Lee Allen's Blog, page 29
December 1, 2019
Coming soon... 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
’Twas the Night Before Christmas will be available to download on Friday, 13th December.
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A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…
Ellie and her family are preparing for their annual festivities, while the weather begins to deteriorate and threatens to cut them off from the outside world.
A man arrives out of the snowstorm, stranded and in need of their help, so they invite him to join them for the evening.
But as the snow continues to fall, Ellie discovers that behind a façade of innocence may hide the face of evil.
---
This will be the second story from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night, following the release of A Deathly Shade of Pale on Hallowe’en.
’Twas the Night Before Christmas can be pre-ordered from Amazon for just 99p and will be available from Lulu.com on Friday the 13th, with other retailers to follow.
A Deathly Shade of Pale can be downloaded FREE from Lulu.com.
You can also pre-order Whispers from the Dead of Night for download from Amazon.
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
---
A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…
Ellie and her family are preparing for their annual festivities, while the weather begins to deteriorate and threatens to cut them off from the outside world.
A man arrives out of the snowstorm, stranded and in need of their help, so they invite him to join them for the evening.
But as the snow continues to fall, Ellie discovers that behind a façade of innocence may hide the face of evil.
---
This will be the second story from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night, following the release of A Deathly Shade of Pale on Hallowe’en.
’Twas the Night Before Christmas can be pre-ordered from Amazon for just 99p and will be available from Lulu.com on Friday the 13th, with other retailers to follow.
A Deathly Shade of Pale can be downloaded FREE from Lulu.com.
You can also pre-order Whispers from the Dead of Night for download from Amazon.
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Published on December 01, 2019 11:05
•
Tags:
book-sample, christmas, horror, short-story, whispers-from-the-dead-of-night
November 10, 2019
F.R. Tallis' The Forbidden - Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An engrossing tale of psychological horror and demonic possession by Frank Tallis, writing as F.R. Tallis.
‘The Forbidden’ begins as Dr Paul Clement travels to Saint-Sebastien, an island in the French Antilles, with dreams of making advances in medicine that will help a great number of people. There he witnesses a ritual that will change the course of his life and he is cursed that, if ever he is to speak of it, he will go to Hell. He returns to Paris, taking up a position at the Salpetriere, where he becomes fascinated by the accounts of patients’ near-death experiences.
As he is drawn to undertake his own experiments, Clement chooses to make the journey himself – a terrifying experience during which he travels beneath the earth and witnesses some of the torturous horrors of Hell. But is his encounter with demons a fulfilment of the curse or simply the conjurings of his dying brain?
Abandoning his experiments, Clement attempts to return to normality, going about his work and embarking on an affair with a colleague’s wife. But he begins to notice that some things have changed. He fears madness, but is soon confronted with a greater fear – that when he returned from Hell, something monstrous and powerful returned to the world and his body with him.
Reminiscent of 19th century Gothic horror masterpieces - like Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ - and the occult works of Dennis Wheatley, ‘The Forbidden’ is enthrallingly told. Even in his most flawed moments, Clement is an endearing character. With him, we dream of the great future before him, experience the terror of the unknown and his harrowing near-death experience, his struggles as he befalls the evil entity and succumbs to desire and temptation, and finally the battles to save his soul and the souls of others.
From his background as a clinical psychologist, Tallis threads authentic psychological detail throughout his fiction, making for a fascinating character-driven novel; also drawing on historical fact to create a vivid sense of France in the 1870s and 80s.
This was the first of Tallis’ horror novels, followed by ‘The Sleep Room’, ‘The Voices’ and his most recent, ‘The Passenger’, while he has also written a series of crime novels set at the turn of the 20th century featuring psychoanalyst Dr Max Liebermann, which have been adapted for television and will broadcast soon on BBC2 in the UK under the title ‘Vienna Blood’.
With psychological depth and supernatural mystery, ‘The Forbidden’ is a suspenseful study of the diabolical and the resilience of the human spirit.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A nightmarish psychological horror that clutches hold of you and doesn’t let go until the final page.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A beautifully chilling ghost story that I couldn't wait to get back to reading every time I was forced to put it down.
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Published on November 10, 2019 10:53
•
Tags:
demonology, f-r-tallis, gothic-horror, occult, psychological-horror, victorian-edwardian
November 3, 2019
Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party - Review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fantastic debut thriller packed with secrets, lies and betrayal.
A group of friends reunite for New Year’s Eve, an annual tradition they have observed since leaving university. This year they have travelled to a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, a lonely, desolate wilderness with only two on-site staff. A snowstorm renders the group evermore isolated before one of their number goes missing. The gamekeeper and site manager undertake the search and soon uncover a body – but what led to this person’s demise?
Told from the perspectives of several characters, the narrative flashes back and forth between before and after the murder, uncovering the events that led to one of the friends going out into the snow and plummeting to their death. Long-buried secrets, grudges and old wounds are brought back to the surface, leading to revelations which members of the group would rather leave hidden.
In the style of a classic whodunit with a modern psychological twist, ‘The Hunting Party’ isn’t just a whodunit, it’s also a why-dunit, with the added complexity of the identity of the victim also kept part of the mystery to leave you guessing until the end. The mysteries are carefully unravelled, tension building to the final chapters. While I had worked out the motivation of the guilty party, with the victim’s identity unconfirmed it still left you guessing, wondering at the direction in which the twists would take you.
An engrossing murder mystery set in the heart of midwinter, ‘The Hunting Party’ is a highly enjoyable novel that will make you question even your closest friendships. Lucy Foley’s second thriller, 'The Guest List', is due for release next year and already I'm looking forward to reading as it promises to be as good as the first.
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Published on November 03, 2019 13:09
•
Tags:
lucy-foley, mystery, psychological-thriller
October 31, 2019
Whispers from the Dead of Night
Happy Hallowe'en!
A Deathly Shade of Pale, my brand new short story and the first from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night is available to download now at Lulu.com and Amazon.
The full collection will be available in ebook and paperback in early 2020.
___
Are you sitting comfortably, the fire crackling, a mug of cocoa in hand? Then let us begin…
A journey through fog and darkness, destination unknown…
A sexual obsession spiralling out of control…
A forbidden love…
A killer who preys on the lonely…
An investigation into a haunted monastery…
A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…
A night-time escape through the forest…
Seven tales of mystery and the supernatural for a winter’s evening.
Pre-order on Amazon now!
Look out for the next short story, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Friday 13th December.
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
A Deathly Shade of Pale, my brand new short story and the first from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night is available to download now at Lulu.com and Amazon.
The full collection will be available in ebook and paperback in early 2020.
___
Are you sitting comfortably, the fire crackling, a mug of cocoa in hand? Then let us begin…
A journey through fog and darkness, destination unknown…
A sexual obsession spiralling out of control…
A forbidden love…
A killer who preys on the lonely…
An investigation into a haunted monastery…
A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…
A night-time escape through the forest…
Seven tales of mystery and the supernatural for a winter’s evening.
Pre-order on Amazon now!
Look out for the next short story, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Friday 13th December.
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Published on October 31, 2019 05:36
•
Tags:
book-sample, short-story, whispers-from-the-dead-of-night
October 26, 2019
A Deathly Shade of Pale - Preview
I am amongst the lost ones now. Disjointed, fragmented, like I am only pieces of myself, an unknown quantity no longer wholly me, ground to dust and dispersed like slivers of shattered glass, carried as the breeze carries grains across dunes of sand, far and wide and without their own defined and fixed space, without their own identity. Is it possible that in those pieces are parts of me now irretrievable, like an emotion no longer felt, a memory without recollection, a lesson unlearned? Has the whole of me – my body, my mind, my soul – become so unrecognisable that I am no longer myself; that whatever I feel that I am, is simply not, and I am only a single fragment, drifting in desolation and bewilderment, like that single grain of sand, until it snuffs out like dispelled smoke, as all other fragments have been or will soon follow?
Consciousness thuds into my brain, hammering at my skull with relentless malice, daring the fog clouding my mind to clear, to burn my retinas with the truth of clarity. In this fog floats the remaining pieces of me, in a cloud of dislocation. The pain sears through my head, ringing down my ear canals, breath catching in my throat as if taken for the first time. Light-headedness is like a hot, clammy hand clasping my brain, sucking me down into a vacuum.
Vision blurred; I am aware only of the cold. My fingertips feel enclosed in icicles, breeze ruffling the hairs on my hands with a coating of moisture. I startle, rising quickly, and realise how stiff my body has become, collapsing back and hitting solid ground – yet feel it sway beneath me. A wave of disorientation, like the cloud has formed a fist with which to break me down; I raise my arms to protect my face from the blows. But they do not come. My breathing sounds shallow to my ears, alien and not from my own body, part of the tapestry of the looming threat that does not manifest, but simply hovers, its shadow a constant and lingering spectre.
I drop my arms, hearing the splash as my fingertips collide with the iciness once more. Only now does clarity break a small dawn into my consciousness; I am beside water, my cold hand and arm the victim of its selfish kisses. I pull my hand away, reaching instinctively to wipe away the water on my coat. I stroke the fleece lining, its thick durability, understanding now why only parts of my body feel the chill, others insulated. Fragmented awareness.
My movements have triggered nerve endings to send sluggish messages to my brain, the burning crick in my neck forcing its way through the laziness, demanding to be acknowledged. I am slouched into a corner and my hand moves from my coat to what lies beneath me. It is solid, neither the soft sand nor rough earth I had expected. It is smooth, not the rugged formation of rock. My skin catches, pierced, blood drawn. A splinter. I am on a wooden surface. I force my body upward to relieve the pain, the ground rocking, my hand gripping an edge beyond which is thickening fog. I am on a boat, a small wooden boat in a sea of mist.
I listen to the silence, staring into the blackened water and the thick blanket of grey that hovers above it. I can see no more than a few feet beyond the edge. I watch the impenetrable blackness of the water and wonder at what is lurking just beneath the surface, that if my hand were to break the rippling calm if I would be dragged from where I sit. In the dark, there is no indication of the water’s depth or the dangers it obscures. By night, it is a great slumbering beast that when awakened will erupt with hisses and roars. But for now, its sound is silence, but for the lapping at the sides of the boat, the gentle breathing of sleep.
I cannot remember how I came to be here, what led me to set off from the shore, nor even how far away that may be. I crane my sore neck, only to see more fog thickening in my vision, the black water beyond the stern of the wooden vessel. I climb to my feet carefully, slowly, the boat rocking with my movements. I grip the side as I stand, stooping, praying I will not be tipped over into the murky depths. As I steady myself, I pull my coat tight around me, squinting into the fog. There is nothing to see.
I register movement to my left. From the little I see, it cannot be a large boat on which I find myself, suggesting the movement is at its bow. I hear dragging in the water, subtle under the constant lapping against wood. Again, my eyes detect movement, a flash of ivory dim amongst the fog.
“Hello?” My voice cracks in my throat, the words escaping in a hoarse whisper. I clear my throat soundlessly, now unsure whether I ought to call out again.
Beneath the swell of the water, I hear the ripple of musical notes, incongruous in this cavern of mist and water. It is far away, a glimpse of the land I left behind or a memory I can’t quite reach out and hold, I cannot be sure which. No longer am I stood on the deck; I dance, swirling in circles, no longer in my heavy lined coat, dressed in tails, my partner nestled in my arms, as elegant as she is beautiful. My hand reaches to touch her face, but she is gone, disintegrating into mist, her image now unclear in my mind.
___
A Deathly Shade of Pale will be available from Amazon and Lulu.com on Hallowe'en, with other retailers to follow.
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Consciousness thuds into my brain, hammering at my skull with relentless malice, daring the fog clouding my mind to clear, to burn my retinas with the truth of clarity. In this fog floats the remaining pieces of me, in a cloud of dislocation. The pain sears through my head, ringing down my ear canals, breath catching in my throat as if taken for the first time. Light-headedness is like a hot, clammy hand clasping my brain, sucking me down into a vacuum.
Vision blurred; I am aware only of the cold. My fingertips feel enclosed in icicles, breeze ruffling the hairs on my hands with a coating of moisture. I startle, rising quickly, and realise how stiff my body has become, collapsing back and hitting solid ground – yet feel it sway beneath me. A wave of disorientation, like the cloud has formed a fist with which to break me down; I raise my arms to protect my face from the blows. But they do not come. My breathing sounds shallow to my ears, alien and not from my own body, part of the tapestry of the looming threat that does not manifest, but simply hovers, its shadow a constant and lingering spectre.
I drop my arms, hearing the splash as my fingertips collide with the iciness once more. Only now does clarity break a small dawn into my consciousness; I am beside water, my cold hand and arm the victim of its selfish kisses. I pull my hand away, reaching instinctively to wipe away the water on my coat. I stroke the fleece lining, its thick durability, understanding now why only parts of my body feel the chill, others insulated. Fragmented awareness.
My movements have triggered nerve endings to send sluggish messages to my brain, the burning crick in my neck forcing its way through the laziness, demanding to be acknowledged. I am slouched into a corner and my hand moves from my coat to what lies beneath me. It is solid, neither the soft sand nor rough earth I had expected. It is smooth, not the rugged formation of rock. My skin catches, pierced, blood drawn. A splinter. I am on a wooden surface. I force my body upward to relieve the pain, the ground rocking, my hand gripping an edge beyond which is thickening fog. I am on a boat, a small wooden boat in a sea of mist.
I listen to the silence, staring into the blackened water and the thick blanket of grey that hovers above it. I can see no more than a few feet beyond the edge. I watch the impenetrable blackness of the water and wonder at what is lurking just beneath the surface, that if my hand were to break the rippling calm if I would be dragged from where I sit. In the dark, there is no indication of the water’s depth or the dangers it obscures. By night, it is a great slumbering beast that when awakened will erupt with hisses and roars. But for now, its sound is silence, but for the lapping at the sides of the boat, the gentle breathing of sleep.
I cannot remember how I came to be here, what led me to set off from the shore, nor even how far away that may be. I crane my sore neck, only to see more fog thickening in my vision, the black water beyond the stern of the wooden vessel. I climb to my feet carefully, slowly, the boat rocking with my movements. I grip the side as I stand, stooping, praying I will not be tipped over into the murky depths. As I steady myself, I pull my coat tight around me, squinting into the fog. There is nothing to see.
I register movement to my left. From the little I see, it cannot be a large boat on which I find myself, suggesting the movement is at its bow. I hear dragging in the water, subtle under the constant lapping against wood. Again, my eyes detect movement, a flash of ivory dim amongst the fog.
“Hello?” My voice cracks in my throat, the words escaping in a hoarse whisper. I clear my throat soundlessly, now unsure whether I ought to call out again.
Beneath the swell of the water, I hear the ripple of musical notes, incongruous in this cavern of mist and water. It is far away, a glimpse of the land I left behind or a memory I can’t quite reach out and hold, I cannot be sure which. No longer am I stood on the deck; I dance, swirling in circles, no longer in my heavy lined coat, dressed in tails, my partner nestled in my arms, as elegant as she is beautiful. My hand reaches to touch her face, but she is gone, disintegrating into mist, her image now unclear in my mind.
___
A Deathly Shade of Pale will be available from Amazon and Lulu.com on Hallowe'en, with other retailers to follow.
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Published on October 26, 2019 07:30
•
Tags:
book-sample, horror, paranormal, short-story, whispers-from-the-dead-of-night
October 20, 2019
Coming soon... A Deathly Shade of Pale
This Hallowe'en, my brand new short story, A Deathly Shade of Pale, will be available to download.
___
A journey through fog and darkness, destination unknown…
Waking on a boat in a sea of mist and water, with no memory of how I got here, I find myself pursued by fragments of dreams and memories.
A beautiful woman haunts me, while whomever ferries the boat remains silent.
As I find my way to land, the mystery threatens to unravel in a devastating revelation.
___
This will be the first story from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night, and will be available to download on Amazon and Lulu on October 31st, with more retailers to follow during November.
Watch out for a preview coming soon...
Pre-order now on Amazon
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
___
A journey through fog and darkness, destination unknown…
Waking on a boat in a sea of mist and water, with no memory of how I got here, I find myself pursued by fragments of dreams and memories.
A beautiful woman haunts me, while whomever ferries the boat remains silent.
As I find my way to land, the mystery threatens to unravel in a devastating revelation.
___
This will be the first story from my upcoming collection, Whispers from the Dead of Night, and will be available to download on Amazon and Lulu on October 31st, with more retailers to follow during November.
Watch out for a preview coming soon...
Pre-order now on Amazon
Visit me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Published on October 20, 2019 05:26
•
Tags:
book-sample, short-story, whispers-from-the-dead-of-night
October 16, 2019
Lynda La Plante's The Dirty Dozen - Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another riveting case for Jane Tennison in Lynda La Plante’s latest thriller in her ‘Prime Suspect’ prequel series.
Following the ending of Murder Mile, Jane has been transferred, finding herself part of the infamous Flying Squad, known colloquially as the Sweeney (the focus of the 1970s TV series of the same name starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, in which La Plante made a guest appearance during her days as an actress).
Arriving for her first day, Jane is quickly pulled into the investigation of the armed robbery of a bank, colliding with the team on the stairs as they are galvanised into action, the robbery still in progress. But by the time they arrive, the armed men have succeeded in evading capture, having opened fire at uniformed police officers who were in pursuit. Jane investigates the scene, uncovering key evidence, but soon finds that it will take far more than her skills as a detective to win the approval of the team. She clashes with her senior officer and learns she has been transferred to the squad as part of an experiment – using female officers in an attempt to ‘soften’ the image of the squad and overcome some of the more negative aspects of its reputation.
Determined to prove herself worthy, Jane works diligently to gather evidence and intelligence that will lead to the gang. The account of a key witness leads them to believe that another robbery is being planned. But Jane’s tenacity threatens to lead her not only directly into conflict with her superiors, but also into danger in the midst of the armed robbers.
I was hooked from the first page to the last, finishing the book in only a few days, having kept it to enjoy when I had a few days off work. Incorporating detailed police procedure and forensics, with an insight into the workings of the Flying Squad, this proves to be another engrossing chapter in Jane’s career and life. She has by now proven herself a competent and confident investigator, while at times still betraying a naivety she hasn’t quite shaken off. At times she is reactive, particularly when it comes to unfair treatment by her superiors, which threatens to lead her into trouble – a trait that we know will continue, occasionally, in her later career.
With references to events of earlier novels in the series (though without significant spoilers, for any that haven’t read them chronologically), I had a true sense of the journey we have been on with Jane from her beginnings in ‘Tennison’ to her experiences in ‘The Dirty Dozen’. She has come a long way from the young probationer finding her feet, now far closer to the Jane we meet in ‘Prime Suspect’.
Throughout the novel, I found myself racing through the pages, fully immersed in the story and the characters and wanting to know what happens next. The sign of any great book are the simultaneous feelings of wanting to finish it and not wanting it to end. The case culminates in an action-packed climax, along with some emotional conflicts for Jane.
I cannot wait for more in the series and to find out what Lynda has planned for Jane next!
While it’s not been confirmed if the sixth book will be published next year, in the meantime we will be revisiting ‘She’s Out’ (reprinted later this month to follow Widows and Widows’ Revenge) and a brand new novel (and spin-off from ‘Widows’) next Spring - ‘Buried’ - both of which I’m very excited about.
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Published on October 16, 2019 12:30
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Tags:
jane-tennison, lynda-la-plante, organised-crime, police-procedural, prime-suspect, thriller
August 30, 2019
Ira Levin's This Perfect Day - Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A classic dystopian thriller from master of suspense Ira Levin.
In future human society, the world is run by a central supercomputer, known as UniComp. There is no crime, no war, no disease, none of the perils or the trials and tribulations of our own society. Life is seemingly perfect. But there is a darker side to UniComp’s regime – while people do not experience any of life’s pains, they do not experience its pleasures either; living an orderly life, following rules and regulations for the greater good of this society; most crucially, they do not have choices – their free will has been taken away.
As a child, Chip is shown the true face of UniComp by his grandfather and he begins to question this existence. What if he did have choices? But UniComp’s regime is tightly controlled – each member of their society undergoes regular treatments, while anyone who experiences 'unwell' thoughts is encouraged to seek help; anyone witnessed to be behaving strangely should be referred for help – thoughts and behaviours that go against UniComp’s ideals are symptoms of illness and UniComp wishes to cure them.
As an adult, Chip is drawn into a small group of rebels, who meet in secrecy and have found a way to trick UniComp’s treatment regime and experience the true reality of life. They engage in the pleasures of food, sex and tobacco, experience the pleasures of literature and art. But Chip soon begins to question – could there be more than this? Is there a chance they could escape UniComp entirely and live freely – free to choose, free to love?
With the chance of escape along with a fellow rebel, with whom he has fallen in love, Chip risks everything the rebels have. We follow his perilous journey and finally a plan to destroy UniComp entirely – leading him to the devastating truth at the heart of their society.
Ira Levin is a master of mystery and suspense, and lifting the veil on the darker side of humanity. I absolutely loved ‘This Perfect Day’, finding myself quickly immersed in the tale of a disturbing future and the rebellion against it. Well-written, with tightly-woven plotting and rich characterisation, Levin’s dystopian novel, written in 1969, is a classic of the genre and helped define its future (along with George Orwell’s ‘1984’, published 1949), featuring many of the themes and circumstances that would become genre classics.
Gripping, thrilling and unsettling, ‘This Perfect Day’ is a gem of a novel and not to be missed.
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August 28, 2019
Linwood Barclay's No Time for Goodbye - Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Linwood Barclay’s gripping thriller about a missing family and the long shadows of the past.
When she was fourteen years old, Cynthia’s parents and brother disappeared one night, following a family row. Now, twenty-five years later, Cynthia is married to Terry and they have a child of their own, Grace. Haunted by her family’s disappearance, Cynthia takes an opportunity offered by the makers of a true crime documentary, hoping some new leads or evidence will be brought to light.
Initially the documentary appears to result in nothing new, while Cynthia’s paranoia over the safety of her daughter continues to grow. Then she receives a phone call, the caller telling her they have a message from her family – that they forgive her. This begins a chain of events that will lead all three of them into danger and ultimately reveal what happened on that night twenty-five years before and the fates of Cynthia’s father, mother and brother.
Narrated by Cynthia’s husband, Terry, the novel follows many twists and turns, featuring a multitude of suspects and red herrings along the way. As the family buckles under the strain, we witness Cynthia’s desperation to find the answers to questions she’s been asking herself for a very long time, giving the novel a raw edge and the mystery a human heart – you don’t want to put the book down, eager to return to the characters and find out what happens next.
Culminating in a thrilling climax, a shocking twist and an emotional denouement, ‘No Time for Goodbye’ delivers on all levels – a phenomenal, suspenseful crime thriller.
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Published on August 28, 2019 03:56
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Tags:
crime, linwood-barclay, missing-persons, thriller
August 26, 2019
Seth Patrick's The Returned - Review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A thought-provoking, character-driven horror novel, based on the TV series ‘The Returned’, novelised by Seth Patrick.
Camille, fifteen years old, finds herself alone on the mountainside, with no memory of how she got there. She cannot remember dying in a bus crash four years before, her only concern to return home. But her home is now a broken one; her parents, Claire and Jerome, are separated and her sister, Lena, now nineteen, is wracked with guilt and painful memories, spending much of her spare time at the local Lake Pub.
Elsewhere, Julie, haunted by an attack that almost killed her several years before, meets a young boy, Victor, apparently abandoned and with nowhere to go. She takes pity on him, but soon finds that his presence may fill a hole in her life.
Others are slowly beginning to return home, their presence four years later not as readily welcomed as Camille and Victor find themselves. Simon finds his wife, Adele, now engaged to another man. Serge, brother to the landlord of the Lake Pub, hides dark compulsions that threaten to ignite the tension that is descending across a town that has been haunted by its losses for the past four years.
With a large cast of characters, ‘The Returned’ carefully unspools its growing tension, secrets and lies slowly rising to the surface. The complex web of each of the characters' stories unravels with each revelation, while the personal battles build to a war for the town itself. Sides are taken, leading to its inevitable climax. But another danger lurks and threatens to engulf the town in another tragedy.
The novelisation is based on the first season of the critically acclaimed 2012-15 French TV series ‘Les Revenants’, which was broadcast internationally at ‘The Returned’. The TV series was itself based on the concept of a 2004, also French, film ‘Les Revenants’/‘They Came Back’ – released in the UK under the title ‘The Returned’ – which follows a similar premise of the dead returning to their former lives. The TV series ran for two seasons, but the reported second novel was never published. A single season US remake also premiered in 2015.
Absorbing and well-written, ‘The Returned’ is a far deeper and emotional exploration than you’d usually expect from a zombie horror, like the film and TV series before it, excellently portraying grief and loneliness and the lengths to which people will go to protect those they love.
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Published on August 26, 2019 05:59
•
Tags:
horror, novelisation, seth-patrick, tv-series