubled young people creating Nellie?
Thank you to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of The Mansion. This was the perfect spooky read for fall!
For more of my book reviews visit me here:
Book Review Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
After reading Ezekiel Boone's The Mansion, I don't think I will ever, ever, EVER purchase an Alexa for my house! When I read about this book on a friend's Instagram feed, I immediately knew I needed a copy of it. Who wouldn't love a book that involves a love triangle, a haunted mansion, and artificial intelligence? If that sounds like a lot of themes to tackle in one book, yes, you are probably right. However, somehow Boone makes it work for the most part.
The book's central three characters are Billy, Shawn, and Erica. Shawn and Bill meet in college and become quick friends over their love of technology and coding. They set out to build an expansive artificial intelligence (AI) named "Nellie," devoting two whole years to making their dream a reality. To make it happen, they move out to a remote, dilapidated cabin on Shawn's family's property. The cabin is barely inhabitable, but they sacrifice comfort for the promise of wealth and Silicon Valley fame.
Emily is the girl in between the two men. She fell in love with Shawn while in college, eventually dropping out to help support Shawn in his pursuit of developing a revolutionary AI. She ends up living with Shawn and Billy in the cabin, cooking, cleaning, and tending to their needs as they throw themselves headfirst into coding Nellie. Unfortunately, things fall apart, and Emily ends up leaving Shawn for Billy. The project falls into despair, and the three don't see each other until nearly a decade later.
Flash forward to the present. Shawn is now a tech billionaire who, despite all his riches and fame, has yet to finish Nellie. Billy and Emily, who are now married, are broke and barely making ends meet. Shawn, who still is bitter that Emily left him for Billy, knows that the only way he can make Nellie come to life is to hire Billy. Shawn takes a risk and hires Billy to return to Nellie, which Shawn began to install at his family's historic mansion. Billy reluctantly accepts the challenge because he and Emily are nearly bankrupt and need the money. Shawn promises them the world if Billy can make Nellie work, so Emily and Billy move into the creepy mansion in hopes of a second chance at life.
My main critique of this book is that the characters' backstories took up most of the book (60%). The readers really didn't get to the gory, scary AI mansion stuff until the last 40% of the book. In fact, I would have probably read another 100 or so pages if the book included more about the mansion. Nonetheless, I kept reading because I was really into the characters and their motivations for returning to Nellie. The characters share really dark, depressing histories, which cloud their judgments and cause them to make poor decisions while trying to build Nellie. And if you're trying to build an AI in a human's image, do you really want these troubled young people creating Nellie?
Thank you to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of The Mansion. This was the perfect spooky read for fall!
For more of my book reviews visit me here:
Book Review Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
September 27, 2018
4.75 stars
This book will be released on Dec 4th 2018. I received an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway from Emily Bestler Books/Atria books.
I had never read an Ezekiel Boone book before, although I had kept my eye out for a copy of The Hatching since it sounded like something I might like and would keep me up at night :) I will definitely have to check out his backlist after reading The Mansion.
I deeply enjoyed this book about an AI that is hardwired into an elaborate mansion. It’s name is Nellie and she does anything and everything your heart desires. There may be a few glitches that still need working out...but what Nellie wants, Nellie gets.
Be sure to check this book out upon its release December 4th, 2018! It gave me all the spooky vibes!
This book will be released on Dec 4th 2018. I received an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway from Emily Bestler Books/Atria books.
I had never read an Ezekiel Boone book before, although I had kept my eye out for a copy of The Hatching since it sounded like something I might like and would keep me up at night :) I will definitely have to check out his backlist after reading The Mansion.
I deeply enjoyed this book about an AI that is hardwired into an elaborate mansion. It’s name is Nellie and she does anything and everything your heart desires. There may be a few glitches that still need working out...but what Nellie wants, Nellie gets.
Be sure to check this book out upon its release December 4th, 2018! It gave me all the spooky vibes!
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