There are readers that skip over the prologue, however, Liparulo’s tantalizing tale begins from the first page and the prologue’s last line is a definite page turner: “The door closed, separating her from her family forever.”

To move from that phrase to the tale of an ordinary relocation of a family, could be a letdown. Not so, Liparulo allows the reader to relax before stirring the imagination with “Big Foot” and a haunted house.

There are good qualities to this book: Pre-teen to YA will enjoy the story from the move through the haunted house; Liparulo uses all the senses to portray the scenes—and he succeeds in scaring the reader at times; the author gives a definite sense this is a decent family, they respect each other and work together; although not overly religious, good moral values are portrayed and church is mentioned. I liked the idea of a reader’s guide, also.

I realize the author and publisher set the reader up to buy book two, but in this case I felt cheated. If I were buying the book, I’d want more resolution. I still enjoyed the read from cover to cover.