Reviewed by Dan

TITLE:  Killing Time at the Lingerroot Inn

AUTHOR:     John C. Dupré

PUBLISHER:     Self-Published

LENGTH:     236 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 17, 2016

BLURB:

When a car accident in the New England woods forces Eric Williams to take shelter at the foreboding Lingerroot Inn, he worries his business trip is a bust. But the moment he crosses the hotel’s threshold, his job becomes the least of his troubles.

The Lingerroot Inn is impossible.

And if it weren’t for the repeated attempts on his life and his compounding injuries, Eric would have sworn he died in that crash and had moved on to some fantasy world. But real or not, Eric needs to figure out what’s going on there. And fast.

For it’s not only his budding romance with the hunky bartender—and his own life—that are danger, but everyone else trapped at the Lingerroot Inn as well.

REVIEW:

What the heck am I reading? Who are these characters?  What is this place I’m reading about? All questions that ran through my mind from a large portion of this book. It was intriguing. I thought I might know where it was going. Turns out I was at least partially correct.

Killing Time at the Lingerroot Inn caught my eye on Amazon because of a combination of the blurb and the author’s bio. Since he had a lot in common with me as a fellow New Englander, I decided to give him a try. I’m glad I did..but let’s talk about the book. It was strange. I mean that in a good way, but it definitely won’t be for everyone who reads this review.

Eric Williams is a business man doing something with software…I think. I wasn’t really clear on his job, and it really had nothing to do with the story, other than the parts that talked about the total a-hole boss who he worked for. Eric is on a business trip in Massachusetts, preparing to do a presentation to some clients the next day, when he is forced to make a detour onto a side road when the main road is closed.

Before Eric knows what is happening, he has been in an accident with his rental car. After climbing out through one of the back doors, he starts to walk away and lightning hits the tree that his car piled into, splitting the tree and dropping a huge section onto the rental car. So now Eric is left standing in the middle of a torrential downpour, with his carry-on luggage and nowhere to go. He saw a hotel briefly as he drove by and decides to go back.

Pause. (So, I have to say it…I was definitely picturing Frank N. Furter’s castle and waiting for the motorcycles to go by him in the rain. That didn’t happen, but I never did stop thinking of the Lingerroot as looking like Frankie’s castle.) Un-pause. (Ok, totally off content comment out of the way.)

Our MC, Eric goes back to the hotel, and getting chased to the door by some slavering hounds is the least of the weird things that he finds.  Here are some examples. Everyone in reception is a little weirded out that Eric doesn’t have a reservation. Then there is the hot bartender, who remarks on how “warm” Eric is. There is a little girl at the pool who acts more like a felon. There is a live tiger running around the hotel, and what is up with the nurse who keeps throwing herself at Eric…even though he told her he’s gay?

I liked this book. It was definitely strange, but kept me enthralled. I had to keep reading to find out what was really up, and how it would all play out. I’d recommend it for anyone who likes something a little outside the norm. It is not one of those standard format romance novels. Is there a love interest? Yes. Are there six pack abs? Yes, but only after part of Eric’s body fat syphons off to become a little monster. Like I said…very different.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon