Michaels, Barbara Books

Wait for What Will Come

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Gothic mystery! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

American teacher Carla Tregellas is the last remaining heir to a huge mansion on the cliffs of Cornwall. When she arrives she is confronted by an elderly housekeeper who tells her the tale of one of her ancestors disappearing on a stormy night, apparently taken by a mysterious merman. Carla is the practical type who is not dissuaded by old legends and decides to stay the summer. She becomes entwined with the housekeepers grandson, the local vicar, a young doctor, the lawyer handling the estate, and a myriad of other interesting characters. Carla notices that they all seem very intent on her leaving and she stubbornly refuses to give in. Meanwhile she has dreams and some real horrors in the house. In spite of all that she falls in love with the old estate and plans to stay. That's when the real fireworks start. This was an excellent mystery keeps you guessing until the amazing conclusion. Great fun to read.

Editorial Review:

The last of an ancient Cornish clan, Carla Tregellas has inherited her historic ancestral home: a massive mansion looming high up on the jagged cliffs of Cornwall. From the moment Carla takes possession of the grand manor she feels right at home, warmly welcomed by everyone—except the strange and secretive housekeeper, Mrs. Pendennis, who warns the new owner of the tragic, inevitable fate that will surely befall her if she does not depart at once. But Carla cannot leave, for the unseen bonds of a dark family curse are beginning to tighten . . . and a demon lover waits.

Into the Darkness

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Gem of a mystery 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Barbara Michaels pens two kinds of thrillers -- lackluster and dull with unsympathetic characters, and sparkling, vivid and populated by "real" people. This, thankfully, is one of the latter, a delightfully twisted mystery that sparkles as much as any of the gems.

Meg Venturi becomes the heiress to a jewelry fortune when her grandfather unexpectedly dies; among the conditions of her grandfather's will are that she must take over half of the ownership of his respected gem and jewelry store. The other half is the domain of his partner, a dark, silent, mysterious man named Riley, whom the townspeople suspect of having killed the elder Venturi. Meg is unsure about Riley, but she does know that he is brilliant with jewelry.

But then strange, sinister happenings begin to occur around Meg. As she tries to unravel the dark mysteries that destroyed her grandfather before his time, she becomes the target of a killer with a mission that stems back to a scandal many years before...

"Into the Darkness" has many of the best attributes of a Barbara Michaels novel: the witty dialogue, subtle characterizations, strong heroine, unusual romance, and a wide range of supporting characters who are never what they seem. Readers who enjoyed lessons on roses, maze gardens, and old Gothic novels will enjoy the informative lessons on jewelry and gems. As she always does in her best books, Michaels includes plenty of information that will stick in the mind without being annoying.

Meg Venturi is a standard Michaels heroine: tough, no-nonsence, mildly sarcastic with a bit of trauma in her background to add extra dimension. Riley is more of a dark horse: it's hard to tell what he's thinking or why, from his first scene onward. Supporting characters like the despicable wimp Candy, her boor husband, the seemingly fragile Mrs. Venturi and hearty Uncle George are all well-rounded from the start, but with hidden depths that are revealed as the book goes on. Even the grandfather is a very alive figure, despite the fact that he dies at the beginning of the novel.

This is more of an "Elizabeth Peters" mystery than a Barbara Michaels one, as there is virtually no supernatural influence, no cults or ghosts or werewolves or anything of the sort. But it is an excellent mystery for those of you who like a little sexy pizzazz, past scandal, and a lesson or two with your guilty pleasure.

Editorial Review:

Meg Venturi never expected the windfall she inherits when her grandfather dies. For some unknown reason the eccentric old millionaire has left her his profitable antique jewelry business. But there is a catch. Meg must share the business with an aloof, mysterious, and somewhat sinister young man called A. L. Riley. The town is whispering about her enigmatic new partner. Rumors spread about unspoken secrets, a dark and disturbing legacy . . . and murder. Soon a series of troubling events has Meg looking uncomfortably over her shoulder. The longer she stays in this tiny New England village the clearer two very troubling truths become: that all that glitters is definitely not gold . . . and that someone will stop at nothing to drive her away.

Ammie, Come Home

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Just because everyone else likes it, doesn't mean I will... 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I picked this up one day and thought it would be a good ghost story, especially since so many people seem to praise this author's writing.

But...I was wrong.

Filled with annoying characters that I did not like, a storyline that could be seen coming a mile away, and not a single frightening moment, despite the fact that this is a ghost story, my excitement over finding a scary book, for once, died pretty fast.

First of all, when the characters' dialogue actually began, I thought it was a joke. No one, in their right mind, would ever talk like that; as if they're the smartest person in the entire world. I actually gagged.

Adding on to their annoying habits in conversation were their extremely annoying characterizations. Half the time I was wondering how I was supposed to make myself care about any of them. My thoughts at the time were, well, I hope the ghost gets them.

And that brings me to another point: the ghosts were not scary, or even interesting. This was very disappointing, considering that I had at least hoped some frightening moments could save the story, or that the characters would...die...horribly...because...I hated them.

It may sound like I started reading intent on hating this book, but I didn't. I was looking forward to something new, but instead got, well, this.

Editorial Review:

It begins as a lark -- a harmless diversion initiated by Washington, D.C., hostess Ruth Bennett as a means of entertaining her visiting niece, Sara. But the séance conducted in Ruth's elegant Georgetown home calls something back; something unwelcome ... and palpably evil. Suddenly Sara is speaking in a voice not her own, transformed into a miserable, whimpering creature so unlike her normal, sensible self. No tricks or talismans will dispel the malevolence that now plagues the inhabitants of this haunted place -- until a dark history of treachery, lust, and violence is exposed. But the cost might well be the sanity and the lives of the living.

The Master of Blacktower

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

All in all, I Love this Book 4 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I know that Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters) has written much better books since. But I was young and impressionable when I read it and it stood miles above the average paperback gothic of the period.

The beginning is similar to that of Crocodile on the Sandbank, the book that later began her Amelia Peabody Emerson series. Her scholarly father dead, the heroine is setting out to make her own way in the world. However Master of Blacktower runs a more traditional course with a scarred employer whose reputation is not of the best, a remote Medieval pile in Scotland, not to mention, a missing (dead?) wife, sinister retainers and a mentally disturbed child (what happened to all of those traumatized children when they grew up?). However Michaels' irrepressible humor shines through at times. The predictable plot takes some nice twists and turns. The climax in a dangerous snowy landscape is nicely done.

All in all-- not to be sneezed at.

Editorial Review:

Meeting the sinister and disfigured Gavin Hamilton, Demaris Gordon is horrified when she realizes that she has no choice but to accept employment from him despite her fears about the accidents that have plagued members of his family. Reprint.

The Sea King's Daughter

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good story, but dated 3 out of 5 stars.
16 of 20 people found this review helpful.

An accomplished diver who lives happily with her mother and stepfather in Florida, Sandy is startled by the appearance of her biological father. Frederick is a crack-pot archaeologist who having lost his professional footing with colleagues due to his Atlantis theories wishes to discover the 20th century equivalent to Schliemann's Troy. He convinces Sandy to lie to her parents, meet him on the Greek Isle of Thera and dive in the treacherous expanse of sea that houses a live volcano. For Sandy this beomes an experience of polarizing emotions---while the Minoan traces on the island speak to Sandy in a way she does not quite understand, the precarious position of Thera, between two tectonic plates, keeps her permanently unbalanced as does the flirtatious relationship that develops between her with Jim, a young archaelogist working for the competition and the father-daughter tie she feels despite the seemingly insensitive actions of her father.
Intermingled with the usual Barbara Michael's mix of historical data and romance, is the coincidental reunion of Frederick, Sir Christopher (another archaeologist), a mysterious woman with an equally mysterious name---Kore, and an ex German officer who shot Frederick and Sir Christopher's companion on Crete during the German occupation in WWII.
Although the modern sensibilites alloyed to the island's ancient past makes for a climate fraught with electricity, I felt that Sandy's overtly feminist opinions adversely dated what could have been a more timeless narrative. Instead of everywoman, Sandy epitomizes the 70s working woman, quick with a retort that ensures an immediate knee-jerk defense reaction.
Otherwise the novel was a good read about an interesting subject.

Editorial Review:

Sandy had been lured to the Greek island of Thera by a father she had never known, an archaeologist scorned for his obsession with Atlantis. Now, as the island's slumbering volcano came back to life, a terrifying power drew Sandy deep into the fathomless waters of her heritage, destiny and doom.

A Gothic Treasure Trove

Madeleine Brent, Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, Dorothy Eden, Jessica North

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

6 great gothic novels in one very attractive book 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.

very attractive shelf book/in navy blue and gold/includes all six great gothic novels: Moonraker's Bride by Madeline Brent, The Golden Unicorn by Phyllis A. Whitney, Kirkland Revels by Victoria Holt, Wings of the Falcon, Barbara Michaels, Lady of Mallow by Dorothy Eden and River Rising by Jessica North. This is a wonderful collection of the best. Don't buy individual when you can get this wonderful collection at such a great price.

Stitches in Time

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A somewhat dissappointing sequel 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is actually a sequel to "Shattered Silk," one of my most favorite books by Barbara Michaels. It's set in the POV of a completely new character; a young woman working on her masters degree. The reason I'm dissappointed is that Shattered Silk had to do with a woman overcoming a horrible marriage that completely ruined her self-esteem and then ending up with a new satisfying business while solving a decades old murder case and reuniting with the love of her life. In comparison Stiches in Time ended up being a lame sequel. Michaels uses too many supernatural themes in her later works, and this one is a prime example. The main character in this book, who gets a job in Cheryl and Kara's vintage clothes shop did so because she had a crush on Cheryl's husband. Then a possessed quilt comes along and takes her over and she along with the rest of the crew have to figure out the origins of the quilt and try and save her. It has a happy ending like all of Michael's works, but I struggled to finish it. If you haven't read it yet, read "Shattered Silk." If you like Michael's newer books with her supernatural themes, then read this one, you'll probably like it to.

Prince of Darkness

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A fun read (just ignore the cheesy title) 4 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I'm not too familiar with the gothic romance genre, which is pretty much looked down upon by snooty readers, but if they are all written like Barbara Michaels I'm all for them. This book worked for me. It is witty, well-paced, has a clever plot, and most importantly, is believable notwithstanding its batty premise of a modern-day witches' coven deep in Upper Middle-Class America. A reader looking for "horror" is bound to be disappointed, because Ms Michaels is not out to terrorise her readers or scare them silly. Which is fine with me, because I prefer stories which are moved by real human agents who face up to challenges and grasp their destinies, rather than tales popoulated by terrified pawns of the supernatural. An easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. Not too much stress on the little grey cells, but neither are we required to suspend our disbelief.

Editorial Review:

A stranger has come to Middleburg, Maryland, a visitor from abroad with a mysterious purpose. But this quaint, affluent community has dark secrets of its own. And when the interloper, Peter Stewart, becomes involved with the bewitching, seductive ward of noted local author Kate More, the townfolk fear the chilling past they are hiding will no longer be safe. For Middleburg has a colonial history of malevolent sorceries and obscene sacrifice. And when the terrible pot is stirred, murder may be the least of the evils to emerge from the unholy brew.

Sons of the Wolf

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not for Cynics 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This novel lacks the sophistication of many of Barbara Michaels' other works, but it offers a good read just the same. You have to get into the gothic spirit of the thing to enjoy it. Sure, it's silly and the wolves aren't that scary - and there are limited possibilities as to who the villain could turn out to be. But if you're a fan of that "windswept moor" kind of suspense novel, complete with carriages, heiresses, castles, and crumbling ruins by moonlight, then you will probably enjoy it. It's certainly not a bad specimen of the genre, and I found it fun to read. But if you're looking for a suspense novel like the author's Stitches in Time or Houses of Stone, you won't find it here. Sons of the Wolf just doesn't have that kind of intellectual breadth and it won't absorb you the same way.

Editorial Review:

Ada and Harriet don't know what to expect when they meet their new guardian, Mr. Wolfson. Here is a strangely magnetic, darkly amusing man confined to a wheelchair and flanked by a pair of fierce, dangerous dogs—an enigmatic benefactor, at once welcoming and intimidating. Even more unsettling to the girls are Wolfson's two sons, Julian and Francis. One of them is warm and good-natured, the other is pure malevolence. But young Harriet is about to discover a frightening truth: that evil runs rampant throughout their mysterious new home, Abbey Manor, and the surrounding moors—especially when the moon comes out . . .

House of Many Shadows

Barbara Michaels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

House of pain 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 9 people found this review helpful.

After reading some great books written by Michaels this is my second time being disappointed and I think I will require a lengthy break from her novels after this one. The book has some nice parts, that saves it form being a one star in my opinion, such as the descriptions of the house and the characters, I enjoyed reading about Meg and Andy's relationship, it was cozy to see two people spend so much time alone and try to solve the mystery of their cousin's haunted house in which they lived in, but come on, about eighty five percent of this book was them having conversations, it got so redundant that I was speed reading the last hundred pages to avoid growing gray hairs.

Barbara Michaels books fall in two categories, either some jealous person is trying to drive the main heroine crazy or there are real ghosts, this one falls into one of those categories as expected, and the mystery wasn't as interesting as I wish, too old fashioned and historical for my liking, it was hard to follow Meg's ideas about people who's lives she was trying to map out yet she never heard of them before. Meg used to have hallucinations and issues with her health, those strangely disappeared and what do you know, the moment she moved into Sylvia's house it became haunted, impeccable timing or easy way out for the writer to spin the lame ghost story?

I don't even know what else to say other than it wasn't scary at all, those who read it and shook with fear - are you for real? I am trying to recall one frightening moment, other than my eyes closing form boredom; it is frightfully boring - that I can attest to. I think this book needed more flesh and blood characters to make it interesting, it's hard to suspect anyone since there are only two people present in most of the chapters...

I would recommend other books by Michaels that are enjoyable but not this one. Few that I really liked are "Master of Blacktower", "The Walker in shadows", "Wait for what will come" and "Be buried in the rain". Those had some nice mix of characters and some light romance to make it interesting, evil old relatives and villains, and they were light on all the Civil War ghosts that Michaels loves to recycle, she seriously needs to stay far, far away from those...

- Kasia S.

Editorial Review:

Meg Rittenhouse fears she is losing her mind. The doctors tell her the strange and disturbing hallucinations she's been experiencing ever since her accident are all in her head, and that, with a little rest, the haunting visions will vanish. But accepting an invitation to stay with her cousin in the country may be the worst decision Meg has ever made. Here, in a remote old house miles from anywhere, the terrible sights and sounds have gotten even worse. Suddenly eerie black shapes dance in the shadows—mocking Meg, haunting her . . . threatening her. And the presence of kind, considerate Andy Brenner, the caretaker, both reassures her and terrifies her—because Andy also sees these dark specters . . .