What do you think?
Rate this book
Harrow House #2
Mischief
Horrormeister Douglas Clegg tones down the gore and ratchets up the suspense in his latest nightmarescape, Mischief. This time out, Clegg chooses a setting ripe with explosive potential: Harrow Academy, a private boy's school located inside in old, haunted mansion. Yet ghosts are only part of the problem in this tale of tragedy, psychological manipulation, and horror.
Young Jim Hook is spending his first year at Harrow Academy, a prestigious private school for boys located along the Hudson River in upstate New York. Jim's older brother, Stephen, also attended Harrow, though he never finished, having died in a tragic car accident along with Jim's father not long ago. On the eve of their deaths, Jim was visited by the ghost of his just-deceased brother, as well as something elsesomething that tried to come through from the other side but didn't quite make it.
Or did it?
Now that only he and his mother are left, Jim is determined to follow in his brother's overachieving footsteps and graduate from Harrow Academy. The honor code at Harrow is considered inviolable and transgressions are generally met with expulsion, so when Jim is caught cheating on an exam, his future at the school looks grim. A trial is set but before it happens, Jim is approached by a mysterious group of students who are all part of a secret cabal called the Cadaver Society. They want to induct Jim into the group, promising in return that he will not suffer for his violation of the honor code. At first, Jim is skeptical, but then things happen -- horrible things -- that suggest the group is very real and frighteningly powerful. The hazing process he endures at the hands of the Cadavers nearly pushes him over the edge. But there is something else at Harrow, something far more powerful and terrifying than this human cabal. It is something that needs Jim, wants Jim, and will do anything to get him.
With Mischief, Clegg proves himself a master of both psychological suspense and otherworldly horror, digging deep into the darkest corners of the mind and often letting subtle suggestion and clever inferences create the terror. This is intelligent, satisfying fiction -- a lively and unforgettable tale that manages to horrify and delight all at once.
Beth Amos
Beth Amos is the author of several novels, including Second Sight, Eyes of Night, and Cold White Fury.
359 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
April 28, 2019
This book was a thrill ride waiting to happen.
I would have enjoyed the story more if Clegg would have put more of a backstory to it. But I guess that happens with the other books in the series.
I would have enjoyed the story more if Clegg would have put more of a backstory to it. But I guess that happens with the other books in the series.
May 13, 2015
I feel like I wasted my time reading this. It had a teen feel to it. The writing was overly simplistic. The characters were thin. The dialogue was sketchy. To sum it up, it was unrealistic and unsatisfying. Not for me.
May 24, 2020
While part of a series, this can be read as a stand alone novel (I did). Harrow house has a dark history, as it was built to channel PSI ability. In the 1940s, it was turned into an elite prep school for boys, and our story takes place around 2000. The MC Jim Hook has just started his career at Harrow Academy as a sophomore; his father was an alum, and his brother was attending Harrow when he was killed along with his father in a car crash. Jim's mother is stretching things mighty thin for Jim to attend Harrow. Jim, however, only has a mind for his girlfriend. This leads him to not study so hard (or at all) for his western civ course and during a midterm, he cheats from the boy next desk over and gets caught. Cheating will get him expelled. Before the honor trial, Jim is approached by some mysterious fellow classmates (in the dark) and told all will be well if he performs some tests and initiation. Things go from bad to worse.
Clegg has a no nonsense style of writing and the pacing is very good. Yet, I never felt 'vested' in Jim Hook, and while a fun read, do not expect too much.
Clegg has a no nonsense style of writing and the pacing is very good. Yet, I never felt 'vested' in Jim Hook, and while a fun read, do not expect too much.
February 26, 2009
First published back in 2000, Douglas Clegg's novel `Mischief' is the first release within the `Harrow Academy' series of books.
Set within a private school for boys named `Harrow Academy', Clegg tells the tale of a young first grader named Jim Hook who finds himself becoming thrust into a secret and potentially dangerous society after being found cheating on a history test. The novel throws in supernatural twists and lays down thick slabs of suspense throughout, bringing about an enjoyable novel that is difficult to put down at any one point.
Clegg's writing style is very fluid, creating a novel that is easy for the reader to get lost within the pages, as they submerge themselves within the haunting walls of Harrow Academy.
From the very beginning of the novel, Clegg starts building the tension towards the eventual conclusion. Snippets of possible insight into the underlying supernatural element to the tale are thrown in throughout the novel. Only at the very end does the reader see the true meaning behind what is going on in Harrow Academy.
Alas, the conclusion seems somewhat thrown together, with almost a rushed and relatively vague outcome ending what is otherwise a very well written and highly enjoyable read.
`Mischief' was later followed on by the 2001 release of `The Infinite' and the in 2002, the final instalment in the `Harrow academy' series with `Nightmare House'.
Running for a total of 359 pages, `Mischief' is a easy read that could be enjoyed by both fans of the horror genre and fans of supernatural thrillers.
Set within a private school for boys named `Harrow Academy', Clegg tells the tale of a young first grader named Jim Hook who finds himself becoming thrust into a secret and potentially dangerous society after being found cheating on a history test. The novel throws in supernatural twists and lays down thick slabs of suspense throughout, bringing about an enjoyable novel that is difficult to put down at any one point.
Clegg's writing style is very fluid, creating a novel that is easy for the reader to get lost within the pages, as they submerge themselves within the haunting walls of Harrow Academy.
From the very beginning of the novel, Clegg starts building the tension towards the eventual conclusion. Snippets of possible insight into the underlying supernatural element to the tale are thrown in throughout the novel. Only at the very end does the reader see the true meaning behind what is going on in Harrow Academy.
Alas, the conclusion seems somewhat thrown together, with almost a rushed and relatively vague outcome ending what is otherwise a very well written and highly enjoyable read.
`Mischief' was later followed on by the 2001 release of `The Infinite' and the in 2002, the final instalment in the `Harrow academy' series with `Nightmare House'.
Running for a total of 359 pages, `Mischief' is a easy read that could be enjoyed by both fans of the horror genre and fans of supernatural thrillers.
June 29, 2018
This story is a nightmare—yes, a nightmare within a dream.
It’s a story of love and loss, of coming of age, and of a boy named Jim finding out who he is—which is frightening within itself. The haunting at the Harrow and its quiet, but deadly, mysteries can take, devour, and destroy many things including people. Although, as Jim will find out, the one thing it can never kill, no matter how many souls or how much evil lie in the deep recess of its walls, is love.
I am will to say, after reading this second book, that the Harrow Series is setting a place in my favorite book series. I love Douglas Clegg's writing.
It’s a story of love and loss, of coming of age, and of a boy named Jim finding out who he is—which is frightening within itself. The haunting at the Harrow and its quiet, but deadly, mysteries can take, devour, and destroy many things including people. Although, as Jim will find out, the one thing it can never kill, no matter how many souls or how much evil lie in the deep recess of its walls, is love.
I am will to say, after reading this second book, that the Harrow Series is setting a place in my favorite book series. I love Douglas Clegg's writing.
May 18, 2022
Interesting characters and okay story. Better than Nightmare House (The first in the Harrow series). Was hoping it would be creepier/scary.
I would probably read the next 2 Harrow books if they were on sale, but not for their current price of US$8++. I fear I would be again disappointed. I have other books in my library by Clegg, so I will read him again.
I would probably read the next 2 Harrow books if they were on sale, but not for their current price of US$8++. I fear I would be again disappointed. I have other books in my library by Clegg, so I will read him again.
July 28, 2013
Read a while back but recently came upon some related books in this genre/series by Douglas Clegg that led me back to this one. Actually this was the first book to refer to the Harrow House. Nightmare House (written in 2002) was actually the third book (chronologically speaking) on Harrow House but because it gives the backstory it's considered (by most) as the first. After reading Mischief, one can understand the reason for the latter. Still; all and all not a bad read. Recommend to those of the haunted house genre. I would most likely rate this a (3.5); had I the option.
May 2, 2018
Whilst I loved the first novel in this series, the second didn't quite live up to the first's appeal. The house has this strange pull for me, I just want to keep reading.
In this novel, Jim Hook is the MC. He's a teenager who's recently lost both his father and older brother in a mysterious car accident. He's already showing signs of some type of paranormal experience - seeing his brother come into his room and speak to him moments after his death. Jim hears a scratching at the attic door and something is attempting to get in.
Jump forward a few years, when Jim finally receives a scholarship to attend the prestigious Harrow school which his father and brother both attended. While at school, he's having difficulties and gets caught cheating. This leads to an honour trial, but before that happens he is approached by a secret organisation within the school.
This is where things get weird. I won't spoil the storyline and tell you exactly what happens the night of the fire - but this is also why I've only given this novel in the series three stars. I was left with so many questions when I turned the last page. I wanted to know more. This is the only point of the story which really let me down. On to the next!
In this novel, Jim Hook is the MC. He's a teenager who's recently lost both his father and older brother in a mysterious car accident. He's already showing signs of some type of paranormal experience - seeing his brother come into his room and speak to him moments after his death. Jim hears a scratching at the attic door and something is attempting to get in.
Jump forward a few years, when Jim finally receives a scholarship to attend the prestigious Harrow school which his father and brother both attended. While at school, he's having difficulties and gets caught cheating. This leads to an honour trial, but before that happens he is approached by a secret organisation within the school.
This is where things get weird. I won't spoil the storyline and tell you exactly what happens the night of the fire - but this is also why I've only given this novel in the series three stars. I was left with so many questions when I turned the last page. I wanted to know more. This is the only point of the story which really let me down. On to the next!
January 15, 2021
The ongoing story of harrow house is fun to read. The setting is beautifully realized and in this novel, the new incarnation of the house as an elite boys private school is compelling. My main complaint is specific to meand milage may vary: Clegg tends to narrate in a way that reflects the characters. Thats why for example, a little boy who hit his head has, as spoken by an omniscient narrator, an owie. Even though he's responsible for some great modern gothic prose, this tendency can be stilted and tough to get through. In Mischief, the characters are primarily unlikable, privileged boys so not only do we read their inane dialogue, the subsequent narration takes on that same feel. A hungover teenage boy might say that his mouth tastes like rat dung, but when an omniscient narrator says it, he may as well have just said his mouth tasted bad because I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who has no frame of reference for that analogy. That being said, Douglas Clegg certainly can write an interesting, evolving, pulpy haunted house story. I'm up for reading more of the Harrow house novels.
August 2, 2020
Hazing Can Be Hell
The second book in the Harrow series is quite different from the first, though it deals with the same old place. Harrow has gone dormant, repairs and renovation has brought it into the modern era as a preppie boys school. At least, it's been dormant until it's not.
I enjoyed the change of pace in this story from the more gothic feel of the first book. The characters are well-developed enough that I was brought back to the impotent rage of my own school-aged conflicts. Fortunately, my school wasn't as powerfully-charged with occult potential as Harrow.
Each book in the Harrow series is stand-alone, but you may have a fuller understanding (and more horror at the hellishness) if you read them in order. Douglas Clegg has also written two prequel novellas for this excellent series.
The second book in the Harrow series is quite different from the first, though it deals with the same old place. Harrow has gone dormant, repairs and renovation has brought it into the modern era as a preppie boys school. At least, it's been dormant until it's not.
I enjoyed the change of pace in this story from the more gothic feel of the first book. The characters are well-developed enough that I was brought back to the impotent rage of my own school-aged conflicts. Fortunately, my school wasn't as powerfully-charged with occult potential as Harrow.
Each book in the Harrow series is stand-alone, but you may have a fuller understanding (and more horror at the hellishness) if you read them in order. Douglas Clegg has also written two prequel novellas for this excellent series.
May 27, 2022
Ridiculously undeveloped and underwhelming.
I admit the first 3/4 of this book is actually decent and actually pretty readable…despite a very YA writing style…but the last 25% of this book goes completely off the rails…and not in a good way.
The plot is disjointed and never once really comes together. The characters are all paper thin and unoriginal cookie cutter archetypes that never once do anything memorable. Things happen with no explanation and the ending is just there with hardly any buildup.
I know there are 3 other novels in this series but based on what Clegg wrote with Mischief, I have zero desire to read them. And if this book is anything to go by, now I’m worried that my first Clegg will be my last…
I admit the first 3/4 of this book is actually decent and actually pretty readable…despite a very YA writing style…but the last 25% of this book goes completely off the rails…and not in a good way.
The plot is disjointed and never once really comes together. The characters are all paper thin and unoriginal cookie cutter archetypes that never once do anything memorable. Things happen with no explanation and the ending is just there with hardly any buildup.
I know there are 3 other novels in this series but based on what Clegg wrote with Mischief, I have zero desire to read them. And if this book is anything to go by, now I’m worried that my first Clegg will be my last…
June 1, 2024
Clegg, Douglas - Mischief
Periodically, the author places references to the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale. The analogy is tenuous, however.
Jim Hook attends the same prep school as his older brother and their father, both deceased.
Family fortunes are slim, so he struggles to roll with the richer boys.
The decaying school has a whispered history, but that is never developed.
There is a secretive clan, which is so much runny eggs.
Our author name drops Alistair Crowley and Gilles de Rais for no real purpose, unless he had read somewhere that those guys were cool!
My opinion – just that – is that Clegg wrote with one beady eye toward a Hollywood pitch.
The dead teenager genre. If so, there ain’t enough meals.
Periodically, the author places references to the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale. The analogy is tenuous, however.
Jim Hook attends the same prep school as his older brother and their father, both deceased.
Family fortunes are slim, so he struggles to roll with the richer boys.
The decaying school has a whispered history, but that is never developed.
There is a secretive clan, which is so much runny eggs.
Our author name drops Alistair Crowley and Gilles de Rais for no real purpose, unless he had read somewhere that those guys were cool!
My opinion – just that – is that Clegg wrote with one beady eye toward a Hollywood pitch.
The dead teenager genre. If so, there ain’t enough meals.
May 30, 2018
The books are good and can be a stand alone book. The first three were good but there were alot of spelling errors that really stood out. I'm not usually picky about that but there were some really noticeable. The last book (#4) was bad. The others were scarry but the last one was sickning. Lots of blood and gore.
March 26, 2019
Nope
I was disappointed. It was advertised like it was like
Dead Poet Society. Horrible. Scattered plots that never really add up. So made I paid for it.
I was disappointed. It was advertised like it was like
Dead Poet Society. Horrible. Scattered plots that never really add up. So made I paid for it.
June 16, 2019
I love great stories centered around spooky shenanigans in a big old house. Great gothic horror story with his Harrow House series!
June 5, 2020
Cheap, tame horror novel more weaksauce in atmosphere and gore than half of the YA horror novels I've read.
August 16, 2020
not sure i get this book. weird, really weird. not scary or suspenseful, just weird.
November 22, 2020
Usually when I read a series with this plodding of a entry I abandon the whole deal but the first book was so good I’m pressing on hoping this is a rare misfire.
July 21, 2021
Unacceptable 😭😭😭 Why must you do this Mr. CLEGG?????
January 7, 2022
Disappointing
July 20, 2023
It was ok. Unusual and mildly spooky, but it felt uncooked.
February 26, 2011
Douglas Clegg is another writer who (like Jack Ketchum) has managed to go under my radar over the past couple of years. Recently, however, his presence seems to be felt everywhere I look: social networking sites, web-presences that deal exclusively in the realm of dark fiction, and of course having his titles pop out with ever-increasing dexterity in bookshops and bargain bins displayed out the front. And (like Ketchum), seems to be one of those writers who is still sculpting a stellar reputation, releasing a novel every year with timely precision and garnering high words of praise from the giants in the industry.
Apparently Mischief is the first of a trilogy of books in the Harrow Academy series, which also features a previous e-serial prequel Nightmare House, and the entire thing does read like something you must have insider knowledge of. I must admit my ignorance in regard to this was frustrating; there were too many mysteries that lacked revelation – too many character reactions that were perplexing. However, it must be said there are other fans of Clegg’s work who will know the Harrow legacy involved in Mischief … and it seems to be written with these readers in mind.
Jim Hook is on a scholarship at Harrow, a prestigious prep school located in the Hudson Valley of New York. Years before his older brother Stephen and father perished in a car accident, and the wounds are still raw. Not only was Stephen the epitome of a perfect brother everybody looked up to, he was also a catalyst for shaping Jim’s philosophy and might have secreted a small supernatural pledge into Jim’s life in the aftermath of his death. We follow Jim as he adapts to the all boys school and are introduced to the people around him: Lark, his beau from a nearby all Girls school; popular Trey Fricker, his best friend. Underlying everything is an almost invisible threat, never clearly articulated. It seems that when his brother Stephen died, Jim unwittingly became the channel that would enable something malign to enter the world, and when Jim gets caught for cheating he is inadvertently thrust into the realm of the Cadaver Society, a secret fraternity who has been pulling the strings at Harrow for a long time. Facing the threat of expulsion and upcoming initiation rights, he becomes haunted by ghosts of the living and dead.
A favorable thing for me was the prose; Cleggs style is simplistic and easily accessible with shades of Laymon. But there are many puzzling aspects here that seem like signposts with no clear direction: plot-strands involving Harrow’s principal that is curtailed before it even begins – the mystery of his father and brothers death with allusions that the official story involved a conspiracy. As a reader, I felt as if I had been handed a pile of jigsaw pieces, none of which seemed to belong to the same portrait. Clegg puts a lot of effort into making the climax creepy – but for me the aim was much too lofty, and ultimately confusion ensues in the aftermath of it all. That’s not to say other readers won’t find things to like, and I can see it appealing to those who like their horror with a smattering of the juvenile.
As a novice to Clegg’s work, I just think I have stumbled upon the wrong book to get the juggernaut rolling. But he has piqued my curiosity, and I have the novels You Come When I Call You and The Halloween Man with reviews to follow.
Apparently Mischief is the first of a trilogy of books in the Harrow Academy series, which also features a previous e-serial prequel Nightmare House, and the entire thing does read like something you must have insider knowledge of. I must admit my ignorance in regard to this was frustrating; there were too many mysteries that lacked revelation – too many character reactions that were perplexing. However, it must be said there are other fans of Clegg’s work who will know the Harrow legacy involved in Mischief … and it seems to be written with these readers in mind.
Jim Hook is on a scholarship at Harrow, a prestigious prep school located in the Hudson Valley of New York. Years before his older brother Stephen and father perished in a car accident, and the wounds are still raw. Not only was Stephen the epitome of a perfect brother everybody looked up to, he was also a catalyst for shaping Jim’s philosophy and might have secreted a small supernatural pledge into Jim’s life in the aftermath of his death. We follow Jim as he adapts to the all boys school and are introduced to the people around him: Lark, his beau from a nearby all Girls school; popular Trey Fricker, his best friend. Underlying everything is an almost invisible threat, never clearly articulated. It seems that when his brother Stephen died, Jim unwittingly became the channel that would enable something malign to enter the world, and when Jim gets caught for cheating he is inadvertently thrust into the realm of the Cadaver Society, a secret fraternity who has been pulling the strings at Harrow for a long time. Facing the threat of expulsion and upcoming initiation rights, he becomes haunted by ghosts of the living and dead.
A favorable thing for me was the prose; Cleggs style is simplistic and easily accessible with shades of Laymon. But there are many puzzling aspects here that seem like signposts with no clear direction: plot-strands involving Harrow’s principal that is curtailed before it even begins – the mystery of his father and brothers death with allusions that the official story involved a conspiracy. As a reader, I felt as if I had been handed a pile of jigsaw pieces, none of which seemed to belong to the same portrait. Clegg puts a lot of effort into making the climax creepy – but for me the aim was much too lofty, and ultimately confusion ensues in the aftermath of it all. That’s not to say other readers won’t find things to like, and I can see it appealing to those who like their horror with a smattering of the juvenile.
As a novice to Clegg’s work, I just think I have stumbled upon the wrong book to get the juggernaut rolling. But he has piqued my curiosity, and I have the novels You Come When I Call You and The Halloween Man with reviews to follow.
August 26, 2010
This review will be a lot shorter than my others, and my apologies to the author should he be reading this. It’s no reflection on the book, more my own personal life, as having just moved house I haven’t really had access to the computer and definitely no access to the internet.
It’s been about two weeks since I finished Mischief, by Douglas Clegg.
Jim Hook is a fifteen year old boy from a suddenly poor family, out of place in the prestigious all-boys Harrow Academy (yes! It’s Harrow!). His father and older brother both attended Harrow before they both died in a car crash. Jim is determined to carry on the legacy and do his family proud by graduating, but his simple want becomes threatened when he is caught cheating on a test. His actions allow a secret school society, The Cadavers, to step forward and offer their services to keep Jim at Harrow, but at what price?
This is definitely not Hogwarts.
Mischief is my third trip to Harrow, following the novella The Necromancer and novel The Infinite. Clegg keeps churning out these Harrow novels, and in each the house is described and the past events (which obviously add with each book) are discussed/researched by the characters. Cheeky bugger must have a quarter of the book before he starts on the current plot! Far from being frustrating, it’s nice to get back into the feel of Harrow, and allows each book to stand alone, so are welcome to new readers of Clegg.
Mischief took me a little by surprise. The heavy haunted house elements are almost missed completely (try The Infinite f you want a more haunted Harrow experience), in fact, I would barely call this a horror, nor a traditional ghost story. Sure, there’s a few spooks in there, but at its heart is a mystery novel based solely on the extremely likeable protag of Jim Hook. In Jim, we have a young man at the most awkward time of his life, lost and with no real direction despite the formal surroundings. The real ghosts are the ones from his past, and with the Cadaver Society dredging them up, he needs to solve the mysteries of his own life before he can solve what is going on at Harrow.
I think that the horror element could have been turned up. The one real villain of the piece was a great idea, but sadly, used too little too late. The society themselves might have been a little too mysterious to instill any real fear, and their torments always felt like mere…mischief.
The book was a very fast read and I barely felt it going in. Easily a two or three sitter if you have the time. It says a lot about Clegg’s voice. The man has such an easy-going style that you can simply slip in and chalk up the page count. The story glides like a lubed eel.
There’s enough here for the mystery/thriller reader, but horror and gore fans may be hankering for something a bit redder afterwards. Hats off to the author for avoiding the haunted house theme again and trying a new angle with his brilliant setting of Harrow.
Book me a room. I shall be returning…
It’s been about two weeks since I finished Mischief, by Douglas Clegg.
Jim Hook is a fifteen year old boy from a suddenly poor family, out of place in the prestigious all-boys Harrow Academy (yes! It’s Harrow!). His father and older brother both attended Harrow before they both died in a car crash. Jim is determined to carry on the legacy and do his family proud by graduating, but his simple want becomes threatened when he is caught cheating on a test. His actions allow a secret school society, The Cadavers, to step forward and offer their services to keep Jim at Harrow, but at what price?
This is definitely not Hogwarts.
Mischief is my third trip to Harrow, following the novella The Necromancer and novel The Infinite. Clegg keeps churning out these Harrow novels, and in each the house is described and the past events (which obviously add with each book) are discussed/researched by the characters. Cheeky bugger must have a quarter of the book before he starts on the current plot! Far from being frustrating, it’s nice to get back into the feel of Harrow, and allows each book to stand alone, so are welcome to new readers of Clegg.
Mischief took me a little by surprise. The heavy haunted house elements are almost missed completely (try The Infinite f you want a more haunted Harrow experience), in fact, I would barely call this a horror, nor a traditional ghost story. Sure, there’s a few spooks in there, but at its heart is a mystery novel based solely on the extremely likeable protag of Jim Hook. In Jim, we have a young man at the most awkward time of his life, lost and with no real direction despite the formal surroundings. The real ghosts are the ones from his past, and with the Cadaver Society dredging them up, he needs to solve the mysteries of his own life before he can solve what is going on at Harrow.
I think that the horror element could have been turned up. The one real villain of the piece was a great idea, but sadly, used too little too late. The society themselves might have been a little too mysterious to instill any real fear, and their torments always felt like mere…mischief.
The book was a very fast read and I barely felt it going in. Easily a two or three sitter if you have the time. It says a lot about Clegg’s voice. The man has such an easy-going style that you can simply slip in and chalk up the page count. The story glides like a lubed eel.
There’s enough here for the mystery/thriller reader, but horror and gore fans may be hankering for something a bit redder afterwards. Hats off to the author for avoiding the haunted house theme again and trying a new angle with his brilliant setting of Harrow.
Book me a room. I shall be returning…
September 18, 2011
3.5 STARS
I started this book before bed, planning to read myself to sleep. I wound up staying awake nearly all day and reading more than three quarters of it before dozing off. So, needless to say, I really enjoyed reading MISCHIEF.
However, at the end I felt like there was something missing, and several things I didn't really understand. I wonder if that would be different, had I read the first book in the Harrow House series; this is the second.
I liked this enough, though, that I've added the other Harrow House books to my wish list.
I started this book before bed, planning to read myself to sleep. I wound up staying awake nearly all day and reading more than three quarters of it before dozing off. So, needless to say, I really enjoyed reading MISCHIEF.
However, at the end I felt like there was something missing, and several things I didn't really understand. I wonder if that would be different, had I read the first book in the Harrow House series; this is the second.
I liked this enough, though, that I've added the other Harrow House books to my wish list.
January 1, 2010
This was not one of my favourite Douglas Clegg books. I didn't find it scary at all. Then again, books about hauntings tend to bore me. And it reminded me somewhat if the Skull and Crossbones Society that I have read about. I also found that it wound up too quickly. Not that I like long and drawn out endings, but it could have been spun out a bit more.
November 18, 2015
I really loved the other Harrow books and this one was good as well but it seemed to end kind of abruptly. The story was pretty good overall and as always Douglas Clegg is a very good writer. I guess what made me give it such a low rating was that the evil around Jim had more to do with people and less to do with the house than it should have.
February 12, 2011
Well, this one is not Nightmare House... What a shame. Too many boobs and sexual references for me. Not enough action or meaty story line. Why? it so very much bothered me. really. so the last 2 chapters were exciting and close to Nightmare House. 1/8 of this book was actual move forward story. Leaving 7/8 to tell mishmash stupid details of farts or sexual crap.
October 14, 2012
I loved the premise of Mischief and had high hopes for it, but I was totally disappointed in the end. There's a lot of build up and tension to what seems to be an explosive climax, but that never happens. It really fizzles out, and I left feeling very unsatisfied. I've tried another one of Clegg's novels, and I think he may just not be for me.
February 28, 2012
kept me interested but disappointing ending. All these complex characters were introduced but I didn't feel they were ever really used to their full potential. Sometimes this will leave me wanting for more but in this particular book it was just disappointing.
January 11, 2013
This had some decent suspense and atmosphere. But, with the two/three times of repeating an incident and the 15 year old protaganist, had the feel of a YA novel. With the F-Bombs, I know it wasn't intended to be, but I felt I would have really enjoyed this in junior high or high school.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews