Hearts Unloched: Haunted Voices

This suspenseful but unsatisfying tale centers on a mystery at a haunted resort in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. Kate Bardach, a wealthy Jewish interior designer who can see ghosts, and Marco Lareci, an even wealthier Italian investment broker, meet at a racetrack near the resort, and Marco asks her to work on renovating the resort, which he just purchased. Unbeknownst to them, the hotel is haunted by a presence that is connected to a dark secret in Kate’s family history and seems intent on disrupting the remodeling attempts. Though the story is set in 2014, the attitudes toward gender and ethnicity are antiquated (Marco looks “like an old-time mobster,” and he immediately thinks of Kate as “this bitch” and “Princess” while observing that her voice is nasal). The supernatural aspects are intriguing, if somewhat predictable, but the uneven pacing of the central relationship between the main characters makes it hard for readers to connect with the story. (BookLife)