I have reviewed SALEM’S ROPES – Inspired by the True Story of the Haunted Ropes Mansion by Joseph C. Gioconda for Reader’s Favorite.
Joseph C. Gioconda, the author, has gifted the readers fascinated by witches and witchcraft a truly bewitching horror fiction named Salem’s Ropes. George Lawson is a fifty-year-old recovering alcoholic with a loving wife and a daughter. There may not be anything extraordinary in his life, but it is a normal good life. However, normalcy is not appreciated by most; the same holds for George. On one of his business trips to Boston, he decides to buy a mansion, the Ropes Mansion, in Salem Massachusetts. Baffled and frustrated, his family moves into the mansion. To say that his wife (Giselle) was fuming with anger would be a huge understatement. But, Giselle’s fury is going to be the least of his problems. If he had taken the time to research the history of The Ropes Mansion, he would have realized how disastrous this place was. Nevertheless, once he begins digging strange symbols and buried bones from his mansion, the long-buried truth of the Ropes Mansion hits him like a raging storm. His desire to find everything about his new home turns into an insatiable curiosity. Giselle watches helplessly as her husband’s obsession begins to take shape of madness like no other.
On the branches of trees overhead were numerous bodies hanging in nooses, swaying slightly from side to side as the breeze moved them. Their legs dangled above him.
– An excerpt from Salem’s Ropes by Joseph C. Gioconda
The fact that Salem’s Ropes is inspired by true events adds to the charm of the book. George’s transition from a family man to an obsessed man plagued with the sole desire of unearthing the truth of the mansion made for an equally compulsive read. The long history of untimely and mysterious deaths of the mansion’s residents instilled fear for his family not only in the protagonist’s heart but also in the readers’. His obsession somehow tore through the pages and gripped the audience in its vicious claws. Like him, the audience was eager to know the history of The Ropes Mansion. The questions about a possible curse, a psychological answer, a ghost, and witches swirled around in the minds of the readers until the end. It is, in a very true sense, an unputdownable book. Engaging conversations, intriguing characters, engrossing twists, and smooth narration have worked together to create a truly commendable story. I highly recommend SALEM’S ROPES – Inspired by the True Story of the Haunted Ropes Mansion by Joseph C. Gioconda.
“We’re meant to move on. If you drag the dead back into our world, they can get reattached. Then you can’t get rid of them. They need to draw life energy, like a vampire. Even experienced witches won’t do it.”
– An excerpt from Salem’s Ropes by Joseph C. Gioconda
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