Ravenhurst

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The Secret of

RAVENHURST

MANOR

A Novel by

William Michael Campbell

GENRE: Mystery with a Science Fiction Twist

What would you do if you were suddenly notified out of the clear blue that you were the only living relative of Charles Ravenhurst, a wealthy deceased oil tycoon, and that you had inherited the entire Ravenhurst estate, including Ravenhurst Manor--a 74-room mansion overlooking the upscale metropolis of Bartlesville, Oklahoma?

That's exactly what happens to Jonathan Robinson, a young Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Kansas. The only stipulation is that Jonathan must change his name to Ravenhurst.

After spending most of his savings to legally change his hame, Johnathan returns to Bartlesville after twelve years, wondering what he could possibly do with such a huge old house. While he is in Bartlesville he looks up his childhood sweetheart Brandy VanSkike. Neither of them are attached, and they realize that their feelings for each other have never died.

As they begin to explore the old mansion, a mysterious man approaches them and offers three million dollars in cash if they will sell the estate on the spot. Suspecting that the house hides a fortune of some kind, Jonathan and Brandy decline the offer and move into the manor. Three days later they are married.

They soon uncover some facts about Charles Ravenhurst and his family. Charles' last wife Helen had been brutally murdered; her nude body found floating in the fountain in the manor courtyard; two of his daughters had died on the estate grounds under mysterious circumstances, and his third daughter had vanished from a yacht in the Mediterranean, presumed drowned. Distraught with grief, Charles had jumped to his death from the roof. None of the deaths, including Helen's, had ever been solved. Various sources inform them that the entire Ravenhurst family was psychotic.

Jonathan and Brandy also discover that Ravenhurst Manor is much more than it appears: after sitting vacant for many years, the house is clean and spotless; the fountain and swimming pool are suddenly filled with clean water; the grass is mowed overnight. Even more disconcerting are the almost unbelievable sexual feelings they experience while in the house.

As they continue to explore the grounds and the manor house, they discover the Ravenhurst family crypt hidden deep in the woods, and a secret tunnel which leads back under the house to a mysterious room full of unrecognizable electronic equipment. They are unable to determine whoever or whatever operated and controlled this equipment, or what its purpose is.

Jonathan and Brandy are certain of one thing, however: Ravenhurst Manor is somehow alive, and it hides a terrible secret which someone does not want them to discover--someone who is willing to kill to keep them from learning it.