Alex is a twenty-something year old business man who is grieving over the loss of a girl he thought was the love of his life. Shannon left him and he's been haunted with the memories they shared today and he desperately searches for her as he feels she completes his life.

He runs into some friends who convince him to try online dating, and this is where he meets Hope, a twenty-something French photojournalist. Hope opens up to Alex and tells him about how she's a virgin and plans on staying that way until her wedding day. Keep an eye on the things she says, because you'll soon realize she's crazy and everything she says leads up to the discovery of her crazy ways.

Things move really quickly and by the second date, Hope's mother, Charity tries to demand that Alex be tested for HIV by a doctor that she picked out. Immediately following this request she attempts to convince Alex to marry Hope.

At this point in the story, I'm a little confused on the direction this book is supposed to be making. My head is full of questions about Alex, in fact some parts of this book are just too extravagant to be believable.

As you read through the book, you will pick up on clues here and there, so you are constantly trying to plug in each clue in the great mystery of who Alex is. By the middle of the book, you'll be dying to finish the story to learn if Alex listens to his friends and gets out of the crazy relationship with Hope or will he follow through and see where Hope leads him.

I know I found myself yelling at the book for Alex to make the right decisions, but Alex is a curious man and everything he does is unpredictable and surprising.

Of course as a psychological thriller, you are thrown though many different loops that lead you down different paths, but I did not find this particular thriller to be a book I enjoyed. Although I was stuck in the story line and followed it through to the end, I did not understand a lot of Alex's ways, and found the confusion to be distracting. I found there to be an abundance of unanswered questions that will have your mind racing trying to solve everything at once. I will give this book a 3/5. ( )

This book wasn't to terrible bad yet it wasn't to terrible good either. I did have a hard time getting into. I felt that it was very slow going, by the time I really got into it and wanted to see what happen next the book was over. I felt I wasted a lot of time reading the beginning of the book when I could have just read the end. I particularly didn't care for the ending of the book either, I felt here is where there should have been more (and maybe a little less up front). ( )

I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers because nothing turns out the way you thought it would. Digger Cartwright does a phenomenal job with The House of Dark Shadows. I thought I had everything figured out due to the clues he gave us along the way, but I was blown off course. The ending isn’t exactly what you expect nor is it your typical Hollywood ending, but it fits.

Alex Rommel has everything a bachelor could ask for. He’s successful at his job and quite the ladies man, but he’s missing the love of his life. Years ago Shannon left him and he’s been haunted with memories of her and desperately searches for her. He runs into an old university friend, Brad, at a café and Brad mentions how he’s met the love of his life. He introduces Lisa to Alex and when Alex inquires how they met, Brad tells him the internet. Alex is skeptical because you never know who is behind the screen, but needless to say he’s intrigued. As he prepares to leave the café he overhears Brad tell Lisa about the rumors surrounding Alex, he killed an ex-girlfriend; however, both of them disregard the rumors. Later that evening, Alex signs up for internet dating and meets the perfect woman, Hope. Little does he know he’s about to step into a tangled world of deception and the person he thought he could trust the most turns out to be his biggest enemy.

In terms of character development, it’s strong and the writing is engaging. Cartwright has a business background and he does a great job taking elements from the business world and incorporating them into the narrative. At times it was difficult to sympathize with Alex because he’s particular in his ways and yet when he first receives that phone call from Hope’s mother you can’t help but want to yell “run from the crazy Alex!” He has a trusted mentor, Thomas, but for the most part he was too closed off and only allowed a selected few into his inner circle of trust and ultimately this is where Alex went wrong. Alex also suffers from nightmares and in many ways foreshadows a lot of what happens to Alex and shows us what happened to Shannon. It’s Alex who refuses to look into it and it’s proof he’s a man running from his own demons.

In a day and age where you can virtually find any information about a person, I’m surprised Alex didn’t take the initiative to further look into Hope’s background. If the house on the street is the only one that doesn’t look right, search the house address and find out what you can. I remind myself had Alex done this, we wouldn’t have a story. I had all sorts of theories regarding Hope. At one point Alex is told Shannon was beaten to the point where she needed reconstructive surgery and a piece of me held out hope (no pun intended) that it was Hope. I’m not saying anymore about the plot, but I loved it.

There are some unanswered questions, but I just file them away as answered since the ending I believe confirms Alex’s suspicion when Thomas tells him, “you should have given them what they wanted.” Thomas calls this a mind-fuck when Alex asks him what everything around him is at that moment (I’m not saying what it is for fear of spoilers) and oh this book was definitely one.

If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers or looking to try a new genre, I highly recommend The House of Dark Shadows. I’ve never read Digger Cartwright before and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work. ( )

I seem to be the only one who didn't care for this book...

I won this book through LibraryThing's Member Giveaway, and I want to also mention that this isn't generally the genre I read so take my review as you will.

Alex is a gorgeous, successful, self-proclaimed gentleman who has lost the love of his life through mysterious means. He is now working on a mysterious land investment deal in Hawaii where he is sure to make a ton of money if he can play his cards right. But he is having terrifyingly realistic dreams that seem to be playing into his real life. He tries to put his fears and prejudices aside and attempts to find a girl through an online dating site, and meets Hope. Marie, his sexy secretary/friend with benefits, warns against it but he doesn't listen.

He jumps in head first and starts to fall in love with mysterious Hope. But something isn't right. There are pieces of the story missing and something just doesn't feel right.

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Basically that is the story in a nut shell. I couldn't get into the story because I couldn't relate to the characters. The whole thing seemed like it was a day time soap opera (which, if you like soap operas then this book is totally for you).

All of the notes I took while reading are basically the same "I keep waiting for something to happen". It wasn't until 95% of the way through the book did I feel like anything substantial (read: interesting) was going on. Then it was over. But the ending wasn't even really that satisfying, in fact I thought it was rather cliche.

To be completely honest, I kept waiting for some kind of monster to appear in the story to liven it up. Sadly this didn't happen. ( )

I received this book from Library Thing to read and review. This is a book filled with mystery and intrigue. Alex, who is having difficulty recovering from the loss of his love, Shannon, tries on-line dating after being convinced of how good it is by his buddies. He meets up with Hope, a French photojournalist studying in Atlanta. Hope is a traditionalist, which initially does not seen that odd but which later begins to make the reader wonder who and what she really is. A short time after meeting her, Hope’s mother Charity enters the picture and things begin to get bizarre. The author has added further intrigue about a property Alex owns in Hawaii, which a shadowy company wants. The story grows stranger and stranger as Alex becomes more entwined with Hope. Will Alex stay on in these strange circumstances or will he get out while he still can? I found this story very entertaining. Today, everyone is into on-line dating, which has changed the whole world of dating. However, very little is discussed about what happens if things do not go as intended or planned, which this book confronts. The story moves along quickly and easily. The characters are realistic, with a few exceptions, and the plot will suck you right in. This is a book for the 21st century reader, with a 21st century plot. ( )