Three Cold Hours

I normally do not like short stories, so I am not sure why this ended up on my reading shelf. However, I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for my copy, because I really liked this! There were three different stories - mostly ghost stories. They were more suspenseful than horror. All three stories had the same dark tone, but were pretty different. Once I started each one, I had to keep reading until I finished it. I really enjoyed this collection.

Looking for a quick supernatural thriller? This is it (times 3)!

As stated on the cover, this book contains 3 standalone supernatural thrillers. They are short stories which can individually be read within a 1 to 2 hour setting. While I am not normally a fan of “fantasy/mystical” novels, I felt the author did a very good job mixing in the supernatural elements with realistic characters throughout. This added to the believability factor for me.
The three stories:

- "Poison in the Pond" follows the life of Karen Malcom, a hostage survivor. Her abductor desires her forgiveness, she is trying to move on, but she can’t shake the nightmares that continue to follow her.

- "The Unheard" centers around spirits seeking revenge on the living. This was my absolute favorite of the three stories. It was packed full of suspense, secrets, and drama. In addition, the characters’ pasts and presents were well developed. My only critique is that this story contained many typos, which was surprising given that it's been published at least three times.

- "Strange Legacy" has a sell your soul to the devil type premise. Sometimes even successful people are not what they seem and have buried secrets. When these secrets resurface, future generations are impacted.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for a copy of this novel. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed a book in a genre outside of my normal tastes. Kudos to the author for pulling me into the stories.

If I had to sum up Three Cold Hours in one word it would definitely be "creepy".

The book includes three supernatural thrillers.

The first was POISON IN THE POND. This was a great read and I flew through it. A real page turner. It follows Karen Malcolm who is the victim of a kidnapping at the start of the book. She gets together with her Doctor and his daughter and tries to build a new life. However they are living in fear of Cain coming back to get her again and so they move to a new house. This is where her supernatural nightmare really begins. A great read all the way through. Didn't want it to end.

The second was THE UNHEARD. Another great read. Jenny Abercrombie returns to a small town where her and her family used to go every summer when her and her sister were growing up. As she photographs the town she notices strange shadows on the photos and feels watched. The guy she had a crush on growing up is still in town and then her sister decides to join them. The supernatural element really picks up pace then as we discover what really happens all those years ago. Jenny is stuck between ghosts who want revenge and her sister. The ending of this story was awesome. Major chills!

The last of the three was STRANGE LEGACY. This one was OK. Very different from the other two and definitely the one I liked least. Elijah Brooks discovers something sinister is behind the disappearance of stagehands at his Wild West recreation show: a strange legacy that has been in his family for generations. It wasn't bad but felt like a bit of a let down after how good the previous two stories had been.

Three superb supernatural thrillers in one book. What more can a booklover ask for?

Poison in the Pond is the story of Karen, a hostage survivor. She is trying to come to terms with her situation when her captor reaches out and asks for forgiveness. But how can Karen shake off the nightmares?

The Unheard (which is my favorite) is about ghosts. Do you believe in them? And can they come back?

Strange Legacy talks about the lengths to which someone can go to fulfill their dreams.

I love short stories and this is one of my favorite ones.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I usually do not read short stories, however I was really entertained by these 3 short stories. I was engaged during all of the stories due to the author maintaining the suspense throughout. I would definitely recommend for someone who enjoys supernatural thrillers.

Brilliant book
Great read , took me longer then planned to read with work but I loved
Great character writing , flow and story line
Highly recommended