Lacey and Eric Miszlak have had to deal with plenty of fast changes in their lives but now they're getting ready to have a baby and are searching for their dream home. After looking all over the place, they cannot seem to find anything that suits either one of them. Then, as their realtor is heading in the direction of yet another house for them to see, Lacey sees a dusty rose colored colonial cottage that captures her heart. Yes, it is definitely a handy-man special and with her being pregnant, they had agreed that a fixer-upper wouldn't be feasible, but Lacey doesn't care. This is the house for her and she already has visions of her family happily celebrating holidays and living life in this very house.

The owner of the house lives next door to it and is excited to offer them a price that they cannot refuse. It doesn't even matter to Lacey and Eric that people have died violently in this very house on more than one occasion. So they settle in and begin preparing it for many years of happiness.

Something is very wrong in this house, though. There's a weird and hateful presence that only Lacey sees and feels. Then therem's the little boy named Drew who is jealous and troubled. Lacey feels drawn to him because he seems to be so damaged. She wants to help him so she plays games with him and bakes cookies for him. Suddenly, she realizes that Drew has a pretty short fuse. As long as Drew is happy, things are fine. But when Drew is angry or upset, bad things tend to happen.

As Lacey starts to investigate the history of her new house, both she and her baby are put in danger from forces that no one else sees. Even Eric is withdrawing from her, leaving her to battle these forces on her own. She is determined to find out what is going on so that she can save her baby and herself.

STARTER HOUSE is quite a compelling book. Once you get started reading it, there's no stopping. I simply had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. While it is not the scariest book I've ever read, it certainly has a strong creep factor to the plot. Actually, as I read STARTER HOUSE, I could easily envision it as a movie. In fact, the movie would probably be much scarier than the book.

Ms. Condit does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful novel that you cannot look away from even though, at times, you may want to do just that. I cannot say that the characters were completely likeable but, as a reader, I was allowed to get to know them pretty well. I did feel that Lacey should have had more help and attention from Eric but considering the rest of the circumstances, I could see what was going wrong there.

It was necessary to tell many stories in order to tell Lacey and Eric's and this was done in a clean, seamless fashion. I never got lost or confused once. STARTER HOUSE is a standalone success and anyone that loves a great ghost story with several unique twists should definitely grab a copy immediately.