What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Island
“I don't always compare authors works… But at a certain point I kept thinking… Stephen king… That's all I'm going to say!!!”
“I cannot say enough good things about this book… I was hooked on the story from the beginning.”
A new island holiday resort opens. Within days, two families are dead. No wounds, no illness, their faces frozen in terror. What horror did they see in their last moments? Was it enough to frighten them to death?
Tom has worked the mediterranean holiday resorts for years. Barman, kitchen hand, waiter. Always moving, always one step ahead of his past. The job at Milera Island Resort, a new five star hotel, is too good to be true. Accommodation, good pay, easy work. What could go wrong?
A few days after the grand opening the resort is thrown into chaos. Two famlies are found dead. No marks on their bodies, no obvious injuries, no apparent cause of death. Their faces, however, are frozen masks of terror.
Panic takes the island, evacuation begins, but how long do they have? Tom begins to suffer strange hallucinations and terrifying dreams, more unexplainable deaths occur, and as the chaos deepens Tom becomes aware of a dark presence descending from the woods.
Can Tom find a way for everyone to escape before the darkness takes them? Is his past entwined with the growing madness? Who, or what, is the killer amongst them?
Dark Island is a thrilling horror novel from the writer of the Surviving the Fall series. Expect chills that will keep you up at night...
“I cannot say enough good things about this book… I was hooked on the story from the beginning.”
A new island holiday resort opens. Within days, two families are dead. No wounds, no illness, their faces frozen in terror. What horror did they see in their last moments? Was it enough to frighten them to death?
Tom has worked the mediterranean holiday resorts for years. Barman, kitchen hand, waiter. Always moving, always one step ahead of his past. The job at Milera Island Resort, a new five star hotel, is too good to be true. Accommodation, good pay, easy work. What could go wrong?
A few days after the grand opening the resort is thrown into chaos. Two famlies are found dead. No marks on their bodies, no obvious injuries, no apparent cause of death. Their faces, however, are frozen masks of terror.
Panic takes the island, evacuation begins, but how long do they have? Tom begins to suffer strange hallucinations and terrifying dreams, more unexplainable deaths occur, and as the chaos deepens Tom becomes aware of a dark presence descending from the woods.
Can Tom find a way for everyone to escape before the darkness takes them? Is his past entwined with the growing madness? Who, or what, is the killer amongst them?
Dark Island is a thrilling horror novel from the writer of the Surviving the Fall series. Expect chills that will keep you up at night...
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 15, 2019
209 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Cross
33 books15 followersStephen Cross lives in the North of England with his family.
In the event of the apocalypse he is in close proximity to the Peak District, and has his bug-out bag primed and ready.
A very sparse blog can be found here : https://stephencrossauthor.wordpress.com
And twitter, of course: https://twitter.com/SCrossAuthor
In the event of the apocalypse he is in close proximity to the Peak District, and has his bug-out bag primed and ready.
A very sparse blog can be found here : https://stephencrossauthor.wordpress.com
And twitter, of course: https://twitter.com/SCrossAuthor
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 23, 2019
I
cannot say enough good things about this book. It's nicely written. And I was hooked on the story from the beginning. I got attached to the characters really fast.
So a hotel opens on a private island. Then people die. You've got some crew left behind, and they try to make their way off the island. Meanwhile, they're being hunted by a crazy boss and some soldiers.
The story actually ended up making sense. It's one of those books that I wished didn't end.
cannot say enough good things about this book. It's nicely written. And I was hooked on the story from the beginning. I got attached to the characters really fast.
So a hotel opens on a private island. Then people die. You've got some crew left behind, and they try to make their way off the island. Meanwhile, they're being hunted by a crazy boss and some soldiers.
The story actually ended up making sense. It's one of those books that I wished didn't end.
November 20, 2019
Surprisingly Good
I know what I was expecting, but this was so different and so much better! This is not your everyday run of the mill haunted island! I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysterious and isolated islands and the people who are visiting.
Good read. 4 stars
I know what I was expecting, but this was so different and so much better! This is not your everyday run of the mill haunted island! I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysterious and isolated islands and the people who are visiting.
Good read. 4 stars
October 24, 2025
(Having read some of the other reviews here I seem to be in a minority, but that is the way of things)
On a remote island a new hotel is having its grand opening, the staff are happy, the guests are relaxed and the manager is stressing himself out. Then, disaster, bodies found among the island and hotel, all with looks of terror engraved on their faces. A darkness creeps across Milera, will anyone survive it all in one piece?
This book was something I picked up because the idea of horror in hot climates and full of tourists is right up my alley, I love the subversion of expectation. I wanted to love this book, I really did.
The characters here were somewhat one-dimensional, the two male MC's resorting to teenage grumps whenever something wasn't quite the way they wanted; the female MC's being the epitome of damsel in distress (quite literally needing carried at times). The horror scenes were quite eerie when they popped up, which was unfortunately rare. There were noticeable spelling and grammatical errors throughout (I believe I counted 8, but I also stopped counting).
Worst, though, was the disjointed nature of the story. We'd be happily strolling along with one plot when, suddenly, we were elsewhere on Earth (and often time). These did not feel like natural breaks in the story, instead it came across as two separate ideas which had been squashed into one novel. Both stories were good, but together they just didn't work.
A real shame for this one.
On a remote island a new hotel is having its grand opening, the staff are happy, the guests are relaxed and the manager is stressing himself out. Then, disaster, bodies found among the island and hotel, all with looks of terror engraved on their faces. A darkness creeps across Milera, will anyone survive it all in one piece?
This book was something I picked up because the idea of horror in hot climates and full of tourists is right up my alley, I love the subversion of expectation. I wanted to love this book, I really did.
The characters here were somewhat one-dimensional, the two male MC's resorting to teenage grumps whenever something wasn't quite the way they wanted; the female MC's being the epitome of damsel in distress (quite literally needing carried at times). The horror scenes were quite eerie when they popped up, which was unfortunately rare. There were noticeable spelling and grammatical errors throughout (I believe I counted 8, but I also stopped counting).
Worst, though, was the disjointed nature of the story. We'd be happily strolling along with one plot when, suddenly, we were elsewhere on Earth (and often time). These did not feel like natural breaks in the story, instead it came across as two separate ideas which had been squashed into one novel. Both stories were good, but together they just didn't work.
A real shame for this one.
July 12, 2022
Full of twists
I picked this read up from Amazon's recommended thinking it was going to be a extreme horror. But found it to be not that kind of read. I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was it different from my usual, it was a horror of a different kind. Packed with adventure, and endearing protection of a father of a daughter, from the government. To finding qualities and gifts within the child as she grew. But things began to alter when a hotel was built and incidents involving the guests began to happen. Workers at the hotel began to notice things and some started to have nightmares and feel things that wasn't altogether correct. In total this book was packed full of twists excitement, dread, pursuit, horror and adventure, that you found yourself immersed into their world. The characters were all amazing and you could envision them easily. A brilliant read thoroughly enjoyed. Definitely recommend
I picked this read up from Amazon's recommended thinking it was going to be a extreme horror. But found it to be not that kind of read. I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was it different from my usual, it was a horror of a different kind. Packed with adventure, and endearing protection of a father of a daughter, from the government. To finding qualities and gifts within the child as she grew. But things began to alter when a hotel was built and incidents involving the guests began to happen. Workers at the hotel began to notice things and some started to have nightmares and feel things that wasn't altogether correct. In total this book was packed full of twists excitement, dread, pursuit, horror and adventure, that you found yourself immersed into their world. The characters were all amazing and you could envision them easily. A brilliant read thoroughly enjoyed. Definitely recommend
July 15, 2023
Unusually scary!!!!
they are Being chased through the jungle by an ABOMINATION!!! The dead all wear permanent expressions of having seen the face of Pure evil, frozen on their faces!! just those two sentences trigger my fight or flight response Lol!!!!
Very scary moments, great characters!!! I wish it was longer to flesh out more of the characters back stories . GREAT ENDING. very exciting!
they are Being chased through the jungle by an ABOMINATION!!! The dead all wear permanent expressions of having seen the face of Pure evil, frozen on their faces!! just those two sentences trigger my fight or flight response Lol!!!!
Very scary moments, great characters!!! I wish it was longer to flesh out more of the characters back stories . GREAT ENDING. very exciting!
October 2, 2020
5 stars for the story, I really loved it, it got me hooked and I was sorry when it ended. But I had to downgrade the rating for the grammar, spelling mistakes and wrong words used. Also some inconsistencies in the story. A good editor/proofreader would have been beneficial.
May 13, 2023
Intense
This book was not what I expected. Instead of a quick and dirty creature feature it had complicated characters, good guys and bad guys, an unexpected protagonist. I loved the island hotel, the windswept beaches, the isolation. Puck was cute.
This book was not what I expected. Instead of a quick and dirty creature feature it had complicated characters, good guys and bad guys, an unexpected protagonist. I loved the island hotel, the windswept beaches, the isolation. Puck was cute.
July 18, 2020
King rides again
There is so much in this book that reminds me of kings writings the narrative keep in moving the descriptions. K
There is so much in this book that reminds me of kings writings the narrative keep in moving the descriptions. K
November 15, 2020
Good book real page turner very clever plot loved it
October 22, 2022
Very good
Dark, twisted and will take you on a journey completely unexpected
Recommended for sure and would definitely read more by this author
Dark, twisted and will take you on a journey completely unexpected
Recommended for sure and would definitely read more by this author
June 7, 2024
Great Read!!
This book was a really good story. I think it would make a great movie! I just wish Tom’s story would have ended him meeting his daughter.
This book was a really good story. I think it would make a great movie! I just wish Tom’s story would have ended him meeting his daughter.
January 27, 2020
I might have given this book four stars but there are so many spelling and wrong word errors that I had to downgrade the book. I think the writing was very interesting but also quite gory, often it seemed, just because the author liked being as gross as he could be. Eyeballs hang out, maggots are eating someone’s infected wounds, people keep getting their heads broken and their brains ooze out of all sorts of places. Sometimes the descriptions did not heighten the story but instead made me laugh. I felt that my little boy was having fun trying to gross me out. Nevertheless, I kept reading because there was never a dull moment on this unfortunate island with some very improbable people. I have never read a book like this and although it is not about zombies, it is as close to one as I will ever get. Since this author seems obsessed with zombies and the apocalypse, two subjects I have zero interest in, I doubt I will ever read another book by this writer. Too bad, because if he chose another subject besides zombies, I might give him another try. And if he could actually get someone to edit his books. I can say that I have never seen so many errors in any published book. I am surprised that Amazon allowed anything like this to be sold on their site. The amount of errors on almost every page should be an embarrassment to the writer and the publisher as it appears to be more of a first draft than a finished work.
November 6, 2019
Couldn't Put It Down!
My first novel of Stephen Cross. I think I've found a new author! Anxious to read others. The characters were very well defined. And the story - excellent!
My first novel of Stephen Cross. I think I've found a new author! Anxious to read others. The characters were very well defined. And the story - excellent!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews