Review: Hanover House (Hanover House Chronicles 0.5) by Brenda Novak

Title: Hanover House
Author: Brenda Novak
Published: Sept. 1, 2015
Publisher: Brenda Novak
Pages: 198
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Review: ebook provided by NetGalley and publisher
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

Hanover House
The Hanover House Chronicles
Prequel novella to my new Hanover House Chronicles (digital only).
Welcome to Hanover House….
Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don’t they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them?
After having been kidnapped, tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager—by her high school boyfriend—she’s determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she’s established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst.
But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok, is one of them. And yet he can’t help feeling bad about what Evelyn has been through. He’s even attracted to her. Which is partly why he worries.
He knows what could happen if only one little thing goes wrong…

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

I have to say the synopsis really called to me on this one. There is mentioning of kidnapping, psychopaths, serial killers say what? You know it is going to make a good story it just has to.

In this chronicle we are introduced to Evelyn Talbot who has become a psychiatrist and is studying the behavior of psychopaths and why they do what they do in a way. She has fought to have the Hanover House placed somewhere away from people because you do know that serial killers are not meant to be near the public. Hence the reason Alaska comes into play this is where she fights her feelings for state trooper Amarok, she tries to get Hanover House on its feet, along with dealing with herself in danger.

You see Evelyn Talbot has become who she is today because of her ex-boyfriend Jasper. He did something so horrific to Evelyn that it has changed her completely she always checks every nook and cranny in her home, she doesn't trust easy, and she can not have a normal relationship with a guy. We see how she interacts with Amarok and you can see her struggle with herself. Evelyn seems like a strong character despite her past, she is one I can see not letting the inmates get to her. 

Now I totally understand this is a prequel so to speak and we are just learning of this institution that she is building up. So the reason I gave it a four rating is I was expecting to learn and dive into the minds of what Evelyn will be researching. I did like the romance that was starting to blossom between the two characters and I really enjoyed how Evelyn had to face her past even though it may not be the last of it. I just wanted more of the serial killers and how she was going to be doing her thing with them. 

 I will wait patiently for Whiteout which is coming out next year!!!

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.
“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”
However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.

Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.

“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”
Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Many of her novels have won or placed in contests such as the National Reader's Choice, the Bookseller's Best, the Write Touch, the Award of Excellence and the Beacon Award for Published Authors.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. She juggles her writing career with her children’s softball and soccer games, field trips, carpool runs and homework sessions.
When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fundraiser for diabetes research—an on-line auction held at her website May 1st – May 31st. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!

Brenda's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...