MWSA Review

Dennis Maulsby’s House de Gracie is an excellent mix of fantasy fiction and military action that will leave the reader wanting more.

Hugh de Gracie is a worn out, half-blind, shot up military officer who is out of the Army because of his injuries. He doesn’t have long to live, and so he returns to the family mansion to live out his remaining days. While home, he learns two important things. First, being home has completely cured him of any illness, and second, he has started a blood feud with the family of terrorists he killed when escaping Taliban activity. As he learns more of his family history, he realizes that the timelines don’t make sense. His father should be MUCH older than he looks. More and more, as Hugh learns that things are not what they seem, he is hurtling down a path of reckoning with a Muslim fanatic that will see much bloodshed by both families.

While I am not a fan of fantasy fiction, I am a fan of military fiction, and I love how Maulsby weaves both together to create one of the most unique stories I have ever read. The story seems perfectly plausible, even though it shatters the normal boundaries of time and the human relationship with nature. It’s very well done, and a fun read besides. I am absolutely hoping for a sequel!

Review by Rob Ballister (June 2020)

Author's Synopsis

After ten years in the U.S. Army, Major Hugh de Gracie returns to the five-hundred-year-old family mansion in New York's Adirondack Mountains. A terminal bat-borne disease caught in Afghanistan gives him very little time to reconcile with a family he rejected a decade ago. Only his pending death provides a powerful enough reason to bring him back into an isolated Gothic household of many secrets. His family and their residence -- in both mind and flesh -- are more intimately intertwined than Hugh can possibly imagine.

The illness is not the full extent of his problems. An implacable Taliban enemy made on the battlefield will attempt to destroy him, his family, and his house. Supported by wealthy Saudi interests, the enemy will force a climactic battle on his front lawn.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN: 978-1-945663-27-7, ASIN: B0843S5X5C
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Horror/Fantasy/Sci Fi
Number of Pages: 315