I found the author, Evelyn Chartres, through the AllAuthor.com site. The book that caught my attention of hers is called The Van Helsing Paradox. I'm a huge "Van Helsing" fan and am always looking for places where mentions of these monster hunters can be found. So, this title grabbed my attention immediately.
Once I found Miss Chartres' Amazon page, I found she's written not 1, but 4 books and at the moment, they are all free. In my brain, that means, "Download Immediately. Do not pass this up, you need them all". So I did. What caused me to read The Grand first is beyond even my comprehension, but I found it intriguing.
The Grand is the story of an opulent hotel built into the side of a mountain, overlooking a small podunk town in the valley. The residence and guests of The Grand are, shall we say, beyond the scope of your normal person. No, these individuals are supernatural.
I have to admit that I had a hard time finishing this book as I was very confused at times. The Grand is a compilation of several smaller stories packed in as a complete novel. It's a killer idea, but because it's so back and forth, I had a hard time keeping up. The chapters jump around from one era to another, causing the reader to wonder if they'd missed something. Some of the stories are set in the 1920s while others are set some 20 years later. Though they're all individual stories, they all tie in together. However, you've really got to be paying attention from one chapter to another.
Now, with that said, I will also say that the story as a whole is actually very good. Once I got the gist of the book, I very much enjoyed it. There were still a few questions I felt were unanswered at the end of the book, but it was done well enough that I'd be more than willing to read Part 2.
I did enjoy the way Miss Chartres portrayed her characters, even if a few of them are extremely vague. There are a few key characters that help tie everything together, but it gets confusing quickly. It's a lot like putting together a puzzle in order to hear the story.
On a whole, I'd give The Grand by Evelyn Chartres a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was hard to get into, but once I started to understand it, I couldn't put it down.
I will be reading The Van Helsing Paradox next. It was the reason I found Miss Chartres' page in the first place. It's about a young "otherworldly" hunter named Clara Grey. I'm kind of excited about this book, more now than I was before. Miss Clara Grey takes a peek inside The Grand, so she and I have met.
I do recommend that you go check in at The Grand. Just beware. There are a lot more twists and turns than expected.
***As of the time of this writing, all four of Evelyn Chartres' books are free to download to your Amazon Kindle. This may change in the future.***
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This post contains affiliate links. However, all opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. I was not asked to write a review, nor did I receive any compensation for any type of review. I downloaded this book free of charge from Amazon.com.
© Christine Graves 2020
