Name: Sven Test's review of Hanover House by Brenda Novak
Item: Hanover House
Rating: 4
Author: Sven Test

Brenda Novak

Welcome to Hanover House. Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the antisocial mind. After having been kidnapped, tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager, by her high school boyfriend, she's determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she's established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst. But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok, is one of them. He knows what could happen if one little thing goes wrong...

Book #1 of the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Hanover House

Sven Test

Evelyn Talbot is a psychiatrist about to open Hanover House. There, she will be studying serial killers and how their psychotic mind works. This job won't be easy for her since the patients will not make it easy. They do not want to be transferred to Hanover House and the people at Hilltop, Alaska do not want to have serial killers near them. But Evelyn wants to see what drives these killers to do such horrible things because her high school boyfriend tortured her best friends and her then killed her best friends in front of her... Then he leaves her for dead.

This prequel to Her Darkest Nightmare, which comes out in 2016, is absolutely amazing. While I'm not a fan of third-person POV's, this story gripped me right from the start and I'm pretty sure my heart was racing all the way through the end, wondering what was going to happen. Evelyn has to face a lot with those serial killers and we get some glimpse on how bad they can be, at least with one of them. This will obviously make for a very interesting and extremely intriguing series! There's also a romance that I totally started shipping between Evelyn and Amarok, the trooper in Alaska and I have to say I want more of them! Evelyn is scarred by what happened to her so she's reluctant in having any relationship with a guy but I'm sure Amarok will gain her trust in no time. Amarok didn't want the Hanover House facility to be in Hilltop, Alaska but now that he has gotten to know Evelyn, his focus has shifted into protecting her at all costs while helping her to have fun and enjoy life. I think this romance will help both characters in their growth and I think they could end up complimenting each other very well as the series progresses.

As I mentioned before, this story is told in third-person POV and we see it from Evelyn and Jasper, Evelyn's ex-boyfriend and murderer. His introduction to the story gave me chills. His thoughts are scary and I definitely do not like him at all but he makes the story a whole lot interesting and chilling with his presence.

I cannot wait to see what Her Darkest Nightmare will bring. This story had enough suspense as it is so imagine a full-length novel! I'm beyond excited to see what happens next!

This review was published on 12.16.15 on Latte Nights Reviews.

Totally Addicted to Reading

Hanover House by Brenda Novak is the prequel to The Evelyn Talbot series. I am new to Brenda Novak’s work, and I must say I had a good time with this book. It fueled my desire to pick up the next book in the series. Filled with nail biting suspense and a little creepiness, Hanover House kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Ms. Novak impressed me with the way she delved into the mind of both the victim and the villain, allowing readers to understand their thought processes. 

The protagonist Dr. Evelyn Talbot was a victim of a psychopath when she was a teen. Now an established psychiatrist, she has made it her mission in life to figure out what make psychopaths tick. To aid her in endeavours, she created Hanover House where she can study these serial killers.
Persons close to her wanted her to give up her dream because of the danger it posed,, but she refused to allow her fears to control her. The trauma of the event never left her, which drove her desire to delve deeper into the mind of a psychopath. She struggled with socialisation and as a result, persons perceived her to be an ice queen. Sergeant Amarok will discover that this was not the case the more he got to know her. 

Amarok had not been keen on the establishment of Hanover House in his district, but he resigned himself to accepting it. In the process, he found himself falling for Evelyn and would do anything to protect her. I enjoyed their interaction, which was steamy and humorous. I loved his patience with Evelyn. 

The story featured two psychopaths, the creepiest one being Jasper, Evelyn's ex. He definitely had a sick mind. His obsession with Evelyn was his primary driving force and it fed his lust for killing. I enjoyed getting the POV of the villain as it gave me a bird’s-eye view of his mental capacity. 
I enjoyed the pacing of the story. The romance and suspense were well balanced, which I found refreshing. 

Narration
Being fairly new to audio books, I have been introduced to a variety of narrators. This is my first time listening to Therese Plummer. I believed she did a good job with the voices.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Despite this being a short story I enjoyed every moment. Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this prequel to what appears to be an exciting and chilling series. I am looking forward to reading Her Darkest Nightmare.

Welcome to Hanover House…. Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the antisocial mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don’t they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them? After having been kidnapped, tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager—by her high school boyfriend—she’s determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she’s established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst. But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok, is one of them. And yet he can’t help feeling bad about what Evelyn has been through. He’s even attracted to her. Which is partly why he worries. He knows what could happen if only one little thing goes wrong...

Kickoff to the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Laura Carminati

This is the prequel to Her Darkest Nightmare, series with Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist who runs a prison in the freezing cold of Alaska. In this book we see the construction of Hanover House, the prison, and the beginning of Evelyn’s relationships with Hilltop and with Sergeant Benjamin Murphy, known as Amarok.

We also see what happened to Evelyn while he was in Boston, a story that is mentioned in the first book in the series but whose details are not given.

I need to say that I first read first Her Darkest Nightmare and than this book, because I didn’t know about the prequel, so in my review there are minimal references to Alaska.


In this book we know the detainee Hugo Evanski and the first meeting with Evelyn is briefly told. Hugo, that he’s in a Californian prison in this book, will be a central character in the following book. Then Evelyn receives Amarok’s phone call explaining that Hanover House has been vandalized so Evelyn leaves Boston, where she’s living at the moment, for Alaska. Here in Alaska, we find out that the small town of Hilltop, where the penitentiary is built, is against its opening and the sergeant himself fervently protested before the start of the construction.

More: https://eiencafe.com/hanover-house/
In italiano: https://eiencafe.com/it/hanover-house/

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Kristen Claiborn

Ally Gagliardo

Dopo Alaska ritorna la dottoressa Evelyn Talbot e la caccia è di nuovo aperta. Perché nessuno è al sicuro nel grande freddo. Titolo originale: Hello Again. È trascorso ormai un anno da quando Evelyn Talbot si è trasferita in Alaska, ad Hanover House, la clinica psichiatrica di massima sicurezza dove vengono internati i serial killer più efferati. Solo pochi di loro hanno una mente così brillante da riuscire a spiegare il complesso modus operandi che si cela dietro ai propri crimini, e uno di questi è appena arrivato. Si tratta di Lyman Bishop, il “Fabbricante di Zombi”, un genetista accusato di lobotomizzare le sue vittime con un rompighiaccio. L’unico il cui raffinato intelletto regge il confronto con il famigerato Hannibal Lecter. Appena Evelyn lo incontra sente il sangue gelarsi nelle vene, e non è certo per la tempesta di ghiaccio che sta per abbattersi sulla zona... Ha la netta sensazione che qualcosa nella sua vita stia per cambiare, irreparabilmente. Quando viene ritrovato il corpo di una nuova vittima uccisa con un rompighiaccio, il dubbio che Bishop sia l’uomo sbagliato emerge con violenza. Ma le sfide non sono finite per Evelyn, perché la minaccia di Jasper, il ragazzo che a sedici anni l’ha segregata e seviziata, sembra più vicina che mai. Esiste un legame tra questi eventi? È solo un caso che la donna massacrata assomigli terribilmente alla bella psichiatra?

Sven Test &
Hanover House by Brenda Novak

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Hanover House by Brenda Novak