The Dark Stone

by Mark R. Faulkner

He thought it was all God’s plan… He was wrong.

In a city decimated by plague, a young boy is forced to fend for himself. After a long, hard winter he’s rescued by a band of monks, leaving his only friend alone in the ruins.

For a while life is good and his hardships a fading memory until, some two years later his new home is raided and the inhabitants slaughtered. During the attack he takes refuge in the catacombs which run deep beneath the monastery, where he discovers a mysterious black stone.

The stone bestows him with powers beyond his wildest dreams, but there’s a high price to pay for power and his discovery harbours a dark side… A very dark side.

Genres: Horror

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2013

About the author

Mark is a British horror author, who in 2011, published Flux. This was rapidly followed up by The Dark Stone, and the novella, Infested.

Picker's Bleed was published in September 2021.

Reviews

[Flora Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this read for an honest review.


The Dark Stone is definitely a dark read. We meet Sam as his village is being ravaged by the plague and his family is decimated. Alone and in need of help he ventures into the village and comes across another that has been left alive. Joshua teems up with Sam as they learn to survive til Sam is rescued by Monks and Joshua is left behind. Sam finds the dark stone and only later realizes its powers.

The Dark Stone is told from Sam's perspective. We feel his anger and sadness as his family dies and then later when those he come to love are taken from him. Later when he loses his essence to the dark stone it was sad to see the changes in him and know all that he gave up to the darkness.

I love the flow of the story as we see Sam grow up and go thru so much turmoil. The story is both dark and punctuated with glimpses of hope. The ending is both expected and not expected as different aspects come together. If you love a dark and tortured world, then this is the read for you.

[Kath Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Sam who was a survivor of a terrible plague which killed all his family and almost everyone in his small town. He was befriended by another young boy, Joshua and eventually taken away by a group of monks with whom he found a happy and peaceful life. A couple of years later the monastery was sacked and Sam was the only survivor. As he escaped, he took a dark stone with him, which gradually but inexorably altered his behaviour.

The writing is fluent and descriptive and I loved the away the story flowed. The author is able to describe both beauty and horror and to evoke both disgust and pity. This is sensitive horror. I felt for Sam as he had to cope with the death of all those he loved, and later as he found his own actions were beyond his control. I felt his anguish as he lost his innocence and fell prey to the power of The Dark Stone. A great story with its own built-in horror.

[Joo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this story without the first idea of what it's about. Mark Faulkner is one of the authors that I will read their book, whatever it is.

This story was about a young boy in ye olden times who loses his family to the plague and has to survive on his own wits.

This is a gory story at times, what with dying of the plague and dying of being chopped to death and it's not a happy story at all. The author sets the scenes so well I was feeling cold and wet most of the time.

This is yet another good book by this author, very enjoyable indeed.