REVIEW: The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson
Neil Sharpson officiates an unholy marriage of Irish folklore and psychological horror in The Burial Tide, an expertly crafted novel that hooked me from the first page and never released its iron grip on my attention till the very end.
The opening scene of The Burial Tide will haunt me for years to come, as our lead protagonist, Mara Fitch, awakens in a daze, realizing that she’s been buried alive and must claw her way out from her wooden coffin. The claustrophobia of Mara’s entombment is just a precursor to her isolation on the remote Irish island of Inishbannock. Stricken with amnesia, Mara must rely on the suspicious small-town populace to reconstruct her own sense of self.
Inishbannock is full of secrets and proves to be the perfect setting to blend mystery and horror. The influence of Irish folklore is not obvious at first but gradually builds throughout the novel. The Burial Tide is highly recommended for fans of Shauna Lawless, especially if her Gael Song grimdark fantasy series left you hungry for more hauntingly dark Irish lore. It is especially interesting to see how Neil Sharpson and Shauna Lawless begin with the same mythos but then take it in wildly different directions.
Sharpson’s razor-sharp prose is a joy to read. My only minor criticism of the novel is its use of multiple points of view. I feel like the carefully cultivated claustrophobia of the novel would have deepened even more if we were to remain trapped in Mara’s mind for the full duration of the story. But this is a minor complaint in a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Altogether, from its first scene to the last, The Burial Tide is a delectable feast for readers craving their next dose of folk horror.
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