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Supernature #1
Shot Through The Heart
Mark Campbell, historian and author, is desperate to finish his new book on the infamous Highland Clearances when his researcher mysteriously disappears. Abandoning his depressed wife and new baby, Mark rushes to a remote Scottish village to investigate.
But when he gets there, all is not what it seems. Who is the attractive landowner, Lady Elizabeth Ruthven, and why is she housebound on a remote loch island? Why are wild dogs hunting him? What really happened to the researcher?
Mark's investigation is soon overwhelmed by a series of unnerving events, plunging him into a nightmare of vampires and devil worship. Can he make it back home to his family in one piece?
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART is a thrill-ride adventure set in the Scottish Highlands, cleverly weaving the supernatural with history. It will grip you right through to its shocking conclusion.
Book one of the SUPERNATURE series.
But when he gets there, all is not what it seems. Who is the attractive landowner, Lady Elizabeth Ruthven, and why is she housebound on a remote loch island? Why are wild dogs hunting him? What really happened to the researcher?
Mark's investigation is soon overwhelmed by a series of unnerving events, plunging him into a nightmare of vampires and devil worship. Can he make it back home to his family in one piece?
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART is a thrill-ride adventure set in the Scottish Highlands, cleverly weaving the supernatural with history. It will grip you right through to its shocking conclusion.
Book one of the SUPERNATURE series.
- GenresFictionFantasyParanormal
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 2, 2013
8 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 12, 2013
Ed James will be better known to his readers for the (quite excellent) Cullen books, a series of detective stories set in and around Edinburgh.
This latest from him moves him firmly into supernatural/ Hammer House of Horror territory - and, boy, has he done it well.
The story revolves around Mark Campbell who is writing a book on 'The Clearences' - not a good time in Scotlands history. Having a wife and new baby Mark uses an assistant to do some of his research but gets a call to say she is missing.
Mark goes up to the village of Ruthven to search for her but (as you may expect) all is not as it seems. Some of the villagers will talk to him, some won't, but there are certainly 'things afoot' in the Highlands of Scotland.
I do not want to give too much away so all I will say is, the book is very atmospheric and ramps up a lot of the tension by suggestion rather than blood and guts on every page. We see a man slowly seeming to fall slowly apart as he tries to come to terms with what is happening both to him and around him.
As I mentioned earlier, very much in the Hammer vein but also rather reminiscent of mid career James Herbert (when I felt he did his best work)
4 and 1/2 stars
This latest from him moves him firmly into supernatural/ Hammer House of Horror territory - and, boy, has he done it well.
The story revolves around Mark Campbell who is writing a book on 'The Clearences' - not a good time in Scotlands history. Having a wife and new baby Mark uses an assistant to do some of his research but gets a call to say she is missing.
Mark goes up to the village of Ruthven to search for her but (as you may expect) all is not as it seems. Some of the villagers will talk to him, some won't, but there are certainly 'things afoot' in the Highlands of Scotland.
I do not want to give too much away so all I will say is, the book is very atmospheric and ramps up a lot of the tension by suggestion rather than blood and guts on every page. We see a man slowly seeming to fall slowly apart as he tries to come to terms with what is happening both to him and around him.
As I mentioned earlier, very much in the Hammer vein but also rather reminiscent of mid career James Herbert (when I felt he did his best work)
4 and 1/2 stars
July 29, 2014
wow.... OMG!
I have a little confession to make – I almost didn't read this book.
I mean, I liked the title, and I liked the cover (I have the kindle format). So I started reading it, and it was interesting enough in the first couple of pages, and then...
...and then it was a werewolf book.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good paranormal book. The thing is, most paranormal out there tends to be a bit fluffy. And I don't do fluffy.
I hate angsty teen-aged (or teen/tween looking) sparkly vampire/werewolf just pinning for a perfect companion/lover things. Definitely not my cup of tea!
Nay, my vampires are demons. Period. Bad things. Not human. (yea, there were werewolves too, blissfully not the 'Underworld' variety either... ZZTop was a nice touch...)
So, I thought to myself – now what? I decided to give it a try, read a couple more chapters before deciding to ignore it.
Good thing I did read the next couple of chapters! I was pleased to see no fluff coming in; the prose and plot were good and solid and a somewhat good tribute to Stoker's book (and I do love Dracula - the Stoker book, not Mr Coppola's film)
Never a dull chapter too. And while I was right about the slayer's real identity, I did not see how nor where the whole thing was going...
I totally recommend this!
I have a little confession to make – I almost didn't read this book.
I mean, I liked the title, and I liked the cover (I have the kindle format). So I started reading it, and it was interesting enough in the first couple of pages, and then...
...and then it was a werewolf book.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good paranormal book. The thing is, most paranormal out there tends to be a bit fluffy. And I don't do fluffy.
I hate angsty teen-aged (or teen/tween looking) sparkly vampire/werewolf just pinning for a perfect companion/lover things. Definitely not my cup of tea!
Nay, my vampires are demons. Period. Bad things. Not human. (yea, there were werewolves too, blissfully not the 'Underworld' variety either... ZZTop was a nice touch...)
So, I thought to myself – now what? I decided to give it a try, read a couple more chapters before deciding to ignore it.
Good thing I did read the next couple of chapters! I was pleased to see no fluff coming in; the prose and plot were good and solid and a somewhat good tribute to Stoker's book (and I do love Dracula - the Stoker book, not Mr Coppola's film)
Never a dull chapter too. And while I was right about the slayer's real identity, I did not see how nor where the whole thing was going...
I totally recommend this!
August 14, 2014
I am sure that there will be some readers who have picked up this book because of the author's excellent Edinburgh based police procedural series Scott Cullen. I must confess it took me a little while to get my head properly into Shot Through The Heart but when I did I came to understand that it was actually refreshingly different approach to a majority of others in the horror genre. Anyone who struggles with the opening chapters I counsel to persevere as the tale twists and the pace accelerates towards the latter pages.
I will be buying the next book having reveled in the vaguely Hammer House of Horror feel to this first in the Supernature series. It is difficult to say much about the book with dropping in a spoiler or two so I will simply add that this was a good read that didn't require much by way of suspension of disbelief to enjoy.
I will be buying the next book having reveled in the vaguely Hammer House of Horror feel to this first in the Supernature series. It is difficult to say much about the book with dropping in a spoiler or two so I will simply add that this was a good read that didn't require much by way of suspension of disbelief to enjoy.
November 12, 2013
Excellent novel, great story and well written, good characters, which hopefully will grow in the second instalment. Looking forward to the second novel, there are some unanswered questions that were set up in the first, and some characters you want to know more about.
If you're expecting a Cullen novel you may be disappointed, but if you come with an open mind you'll really enjoy it.
If you're expecting a Cullen novel you may be disappointed, but if you come with an open mind you'll really enjoy it.
June 22, 2015
Although I'm not usually a fan of vampires, I really enjoyed this story. The locales are vivid, the characters avoid falling into a stereotype and although some of the action was somewhat predictable, it didn't detract from the story at all. Overall a good, fun read. I'm a fan of the author's Cullen series and will be looking forward to further books in this series as well.
July 2, 2014
I thought that this book was a fantastic read. Later in the book I felt sorry for Mark about John. I thought that it has some amazing twists and turns and would love to read it again sometime in the future.
June 11, 2014
Good book but enjoyed the Cullen series more! Worth a read though
June 21, 2014
I loved this book, couldn't put it down. So well written and exciting too. plus its set in Scotland, so I recognised places and descriptions. This author has a new fan!!
July 17, 2014
Another freebie I thought I'd try - another one I can understand why they're giving away. Awful flat characters, no fleshing out of backstories...I don't feel sorry for any of them. The main character from the start sounds like he's got fairly low standards and morals for being a 'respectable PhD' and it just gets worse! Crude language, grown men acting like teenage boys, no decent plot line and just when it starts getting interesting as a mystery it suddenly turns into a ridiculously unbelieveable version of vampires vs werewolves. Complete waste of time; only finished it in the hope the writing style would grow up but it read from start to finish like a bad fanfic. Sorry, but there are plenty of fantastically well written supernatural novels out there, and you should be starting with 'Frankenstein' and 'Ligeia'.
August 28, 2017
A massive departure to the author's normal oeuvre, being a supernatural thriller set in the highlands, rather than a police procedural set in Edinburgh/East Lothian.
The premise for the book is genius, the highland clearances being caused by werewolf Lairds driving off the people. The telling of the story is also good, a good setup for why the main character finds himself in the highlands on a research trip and starts to explore the local history.
The telling of the story was a variation on the normal for this genre, being very much a paranormal thriller told by a crime writer. Hence there was a lot less cliché in the suspense and suspicion of weird happenings and events had a much clearer link to a lot of similar books.
Overall, an excellent read.
The premise for the book is genius, the highland clearances being caused by werewolf Lairds driving off the people. The telling of the story is also good, a good setup for why the main character finds himself in the highlands on a research trip and starts to explore the local history.
The telling of the story was a variation on the normal for this genre, being very much a paranormal thriller told by a crime writer. Hence there was a lot less cliché in the suspense and suspicion of weird happenings and events had a much clearer link to a lot of similar books.
Overall, an excellent read.
May 16, 2015
Vampire und Werwölfe sind eigentlich "not my cup of tea", diese Story ist jedoch subtil genug, um mich nicht zu nerven. Naja. Bis auf das Ende. Das ist dann doch eher schlichtes Shlash Movie. Der Protagonist war mir sehr unsympathisch. Das ständige Saufen wider besseres Wissen fand ich abstoßend. Fast noch schlimmer war das nervige Gejammer über die Mühen seiner schriftstellerischen Arbeit. Unzählige Male wurden die "word counts" erwähnt, derart langweilige innere Monologe gibt es sonst nur in typischen Frauenbüchern. Hat mir das Buch verdorben.
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April 27, 2022I'm honestly surprised that I managed to finish this novel. It was a slow and tiresome read from start to finish, and the main character was a moaning bore, but the thing that kept me reading was the misplaced belief that it would get better as soon as he discovered the supernatural link to the goings on around him. If anything when we reached that part the story got infinitely worse and unbelievable. I'm only even rating it a two star because I made it to the end.
May 23, 2014
Sorry, I really did try to enjoy this book but it seemed so ponderous & then finished with a ludicrous finale. There was a comment added by the author thanking his editor for removing a large number of superfluous words - in my opinion there were still a lot left that were unnecessary.
I think Mr James should stick to police thrillers, a genre of which he is certainly a master.
I think Mr James should stick to police thrillers, a genre of which he is certainly a master.
November 29, 2014
Loved it!
I really liked the different way the characters were used in this thriller. It added a personal side to even the evildoers. Can't wait for the next book, Walking the dead.
I really liked the different way the characters were used in this thriller. It added a personal side to even the evildoers. Can't wait for the next book, Walking the dead.
March 23, 2014
The lead character was a nerd and the fighting with vampires was unbelievable.
March 21, 2015
Yeah ..Good start ..looking forward to the next one
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews