The Haunting of Sunshine House

Ghosts of Los Angeles #1

by Dominika Best

Is the evil lurking in Sunshine House human or something much worse?

Once an exclusive Hollywood hotel catering to the likes of Rudolf Valentino and other great stars of the Silent Film Era, the Bockerman Hotel now is the Sunshine House, an assisted living home for seniors.   

And its residents are dying…in droves.

Sara Caine, paranormal investigator, couldn’t believe she got an invitation to hunt for ghosts in the most haunted building in all of Los Angeles, The Sunshine House. Her excitement turns to horror as the mysteries of Sunshine House reveal themselves to be more terrifying then she could have ever imagined.  

The Haunting of Sunshine House is the first book in a creepy new Supernatural Suspense series that will have your spine tingling. If you like Darcy Coates, Amy Cross or Bill Thompson, then you’ll love The Haunting of Sunshine House by Dominika Best.

Buy yourself a copy, grab a hot cocoa and turn down the lights. You’re in for a thrilling ride with Sara Caine in The Haunting of Sunshine House. 

Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Ebooks, Ghosts

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 12, 2018

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sunshine House, an assisted living residence, was once, in a previous life, the Bockerman Hotel of Hollywood where many famous actors had once lived and died. Some died by foul play, and their ghosts still roamed the rooms and the corridors. It's more than just a ghost story, it’s a story about a very human serial killer. The supernatural and the natural are expertly woven together to create a breath holding story that will keep the reader reading long into the night. Those that are looking for a quick reveal may be a bit disappointed but if you are a "Ghost Story Junkie" and enjoy seeing a supernatural tale unwind and twist over you...you will enjoy your visit to Sunshine House.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some parts I liked about this book, but I feel like in many parts it just tried to do too much. Is it a horror novel about ghosts and a girl who can see ghosts after her parents were murdered? Is it a cautionary tale of elderly abuse and business corruption? Is it a murder mystery with a historic twist? It just tried to do a bit too much for it's length. Also, there were way too many different perspectives, and honestly most of them were unnecessary. The book could have been told from only three perspectives (Lou, Sara, and Murphy) without the story losing anything. The perspectives of Barney, Diane, young Szymon, and more felt so unnecessary. Saying that, I really like Lou, Sara, and Murphy's characters, and the suspense was very well done, even if due to the multiple perspectives I figured out the entire ending not even halfway through (the flashbacks to the 1940's really spoiled everything for me). This book had such potential, but due to its weaknesses I just ended up with mixed feelings.

[anastasia ♥ hiraeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

++ DNF at 5% ++

This was such a huge piece of amateur writing it physically hurt my brain

[Emma Parfitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read. A Typical who done it mystery.
I loved the seniors at the assisted living facility. They could be detectives in their own right. I found Lou really annoying and spent the first half of the book really disliking her but as the book went on and the plot unfolded I could see why her character was that way.
I guessed fairly early on who the killer was but it still didn’t take away from the story. The killers back story was intense and probably the best bit of the story for me. I liked it but I didn’t love it. Just an ok read for me

[Horror_Reader1973]

DNF

Just couldn't get into this one.

[Zak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Literally took until the last 15-ish percent of the book for anything really interesting to happen. Definitely not a gripping page turner.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Haunting of Sunshine House by Dominika Best is a ghost story, serial killer, horror tale that is creepier than a typical FBI hunt, but not the hardcore horror I originally believed this to be. It is Book #1 of the Ghosts of Los Angeles series, but it is extremely light on the ghosts, gore, and even the old Hollywood mystique that seemed projected by the book blurb. I really hate when the blurb oversells a concept that the book underdelivers.

The Sunshine House is an Assisted Living Facility situated in Los Angeles converted from an Old Hollywood hotel where the ghosts of Rudolf Valentino and Marilyn Monroe supposedly abide. The seniors currently living there are dying at a rate that is questionable, which causes a stir when one of the residents accuses a nurse of actively participating in the death of seniors. A paranormal investigator is invited and hence, from that moment forward the ectoplasm hits the fan.

The characters are nicely rendered with some depth and history. There's a particular emphasis on World War II Poland, Nazi manipulation, the Silent Film era, and the persistent evil of hate. The main characters have unique skills which make them adept for the type of work that Ghosts of Los Angeles seems to require. Not a bad start to what could turn out to be a very good series.

[erika (riksreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited about this book but was pretty let down. I was entertained for the most part but it isn’t a favorite. The synopsis led me to think the majority of the story would be about the paranormal investigator and the assisted living facility as a building- not the people living in it, which was fine but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

I felt like it took too long to get into the story or for anything to happen. It constantly switching POVs between SO many characters made it so confusing to me and the ending felt really unsatisfying after everything the characters go through.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Mystery/Ghost Book

I love a good ghost mystery and this one was great! I think you can definitely see the twist coming, but couldn't put it down and kept just needing to read more. I liked all the character's perspectives in the book, though I agree with another reader that it probably wasn't necessary to have more than Lou, Murphy, & Sarah. Usually, too many characters slows the plot too much (Ugh...historical fiction), but I thought the pacing was good on this book. After reading a bunch of books that were kind of a slog, this was exactly what I needed!

[Jesse E · Rating 1 out of 5]

No spoilers in my review:

Skip skip skip this one, it's not worth it. A few people left DNF reviews - I should've DNFed as well, and I HATE doing that, it's the only reason I finished this book.

The book was way too short for the plot and trying to do too many things.

The psychic paranormal investigator looking to break into legitimate PI work is, by itself, an interesting idea. That could've been 300 pages.

That's one of several big ideas in this one work:
-A paranormal twist on a crime suspense novel
-A serial killer on the loose with some historical intrigue
-A ghost story in a super haunted and historic building

ALL of that was squished together in 300 pages of rushed scenes, too many sentences with multiple people but a grammar structure that didn't allow you to easily tell who was doing what, and a dozen half-finished characters running around in an attempt to obscure the killer's true identity when it was fairly obvious.

Lots of interesting potential plots...but it's like the author had 10 drafts of the same story in different genres and she picked a paragraph from each, at random, over and over, until they got to a novel-length work.

And I agree that the marketing of this book at a psychic MC's ghost-riddled journey through an old folks home isn't really accurate.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not ready for prime time. I got a free copy to see if the series interests me. It would if it were proofread and corrected. There are too many errors for me to spend actual, real money to read more in the series. If you don't mind grammatical, punctuation, and word usage errors you will probably like this book better than I did. The story was actually decent IMO.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Star

This is one of those books that I once again wish that Goodreads let you rate books with half stars because this really was an intriguing read and while not four stars, wasn't quite three either.

This definitely had some twists and turns I didn't see coming. The WWII aspect was interesting and definitely added some definition to the story.

[Sharissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t believe i actually finished it. It was absolutely horribly written. And the ending… “the murderer died” the end…
I hated all the characters. Mary Ann is a walking sexual harassment, Barney is loyal to Babs but uses Mary Ann. And don’t get me started on Diane and nurse Lou.

The way it was written didn’t captured me at all. It is a shame, because the idea of the story could be very entertaining if written in a thrilling way. And it wasn’t .

I will not be reading the second book.

[Emmeline Everdeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ghost story and suspense thriller. I loved how the story was structured with flashbacks in between the current time. Characters were intriguing and the story was very engaging. Loved the twists, excellently done.
Highly recommend to readers who enjoy paranormal stories and/or suspenseful murder mysteries. This one was one of the best I’ve read in a while!

[Katie Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay

Interesting concept, but I was hoping for more of an actual ghost story. This started out well, but then switched gears into cops and mystery solving. Still a good story, but if you’re looking for a book that’s actually about a haunting, this ain’t it. Also, there were several grammatical mistakes that made my OCD go nuts.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Definitely an instance where less is more should be applied. There were a few unnecessary perspectives and themes that detracted from the story. I like it overall though. Called the ending super early but that doesn’t bother me.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the beginning of this book. But it quickly changed from being a ghost story to being a true crime novel. I was hoping for a true ghost story and it wasn’t that. Also the end? Not a good cliffhanger.

[Amy Krausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all what I was expecting, but it was a great read! The ending was a huge twist & I loved the little bits of history thrown in there too!

[ines · Rating 1 out of 5]

Baru aku mau suka sama bukunya saking bagusnya, eh pas di ending ada bagian ngepraise israel, despite aku ngga tau authornya zi0nist atau bukan, tetep aja kata-katanya bikin aku jijik eww dah lah👎

[mjs.readingnook]

DNF 50% through. Found it very boring sadly

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Kept me on my toes.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting to read in this format. Never read a book that bounces between past and present up to present. The plot twist is so good. Didn't see it coming.

[Tiffany Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK so I didn’t hate it per say, but I most definitely did NOT love it. It was more like I tolerated it just enough to call it a day and not add it to my “Hated it couldn’t keep reading it” list.

Quick summary: elderly residents in an assisted living home are dying at an alarmingly high rate & the residents believe this to either be a result of a ghost or of the new nurse that was brought on. A paranormal investigative team, along with a psychic medium, are called in & things begin to unravel pretty quickly. In addition to the paranormal investigators, the LAPD are also investigating the most recent death as suspicious. Will either team be able to uncover the truth before more residents meet untimely deaths?

Here’s what worked, Sara Caine, the psychic medium, was an interesting character and seemed to have the most consistent of the mixed up storylines. She was personable, invested in helping others, and strived to do the right thing even if it put her in danger.

Here’s what kind of sorta worked but could have been executed much better, the story of Szymon. After a couple of chapters dealing with either Sarah or the assisted living residents, there was a chapter about a young boy in Poland in the 1940’s who watched his mother get killed and was then taken by the Germans. If there was a better tie in somehow this could of worked. Or in reality, the random chapters about him could have been condensed and then combined later on in the book to wrap a lot of things up. The way it was done was more disjointed and bordering on confusing.

Here’s what didn’t work, basically every other character storyline. The residents of the assisted living home appeared more like drama filled high school students than older, and hopefully wiser, adults. They were portrayed as if they lived off gossip and hopped from bed to bed with each other because they were old and could do that. Nurse Louise was just straight up freaking annoying. You could tell early on that something was off with the way she was acting and how she was treating Dads (side note - the name Dads annoyed the shit out of me) and even though she was written so that you should feel bad for her, I most definitely did not. Most of the characters & their stories felt like throw away stories; you were given enough background to partially become invested in them but then all of a sudden they were gone. At one point, there was one character who had a long winded inner monologue about how no one paid attention to her and she was tired of it, and to be honest I don’t even remember what her name was.

Generally, when a book is part of a series I’ll keep going with it but in this case I definitely don’t have it in me.

[Shana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yikes, this one took me over a month to read. 😅 I did set it aside for a little less than a week to finish up a book I needed to review by a deadline, but still... it was slooooow going.
I liked the PREMISE of thisbook a lot, but it wasn't executed well. It was slow until around halfway and then it was only mildly more interesting; the best parts were the flashbacks to Poland. I didn't start to feel HOOKED until around 3/4 through... and even then it was kind of awkward with so MUCH going on. A medium, her friend and his demon obsession (which was explained in a semi-detailed manner and then not really mentioned again), the ghosts, the killer, the maaaaybe killers... I don't know. It was a lot and just felt jumbled.
I'd probably give it 2 stars, but it DID really start to pull me in around the 3/4 mark, like I said... oh and then it just ENDED. Lol. There IS a sequel, or at least another book with the same character, so MAYBE that's where demon obsessed friend comes in to play more. I don't know, it was a weird. Lol

[Jane Night]

I didn't end up finishing this book but I wanted to come here and just mention why. This book has a large cast of characters and I found that was too much for me. I felt overwhelmed with the number of character and how much information we are given at the start of the book. There were also some things that happened in the book that I wondered if the author had done proper research on. Things like assisted living facilities. I had a friend who worked in one and her experiences for how they functioned weren't in line with the early part of this book and it made it difficult to suspend my disbelief. I am a healthcare worker so maybe that was partially why and also maybe the author had experiences elsewhere that were more in line with what was presented in the book but it didn't feel right to me.

[Shaun T · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started and finished The Haunting of Sunshine House today. It is stated to be a horror title about a haunting (and series of murders) taking place in a home for the elderly. Sounds great!

What it is, however, is a disjointed book that slips back and forth randomly from a thin whodunnit to WW2 savagery. From ghosts and demons to a kidnapped Polish child and his new life as a German. It is muddy and confusing. The big twist was obvious from the beginning, the character development was non-existent and the thrill never came.

This is a book that sounded amazing in it's description, but delivered none of that in its read. I feel kind of bad dropping a one star, but I genuinely feel it's warranted.

[Caitlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was sooo slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen but it just never did. The title is misleading as it is more about a serial killer than a haunting. It was not a thriller at all. I would also say this could be a trigger warning type book since it does have references to Auschwitz. The book had random breaks in it where it would go back to the past and although it did end up tying together it was hard to follow and just overall boring. Also the book just ended. Very non climactic. This is the first book in the series and I don’t think I would read any more of them based off this first one.

[Elizabeth Corbett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda hard to follow

The book is kinda all over the place. Some of the things the characters say don't make sense & have nothing to do with the current plot. It makes the story become confusing and hard to follow. You have these things in the back of your mind because they are mentioned, but are never used for any purpose of this story. It just seemed like an odd way to just catch a cold case serial killer. I'm sorry, but it wasn't for me. Off the wall, oddness, to fill up pages, that didn't quite all go together???

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did NOT finish this book. The first few chapters jump to different times. Then when the time stayed the same, the chapters jumped to different people. I couldn't figure out mother/son thing. I have no idea what the first few chapters have to do with Sunshine House. I read to chapter 10 and was still completely lost, so I gave up. This one goes in the DNF file for me.
As usual, I would suggest that you read this book and form your own opinion.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall an interesting enough story, though it jumped between characters too often in my opinion. Some aspects just weren’t necessary, the parts going back to the 1940’s could have been summed up later in the book. Instead they kind of gave too much away. The ending felt very sudden, and was obviously wrapped up without explanation because this is a series, but much of what went on throughout the book could have waited until the end and brought a more cohesive finish.