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Five Mile House: A Novel Paperback – December 10, 2004

by Karen Novak (Author)

3.7 32 ratings

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In 1889, Eleanor Bly flung herself from the tower of Five Mile House after murdering her seven children. More than a hundred years later, her ghost reaches out to Leslie Stone, a New York cop who has killed a child murderer and is haunted by her actions. New to the town of Wellington-famous for its coven of witches-Leslie becomes obsessed with Eleanor's story, suspecting that the truth may be quite different from local legend. As she digs deeper, uncovering dangerous town secrets, her life and the lives of her children are put into peril. Is Leslie destined to suffer the same madness as Eleanor Bly?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A terrific ghost story and a fine first novel." -- Booklist

"Novak has the reader on tenterhooks." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Karen Novak lives in Mason, Ohio. Her next Leslie Stone novel, The Wilderness, will be published by Bloomsbury in January 2005.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; First Edition/First Printing (December 10, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1582341591
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1582341590
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.75 x 8.58 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,278,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #78,708 in Women Sleuths (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.7 32 ratings

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3.7 out of 5

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Elizabeth Hendry

A Gothic Pageturner

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2002

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Although I am not necessarily a huge fan of the gothic, haunted spooky house genre, I very much enjoyed Five Mile House and finished it in just a couple of sittings. It's an engaging page turner, and, if you don't mind the fact that it's narrated by a ghost, you'll probably like it. Five Mile House tells the story of two women, one in the present, one in the past, whose looks are not the only thing that tie them together. In the present, there is Leslie Stone, a former police officer who killed a child murderer in a fit of rage. Her husband moves their family to Wellington, a small New England town where he is to work on the renovations of Five Mile House. Five Mile House is where the other woman, Eleanor Bly apparently murdered all of her children. The ghost of Eleanor Bly "haunts" the house. Leslie, in her recovery, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of Eleanor Bly, and in her search, discovers current mysteries of Wellington. As I said, this is an engaging pageturner, if you can handle the gothic elements in it.

2 people found this helpful

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Judith Agee

Bee-you-teeful Debut!

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2006

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Karen Novack's debut is breath-stealingly atmospheric and
rife with suspense.
Her protangonist, Leslie Stone, is one heck of a complicated character. She is very far from perfect. A few of her choices should probably make her unlikable, but somehow Novack imbues her with a certain je ne sais quoi, and you can empathise with her. To a point. This is fiction, but leaving her kids, age 10 and 5 to play alone at a lake, bothered me.
A homicide detective who has seen one too many heinous crimes, she loses her senses and kills a suspected criminal, when the voice of the child victim whispers to her.
I won't reveal more than that.
Her husband takes her and the kids to an isolated and rather weird town.
Where he is to work on a gothic house, with a history of
pain and sadness.
In the town of Wellington, Leslie and family meet all kinds of unusual souls.
Drawn into a spooky and complicated conspiracy; will Leslie's discoveries be believed or scoffed at. Can she save her children. Or will her troubled past condemn her and her family to a bleak future.
Karen Novack weaves a rich thread of prose into a wonderfully
entertaining novel.
I will be buying the rest of the series.

2 people found this helpful

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JJ

Good story but a bit uneven

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2013

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I liked the story and the premise but found the book a bit uneven and at times hard to follow. One thing that surprised me is that after I finished the book there was an excerpt from the next book in this series. Looking at the excerpt I realized that I had read that book already- yet not once did I recognize the main character in this book as the one in the next. The main character takes a leap in the 2nd book - she is more developed (and more likable). I had some issues with the main character in this book- I didn't like her, she was an awful mother most of the time (who was with her young children while she was away from the house?). I know she was supposed to be a broken/flawed/troubled woman in the beginning but I didn't see her evolve into the person who would risk her life to save her kids.
Another thing that I have to mention is that I was floored by the number of typos and incorrect characters/type in this book. E-reader versions of a book should not mean un-proof read.

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2013

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I loved this story, but I found myself really hating the main character. She is very disturbed, and does things that make you want to slap her and hug her at the same time. Aside from her flaws, this story was interesting enough.

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2014

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This is a really good back it was worth my time it was a little scary at first but then I got into it

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Smart Dallas Gal

Smarter than we knew?

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2005

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You have to read this book for yourself, as it's SO much more than you anticipate. Novak was years ahead of Dan Brown. As you read the book post-The Da Vinci Code, the Knights Templar references and one family's search for their own holy grail find new meaning as they collide with intriguing layers of mysteries and haunted women - both dead and alive.

Novak is one smart author, and this is one heckuva smart book.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Enjoyed this book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2012

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A good quality read. Flows nicely with a few surprises. Would definitely recommend to my friends and others who like the paranormal.

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2007

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Novak's writing is top-notch but the resolution leaves some important questions. The book is *almost* good enough to re-read to see if I missed some important clues, but I don't think it's my problem. A good editor would have asked Novak to explain or resolve a few things.

When a plot is as twisty and convoluted as this one, the loose ends need to be tied up. Maybe there was no summation in Five Mile House because the plot *didn't* hold together. Let the readers think they just didn't get it -- yeah, that'll work.

Why were the prostitutes poisoned? Why were Eleanor's children murdered? Why did Leslie leave her children unattended after being warned they were in danger? I'd ask many other questions but doing so would spoil the book for others.

Novak is an excellent writer and parts of this book were very effective, but it doesn't make up for the very unsatisfying resolution.

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