The Cuckoo House is a thrilling horror novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This book has everything you'd expect out of a creepy novel - an old house, a murder in that house, creepy old man, spiders, animals going missing, old wive's tales, sex, objects moving, silence, a frustrated wife, bones, hot summer days, more murder, and a lot of suspense.

Andre's writing made me feel Jane's frustration. As a reader, I couldn't help but develop strong feelings for this woman and want her to succeed in her goal. While it seems like a simple thing to do, connect reader's with your characters, often time it isn't. Good job on Andre's part for being able to draw the reader in to his characters! That's a feat all on it's own!

Additionally, I could feel the suspense in certain chapters. As an avid reader of thrillers and horror, I knew something bad was coming. Andre was able to keep me hooked and anxiously waiting, then would surprise me with the lack of scares or abundance of them. That's another bonus of this novel - Andre was able to play with my emotions in a way other horror novels haven't been able too.

The reference to The Shining ("REDRUM") is a nice touch, especially since I just finished the book and can actually understand the reference. I won't lie, when I read the shining I was confused at first as to why RED RUM was a problem, but when you realize that's MURDER spelled backwards, it makes a lot more sense!

The title relating to a comment in the book was another nice touch - it's a fantastic reference that some readers wouldn't understand. Having the title has a metaphor for the novel is a really nice touch, in my opinion. It always impresses me when the title has something to do with the novel instead of just be randomly generated.

Now for the ending..... it's insanity! I want another book chronicling what happens after, but at the same time it was perfectly horrifying.

Side note: The old creepy man's name is Jasper, which personally makes me giggle. There's a poodle that lives down the street from me named Jasper, so all I could imagine was the poodle.

This book has one con for me, but it doesn't take much away from the story. I would have liked more description - I'm a sucker for description, and when I do my own creative writing I tend to explain a LOT. I think if there would have been just a little bit more description instead of talking (or have the communication between characters have a bit more depth in word choice), this book would hit it out of the park and be up their with the best! That being said, Andre Harden's writing style is excellent for this genre. Just because my reading style and his writing style aren't perfectly matched, doesn't mean that he isn't fantastic. I think he's extremely talented and the more he writes, the better he'll get (just like with every other author). And this book is off to an incredibly strong start!

The book is definitely rated R for the horror. The sex isn't erotic, there isn't any scenes full of excessive gore, but the horror mixed with the sex might be a little too much for some readers. So, I'll settle on the R rating, but just barely an R rating.

Overall, this book is an intense read! It's packed full of horror and insanity, and it's worth every page! Short but sweet!

Four out of five stars!

I received a free copy of this book from the author Andre Harden in exchange for an honest review. ( )