A Dissonance: A dark and chilling haunted house novel.

by Morag Zuk

Alice Carmichael has given up an established career to become a stay-at-home mum, swapping London for Yorkshire in pursuit of a more balanced family life. On the surface everything seems perfect, but her young daughter’s relationship with a new imaginary friend underlines a creeping unease she feels within her new home. Increasingly isolated, a deep disquiet threatens to destroy all Alice’s dreams.

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2021

About the author

Morag Zuk has always loved devouring ghost stories and is fascinated by tales of real hauntings. Her favourite writers of the genre include Susan Hill and M.R. James. Morag worked in marketing before concentrating on writing full time. A Dissonance is her first novel. Morag lives in Berkshire with her husband, daughter and crazy cocker spaniel. As well as writing she is a keen photographer and dabbles in graphic design.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I entered the giveaway for this book since I do love a ghost story. The writing was good and the story was interesting enough to pull me through, though I didn't find it especially spooky.

Thank you for providing me with the giveaway!

[Jennifer Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this as a Goodreads Giveaway on Amazon Kindle. Thank you to Morak Zug for writing and sharing such a delicious ghost story.

[LybGyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was really good!

I was attracted to the story by the title DISSONANCE. Then I realized it was a ghost story. No! I don’t like ghost stories! But it really was more like a house of dualities with characters living in the house simultaneously but in different time periods. And, neither of them knew about the other! How cool is that? The novel follows the slow unwrapping of each of their worlds as they each catch glimpses of one another’s realities and yet are interpreting that other reality in very different ways.

As an American reader, I totally appreciated the Brit Speak. I clearly heard the lyrical strands of speech fluting through my brain…albeit some of the convo may have been tainted by 5 seasons of the Australian series Rake that I recently binge watched.

Kudos on your first novel Morag Zuk! Looking forward to the next one!

[BookRascal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a ghost story, I didn't realize that before I read it. Very old school with just enough creepy. This is the kind of story you would tell around a camp fire. Also a quick read which I do enjoy. Definitely recommend!!!

[Elle Sie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some parts of this book that were really solid and others that didn't grab me as much, so I have mixed feelings about it. The good aspects were, when it was creepy, it was very sinister. The prologue with Edith's backstory set the book up for a sad and unsettling tale. As the story progressed, there were disturbing elements that kept me reading on: the witchcraft paraphernalia that Alice found in the house, for example. Some things later lost the tension for me however; getting Edith's point of view gave her a human backstory that took away the horror for me. I would've preferred the whole book from Alice's perspective, as she pieced together Edith's backstory bit by bit, which for me would've been creepier; though this is my opinion and I think other readers might feel differently. I thought the epilogue was rushed and the world-building didn't seem to explain to me how this was possible - I don't want to give spoilers, so won't elaborate, but I ended up reading back a few pages to see if I had missed something that would tie it all together, though couldn't see anything. Overall, a solid premise with creepy ideas, and I would be keen to check out more work by Zuk if she publishes another book, though this one didn't quite turn out as I expected.

[Mary Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great first draft. The premise is interesting and spooky enough to catch your attention from the beginning. There's enough mystery to keep you interested, but it's easy enough to follow.

My issue with this book lies mainly with the amount of grammatical errors. There are fragments, incorrect homophones, misspellings, and punctuation mistakes throughout the novel, and it's distracting. There were times I had to go back and reread a passage a few times to understand the meaning. Additionally, the end of the novel is abrupt in comparison to the buildup. While I appreciate that it's an ending that's open to interpretation, it felt like several chapters were missing from the end. There's no real fall from the climax.

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm glad to read a new author. I would be open to reading more of her work as she grows into her craft.

[Ms P J Cowley-Thwaites · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good yarn spoiled

I love a good ghost story and this one promised to be just that, building up tension and gradually bringing the present and the afterlife together.
However, my attention was constantly distracted by the numerous typos, misspellings and grammatical errors in the text.
Can't publishers afford the services of a proof reader these days?
This was truly horrendous, apostrophes where words were just plurals, plurals where there should be apostrophes; 'routed' instead of 'rooted', Tele instead of telly.
The schoolgirl errors made the whole book seem like a naive and
meandering homework assignment.
If you like quality writing, and a well thought out story, I'd give this one a miss.

[Shannon]

DND

[Margy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book right through, but didn’t get the ending, don’t want to give spoilers. But frustrating i don’t understand 😯