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Curse of Black Tor
Martha Jamieson is a psychiatric nurse who has been offered the position of caretaker for a troubled young woman on Vancouver Island.
On the way she encounter with a bearded young man and receives a mysterious warning. Her destination, and an island shrouded in mist and mystery, does nothing to calm the unsettled feeling that she might be headed into real danger. Added to that she must cope with a young woman who might or might not be mentally unbalanced and try to get to the bottom of the rumors about an ancient curse. What has Martha gotten herself into in her quest to escape the past.
This story hooked me in and kept me guessing till the very end. A great, fast read when you have a couple hours to kill. (lol). Reminds me of the style of the other gothic Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, Barabara Michaels, Velda Johnston, etc. Worth the read! :) - Shipper
First, I am giving this a 5 for the amazing writing, the good story, and the Killer Whale theme (favorite animal). Overall, this book was great. I wish there had been more of it. A lot more. Very very highly recommended for everyone!
On the way she encounter with a bearded young man and receives a mysterious warning. Her destination, and an island shrouded in mist and mystery, does nothing to calm the unsettled feeling that she might be headed into real danger. Added to that she must cope with a young woman who might or might not be mentally unbalanced and try to get to the bottom of the rumors about an ancient curse. What has Martha gotten herself into in her quest to escape the past.
This story hooked me in and kept me guessing till the very end. A great, fast read when you have a couple hours to kill. (lol). Reminds me of the style of the other gothic Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, Barabara Michaels, Velda Johnston, etc. Worth the read! :) - Shipper
First, I am giving this a 5 for the amazing writing, the good story, and the Killer Whale theme (favorite animal). Overall, this book was great. I wish there had been more of it. A lot more. Very very highly recommended for everyone!
183 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2013
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Jane Toombs
172 books31 followersJane was born in California, raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has returned "home" to live in the beautiful Upper Peninsula on the shore of Lake Superior--with the Viking from her past. Jane has five children, two stepchildren, seven grandchildren, a calico cat named Kinko and two computers.
She's the author of over seventy published books, both in paper and electronic. These include the various romance genres--gothic, suspense, contemporary, historical, Regency and paranormal--as well as other genres such as mystery, fantasy and horror. Jane has used pseudonyms--Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, Olivia Sumner--but is now writing under her own name except for her Zebra/Pinnacle romances for which she uses Jane Anderson.
She's the author of over seventy published books, both in paper and electronic. These include the various romance genres--gothic, suspense, contemporary, historical, Regency and paranormal--as well as other genres such as mystery, fantasy and horror. Jane has used pseudonyms--Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, Olivia Sumner--but is now writing under her own name except for her Zebra/Pinnacle romances for which she uses Jane Anderson.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 17, 2013
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This review is from: Curse of Black Tor (Kindle Edition)
First, I am giving this a 5 for the amazing writing, the good story, and the Killer Whale theme (favorite animal). That being said, this book is a bit raw and could use polishing. The Kindle edition had a lot of spelling and formatting errors, words and letters crossed out, etc. The book was very thought-provoking. I wish it had been longer. I would have liked to have the occult stuff explored more, especially Sarah and Josephine' s apparent abilities. I still don't understand the obsession with taxidermy. And I want more explanation of the mortality rate of the family females.
This book isn't really a romance, or a murder mystery, it is somewhat of a light mixture of the two with just a tantalizing (and frustrating) sprinkling of the paranormal. I was a little disappointed in the romance department, even as I loved the mystery and was pleased with the reveals and outcome. The Hero is delicious, but I kept expecting to have him turn into a Killer Whale but he never did - which for me was kind of a let-down, I wanted to see if the author could pull it off even as I dreaded her not being able to. He also didn't convince me he actually fell in love with the heroine. He definitely convinced me that he had fallen in lust with her, every male in the house wanted her, but I personally did not see romance in their interactions. The author does a great job with the mystery, although the ending was a bit of a cop-out. I wish the hero had played more of a role there, coming in at the right moment, perhaps accidentally shooting the villain or he could have turned into a Killer Whale and ate the villain *snicker* that would have been great. :)
Probably my biggest complaint, aside from the unromantic romance portion, is that the family affinity with Killer Whales was not explored more. That was what drew me in to the story in the first place. Coupled with the occult stuff I was half expecting an ocean take on a shifter story, which would have been interesting, but the story does not go there. Perhaps for the best given the rest of the plot, but I would like to see some kind of explanation - Indian heritage spirit companion that is passed down through the generations or something. Oh, and that's the other thing, the family has Native American/Canadian people in their blood, according to Jules, but that intriguing information was never explored. I think the author missed there. Indian heritage is a trope used too much, and in most cases very poorly, to explain obscure paranormal activity but in this case it was name dropped and then forgotten. The author had a chance to use that with the Killer Whale stuff to make for a really neat paranormal caveat to the murder mystery plot, but she didn't go there either.
Lastly, aside from the excellent mystery portion, the absolute best aspect of the novel is the Regency undertone woven throughout the book. Masterfully done. The Hero walked right out of a Regency Romance; wish there had been more of him! The heroine is definitely the gorgeous governess/companion who arrives to heal the dark family secret. Josephine is the troubled heiress while Sarah is the poor illegitimate family member who is reluctantly brought within the fold but never formally acknowledged. Even the plot behind the murder mystery is Regency - inheritance and who controls all the money. There is a Dowager and her faded companion, the dying patriarch holding onto the family purse strings even on his deathbed, a shameless rake, and the scheming female relation who is basically Caroline Bingley. So good! The family dynamic alone could have entertained me for hours, even without the Orca metaphor.
This novel had so much potential, so much going on under the surface, it seems just a tad unfinished to me. I would love for the author to go back and expand on the Killer Whale theme, the Regency undertone, the Indian heritage, and the Occult aspect. Or, she could write a sequel. And explain everything there. That would be fine too. Overall, this book was great. I wish there had been more of it. A lot more. Very very highly recommended for everyone!
This review is from: Curse of Black Tor (Kindle Edition)
First, I am giving this a 5 for the amazing writing, the good story, and the Killer Whale theme (favorite animal). That being said, this book is a bit raw and could use polishing. The Kindle edition had a lot of spelling and formatting errors, words and letters crossed out, etc. The book was very thought-provoking. I wish it had been longer. I would have liked to have the occult stuff explored more, especially Sarah and Josephine' s apparent abilities. I still don't understand the obsession with taxidermy. And I want more explanation of the mortality rate of the family females.
This book isn't really a romance, or a murder mystery, it is somewhat of a light mixture of the two with just a tantalizing (and frustrating) sprinkling of the paranormal. I was a little disappointed in the romance department, even as I loved the mystery and was pleased with the reveals and outcome. The Hero is delicious, but I kept expecting to have him turn into a Killer Whale but he never did - which for me was kind of a let-down, I wanted to see if the author could pull it off even as I dreaded her not being able to. He also didn't convince me he actually fell in love with the heroine. He definitely convinced me that he had fallen in lust with her, every male in the house wanted her, but I personally did not see romance in their interactions. The author does a great job with the mystery, although the ending was a bit of a cop-out. I wish the hero had played more of a role there, coming in at the right moment, perhaps accidentally shooting the villain or he could have turned into a Killer Whale and ate the villain *snicker* that would have been great. :)
Probably my biggest complaint, aside from the unromantic romance portion, is that the family affinity with Killer Whales was not explored more. That was what drew me in to the story in the first place. Coupled with the occult stuff I was half expecting an ocean take on a shifter story, which would have been interesting, but the story does not go there. Perhaps for the best given the rest of the plot, but I would like to see some kind of explanation - Indian heritage spirit companion that is passed down through the generations or something. Oh, and that's the other thing, the family has Native American/Canadian people in their blood, according to Jules, but that intriguing information was never explored. I think the author missed there. Indian heritage is a trope used too much, and in most cases very poorly, to explain obscure paranormal activity but in this case it was name dropped and then forgotten. The author had a chance to use that with the Killer Whale stuff to make for a really neat paranormal caveat to the murder mystery plot, but she didn't go there either.
Lastly, aside from the excellent mystery portion, the absolute best aspect of the novel is the Regency undertone woven throughout the book. Masterfully done. The Hero walked right out of a Regency Romance; wish there had been more of him! The heroine is definitely the gorgeous governess/companion who arrives to heal the dark family secret. Josephine is the troubled heiress while Sarah is the poor illegitimate family member who is reluctantly brought within the fold but never formally acknowledged. Even the plot behind the murder mystery is Regency - inheritance and who controls all the money. There is a Dowager and her faded companion, the dying patriarch holding onto the family purse strings even on his deathbed, a shameless rake, and the scheming female relation who is basically Caroline Bingley. So good! The family dynamic alone could have entertained me for hours, even without the Orca metaphor.
This novel had so much potential, so much going on under the surface, it seems just a tad unfinished to me. I would love for the author to go back and expand on the Killer Whale theme, the Regency undertone, the Indian heritage, and the Occult aspect. Or, she could write a sequel. And explain everything there. That would be fine too. Overall, this book was great. I wish there had been more of it. A lot more. Very very highly recommended for everyone!
Displaying 1 of 1 review