LitPick Review
Writer and film producer Phillip Wolf's sci-fi and horror genre novel, titled Jack Stinger and the Haunting of Whitlock Manor, will set your heart racing. The novel in a sentence was like taking a ride on a roller coaster.
Rumor has it in the small town of Rusty, Texas that the old house on Cemetery Hill was haunted and accommodated evil ghosts, but Jack Stinger has always been a curious kid. Solving mysteries and debunking rumors about weird places was a hobby of his, so it was no surprise that he was intrigued by the manor standing on the cul-de-sac on Cemetery Hill. Visiting Whitlock Manor for the first time with his best friends Billy and Stewart seemed successful, but the second visit was terrifying when they heard a creepy voice from inside and fled. Jack, more intrigued than ever, decides to go on a solo visit before school to the manor again and is held up by a raging storm. When Daisy, his longtime crush, joins them at lunch, he realizes the storm only raged at Whitlock Manor and nowhere else. Encouraged by this, he tries to persuade his best friends to come with him on another trip, but they refuse which spurs Daisy to volunteer to follow him.
The visit to the manor with Daisy proves the rumors to be true as they both encounter a strange creature, which led them to flee in fear. Following the incident, Billy goes missing and is found by Jack and Daisy when the strange creature visits Daisy in her home and tells her to come back to the manor. Unfortunately, the strange creature takes Daisy away while Jack and Billy escape. A distraught Jack rushes home and decides to tell his big brother Victor Stinger about Whitlock Manor and the strange creature. After managing to convince him, they both head out to the manor to save Daisy.
It turns out that there has been a secret invasion of strange creatures in Rusty, Texas, and the townspeople are unaware of them. It is up to the Stinger brothers, Daisy, Billy and his older brother Tommy to save their town. After all, the creepy voice that Jack heard during the second visit to the manor had said “Five to enter, one to stay”. Who is to stay? And will they be able to save their town in time?
Opinion:
Jack Stinger and the Haunting of Whitlock Manor is perfect for book lovers with or without imagination. The novel is amazingly written like a movie script, all thanks to Phillip Wolf’s film production skills. The action and suspense starts right off from the first chapter which then quickly builds throughout the novel to a highly suspense-filled ending chapter. It was mostly about adventures on battling strange creatures. The novel was truly an exhilarating read.
The book is similar to a movie titled Stranger Things. The dramatic ambience of novel made it unique. The characters started off as normal humans: Jack, the protagonist, who is determined on debunking rumors about Whitlock Manor, Jack’s older brother Victor who always teases him, Daisy who joins Jack on his quest because she is just curious, Jack’s best friends Billy and Stewart, and also Tommy who is Billy’s older brother. These mentioned characters gained powers at some point in the book and ended as superheroes. The author’s writing style is highly commendable as he intensified the suspense and action with each chapter.
Wolf achieved his purpose in the novel as the title of his book resonated with the happenings in the book. Jack Stinger was the main character who through his curiosity about Whitlock manor brought together the four people who were to save their town. He also turned out to be the leader of the superheroes because of his courage. This is a novel that keeps your heart racing with each turn of the page because you don’t know what to expect. Even with the chaos, Wolf managed to infuse a blooming romance between Jack and his crush Daisy. The book ended with such an intense cliff-hanger that almost makes you regret why you read the book without waiting for the complete series to be published.
The novel weakness lies in the strength of the book, which is that it was written like a movie with different scenes showing different characters. This might confuse a reader’s imagination as they have to switch between plots at a fast-pace. It is highly recommended to sci-fi and horror fans from age 14+. Likewise, it is recommended to fans of the movie, Stranger Things. Wolf emphasized stretching your imagination past it’s limit with each chapter and unexpected scene. I learned that curiosity does go a long way from making you discover new things to maybe even saving your town from invasions. Jack Stinger and the Haunting of Whitlock Manor has a rating of 4 out of 5.
