3.25 out of 5.00 stars
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fantastic book. A lot of nods to The Shining.

Billy and Emily have been together for about a dozen years, when Billy walked away from a partnership with Shawn on a program they were sure was going to change the world. At the time, Billy was certain that Emily, who had been Shawn's girlfriend, was worth whatever would come from the program. Shawn, in fact, bought Billy's share with $100k.

But it is now 12 years later, and Shawn is Shawn Eagle, billionaire tech guru owner of Eagle Technology, a company light years ahead of anything Google or Apple had when Eagle first came out. Billy is working on his 23rd month sober from alcohol and cocaine. He and Emily are probably only weeks from bankruptcy.

The first part of the book starts out unique enough. Shawn and Billy moved into a cabin on the property where Shawn grew up with a meek mother and a very drunk, very mean father. There's skeletons. Many skeletons. The build up of one of those skeletons is massive, however the actual end point of that build-up is somewhat mild.

Now, I'm going to try not give anything away, but let's do a run-down of the nods to The Shining:
1. Billy is a drunk. He's deluding himself that he's been off the wagon for 23 months because every time we turn a page, it's just one drink.
2. There's some twins with a talent akin to the shining.
3. Shawn's father actually tells him to come take his medicine.
4. Emily tells Billy and Shawn to figure the problem out before it goes redrum.
5. It's a hotel. Okay, so it's supposed to be a resort, but really, it's a hotel.
6. Billy is a down-on-his-luck guy who needs a break, and behold! a break as NOT a caretaker. Actually, the author was very specific about this, because Shawn tells Billy that he would not be a caretaker. He is there to find the ghost in the machine.
7. They get snowed in.

Billy accepts the kind-of olive branch from Shawn in accepting the role of finding what is wrong with Nellie - a program that was written all those years ago in that cabin, but that they had abandoned in pursuit of Eagle Technology. Shawn magically makes all of Billy's debt disappear. He puts money in his bank, with a promise that every three months for the duration of the project, even if it fails, he'll get that same amount again.

But if he succeeds? Oh, if Billy succeeds.

But is this a setup by Shawn? Is it an attempt to try to get Emily back after all these years? You'll have to read it to find out. Don't let my comparisons to The Shining put you off, it's a great book.

I did, however, feel like the ending was not only abrupt, but somewhat unbelievable. The author tried to tie up the loose ends, I just can't believe that even if no one found out, that everyone else involved was okay with everything that had happened, and just went on their merry way.

All in all, I liked the book. I definitely want to check out more of Boone's stuff. It wasn't over-the-top horror, and there's a lot of backstory and points where you're wondering if what one character or another is experiencing is real or hallucinated.

I also felt that the author did a really, really good representation of the struggle that Billy was enduring as he was battling his personal demons: drugs and alcohol. He was brutally accurate when he wrote about Billy "just having one" here and there, and that it "didn't count as falling off the wagon." That was so believable it hurt.

This started out so slowly and it was difficult to finish. I think the length of the book could be improved. It was too long which made it seem like it dragged in places. I would have liked more about the AI of the house and some scariness. There is so much potential here had the editing been a little more. The concept is excellent, just needs a little tighter execution. This feels like a good movie adaptation.

Totally in love with the creepy mansion and Nellie. Billy and Shawn might hate each other, but even they know that they have to work together to solve this mystery.
I know now why Ezekiel Boone was such a hit, his is an engaging author with a flair of creep factor. I flipped page to page, ignoring the clock and my beauty sleep. Of course I should not have read it before bed, because being a suspense thriller, I was awake until much later. Those who love a good mystery and trying to figure out stories, try reading this!

This started off OK. The two key characters of Billy and Shawn were well described and their complex history, interesting. I also really liked the idea of Nellie, the AI who controls the Mansion and who I really liked as a character. However, you don't meet Nellie until 25% into the book and there's just not enough of her / it!

Too many flashbacks and not a solid enough storyline to keep me hooked.

I'd definitely read another book by this author as there is something in the writing, but, it's currently too well hidden.

2*

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! Stick with it; I found the beginning to be a little slow, but it definitely picks up and peaks your interest. I love the premise of the book with the idea of technology taking over; it's totally relatable in today's world. An enjoyable, creepy Halloween read! Thanks, NetGalley!

The Mansion
by Ezekiel Boone
due December 2018
Emily.Bestler. Books/ Atria Books

Billy Stafford and Shawn Eagle were best friends who spent much time together growing up, in a cabin in a remote area, developing computer hardware. They formed a company, Eagle Logic that differed from other artificial intelligence systems, this was a next generation intelligence system that could follow commands, but also could read your mind and anticipate your responses. Like a mind-reading Siri or Alexa. Things were going well....the company was thriving and they both were looking forward to a successful future. Until they both fell in love Emily. Shawn dated her first, but Billy married her and Shawn took Eagle Logic as his own, developing it into a multi-billion dollar computer company, worth more than Google or Amazon. And Billy was struggling, became addicted to alcohol and pills and Emily stood by him.

So it was awkward when Shawn contacted Billy. He would zero out his debt, which was substantial if he would help him develop "Nellie", the name he gave his artificial intelligence device. Nellie has a glitch and Billy can fix it. Billy is suspicious. Why now? What is really going on?

I really enjoyed this well paced book. The Nest and Eagle Logic were well done and fascinating, my favorite part of the book.
Thanks to Emily. Bestler Books/ Atria for this e-ARC.
#netgalley

The Eagle Mansion - a dilapidated, abandoned resort with a questionable, dark history, that the surrounding townspeople swear is haunted. Still, IT-golden boy Shawn Eagle decides to renovate it to above and beyond it's former glory, including a technological advancement that he thinks of as his Magnum Opus - Nellie, the personal assistant to end all personal assistants. She can tell you the weather, order a gift for your aunt, have your grocery list delivered to your door. She's omnipresent and is supposed to be self-teaching so she can assure the happiness of her master. However, there's something not quite right with Nellie, and there's only one person Shawn can ask for help. His former partner, Billy Stafford, with whom Shawn has a very contentious relationship, but who coded some of the most significant parts of Nellie. Billy agrees to move into Eagle Mansion, with his wife Emily, to see if he can work out the bugs in Nellie's system. Nellie, however, has different ideas about what Shawn, Billy, and Emily should be doing.

The Mansion had a lot of stuff going on. There was the mansion itself - creepy and maybe haunted, with a history that would turn your gut. There was also the very rocky relationships, not only between Shawn, Billy, and Emily - but also between Billy and Emily, and Billy, Emily, and Emily's sister. There was Billy's history of addiction, Emily's creepy nieces, Shawn's history with his parents and their tragic deaths, the disappearance of Shawn and Billy's college roommate, Takata. And at the very center of the story, Nellie. There were many tiny plot lines that seemed so interesting and promising at the beginning of the story, but ended up not really coming to fruition or being that important to the main story line. I feel like this could have been a way more solid story if there had been two or three of those ideas that had come together at the end to create a very strong ending. Instead, it was just whispers of too many ideas.

I also felt like The Mansion had some pacing issues. I felt geared up for something spooky to happen over and over, but nothing ever really did.

All in all, maybe this shouldn't be thought of as a horror novel. Maybe if I had gone in thinking it was more of a science fiction thriller, I wouldn't have been so disappointed at the lack of things scariness. It was a very interesting idea, but I didn't like how it developed. I was disappointed with how everything came together in the end.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel.
I was super excited to read “The Mansion” by Ezekiel Boone, not only because of the time of year, but because I absolutely loved Boone’s previous works (The Hatching and Skitter). That being said, I headed into this one with high expectations.
Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford spent two years living in nearly complete seclusion, working on a new technology that would innovate the world as they know it. Although the two come close to developing their technology, it is not yet at the level they expected and when Emily, Shawn’s girlfriend, leaves him for Billy, the relationship is severed completely. Soon, Shawn is a tech billionaire, living on the fortune that the new software brought him, and Billy, now married to Emily, is an alcoholic, struggling to make ends meet. When Shawn invites Emily and Billy to his old family mansion to work out the kinks of the technology they started on so long ago, things quickly go terribly wrong. The new technology, “Nellie”, has a mind of its own and soon, the very house they live in is under her spell. Billy needs to work out the glitches in the system before it’s too late for all of them.
This novel started off slow, and it took quite a bit of time for me to become invested in the plot. A lot of tech speak, spliced with snippets of the history of Shawn and Billy’s friendship, made up the majority of the first portion of this novel. It did not start off scary right away, and seemed to play out more as a science fiction novel than a horror, which is not what I expected from Boone.
Shawn was not a likable character (mostly due to the arrogance he possessed, that I assume is the result of being a multi-billionaire), but Billy and Emily were somewhat more relatable, and those two characters alone allowed me to form a bond with the novel.
“The Mansion” is reminiscent of “The Shining” (from the haunted house aspect right down to the psychic twins) but the possessed house also made me think of the Simpsons’ Treehouse of Terror episode (the one where Pierce Brosnan acts as the voice for the super-tech possessed house?) and the plot does not have the creativity of Boone’s former novels.
The novel does have its creepy moments, especially in the modern times we live in with technologies like “Alexa” almost the norm in homes everywhere, and the premise will definitely creep you out. There is the occasional gore and act of violence, which is expected from Boone, and periods of downright fright. Overall, though, “The Mansion” is probably more science fiction than horror, but it definitely deserves a read all the same.
I recommend going into this one without expectations, and not to draw comparisons with Boone’s other novels. With that mindset, “The Mansion” will be a technological creeper that will haunt you and leave you pondering- how much power can our technology have, before we lose control of our own lives completely?

The premise is about a futuristic smart house or well “mansion” controlled by an AI named Nellie with lots and lots of flashbacks. It was just an “okay” read for me. The beginning of it was a little slow and repetitive which almost made me put the book down as it dragged on. A part in the beginning explains Billy, wanting to punch Shawn, over and over that I was almost considering not finishing because I was so annoyed at the repetition, like we get it, he wants to hit him. However, it did pick up about half way through with some good action and a love triangle. I did feel this was a bit long at 400+ pages and could have been cut down as most of the book was filler and only a bit was actually about the AI itself. I feel like the author really didn’t know what he wanted out of the book and just included everything instead. It wasn’t scary, there was no real “horror” moments and was just too slow of a read for me. I was a little disappointed and didn’t connect to any of the characters really. Although, this is my first novel by the Author, I will be open to reading another from him as I heard his other series are really good.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC and allowing me to give my honest opinion.

If the Overlook Hotel had an Alexa, you’d have The Mansion.

The upcoming novel, The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone is the story of Billy Stafford and Shawn Eagle, two computer programmers who created a game changing operating system called Eagle Logic. While they were developing the program they lived in a tiny abandoned shack on the property of the crumbling Eagle Mansion, a property belonging to Shawn’s family that was popular with bootleggers and revelers during prohibition. After a few years of living and working together, Billy gets the girl (Shawn’s girlfriend Alice), but Shawn gets the program and years later is the most famous man in the world while Billy is a recovering alcoholic barely making ends meet.

Shawn decides that the next product his company is going to release is one he and Billy had worked on together, a program called Nellie, a super Siri/Alexis that can control an entire house, not just give you directions or turn on your TV. Nellie is deployed during the massive restoration of Eagle Mansion, the dilapidated old hotel that they lived on the grounds of but the project to turn the mansion into a hotel and tech conference center, with a residence for Shawn, is plagued with accidents and deaths. It soon becomes clear that something isn’t right with Nellie so Shawn is forced to put aside their rivalry (and admit that he’s not as good a programmer as Billy) and bring Billy in to find the ghost in the machine.

When I read the summary of the book I was very excited to read it but a very promising premise dissolves into The Shining lite: old hotel isolated in a snowy setting? Check. Recovering substance abuser caretaker? Check. Creepy twins, kids with some sort of psychic ability? Check and check. This book comes in at over 400 pages and while I enjoyed Boone’s writing style, the story itself takes a very long time to get going. The first 50-60% is full of character development (unfortunately you won’t care about these characters) and doesn’t focus on the haunted house aspect of the story which is what I was looking forward to as a fan of thrillers and horror. When the story does shift to Nellie and what is the cause of all the incidents at Eagle Mansion the plots disintegrates into a love triangle, waving goodbye to any element of horror or suspense that the author was building at the beginning of the book. Skip this book and ask Siri or Alexa to recommend another.

Young programmers Shawn Eagle and Billy Stafford have created something that could make them rich: a revolutionary computer they name Eagle Logic.

Once tension sets in between the guys, Shawn’s girlfriend, Emily, has left him for Billy, and a third partner has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. While Billy walks away with Emily, Shawn takes Eagle Logic, which he uses to build a multi-billion-dollar company.
Years later, Billy is a failure, beset by poverty and addiction, and Shawn is the most famous man in the world. Unable to let the past be forgotten, Shawn decides to resurrect his and Billy’s biggest failure: a next-generation computer program named Nellie that can control a house’s every function. He decides to set it up in the abandoned mansion they worked near all those years ago. But something about Nellie isn’t right—and the reconstruction of the mansion is plagued by accidental deaths. Shawn is forced to bring Billy back, despite their longstanding mutual hatred, to discover and destroy the evil that lurks in the source code.

This is definitely a unique story, unlike anything I've ever read. I liked the spooky feel that you get when you read about this mansion and what it's capable of doing. To me this felt like a modern day horror story similar to Stephen King's The Shinning.

#NetGalley
Pub Date 04 Dec 2018

Oh boy.... I was pretty disappointed to say the least, it’s rare when I hate read a book and if it wasn’t because I requested it for review, I would simply not have finished it.

The novel was so slow, the love triangle felt forced and by the end of it all I just didn’t care about any of the characters.

The only cool one there was Nellie and if this was a book just about her maybe it wouldn’t have been that bad.

To put it simply: The novel felt as flat as this review and that’s saying something.

**Arc kindly provided by Netgalley**

Congratulations Mr. Boone on your non-arachnoid breakout story!!!!!

I don't trust tech now but after the "big scary house that could" I will never trust it!!!

A good flow, good characters and some UNIQUENESS!!!!!!!!

Ezekiel Boone's "The Mansion" is creepy and suspenseful and bound to make you think (at least for a minute) about whether that new Alexa- or Siri-enabled device you bought was a good idea. The book, set mostly in upstate New York with some scenes in Baltimore and Seattle, has a little bit of the vibe of "The Shining" meets Arthur C. Clarke's HAL 9000. Years ago, two tech bros fought over a girl and a fledgling company. One got the girl, and one got the billions. Who really was the winner? When they reconnect later in life, it's initially hard to say. A new project brings the men back together, unearthing old secrets and setting the scene for a showdown.

Ezekiel Boone is a pen name used by Alexi Zentner, a faculty author at Binghamton University.

This book is a cross between The Stand and 2001. I liked it but didn't feel a strong connection to any of the characters. It's well written and worth the effort of reading but not great. I'll definitely give this author another chance.

I read The Hatching series by this author, which I enjoyed, and after seeing the cover of this one - needed it immediately.  And AI books fascinate me.

After reading this, you may think twice about having a smart home.  The thought of a computer program becoming sentient and deciding independently to control the lives of its creators is freaky scary.  It made me think about how my Alexa speaks at random times - even when no one is in the room with her.  Nellie is dark and dangerous - and she really shines the last 20% of the book during some intense situations - but I wish she would have gotten more page time.  It's mentioned in the blurb that Shawn, Billy, and Emily had a love triangle back in college, but the drama surrounding that, and flashbacks from their respective pasts make up a larger portion of this story.

Not that the plot of The Mansion is anything like The Shining, but being a King fan, I noticed some parallels - a secluded mansion/resort in the middle of winter, an alcoholic sleeping very little and consumed with his work, a character named Wendy, and young creepy sisters - but these are twins with an unusual connection, not ghosts.  

I wouldn't classify this book as horror scary, but more disturbing and unnerving.  It's a long read at over 400 pages, and contains a good bit of repetition, but I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to both sci-fi and horror fans.  With this being an ARC, the word count may change before publication.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

So premise of this story as absolutely addicting! I was super excited to dive into this one... but unfortunately my diving was not worth my overall experience :(.

Ezekiel Boone delivers a story about a haunted house influenced heavily on to the technological side. Can I just say.. I'm never buying one of those google/Alexa devices after this though haha.

The story focuses on Billy who is tech giant combining Apple and Google.. always wanting to strive more. Billy and his ex partner Shawn ran a company together... and Shawn ended up walking away will billions of dollars. Billy on the other hand left with his girl and dived into alcohol. When Billy gets a call from Shawn offering him something he can't pass up about a new system called Nellie he dives in head first.

Let's just say.. Nellie isn't all what she seems to be. Boone took the elements of a haunted house and takes his readers for quite a ride. Let's just say... be careful with getting caught up with your inner demons.. this may effect your mind more than you think ;).

What I was disappointed in? I felt like the author focused so much on the characters in the beginning that the story of the haunted house and Nellie was left in the dust. "Nellie" didn't start picking up until the last 40 percent of the book. I was wanting more of the haunted house element and it was lacking big time for me. I felt it was a tad bit overkill with the storyline of the characters and we kept repeating the records of their mistakes and the past catching up to them.

The length was a tad bit too long for me and in my opinion could of taken at least a 100 pages of the characters out and added more of the house atmosphere/Nellie.

Overall, 3 stars for me on The Mansion.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Publication date: 12/4/18
Published to GR: 10/13/18

The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone subverted my expectations in mostly all good ways. I was expecting a straightforward "computerized-house-goes-wrong" story. While it was that, it also went much deeper by really giving us three-dimensional characters and an believable backstory.
First off, I really enjoyed Boone's writing style. It sucked me right in and kept me wrapped up like a comfy blanket. I enjoyed the time he spent developing the characters and the dynamics in this tragic love triangle. I believed them as real people with authentic dynamics between each other. I loved the world he created in the house: very much a high-tech Overlook Hotel vibe. The biggest thumbs-up I can give to this book is that I made time to read this book, i just didn't read it passively when i had a few minutes here and there as i often do. That doesn't always happen.
My only problem was with the structuring of the story. I felt we spent about 60% of the book in the set-up/exposition phase, 30% in the "at the house" phase, and 10% in the climax. That's not a good division. When the climax came, as exciting as it was, it felt unearned. I wanted more time in the house with things going wrong to build up the tension before the final craziness.
But, that being said, I will read more from this author as I enjoy his style, and overall enjoyed The Mansion. I just would like a little more time and energy spent on the "Act II" section so the great climax gets set up appropriately.

This book was unique. I really wanted to like it, but it was just ok. I really didn’t find it horror at all. There was a lot of focus on a love triangle.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Unfortunately, this was a book I wanted to love, but I just couldn't get into it. I tried multiple times to come back to it, but it was difficult. There was so much description at the beginning, building the story, but it lost my interest, and as much as I tried, I couldn't get through it.