Review: Purgatory Hotel by Anne-Marie Ormsby

Purgatory Hotel by Anne-Marie Ormsby

Release Date: 6^th September 2017 Paperback 7^th November 2017 Kindle
Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Genres: Thriller / Paranormal

Dakota Crow has been murdered, her body dumped in a lonely part of the woods, and nobody knows but her and her killer.

Stranded in Purgatory, a rotting hotel on the edge of forever, with no memory of her death, Dakota knows she must have done something bad to be stranded among murderers and rapists. To get to somewhere safer, she must hide from the shadowy stranger stalking her through the corridors of the hotel, and find out how to repent for her sins. 

 But first she must re-live her life. Soon she will learn about her double life, a damaging love affair, terrible secrets, and lies that led to her violent death.
Dakota must face her own demons, and make amends for her own crimes before she can solve her murder and move on.

But when she finds out what she did wrong, will she be truly sorry?

Dakota Crow 'wakes' up face down in the mud and realises she is dead. She soon finds herself in the weirdest of hotels which she soon concludes is Purgatory. The hotel is full of people who have committed a heinous sin such as murder or rape. Dakota is shocked to find herself there as she has no idea how she could have ended up in such a place. She's a nice person after all. With no memory of the crime she committed that would check her into the hotel, Dakota must relive moments of her life again to get to the truth which is always just out of reach, teasing her. But, her killer knows. Dakota must get out of Purgatory and escape the shadows which haunt its corridors. But the only way to do that is to solve her own murder and get to the bottom of whatever terrible act she committed. But can she trust the people she meets there? People such as Danny the bartender who fills her in on the rules of Purgatory. Or, Betty who befriends her and helps her enjoy the free booze and cigarettes that seem to be a perk of Purgatory.

Purgatory Hotel is a weirdly wonderful book. And, I use the term weird as an absolute compliment. I think I enjoyed this book so much because coincidentally for my local writers group I recently wrote a short story about a young girl who finds herself in Purgatory so the book really appealed to my own dark imagination. Anne-Marie Ormsby has managed to create an atmosphere where sometimes its what you don't see that scares you the most. The sounds of slithering and scratching outside the hotel room door and the dark oppressive shadows in the corridors totally freaked me out! I love a book that can do this! I enjoyed the fact that Dakota is forced to look at her own life as it slowly unfolds before her, warts and all. She's had a bit of a rough ride and made her own fair share of mistakes. Will she be punished for them forever in Purgatory Hotel. You've got to buy the book to find out! A fab book for sitting reading on a wild and stormy evening which I did! Its stormy in Purgatory you know!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

On a warm day in July 1978, a mother was admitted to hospital, awaiting the arrival of her new baby. She was reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie and the midwives thought it a gruesome choice for an expectant mother. A story of a long forgotten murder and repressed memories. As it turned out her new baby, Anne-Marie would grow up and find herself drawn to all things macabre, and would one day herself turn out a story of murder and memories lost.

Anne Marie grew up on the Essex coast with her parents and six siblings in a house that was full of books and movies and set the scene for her lifelong love of both.

She began writing short stories when she was still at primary school after reading the book The October Country by Ray Bradbury. He was and still is her favourite author and the reason she decided at age 9 that she too would be a writer someday.

n her teens she continued to write short stories and branched out into poetry, publishing a few in her late teens. In her early twenties she began committing herself to writing a novel and wrote one by the age of 20 that she then put away, fearing it was too weird for publication.

She wrote Purgatory Hotel over several years, but again kept it aside after several rejections from publishers. Luckily for her, she found a home for her twisted tale with Crooked Cat Books.

Her favourite authors include Ray Bradbury, Jack Kerouac, Stephen King, Denis Lehane and Douglas Coupland. She also takes great inspiration from music and movies, her favourite artists being Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, Interpol, David Lynch and David Fincher.

Anne-Marie moved to London in 2008 where she lives to this day, amidst books and DVDs, with her husband and daughter.

Facebook: https://goo.gl/JC4NR3

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AOrmsbyAuthor

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17197211.Anne_Marie_Ormsby

Blog: https://pirateburlesque.wordpress.com/

Website: https://www.annemarieormsby.com/