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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Flint House a great read! Apr 30, 2007
By J. Lunsford
If you like ghost stories -- and even if you don't -- Flint House is a delightful read. The writing is taut and descriptive, there are surprises around every corner, and the characters are captivating. Set in matchless Asheville, North Carolina, it blends historical fiction with a spine-chilling plot that touches on psychics, voodoo, and an opulent mansion with more than its share of secrets. I couldn't put it down, and was so caught up in the story one night that I had to quell my goosebumps by turning on all the lights in the house. It's enthralling, it's intelligent, and I heartily recommend it as a riveting take-along next time you're lounging under the beach umbrella.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Almost Spooky Oct 20, 2009
By Chelle Belle
I loved the premise of this book - scary old house in the lonely mountains, ancient voodoo curse. Perfect for my vacation on a foggy beach in Northern California. I just wish it had been as good as I wanted it to be! While I did enjoy Flint House, I wish Nancetta Liles had spent a lot more time on the ghost story and less time on the day-to-day activities of her main character. We spend so much time getting to know new friends and having holiday get-togethers that we don't even get more than a glimpse of the ghost story until 2/3 of the way through the book. The houses' secret, when we finally get to it, is interesting (albeit a little complex) - I wanted to read that story! And the characters were likable, but the dialogue is one long game-plan, with every conversation consisting of: "I'll go do this while you do that, and we'll meet here and do this." Flint House had a lot of potential, but never quite turned into the story it could have been.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Jump Start my Heart May 25, 2007
By Doris W
"Doris"
Somehow I got lulled into thinking that this book was a gentle spook story set in one of my favorites places, Asheville, North Carolina. Plenty of local references and great descriptive imagery had me longing for a return to the comfort of the Smokies. Then BAM! Hauntings, voo-doo rituals, horrid flashbacks, tortured souls and my heart is racing out-of-control. I'm not going to reveal the story, but need to say that its a very well-written tale with unexpected twists and a reluctant, anti-heroine. My advice? Buy the book. If we're lucky, we may someday see it turned into a Hollywood blockbuster.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A story that will not let go. Dec 21, 2009
By Jeffrey B. Allen
My review of Flint House, Jeffrey B. Allen, Author of GoneAway Into the Land
I met Nancetta Liles at a book convention. She was kind enough to exchange books with me as I gave her my book, GoneAway Into the Land, and she gave me her book, Flint House. With everything that was going on in my life at the time, I didn't begin to read Flint House until I knew I could devote the time to be able to continue reading without long periods between sittings. I lose momentum with a story if that sort of interruption is forced upon me. All I can say is this; I wish I would have plowed right into it the minute I got home from the book convention. There would not have been any interruption. I would have ignored everything pulling at me just so I could stay with the story that engrossed me from the first page.
It was a strange feeling I had when I opened the book for the first time. In fact, I am getting that feeling right now as I write my review. There are sprits, ghosts, or souls in a state of limbo surrounding me. I feel slightly scared . . . but not too. I know it sounds bazaar, but, the truth is, that is how I felt when I looked at the front and back covers, and even more so as I began to read the pages between.
I started reading with a tepid fascination as I was being introduced to the main character, Rhian Montrose. She was a single woman. I imagined her relatively attractive yet steeped in her unwavering need to help others. Unfortunately, she had gotten too emotionally involved with the running of a center for abused women. One day she found herself embroiled in a premeditated plot perpetrated by a disturbed woman who eventually was convicted of murdering her husband. Rhian Montrose stood up for the woman, believing her story of self defense. During the investigation, the woman was found-out to be lying and soon after accused of first degree murder. Rhian was chastised in the media, her reputation and credibility ruined. The incident not only heaped an understandable amount of stress and psychological trauma upon her but it caused a faltering of Rhian's confidence and an admonishing of her ability to continue her humanitarian work at the center. She foundered for a while until she was offered a job as care-giver for a catatonic woman living in a large home to the south. The offer was a chance to start a new life, and the job fit perfectly with her natural desire to nurture. She accepted the position, and soon moved to the mansion named Flint House. Upon arrival, she met the caretakers and the staff. We also were slowly introduced to the house along with its sordid history, and of course we met Gloria, the woman Rhian was charged to care for by the wealthy owners of Flint House. We became acutely aware of Gloria, the woman who stared into space devoid of emotion, incapable of even the slightest movement and in need of constant care. Her presence throughout the book drew suspicion that built up the suspense as much as the strange happenings that became more frequent as Rhian was being pulled further and further into the darkened life of the house and its mysterious past.
What amazed me about Nancetta Liles' writing was the peaceful flow of the story and the ease of conversation among the characters, even among some who were imagined or thought to be spirits. We were led into a story where it was absolutely imperative to keep reading, to find out what horror caused Gloria to descend deep inside herself, and what horrid history had melted into the walls of the house to make it such an unsettled place. There were times I felt like shouting at Rhian Montrose, telling her, in no uncertain terms, "Get the heck away from that house!" But at the same time, I wanted her to stay right where she was so I could find out more of what was unraveling among the restless souls. I wanted to discover what outrage would cause the angry spirits who co-inhabited the mansion with Rhian to remain trapped in a state of unresolved flux.
The writing is superb. The conversation is masterfully done, and the depiction of Rhian's visit to New Orleans and the much misunderstood and often commercialized and maligned rituals of the native religion to be found in that region were chilling yet appropriate for the story.
I was not surprised by the ending because the story never depends on shock value, although it is a ghost story. The plot wraps itself around you and moves you along to a logical conclusion that leaves you with a sense of closure, but also an ominous feeling that it is not over for Rhian - and it may be just the beginning for us. Look out of the corner of your eye at that shadow that appeared and then was instantly gone. Boo.
The only thing that did not have as much of an impact on me, which, by the short synopsis on the cover, should have been the historical significance of the brutality of slavery. I became more engrossed with the general malaise and horrors perpetrated on human beings. Therefore, I did not relate as much as may have been intended to the historical aspect of the plight of the victims whose fate eventually unravels making their anger absolutely justifiable.
Flint House is a wonderful story. Our time gone by is a commodity we will never regain. So, picking a book to read is important. You not only want to be swept into the story so your mind can be entertained, but you also want to be challenged, to analyze and to project and to feel what the characters in the story are feeling. When finished, you want your time to have been well spent. You want that experience to always be with you just as if it was a vacation or an event in your life that lives in your memory forever. I don't know about you, but I remember many of the books I have read. I remember them for a long time. As time passes, the essence of those stories stays with me. Flint House is just such a story. Read this one. It will be time well spent.
Gone Away Into The Land
Creepy in a Good Way Dec 04, 2011
By Marc Stephens
I read this book a couple years back in paperback. Really enjoyed it and then loaned it out to family and it made the rounds. I remember some lively discussions we had at Thanksgiving as we shared our thoughts. I'm not sure where my copy of Flint House ended up, but I couldn't get it back for a re-read.
But wait, there's more! I found and downloaded the Kindle version a couple days ago and I'm enjoying it all the more as I taste the words with memories of the juicy storyline unfolding in later chapters. There are interesting, scary, unexpected twists and turns.
What can I say but what a bargain at $2.99. You may be up all night for several nights because it is a very BIG book.
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