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Cherie Priest

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The Agony House Kindle Edition

by Cherie Priest (Author), Tara O'Connor (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 68 ratings

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A New Orleans haunted house, a killer ghost, and a long-lost comic book come to life in this blend of mystery and comics by the author of I Am Princess X.

Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and stepdad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family’s money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.

Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn’t seem to weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it’s clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.

Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the abandoned attic: the lost final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn’t budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery—on the pages and off them—if she and her family are to survive . . .

Open this book and dare to enter The Agony House, another spectacular mix of novel and comics form Cherie Priest.

Praise for The Agony House

“Priest pairs with O’Connor to neatly weave together the history of comic books and contemporary concerns about gentrification into an eerie ghost story set in a ramshackle house that’s as much a character as the people living in it . . . At its heart, though, this is a ghost story, and Priest excels at building palpable atmosphere . . . Dynamic characters and a surprising mystery round out this sharp, satisfying, and engrossingly spooky story.” —Booklist, starred review

“Priest ably weaves contemporary issues and a feminist strand into this fantasy . . . A wonderfully melodramatic climax . . . Conflicts, ectoplasmic and otherwise, laid to rest in a deliciously creepy setting.” —Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Review

* "Priest pairs with O'Connor to neatly weave together the history of comic books and contemporary concerns about gentrification into an eerie ghost story set in a ramshackle house that's as much a character as the people living in it.... Priest does a great job of skillfully including the important conversations Denise and her family have with their new community. At its heart, though, this is a ghost story, and Priest excels at building palpable atmosphere: Denise's parents' anxiety about their shoestring budget, the sweltering New Orleans summer heat, the disrepair of the house ("soggy plaster fell from the studs like wet cake"), and the increasingly terrifying haunting. Dynamic characters and a surprising mystery round out this sharp, satisfying, and engrossingly spooky story." -- Booklist, starred review

"Priest ably weaves contemporary issues and a feminist strand into this fantasy as, while briskly fending off ghostly visitations and searching out clues to the house's violent past, Denise makes new friends and encounters pushback from some St. Roch neighbors rightfully leery of white gentrifiers. Highlighted by a wonderfully melodramatic climax, the author brings her plotlines to upbeat resolutions with a thrilling discovery, a revelation about the comic's author, and a degree of general community acceptance of Denise and her family. Nearly every character's race, white or black, is carefully but unobtrusively specified. O'Connor inserts multiple pages from the comic and atmospheric stand-alone illustrations all printed in haint blue. Conflicts, ectoplasmic and otherwise, laid to rest in a deliciously creepy setting." -- Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Tara O'Connor is a comic maker and illustrator currently residing in the New Jersey wilderness. When she's not drawing or teaching comics, she's probably working on an illustration of some sort. She is the author of Roots and The Altered History of Willow Sparks. You can find more of Tara's art online at www.taraocomics.com.
Cherie Priest is the author of I Am Princess X, her debut young adult novel which earned three starred reviews and was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She is also the author of more than a dozen adult science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels, including Boneshaker, which won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. She lives in Seattle, Washington and can be found online at www.cheriepriest.com and @cmpriest.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B078TMQ6PN
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arthur A. Levine Books; Illustrated edition (September 25, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 25, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 110945 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 306 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,011,381 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #429 in Teen & Young Adult Ghost Stories
- #951 in Children's Detectives Books
- #1,234 in Children's Scary Stories

Customer Reviews:
4.4 68 ratings

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You can learn everything you want to know about Cherie Priest via her website, http://www.cheriepriest.com - thanks so much!

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4.4 out of 5

68 global ratings

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Berni

Skip Nancy Drew and read this instead!

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2021

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If you ever loved Nancy Drew (the books, not the terrible CW TV version) or Scooby-Doo, you should check out The Agony House. Denise's folks, her mom and step-dad, have moved her back to New Orleans right before her senior year of high school. That's always painful. She had solid friends in Houston and was sure of a full scholarship to a university there.

Now she's in NOLA in a horribly run down Victorian which her parents are fixing up to turn it into a bed and breakfast. There is a lot of work to be done - it's been empty and neglected for some time and Hurricane Katrina didn't help it. It looked like the previous owner had started to fix it up and then left it abandoned.

Not everyone has what it takes to live in a haunted house. Everyone starts having accidents. Mike, the step-dad falls through the porch - stuff like that, scary and expensive both. Here's where I have to say growing up as a traditional Catholic gives me an edge on such matters. As soon as I realized it was haunted, I would have gone to the diocesan office to find out where the local exorcist was located and engage his services. (St. Pope John Paul II had asked all dioceses to have an exorcist. I know who the one for my diocese is.) But they're not Catholic so they don't go that route.

Denise and Terry, the neighborhood ghost enthusiast, try to figure out who is doing the haunting and why. They find in the attic an old comic, lovingly wrapped in plastic, which seems to provide some clues. After all, there is a sketch of Denise's house in it, a sketch of when the house was in its prime.

This is targeted at teens. As a much older reader, I quickly figured out what was going on with the haunting, but I sure enjoyed the trip Priest took us on getting there. This is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes a good ghost story, mystery, or both.

One person found this helpful

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MeMom

this was a gift

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

My 12 year old granddaughter requested this book. She told me it is a good story.

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Jett

Read this book in the dark of night

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

Cherie Priest hits it out of the paranormal park again. With quiet sort of creepiness that end in you finishing the book in wee hours, she hooks with strong believable characters and a seemingly normal situation. Come for the BOO factor, but stay for the great storytelling.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Did not terrify me, for which I'm grateful.

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2023

Okay, so I bought this book in error, thinking it was a different book by Ms. Priest. And then I spent weeks not recognizing the cover and assuming it was something else entirely. And then it turned out to be a haunted house story and I don't do well with horror; and I have complete faith in Ms. Priest's ability to scare my socks off. But it is YA and so was mild enough for this faint hearted person while producing enough of a frisson of fright to let me know what kind of book this was. I enjoyed the characters, the premise, and the setting. I loved the comic book tie in. The descriptions of the dilapidated house and the heat made me feel the grime and the sweat. Good book, would recommend.

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2020

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THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING.
From page one, I got hooked. Amazing pictures, great storyline, amazing ending. Package came in GREAT condition, no scratches, PERFECT. One of my favorite books

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Amazon Customer

Written by Cherie Priest! Enough said...

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

I loved the characters and the awkward situation Ms Priest put the main family in. This house project was sort of do-or-die, but everyone kept their heads up and dealt with ...haunting, ghosts, comic book?!? Great fun and action throughout!

2 people found this helpful

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Paige G.

a cute mystery

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2018

Disclaimer: I received this book through KidLitExchange and the publishing company. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: September 25, 2018

Genre: MG Mystery

Recommended Age: 12+ (mystery, some spooky moments)

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 272

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn't seem too weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it's clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the attic: the lost, final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn't budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery-on the pages and off-if she and her family are to survive...

Review: For the most part this book was cute and enjoyable. The book had a good mystery in it and the characters are fairly well developed. The story is engaging as well and it would be a cute mystery for younger readers.

However, I didn’t like how the book brought up the topic of white people coming in to “white up” the neighborhood but didn’t go anywhere with it. It seemed like the book could have done better on some of the more social conscious issues but it failed to push those. Instead the book pushed random/unimportant aspects to the point where I felt that it was just trying to fill the book.

Verdict: A cute mystery.

Helpful

DebbieP

Great book for adults too.

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed this book. Great quarantine reading! Totally absorbed in it. Thanks.