Sometimes you shouldn’t go home…For years the abandoned MacKenzie mansion remained hidden in rural Wisconsin. Rumors and stories of apparitions, odd noises, accidents, and strange deaths in or near the property were enough to convince the townsfolk it was haunted and they stayed away. Lucas MacKenzie and his brother Nate know nothing of this when they inherit the property and decide to bring … property and decide to bring their families to Wisconsin for a major renovation project with HGTV stardom in mind. As they tear out old fixtures and open shuttered windows, the house begins to reveal secrets of a terrible past and it soon becomes clear the MacKenzies are in grave danger. In the end, only one person can save them.
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A house in the woods. The man. The woman. A hidden entity.
Who doesn’t love a good haunted house story?
Lucas and his brother, Nate, had inherited the MacKenzie mansion in the small town of Lost Arrow. It had sat deserted for years and they were there to make it their home. HGTV would be along for the ride, documenting the transformation.
They had no knowledge of it’s reputation, the accidents, the things that go bump in the night.
Tom Wolfe had sworn to protect the house, while he waits for the owner, his love, Elizabeth, to return. He wonders why, now, they are people here. Is it at her whim? He likes that they are fixing it up, but once they are done, he wants them gone.
A premonition brought Kenric Shepherd to Wisconsin. His vision warns of danger, but he must wait for more to be revealed.
As soon as the chainsaw did it’g, I would have been long gone.
Laura had been treated for epilepsy and was bullied and teased growing up. She learned to enjoy her own company. I guess now she’ll learn it was so much more than epilepsy.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Shepherd’s Warning by Cailyn Lloyd.
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Net Galley Review
This is a wonderfully written horror/ghost story. MacKenzie mansion has remained empty for years when brothers, Lucas and Nate, are bequeathed the mansion in their mother’s will. Once they start renovations things begin to happen in their lives and their families lives. This was a fast-paced read told from multiple viewpoints. It was incredibly hard for me to put down and walk away. I love the world-building, the amazing characters, and the history behind the house and characters. This was a wonderful debut!
On the surface, Cailyn Lloyd’s debut novel Shepherd’s Warning seems like a classic haunted house story, but there is far more to it than that. When Lucas MacKenzie’s mother passes away, he and his wife Laura inherit a mysterious country home. The home is mysterious largely because Lucas’ mother never once spoke of it to her family, and the inheritance came as a complete surprise. Still reeling from the death of Lucas’ mother and some other personal losses, the MacKenzie family is hoping to be able to make a fresh start in this unexpected new place. Unfortunately, before long it starts to become clear why the home was abandoned for so long. As things get weirder and darker, Laura has to come to terms with what she is up against if she has any hope of saving her family.
From page one, Lloyd demonstrates an uncanny ability to pump tension into seemingly innocuous situations. There is something about her writing that really draws in the reader. The book is a slow burn, but despite the pacing I stayed incredibly engrossed in the story. I think that a large factor in that is the way that Lloyd writes the protagonist, Laura MacKenzie. Laura is a strong woman, but plagued with doubts and anxiety. At every turn, she is constantly fighting against herself. Despite these internal struggles, she keeps going for her family. I think that being privy to Laura’s fears and anxieties really added palpable tension and kept me racing along. The plot might have crawled along, but Laura’s thoughts and fears and questions raced at a mile a minute.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of Shepherd’s Warning is the reason behind the haunting. As I mentioned, this seems like a cookie-cutter haunted house story, but it’s not. Lloyd manages to craft her own spin on the haunted house tale that’s not quite like anything I’ve read before. I don’t do spoilers, so you’ll just have to read it and find out exactly what I’m talking about. But I will say that the dark force at work here is cool as hell and quite a refreshing take.
Speaking of things that are cool as hell, let’s talk about the namesake of the book. Kenric Shepherd is the dude who gives the titular Warning. I really enjoyed this character. Shepherd is a professor of Medieval Studies, specializing in early English languages; the best in the field. He’s probably the best because he was there when these languages were originally spoken. Sort of an unfair advantage, you might say. See, Shepherd is a mystic, part of an age-old loosely organized group of shamans and magic-workers called the Elders. Shepard has been alive and honing his magical craft since sometime in the eighth century. Not really sure what’s kept him alive for so long, Shepherd moves around every so often to avoid suspicion. All of that is pretty cool to begin with, but to top it all off, Shepherd has learned a new, modern form of magic. In his free time, he is a skilled computer hacker. Overall, Shepherd is a pretty awesome character, and I wish that he had a larger role in the story.
Shepherd’s Warning is a powerfully riveting, yet slow-burning new take on the haunted house story. Lloyd crafts interesting and intricate characters. Laura is strong but flawed; Shepherd is mysterious and intriguing. The plot has a lot of the dressings of a classic haunting, but presented in an entirely new way. Fans of hauntings, magic, and mysterious will love this one. If you’re looking for a lightning-paced thrill ride, this is certainly not the book for you. However, if you’re interested in tense, character-driven stories with interesting twists and fresh ideas, you’ll be right at home with Shepherd’s Warning.
This debut novel by Cailyn Lloyd is one of the best haunted house stories I’ve read in a long time. The house in this story is an elegant Tudor located in rural Wisconsin. The house, which is definitely out of place in the community, has sat vacant for some time – ever since Elizabeth Mackenzie moved away after the death of her husband. When she passes on, her children (Lucas and Nate) inherit the house – a place they never heard of before. Why did Elizabeth keep the house a secret?
Lucas and Nate, along with their respective spouses (Laura and Ashley) decide to renovate the place as a planned HGTV special. Lucas and Laura are grieving over the loss of their son and Laura has taken over the care of her grandchild, Leah.
As they begin the renovation, strange things start to happen. Laura thinks she sees a man, who vanishes before her eyes. A roofer takes a tragic fall and the relationship between Laura and Lucas, once good, begins to deteriorate.
Nate discovers a trapdoor leading to a strange room. Hoping to find buried treasure, he demolishes the brick surrounding the space and this sets off a chain of events that defy rational explanation and puts everyone in jeopardy.
Shepherd’s Warning is a fast-paced, multi-layered novel. The characters are fully fleshed and believable. If you like stories about hauntings, you can’t go wrong with this one.
I received a free copy of this novel as a member of the Horror Writers Association in consideration for a Bram Stoker Award.
Enjoyed this book very much. Was hard to put down. Lots of twist and turns never knew where things would go next.
Shepherd’s Warning is a great paranormal thriller. The Lucas and Nate MacKenzie have inherited a mansion in rural Wisconsin from their mother, one they had no idea existed. The local townspeople are not happy that these new arrivals will awaken the ghosts haunting the house. They know the old stories of accidents and strange deaths. As the brothers and their wives begin the renovations for an HGTV project, the house will slowly reveal its secrets. Though the characters are a little confusing at first, once you get them sorted, the book is a great story…. with a haunted house. I received a copy of this book for an honest review.
This is a well paced read. The plot is engaging and believable, with strong likeable characters. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next installment.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
3.5/5
Through my recent Twitter post, I had a few folks reach out and ask if I’d review their work. Cailyn was one such person. When she messaged, I mis-read her email and snagged ‘Shepherd’s Warning’ from Amazon, when she was in-fact emailing me about ‘Quinlan’s Secret’ the second book in the series! So, I dove in to read Book One and have already started Book Two!
What I liked: We pick up with a group of people renovating a house in the hopes of getting an HGTV show. The house has sat unoccupied for a long time, due to it’s history and the perception that it is haunted. The synopsis was very intriguing and Lloyd added some fantastic layers as the house begins to share its secrets.
One thing I always love in haunted house stories is the discovery of hidden rooms and early on in this one, we get this, along with a hand written book. That discovery will then lead to numerous other moments of terror for the rest of the story.
I really loved the back story that Lloyd introduced and with a professor who isn’t exactly who he says he is, we get a lot of great history in here.
What I didn’t like: I don’t know why, but for the life of me I struggled to keep track of who was who. The characters felt interchangeable for a solid stretch at the beginning and I had trouble remembering the relationship each one had with the others. This came across a lot of the time with a lot of throw away dialogue. There were portions where the conversations just felt included without any real purpose at times.
The biggest thing I struggled with the blatant disregard the characters had to the haunted house aspect for a good portion of the book. Something would happen, it would be significant, and then it would be completely forgotten or pushed aside. I can’t say too much about this, as I don’t want to fall into spoiler territory, but it happened a number of times and it was frustrating each time.
Why you should buy this: If haunted houses are you’re jam, then definitely do give this a go. Cailyn crafted some truly dark moments in here and the creep factor was high for almost the entire book. I’ll be interested to see just where this goes with book two, but for now, I’d suggest grabbing this one and and see why the tag line is “sometimes you shouldn’t go home…”
I love when fate intervenes. I was on NetGalley to see what books I needed to post reviews for, and I decided I wanted to read a horror book soon. So I clicked on that section, and saw the cover for Sheperd’s Warning because it caught my eye. When I read that it takes place in rural Wisconsin, and it was a debut novel, I knew that would be my next read.
And I must say, an excellent book for a new author.
Cailyn Lloyd does a fabulous job with the building of suspense. While I was never freaked out (watching horror movies since the age of eight, might have jaded me a bit…) she kept perfectly ratcheting up the anxiety that her characters were experiencing. What started as a new beginning after a tragedy, quickly led to feelings of uneasy, then to the characters feeling jittery, with the final outcome of complete terror.
Lloyd also did very well with incorporating the supernatural aspect. Wisconsin is well known for its many haunted houses, hospitals, and buildings, so the MacKenzie mansion fit in perfectly with it’s rural surroundings. Lloyd has the perfect balance of very detailed descriptions of the mansion, surrounding woods, and town. But she doesn’t go on and on with it, to the point where I wanted to skim, so that is always a plus for me.
I think the reason why I enjoy horror so much is because there is almost always a mystery involved in the story. Why is the killer or supernatural entity doing what they are doing? Lloyd wrote a very interesting mystery, incorporating historical data and folklore. I enjoyed the journey she took me on.
The very small thing that I have to mention is how I was a bit confused, at first, in regards to the characters. Lloyd gave us half a dozen names, and it was immediately on with the story. Although she does develop the characters going forward, it took me a couple of chapters to straighten out their relationships to each other. But it could have been that I was a bit sleepy since I started reading right before bed.
Looking forward to her future works. And if you enjoy Dean Koontz or John Saul, definitely give this one a try.