Kelley Armstrong is an expert at creating horror stories: monstrous creatures, lots of violence, and often gore. In THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW, she showcases her ability to write a gripping story with a combination of strong main characters and a setting so clearly described that it almost becomes a character of its own. This desolate beach and forest on the edge of Lake Ontario are slightly reminiscent of her horror novel, HEMLOCK ISLAND, because of the lakeside setting. However, in this book, Samantha Payne stays out of the water.

Samantha --- Sam to friends and family --- spent summers at the family compound on the shore of Lake Ontario where her family has owned hundreds of pristine acres for centuries. But her childhood was forever marred and scarred by a horrific event. When she was 13, a kid from town was murdered. She saw her father burying the body, and her mother took her to the sheriff. Before he could be arrested and charged with the teen's murder, he killed himself and left a suicide note. Sam was ostracized by others because her father was a child murderer.

Sam and her mother were shunned by her father's family. There was one week when Sam stayed with her grandfather, and he tried valiantly to convince her that her father couldn't have killed a child. But Sam knows what she saw. And while her mother wasn't really emotionally available, she was the only family Sam had left, except for her father's sister, Gail, with whom she remained close.

"[T]he action and the thrills accelerate as the story progresses, and you just might be up late into the wee hours of the morning to finish the book, as I was. Armstrong's devious mind and brilliant writing provide the reward for such diligence."

Now Sam's mother is suffering from dementia, which runs in her family. Sam has sacrificed going to medical school so that the tuition money could be used for her mother's posh private facility. Sam has gone without meals, worked long hours, and scrimped and saved to help her mother.

When her grandfather dies, Sam is convinced that she's not getting anything. Even though he had plenty of money, her father's brother and sister are sure to inherit. And his anger at Sam for not recanting what she saw makes it certain that she's not in the will. That's why she's surprised and angry that she must be at the reading of the will. She reluctantly attends with her aunt and is shocked to learn that he left her the entire lakefront property, worth $10 million.

But, of course, there's a stipulation. Sam must stay at the cottage on her family’s property for a month in order to receive the inheritance. And it's all been carefully planned by her grandfather before his death. He makes it clear that he hopes her being there will force her to remember what really happened.

When Sam arrives at the property with Gail, she meets the caretaker, Ben. Ben’s brother happens to be Austin, the child who was killed. Ben fits her with an ankle bracelet, per the terms of the will, to ensure she doesn't leave the property for more than one hour a day. Sam is shocked to see that everything is just as it was when they hurriedly left after the murder/suicide.

Sam and Gail spend a few days together at the cottage, reading and exploring but always minding the old family rule to never go into the forest or the lake at night. The "story" was that the lake had a strong undertow that could be extremely dangerous, but when it’s placid and calm, it seems silly to worry about the danger. Then Sam finds a dead rabbit outside the cottage, carefully dissected with the limbs and head arranged to maximize shock and horror. The corpse of a fox follows.

This is a horror novel, so strange noises, weird lights under the water, and dissected animals appear on the porch of the cottage. Then Gail disappears after she and Sam argue one afternoon. Sam, Ben and the sheriff, Craig Smits, look for Gail. She's nowhere to be found, even though her car and her clothing are still at the cottage. And mysteriously, her phone signal shows that it’s somewhere it couldn't possibly be.

Sam begins to doubt her sanity when other bizarre things happen. Is it all just her imagination? The eerie hoofbeats of a horse late at night? The underwater lights? Shapes in the lake that shouldn't be there, crawling onto the shore? When the sheriff's daughter, Josie, who works for her father, helps investigate, the three find very old documents that might help them understand what is going on.

As with any fabulous horror story, we struggle to understand if the odd occurrences are natural or supernatural. Are the events being staged by her father's family, angry that they were not left the property? Would they actually kidnap Gail to scare Sam into leaving and forfeiting her inheritance?

Because we really like Sam and want to see her not only survive but inherit and finally get to live the life she deserves, we keep reading. Be forewarned: the action and the thrills accelerate as the story progresses, and you just might be up late into the wee hours of the morning to finish the book, as I was. Armstrong's devious mind and brilliant writing provide the reward for such diligence.

The ending is perfect. Granted, getting there is also heartbreaking, but THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW is deliciously devilish. What is actually spine-chilling is to consider if the specters in the novel are more gruesome and evil than some of the human characters.