Book Review: Forest of Ghosts by J.H. Moncrieff
Title: Forest of Ghosts (GhostWriters #4)
Author: J.H. Moncrieff
Release date: March 22nd, 2019
The fourth entry in Moncrieff’s fantastic GhostWriters series arrives at the top of my TBR and this made for some perfect timing. I knew I wanted this book to be my #LadiesFirst22 read. The Ladies of Horror Fiction do a really, really great job of increasing the scope of awareness of all of the amazing women writing dark fiction, and each year, they ask you start the year off reading a woman’s book first. I’ve long been a massive fan of Moncrieff’s and after visiting China, Italy and then Egypt, I was excited to see this series move to Romania, home of Dracula and the (supposedly) most haunted forest in the world; Hoia Baciu.
One thing I was really keen to see with this one, was the separation of Jackson and Kate. They work really well together as a team, but this book starts off with only Jackson arriving in Romania, there to attend a writing retreat. How would he hold his own against odd occurrences? Admirably, it turns out.
What I liked: The story starts out with us learning, that after the events in Egypt, Kate needs some time and they decide to give each other a little space. She stays in the US while Jackson heads to Romania, looking to make some actual progress on his writing, instead of just being a blogger.
Moncrieff starts the book out as a take on the classic “fish out of water” narrative. The rest of the group are all horror writers, fiction writers. The man teaching the course is an arrogant jerk and Jackson feels like he’s constantly singled out or that he doesn’t belong.
Soon, though, an attendee goes missing and as weird things occur, Jackson realizes he’s in over his head. He reaches out to Kate and we find out that she’s been waiting for him to contact her – she’s been sensing doom.
From here, Moncrieff adds another layer of intrigue with Kate meeting a formidable foe and the attendee’s (including Jackson) starting to lose their memory. It makes for a great plot point, especially when Hoia Baciu becomes involved. The location adds a number of real and perceived obstacles and the story ramps up to a really engaging and ultimately satisfying conclusion.
What I didn’t like: I think I’ve said this same thing in my reviews of books 1, 2 and 3 but I hate Jackson’s jealousy and his overreactions each and every time something occurs between Kate and another male. It really does make me roll my eyes and grow frustrated with this character trait.
Why you should buy this: If you’ve read any of the first three books, you’ll know what you’re in store for. Moncrieff does a fantastic job of continuously keeping this series feeling fresh. If you’re looking for a dark fiction series that is motivated by pacing, thrills and intrigue and less on gore and extreme events, this would be absolutely perfect for you.
This entry in the series was seriously great and I’ll need to get my butt in gear to get to book five now!
5/5
