In A Box Full of Darkness, Simone St. James returns to the eerie town of Fell, NY, where The Sun Down Motel is set. This novel has as its protagonists the three siblings of the Esmie family, whose original home is in Fell.
Violet Esmie sees dead people. She does in her work cleaning houses after the owner has died, but terrifyingly, she did in her parents’ house growing up. She was hospitalized for her “delusions,” and her ex used that to get custody of their daughter, Lisette.
Violet receives a call from the landscapers taking care of the family grounds in Fell. They are quitting because of sighting a boy on the grounds who says, “Come home.” Violet knows that this boy is her little brother Ben, who disappeared when he was six during a game of hide and seek and was never found. She summons her brother and sister to go to Fell.
Vail Esmie had experiences in childhood that made him believe in alien abductions. So, he works as an investigator in cases where people think they have seen aliens.
Dodie Esmie is a model who purposefully keeps removed from men by only going on first dates. She has just had a first date with Ethan when she gets the call from Violet.
The neighborhood in Fell is creepy. Two houses are vacant, one recently so, and there is only one family there, in what should be an upscale area.
Violet finds that Sister, a spirit who haunted her childhood, is there in the house and dangerous. She has never told her siblings about Sister, whereas Vail has never told them about the bright lights, and Dodie about the feeling of drowning—all these events at night unless Ben was sleeping with them. Almost as soon as they arrive, they begin experiencing odd and frightening events that eventually make them realize they need to figure out what happened to Ben.
This novel is fast moving and engaging, with scary and intriguing events. I don’t think there is any writer these days who handles ghost stories as well as St. James.
What? Me Read? 