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Beneath the Boards
by
Alternative cover edition of ASIN B00T55085S
Beneath Jim Stokes’s shirt is a scar, one last horrific reminder of his old job in the police force.
Beneath the everyday normality of the village Stormark is a shameful secret, haunting people’s dreams.
Beneath the floorboards of the lake house is a hatch, sealed and forgotten for years until Stokes opens it up.
Beneath them all ...more
Beneath Jim Stokes’s shirt is a scar, one last horrific reminder of his old job in the police force.
Beneath the everyday normality of the village Stormark is a shameful secret, haunting people’s dreams.
Beneath the floorboards of the lake house is a hatch, sealed and forgotten for years until Stokes opens it up.
Beneath them all ...more
Kindle Edition, 224 pages
Published
April 2015
(first published February 2015)
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Start your review of Beneath the Boards
Chilling, sad, terrifying and brilliant. Straight into my Top 18 Reads of 2018. Skipping the long and the short list.
David Haynes, you have a new super fan. Wow. This book just rocked my world. So unique and I turned pages like a feverish, desperate..book reviewer. Read this at night. Perfect.
This book is freaking awesome!
This book starts with an easy to grasp plot and it's good. Then David pulls you into his imaginary world, one so dark yet powerfully emotional I'll never forget this book.
An ...more
David Haynes, you have a new super fan. Wow. This book just rocked my world. So unique and I turned pages like a feverish, desperate..book reviewer. Read this at night. Perfect.
This book is freaking awesome!
This book starts with an easy to grasp plot and it's good. Then David pulls you into his imaginary world, one so dark yet powerfully emotional I'll never forget this book.
An ...more
Feb 13, 2015
Kate
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
zreading-challenge-2015
I received an ecopy of this book from the author, it was provided with no expectations of a review. I have read this book and offer my honest opinion of it's content.
After a horrific incident that ended his police career, Jim Stokes decided to move away to a quieter town, renovate a property in his retirement and try to piece his fragile psyche back together. The town of Stormark however has several secrets that are going to be revealed, particularly to do with the house that Jim now owns and ...more
After a horrific incident that ended his police career, Jim Stokes decided to move away to a quieter town, renovate a property in his retirement and try to piece his fragile psyche back together. The town of Stormark however has several secrets that are going to be revealed, particularly to do with the house that Jim now owns and ...more
This was a very good read! Kept my attention and pulled me into the storyline. Has some creepy aspects and kept me entertained all the way through to the end.
David Haynes is the master of the macabre, but this time his scary story is set in the present. Jim is recovering from a violent attack, but his problems are just starting.
If I could have read this from behind a cushion, I'm sure I would have. I found this to be a very creepy story. As I spiralled into Jim's madness, I felt myself physically tensing up, only relaxing my shoulders at the end of a chapter. David Haynes writes his stories effectively without too much waffle, yet building up all the ...more
If I could have read this from behind a cushion, I'm sure I would have. I found this to be a very creepy story. As I spiralled into Jim's madness, I felt myself physically tensing up, only relaxing my shoulders at the end of a chapter. David Haynes writes his stories effectively without too much waffle, yet building up all the ...more
I should confess that I'm a bit of a fan boy for this author's work. Ever since reading his collection of Victorian era horror 'The Ballet of the Bones' I've been hooked onto his work. In my opinion he's one of the finest indie horror authors out there. His other genre titles are also damn fine reads. So it's with some excitement that I read his latest work.
In short his latest book is amazing. In an ideal world that would be enough for you to immediately download the book and discover how good ...more
In short his latest book is amazing. In an ideal world that would be enough for you to immediately download the book and discover how good ...more
In "Beneath the Boards", Haynes begins with the tried and true theme of the recovering victim of a tragedy in an idyllic setting, removed from the pains that brought him to a point of no return. There are early glimpses that all is not well in this paradise. A scene on the shore of the lake, an out of place hallucination, a disembodied voice all serve to keep the reader off balance, afraid of what must be around the next literary corner.
Then, about mid-way through the book, Haynes lets loose...
4 ...more
Then, about mid-way through the book, Haynes lets loose...
4 ...more
David Haynes leaves behind Victorian horror for a modern setting. Jim Stokes leaves behind a broken marriage and a bloody trauma and restarts his life in a secluded house.
The book starts slowly with just the right amount of intrigue before Haynes ramps up the action. The sheer genius of this tale is that gruesome horror, PTSD-influenced hallucinations and the supernatural collide so you never know quite what’s real. It’s all deeply unsettling, sometimes horrifying and leaves you with an aching ...more
The book starts slowly with just the right amount of intrigue before Haynes ramps up the action. The sheer genius of this tale is that gruesome horror, PTSD-influenced hallucinations and the supernatural collide so you never know quite what’s real. It’s all deeply unsettling, sometimes horrifying and leaves you with an aching ...more
Ever since I read Graham Masterton’s Charnel House in my early teens I have been reading horror on and off (that will be over 35 years then). In that time, I feel I have read all kinds of horror and that there is nothing new to offer the world of horror. In a word (or few words then): it’s all been done before. I read modern horror writers from time to time, but a lot of these books seem tired and written by Stephen King or James Herbert wannabees. The YA horror scene is pretty good, with the
...more
I’ve read and enjoyed the horror/ghost stories by this author that are set in Victorian times. This one is set in current times and the impact is all the greater because of it. The thought that this may all be happening, right now, in a house not far away, makes the horror more intensely disturbing.
A young man with a failed marriage behind him has to retire from the police on medical grounds suffering PTSD-driven hallucinations after receiving serious injuries. He tries to start a new life by ...more
A young man with a failed marriage behind him has to retire from the police on medical grounds suffering PTSD-driven hallucinations after receiving serious injuries. He tries to start a new life by ...more
Review for Beneath the Boards
5-stars. Highly recommended.
I looked forward to reading this for a long time, and when I finally got around to it I wasn’t disappointed. Quite simply, this has one of the best opening chapters I’ve ever read. For its duration I was convinced we were heading into a thriller but David was luring me in. The book swiftly becomes a cross between a psychological thriller and a horror – and it wouldn’t be out of place in either genre.
As always, David’s writing is easy on ...more
5-stars. Highly recommended.
I looked forward to reading this for a long time, and when I finally got around to it I wasn’t disappointed. Quite simply, this has one of the best opening chapters I’ve ever read. For its duration I was convinced we were heading into a thriller but David was luring me in. The book swiftly becomes a cross between a psychological thriller and a horror – and it wouldn’t be out of place in either genre.
As always, David’s writing is easy on ...more
I really enjoyed this read, often I get disappointed with horror stories, but not in this case!
Nice build up, and spooky atmosphere - I would definitely recommend if you like the genre!
Nice build up, and spooky atmosphere - I would definitely recommend if you like the genre!
Some kind of crazy!!
Really good book, an ex copper with a dwindling thread on reality, secrets and lies.
What is and what isn't real, who knows??
Eerie and dark, dive into the depths of the human or not so human mind... " scretch, scretch scretch.....
Really good book, an ex copper with a dwindling thread on reality, secrets and lies.
What is and what isn't real, who knows??
Eerie and dark, dive into the depths of the human or not so human mind... " scretch, scretch scretch.....
Following a terrible incident that ends his career as a police officer, Jim Stokes takes the decision to uproot and move towns, with the hopes a different locale will help him overcome his traumas.
This is the first book I have read by David Haynes. It was very well written, although the first half had some pacing problems as new characters were introduced. The latter part of the story was excellent, although it was very bleak and probably a darker story than I'd expected.
I will definitely read ...more
This is the first book I have read by David Haynes. It was very well written, although the first half had some pacing problems as new characters were introduced. The latter part of the story was excellent, although it was very bleak and probably a darker story than I'd expected.
I will definitely read ...more
It was brilliantly written but sadly I wasn't frightened by the plot. It had its moments of eerie suspense but for me it was lacking something. Not a bad book though, I'd give more novels by Haynes a try for sure.
Definitely not for the faint of heart. I found the story both fascinating and disturbing. Madness isn't something simple to describe, but David Haynes makes it visceral.
i actually adored this book. i bought it from
amazon as it popped up in my recommended books and i needed to make my order up by 4 to get free delivery ...more
amazon as it popped up in my recommended books and i needed to make my order up by 4 to get free delivery ...more
great story but I only wish it was longer.
Really good, creepy horror.
Dark, disturbing and thoroughly gripping. Beneath the Boards is one of those books you just can't put down until you reach the terrifying conclusion. Highly recommended.
Good read
Took a while to get into this book but glad I kept with it. A good book for people who like ghosts stories
Took a while to get into this book but glad I kept with it. A good book for people who like ghosts stories
Jan 17, 2016
Donna Naylor
added it
This book was brilliant from beginning to end. I think it would make am amazing and spooky film. Highly recommend.
A well-structured and hauntingly sinister tale.
The book started out really good, fast paced, intense & a decent enough background into lead male character; I wasn't viewing this as horror at first, although the cover for book was pretty unsettling.. (Kindle version); the book is disturbing as it becomes clear that Jim Stokes suffers from PTSD (& who could blame him?); creepy town, the solitude of the cottage, the secret hatch in the floor..all perfect innuendos for horror.
Then the reader starts to realize that maybe everything Jim's ...more
Then the reader starts to realize that maybe everything Jim's ...more
Jun 21, 2018
Gareth
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
psychological
Wow
It's hard to explain this book! There's no hero, no happy ending, it doesn't follow normal "procedures". After attempting to read a number of different horror stories I was getting worried that the genre was getting diluted with modern rubbish where nothing was scary and didn't make sense. This book brought it all back together for me though.
I don't want to spoil the story for you but it's a very good take about a man's slow decent into madness coupled with murder and kidnapping. If you're ...more
It's hard to explain this book! There's no hero, no happy ending, it doesn't follow normal "procedures". After attempting to read a number of different horror stories I was getting worried that the genre was getting diluted with modern rubbish where nothing was scary and didn't make sense. This book brought it all back together for me though.
I don't want to spoil the story for you but it's a very good take about a man's slow decent into madness coupled with murder and kidnapping. If you're ...more
Jim Stokes is a retired police officer, still recovering from the violent attack that ended his career. He buys a cottage on the lake and begins renovations. Finding a trap door in the floor leading to a cave-like room beneath his house is the start of his descent into madness.
The story is paced well enough, though I found myself starting to skim from the 65 percent mark or so. Though a ghost story, the scary part for me was the realization of what our overtaxed mind might be able to do to us. ...more
The story is paced well enough, though I found myself starting to skim from the 65 percent mark or so. Though a ghost story, the scary part for me was the realization of what our overtaxed mind might be able to do to us. ...more
Excellent read
A very enjoyable book. I loved the twists and turns and how things progressed with jim. Then the move to the village was like another story as it progressed with the finding of the cellar and everything that happens. It kept me gripped from start to finish. So much so I read throughout the night going to bed starting g the book to when I finished looking up it was morning so yes a definite must read.
A very enjoyable book. I loved the twists and turns and how things progressed with jim. Then the move to the village was like another story as it progressed with the finding of the cellar and everything that happens. It kept me gripped from start to finish. So much so I read throughout the night going to bed starting g the book to when I finished looking up it was morning so yes a definite must read.
This is a great horror/thriller story. A screenplay is needed to get this on the silver screen. The protagonist character is well portrayed and the storyline doesn't waver around for a plot. Nicely done David!
Would definitely recommend. Great read, would mske sn awesome movie.
I've previously enjoyed and reviewed David Haynes' Victorian era horror stories, much I think because, although always intriguing and atmospheric they haven't been too, well horrific! So I bought this one with some trepidation as reviews suggested that this was going to be proper horror. Don't get me wrong, I like to be given the heebie-jeebies every now and then, but I also like to walk around my garden at night, without my imagination conjuring too many demons.
Set in the present day, Beneath ...more
Set in the present day, Beneath ...more
I’ve read and enjoyed the Victorian horror stories by David Haynes but this is the first set entirely in the present day. Perhaps because of that, I found it more intense, more creepy, because it seemed closer to the modern life I recognise. Jim Stokes is a policeman who takes early retirement on medical grounds because he was stabbed in the line of duty. After suffering flashbacks and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he buys a cottage by a lake in a remote area with a view
...more
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Readers also enjoyed
David Haynes is a horror fan and has been since he picked up a copy of Salem's Lot by Stephen King.
He loves reading books in the horror genre as well as in other genres but he always comes back to horror.
He writes books in the genre he loves and he hopes the readers enjoy them as much as he enjoyed writing them.
He lives in the UK with his wife, son and dog.
He loves reading books in the horror genre as well as in other genres but he always comes back to horror.
He writes books in the genre he loves and he hopes the readers enjoy them as much as he enjoyed writing them.
He lives in the UK with his wife, son and dog.
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