Horror Book Preview: I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong

 

A good book can be a good companion, but a horror book makes for an even better one, especially if it promises to give you nightmares. 

This week, let’s dive into Kelley Armstrong’s I’LL BE WAITING and find out if you should continue reading it or skip it.

I'LL BE WAITING Plot

The story is about Nicola Laughton, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. She has always been told that her time is limited because of her disease, but she manages to beat the odds and dream of a future when she meets Anton. 

Two years after Anton and her get married, they get into a car accident where Nicola is the only survivor. Right before he passes away, Anton tells her, “I’ll be waiting for you.” 

The moment is caught by the bystanders and publicized to the point that Nicola receives several requests from spiritualists claiming to help her reach out to Anton. 

Nicola decides to find closure once and for all, and she and her family and friends agree to hold a seance at Anton’s family’s beach house. Having found a reputable medium, Nicola and her friends barely begin when mysterious events occur. 

Nicola has a past that she has tried to hide. Her real name isn’t Nicola, and this isn’t the first time she has tried to contact the dead. 

Soon enough, she finds the first body. 

MY TAKE ON THE EXCERPT

Anton and Nicola are driving through a snowstorm and discussing taking a trip. Nicola has reservations regarding her condition and we find out that she has cystic fibrosis and was told that she wouldn’t make it past twenty. Since she was young, she was told she would not have a career or ever get married, but Nicola has persisted and graduated with a Master's in Software Engineering, and married Anton. She is now thirty-eight, and her inner monologue suggests that she is still in so much love with her husband. 

As soon as the stage is set, the characters get into the first turning point of the story: the accident. For some reason, Anton’s airbags did not deploy. Nicola is pulled out, and she can hear the bystanders calling for an ambulance. 

As he is dying, Anton tells Nicola that he purposely looked up her company to reconnect with her after being in school together. He then tells her that he would not be going to any of the trips that they were discussing, but that wherever he would go, he would be waiting for her. 

Seven months later, Nicola has befriended a woman she met at grief counselling, Shania. Together, they go see a medium called Leilani. After a lot of smoke and show, Nicola thinks someone has called out to her, a man’s voice. However, the man has called her Janica and asked her to be careful. 

That is how we learn that our narrator, Nicola, is actually Janica. If she is not telling us, the readers, her real name, then what else is she hiding? And can we really rely on her?

Anyway, Leilani turns out to be a fraud, and Shania demands their money back. 

Later, Nicola finds Jin and Libby waiting for her, not at all pleased to find that she has visited yet another medium. Quick introductions are made. Nicola has a brother called Keith, who was married to Libby. He decided to accept himself for who he was, separated from her, and married Jin. 

Now Nicola is friends with Keith’s ex and current husband. Needless to say, they all decide to indulge in one last seance to contact Anton so that Nicola can have her closure. She decides to involve her brother Keith as well. 

He is reluctant initially, but gives in. At the end of the excerpt, Nicola is ready to travel to the beach house. 

The story is gripping from the start, and the author manages to create likable characters. The pacing is great, but based on the reviews, it tends to drop in the middle, and many readers have mentioned that the ending does not exactly meld with the rest of the story. 

Regardless, this seems like the story I would definitely want to keep exploring. 

Read or Skip?

I was immediately intrigued from the very first page. The writing is fluid and compelling, and characters are introduced seamlessly rather than being thrust into the story out of nowhere. I do love a good ghost story, and this seems like a pretty decent one. The mystery elements, with Nicola’s name being Janica, are intriguing. Why would Nicola find the need to change her name? What happened in her past? 

These questions will continue to circle my mind until I find out exactly what happens. 

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