The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: January 30th, 2024

Genre: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal, Adult, Mystery Thriller, Supernatural, Adult Fiction

Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | AbeBooks | Kobo

Goodreads Synopsis:

The next high concept horror novel from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden.

Across Italy, there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives.

It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought.

There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside.

While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.

First Line:

The rats are like fingers.
The House of Last Restort by Christopher Golden

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Medium until the last few chapters, then it’s fast.

POV: 3rd person

There are scenes of dementia, anxiety & anxiety attacks, alcohol consumption, blood and gore scenes, dead bodies and body parts, death of a grandparent and parent, grief & loss, building collapse, cults, knife violence, attempted murder, physical assault, earthquakes, animal attack, animal death, demonic possession, and exorcisms (past and present). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language: There is moderate swearing in The House of Last Resort. There is also language used that could be offensive to some people.

Setting: The House of Last Resort is set in Becchina, Italy.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Tommy and Kate couldn’t believe their luck when they found out about a program to repopulate villages in Italy. For one Euro, they can buy a house with the only stipulation that they live there for five years and update the home. They were even more thrilled when they found a home in the same village where Tommy’s Nonna and Nonno live.

But, when they arrived, they felt something was off with the house. The door would open when closed, there is an annex to the house that wasn’t disclosed in the original plans, and people seem to be whispering about them and the home. Then Kate makes a discovery that appears to explain everything. Hoping to turn her discovery into a money maker, Kate sets about renovating the house against Tommy and some of the village’s wishes.

What secrets does this house have? Why are people so afraid of it? What Tommy and Kate find out is the tip of a conspiracy involving the Church and going back generations.

Characters:

The main characters in The House of Last Resort are Kate and Tommy. They were well-written and well-fleshed-out characters. I was surprised by the character growth that they both did—now, saying that I was not too fond of either of them.

Kate got on my one last nerve the entire book. She was rude, dismissed Nonna’s views of the house, and was out to make a buck on the house’s tragic past. In other words: She was your stereotypical American. But that alone didn’t make me like her (it did annoy me). Nope, it was her treatment of Tommy and her obsession with the catacombs. I thought her treatment of Tommy was horrible until the end of the book when her attitude did a 180. Who prevents their husband from visiting with their dying grandfather? Kate did. She just wasn’t likable. And that is why I found it very hard to believe her change in personality and treatment of Tommy towards the end of the book. It didn’t fit in with what I was presented with.

I pitied Tommy. But I also felt he was a pushover for most of the book. He had reservations about moving to Italy and the house. His inactions allowed Kate to become the way she was, and it was too late when he took action to reel her in. From the middle of the book, every decision he made directly contributed to the events at the end.

My review:

I was excited to read The House of Last Resort. The blurb had gotten my interest piqued. I mean, a book written about a house in Italy with a past with the Church? I was very interested in it. Then I read it, and it fell flat, which was disappointing.

The main storyline of The House of Last Resort centers around Kate and Tommy, their house, and the secrets they find out about it. That storyline was well written and did keep me tuned into the book. The author did have me guessing what would happen and why Kate and Tommy were picked out (explained at the book’s end). I was also surprised by what the house was used for in the past and its connection to Tommy’s family.

The storyline was a slow build. Everything that happened was written off as “Oh, the house is old” or “Oh, the house didn’t have residents in it for a long time.” But the book starts to build up speed when Kate finds the catacombs and the bodies. It was speeding along when the earthquake happened and when everything was revealed. I was horrified, and at the same time, I couldn’t put my darn Kindle down!!

The horror aspect of the book comes into focus when Nonno and Kate have that interaction. And even then, it was very understated. But then the author introduced the one animal I have a phobia of: rats. The author used the rats very interestingly, bolstering the storyline and making it even more creepy (Tommy’s trek through the other catacombs has been etched into my brain forever).

The end of The House of Last Restort did surprise me. I wasn’t expecting the book to end the way it did. It was a disturbing ending that made me feel for Tommy.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Christopher Golden for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The House of Last Resort. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

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