Reviews

The Dead Pennies by Robert Ford

mariyavd's review

2.0

First I want to give thanks to Netgalley and Cemetery dance publications for providing me copy of this book!
The first part was nothing special. Abby starting a new life, getting back in touch with an old friend. That was it basically. The second part gave me a real hope, that the book will be actually good. We learn the story of the "dead pennies", we follow some of what happened in the facility and the life there. But then the third part really mad me upset. Bare in mind that in the whole book there are few noises and couple of strange things happening in the apartment, nothing much. And then we start with a scene of an action movie-guns, fights ect. Then we go to psycho-stalker mode. And then there are ghost! Why? Are they helping her? Are they after everyone? I don't know! And then all is done. Cut the scene!!! And all the snickering throughout the book... there was a lot of snickering! If you got until here thank you for reading my rant!

adrihean's review

4.0

 

“The Dead Pennies,” by Robert Ford 

 

The beginning was pretty slow, but it got good after a few chapters in. I liked the characters, they felt real, some parts of their interaction were a bit cringe though. I wish the book was edited a little more because there were some story fails, like characters having same last name but not related and characters that were brought up and then quickly forgotten. There was a bunch of jumps scare type horror and abusive people type of horror. The ending was unexpected, and I didn’t see it exactly happening quite that way. 4 out of 5 stars. 

 

Thank you for the free copy, Netgalley. 

hauntedvictoria24's review

5.0

I want to begin by saying I love how creepy the cover is and how intriguing the cover is. The story is great too! There are a good amount of creepy moments and it's unique. I think the story moves at a good pace. Special Thank You to Robert Ford, Cemetery Dance Productions, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

ivyinthepages's review

4.0

Rating: 4.08 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 3.75/5
-Cover: 5/5
-Story: 3.75/5
-Writing: 4/5
Genre: Horror, Paranormal
-Horror: 3/5
-Paranormal: 5/5
Type: Ebook
Worth?: Meh
TW:

Spoiler

Rape of a child, child abuse, suicide

Hated|Disliked|Meh|It Was Okay|Liked|Loved|Favorited

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

This was a pretty darn good horror book, had my stomach turning. The story itself wasn't too bad. From start to finish there was a clear run through and it was basically an easy read, pretty quick. The problems I had was the

Spoiler

rape of Hayden

I mean I had them everywhere else but the other one made more sense in the story. Also was a bit ticked that

Spoiler

Hayden wasn't end game and he turned out to be crazy.

karlakayjenniges's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

"That's the first and last black eye I ever get because of a man."

Abby has had enough of living in a rough relationship. She makes the decision to leave and head to her mothers house to start a new beginning for herself. But things change on her way there when she reconnects with a longtime friend. Knowing that she really does not want to stay with her mother, she decides to take an offer from her friend to live in a new loft that has been recently renovated. This decision begins a series of events that affect her life and those that also become involved. As the darkness surrounds her, she searches for the reasons behind all the mysterious occurrences. As the unusual noises, dark shadows, and perplexing events continue to disturb, Abby and others' lives are hanging in the balance between life and death. 

This book is written in three parts, with the first part introducing us to all the characters and the build to what is to come about in all of their lives. Part two brings us back to the past and reveals to us the reasoning behind the disturbing hauntings. Part three intertwines all the parts together, revealing hidden secrets, and the rage of the vengeful souls.

Creepy and haunting, we are not only given a disturbing and heartbreaking story from the past, but we are given a story that involves abuse in different forms. It haunts the mind and the soul. It lingers and the memories are never forgotten. It's not the person that does not let go of the past, it's the past that does not let go of the person. 
"You feel it in these places, feel the sadness, the grief, a sense of mourning, but sometimes, you feel the anger, too. Enough bad things happen in the same spot, and the shadows begin to gather, and sometimes the pain, that...rage, starts up some sort of engine, makes the place itself come alive."

An engaging and haunting story. Robert Ford's writing craft shines through with some wonderful prose and a few plot twists that add elements of surprise and suspense. 

A ghost story that may just haunt your dreams, chill your mind, and give you those spine tingling chills!

marycandle's review

3.0

This book was different from others I've read in that it focused on a facility for sick or "discarded" children. It's not a subject I've come across, but I feel like somewhere out there, these types of situations actually happen..
It was interesting to read about Abby's journey and how she made it through a tough time in her life. The sorrow that Cora Jean felt because of her part in the story jumped out of the book and made me feel quite the same. While I enjoyed the book, it took quite a while to get to the Dead Pennies. I'd have enjoyed a bit more details about this part of the story.

misslisag's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

on_your_raedar's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A summary, there are three books in this novel, 2 that follow Abby and the other one follows Cora Jean. We are watching as Abby leaves an abusive ex and ends up moving to a town with her friend Hayden after being told that she will have a luxury apartment for free while work on the units are stalled. She immediately encounters a creepy guy and weird things start to happen. You move through this book trying to figure out the reason behind the weird things happening.

This was a hard one to rate, I finished it yesterday and had to sleep on it. The writing, very engaging, the story concept, intriguing, and the predictability... high. 

The predictability and the friends-to-lover subplot are truly the only reasons that this book didn't make it into my 4-star tier. Its slow to start but once you hit the 30%ish, things pick up and its hard to put down. There is no denying that the author has talent, I will be picking up another of his novels, but that talent comes with a little downfall because he did really well laying breadcrumbs that made it easier to expect what to happen. With that being said, I don't think that is a bad thing at all, that is always the hope when reading, but I was anticipating this really big twist at the end, thanks to reading some spoiler-free reviews, and it didn't land as a twist because of those breadcrumbs. I'm more surprised that so many others found it to be shocking.

Before getting into that though, this book felt like it had HEAVY Conjuring influence. If that's not you're vibe, maybe stay away from this one. Between the spirits, hauntings/ death, and religious influence in this book, it really was a copy-paste, change a few things, and keep pushing moment. For me, this was fine, I'm a horror movie fan and have seen and enjoyed the entire Conjuring universe to varying extents. Just be mindful going in. As with basically all horror things, check the trigger warning before going in. 

Okay, back to the big twist, which I'd say has two parts and though I'd agreed that I didn't fully guess it, it did not shock me. 

Part 1: There is enough build-up between Abby and Hayden to make a fair amount of educated guesses.

The romance started with Hayden telling Abby that he was the one who kissed her when she was blindfolded (WTF) and let her believe it was someone else all this time. The fact that she found that "romantic" or appealing in any way is actually wild and a solid example of her not being emotionally ready for another relationship. I mean, it's been a week since she escaped her abusive ex. 

With that being said, Hayden is a low-key psycho and is obsessed with Abby to the extent of creating this fake life with her completely tracks.

I'd 100% argue that this romance subplot was incredibly unnecessary IMO.

Part 2: Beyond the romance thing,

Hayden being a casual murderer was an interesting way to go about things.  I completely get it, obsession makes you do wild things but man, killing the uncle?! Sorrows prayers.

Overall, a really good read if you need something to round out your spooky/ fall season. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Ableism

spindancefye's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5
Scary: 3/5

Themes: Horror

The Dead Pennies is about a girl who is running from an abusive relationship and offers to stay at an old school that is being coverted to appartments for a friend. But she was never told the truth of the buildings haunting history. I am not going to lie, I got a few nightmares from this book. Normally these types of books don’t scare me but there was a trope that always freaks me out that crawled its way in. It did take a while to push through the begginging stuff but once I hit the halfway mark things really started happening. The ending took a turn I didn’t see coming but it made sense in the end. I noticed there were other books by this author and they are on KU so I will be reading those.

I received an arc an am leaving an honest review.

crazyforbooksandcoffee's review

5.0

After leaving an abusive relationship, Abby visits her friend Hayden on her way to her mother’s in Florida. Hayden’s Uncle Jack is renovating a building into high-end apartments in town, and Abby becomes the caretaker with the entire building all to herself. Abby soon realises all is not as quiet and peaceful in this building and begins a search to find out about the buildings past, which leads her down a dark path that will put her life in danger.

This book gave me the creeps ! This book was so well written, and while some of the story was a little predictable in places, some twists I did not see coming ! This is my first Robert Ford, and I am now off to find all his back list books. 

I would suggest looking at trigger warnings if you have any, as there are a few in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Cemetery Dance Publications, and Robert Ford for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.