"The Crack of Evil" is a rather unoriginal book but with pretty okay writing. It was a little haunting by numbers and predictable but the characterizations were good. I just wished it was a little more unpredictable.

The crack of evil by Taylor Macneil.
A brilliant read. Full of twist. Really creepy. Eerie. Loved Brandy Derek Cindy and Danny. Very cleverly written. 5*.

Overall rating... 1 out of 5 stars. 

I didn't really know what to think of this book, I thought for a very long time about what rating to give this book, as I felt like I was one of the very few people who didn't enjoy it. 

So, I did enjoy the various angles that this book took, playing on the fears of each of our characters. The fears were common but I feel this played to the author's strength as it allowed her to delve deep into them and genuinely frighten people with her writing. 

I will also say that the twists and turns of the story make you want to keep reading, it's like a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. 

But that's where my enjoyment ends. 

I felt that the book didn't really offer much in the way of a storyline, we weren't introduced to the 4 key characters at the start of the book they were just whacking out an ouija board within the first 3 pages... This fast-paced tone did not let up for the entire book.

I read the whole book and was still confused at the end as to what the actual story was, there didn't seem to be a clear direction. 

Then the writing itself, some of the book I felt was really well written, it had so much depth to it, you felt like you were experiencing these "nightmares" alongside our characters. But, other points I felt like the dialogue was being written by a child. 

My main issue with this book is the borrowed ideas that are so thinly veiled they might as well just quote the films or books or legends...

For instance, they were dying in their dreams (A Nightmare on Elm Street), then we had Bloody Mary (literally a legend) and the walls of their apartment were bleeding (howdy Amityville Horror). Or, we had the plague (which actually happened) and radiation poisoning following a nuclear fallout (one of the biggest fears of our current world). 

It felt like the author didn't really try to make these any different or put their own spin on things, it was lifted straight from something else and straight into this book. 

I really did not think this book had a storyline, used original ideas or even tried to put their own spin on borrowed ideas and it really showed. Whilst I enjoyed the twists and turns and the playing on genuine fears at various points throughout the book I did find it poorly written. 

I feel like I'm in the minority of disliking this book, but I can't help it!

Brandy and Cindy have rented an apartment with Derek and Ben. Brandy and Cindy have discover that their apartment is haunted. Ben doesn’t believe it. Derek doesn’t until he experiences the ghost. The four of them decide to have a party where they will use an Ouija board and find out is bothering them. At first the party is just a party but then it becomes a haunted party that becomes so much more. When they try to leave the door won’t open. The landlord is called to come and fix the door. The landlord tells them he will when he gets to it. Why? As they and their guests experience “adventures” one after the other, the guys try to break the door don but it won’t open. Why? As they lose some guests lives, they worry that they will be next. Will they survive? Will they get out of the apartment? Why are the ghosts so mean?

The novel s full of action and horrible experiences. The ghosts want to scare them. I could not believe that they survived as it seemed so real. Trying to stop reading this story was impossible for me. I found myself wondering what their next experience they were going to experience and if they survived it. When the novel ended, it left me wanting to know what the next book will have Brandy and Derek plus Ben and Cindy will move to Paris or? This is a must read for those who like horror.