The Colony

The Colony #1

by F.G. Cottam, David Rintoul (Narrator)

For over a century, the mystery of the New Hope Island vanishing has intrigued and tantalized. How did a community of 150 souls disappear and leave no trace behind? As abruptly as the crew of the Mary Celeste, they went missing from their lonely Island in the Hebrides without a single clue as to the nature of their departure; doomed to remain an enigma forever. ...Until media magnate Alexander McIntyre decides to harness his prodigious energy and bottomless wealth in solving the New Hope mystery once and for all. He gathers a crack team of experts, sparing no expense in his pursuit of answers. What they discover is as terrifying as it is inexplicable... Are some mysteries safer left unsolved? F.G. Cottam is the author of five previous novels of paranormal terror including Times Book Club choice and Children of the Night award winner The House of Lost Souls. The Colony is his new chilling masterpiece.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Supernatural, Thriller, Paranormal

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Reading is a cheap and totally effective way of being transported to another world. The same is true of writing. Mundane concerns only afflict your characters if you decide you want them to.
University was where I first thought seriously about fiction; hearing about Hemingway's iceberg theory and Eliot's objective correlative and having the luxury of time to ponder on the mechanics of the novel.
My first writing was journalism and pieces for I-D, Arena and The Face brought me to the attention of mainstream magazine publishers. In the '90's I edited FHM when it still majored on sport and fashion rather than Hollyoaks starlets and weather girls. Then I launch-edited the UK edition of Men's Health magazine and then came to the conclusion that if I didn't try to write some fiction it was never going to happen.
I read all kinds of fiction, but write stories with a paranormal element I think really because history fascinates me and ghosts allow the past to resonate shockingly, scarily and I hope convincingly, into the present.
I got off to an encouraging start but have suffered a few disappointments since then. I wouldn't in honesty want to do anything else, though. If I write a terrible novel it's my fault entirely. If I write a good novel, it's entirely my achievement.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Colony is an intense, spooky thriller centred around the remote, barren New Hope Island, off the coast of Scotland. The island is legendary for the 'disappearance' of 1825, when an entire colony who had settled there, led by former slave master Seamus Ballantyne, vanished - apparently overnight, and without any trace or clue to their fate. Alexander McIntyre, a media mogul and newspaper proprietor, has a long-held fascination with the island, but his interest is re-kindled when he finds an old film, dating from 1934 and recorded by a man who had attempted to settle on the island as a crofter. Inspired by this discovery, he assembles a group of experts - a celebrity psychic, archaelogist and virologist as well as reporters and researchers, a priest and an ex-Army security expert - and sends them to New Hope. The intention is to solve, once and for all, the riddle of the island's past - and in the process boost circulation for McIntyre's flagship newspaper, the Chronicle. The reality of the expedition, however, turns out to be somewhat darker.

This book has an enormous cast of characters, almost too many to name. All of them are intriguing, all of them are flawed and they fall at various points on a scale that ranges from 'extremely likeable' (Lucy Church, Patrick Lassiter) to 'absolutely horrendous' (Karl Cooper in particular), with many shades of grey inbetween. The narrative balances the characterisation well and, to say there are so many people and so many viewpoints involved in this story, I thought it was impressive that none of it ever became confusing. I particularly loved Philip Fortescue's race against time to find Thomas Horan's journal, and the diary extracts themselves, offering a window into the history of the island and the nature of the evil it harbours.

If I had to criticise anything, it would be that I wanted more right at the very end - maybe some flashbacks to the time of the colony itself, or a deeper exploration of the aftermath of the group's visit. I also wasn't sure about the relationships that developed between some of the characters, as I'm not usually keen on 'pairing off' like this, but I think it was actually quite plausible in this context, given the traumatic experience they had shared.

The Colony is a glorious mish-mash of great characters and chilling details - it zips along at a great pace, with cliffhangers galore, and is fantastic entertainment. I've been saying it for years: if you are a fan of ghost stories or anything with a hint of the paranormal, you should read Cottam's books. The ebook of The Colony is only £1.53 for Kindle, which I think makes this worth a try for anyone who's interested.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was a good read! I finally gave in a bought an ereader and this was my first ebook. The story was haunting and uncomfortable, frightening and full of suspense. I loved it. It is the tale of a group of people who, led by ex sea captain Seamus Ballantyne, set up their own religious community on a small Scottish Island called New Hope Island in 1825, they disappear without trace just as if they had not ever been there. Almost two hundred years later a newspaper proprietor decides to take a group of experts in the fields of archaeology, a virologist (Jane Chambers)who also has a psychic gift, an exorcist, ex army security men, and even the obnoxious Karl Cooper, who blames the little green men for the 'disappearance'. There are a couple of people in the group who are well meaning but most of them have egos the size of a house and are only after publicity for themselves.
I notice that none of the other reviews that I have read mention the characters that made the most impression on me, Edith Chambers, daughter of Jane, and the dreadful spectre of Jacob Parr, in his lifetime an unpleasant and sycophantic crew member on Ballantyne's ship. The ghost of Parr is so well described, his is a dirty creature with foul smelling breath, there is about him a strange odour of decay, he has a pigtail which is coated in tar. Parr appears to Edie in her dreams and whilst she is awake and he teaches her a folk song, 'The Recruited Collier' this is to be and important clue in solving of the mystery of New Hope Island.
I do not like the gory, gross type of horror that simply sets out to shock the reader with gruesome eviscerations, this book is not really horror it is more ghost story/terror. And it is the sort of story that lingers with you afterwards, as do all of F.G. Cottam's stories.
I am a lover of traditional folk music and enjoy Kate Rusby, I found myself in the kitchen washing up and humming The Recruited Collier, I have to admit that when I realised what I was singing I did glance over my shoulder half expecting to see Parr in the corner humming along, he wasn't there but I think I caught a glimpse of Cottam smirking and whispering "got you", as he always does with his wonderful books. A true master of the eerie and unsettling.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars--I liked the book. Even though I complained that the book was slow to start, I enjoyed it!

It IS slow to start though. This book follows the same basic structure as the classic Hell House--a group of experts assemble to investigate a haunted location. Except in the case of The Colony, the experts don't arrive on the island until the 58% mark. Also, The Colony has entirely too many characters. I think half of them could have been cut without losing anything.

That said, I liked the historical haunting (and the investigation of the history). The windswept island was spooky, and the found diary added a lot of menace to the story. I'll likely read the other books in the series.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Mr Cottam for another of your specialties...scary stories on the edge of normal but not quite. It's the not quite that I love.

The tale in "The Colony" involves a small community of believers who moved to an island in the Hebrides in the 1800s to live their own beliefs. Eventually they all disappeared with no trace left. And terrible fates awaited those few people who somehow became mixed up in the island's past.

Now there is going to be a modern day assault on the island with an archaeologist, a cosmologist who believes in alien invaders, a psychic, and various others whose jobs it will be to determine once and for all, what happened on New Hope Island.

Cottam builds up the suspense as he builds up the characters and plot, slowly and deliberately, accenting this suspense over gore. He has become one of my favorite authors. I think it's difficult to find good, paranormal/horror fiction. If you like it as much as I do, check out his books.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish that I had read this book in print format rather than listening to it on audiobook. While the narrator was great with giving character in dialogue, he was extremely droll when reading explanatory sections or people's inner dialogue, and there was a lot of that. It spoiled the book for me.

As for the story, it wasn't exactly original. Still, it was interesting and atmospheric.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed to be an intriguing premise for a book, and I found early parts very spooky. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. I read this on the kindle, and the formatting issues are pervasive to the extent that they make the book difficult to read. Add this to the multitude of characters with jump cuts from one to another, and there were times when I became very confused indeed. This is a much-reported issue amongst the Amazon reviews, and with a relatively well-known author I would have hoped that something were done about it by now. I agree with other reviewers who said that too much of the book was spent in the build-up to getting to the island, leading to a rushed, unsatisfying conclusion. Characters were developed, then dropped suddenly with little explanation - the virologist's daughter, for example. And, really, the romantic interludes and conclusions were completely unnecessary, and added nothing to the book. Good idea, poor execution.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 60%.

This is the second book I've tried by F.G. Cottam (the other, The Waiting Room, I even finished), so I think I can safely say that although this author has his fans, his writing is just not for me. The frustrating thing is that the plots sound like exactly the thing that I should love. Take this one, for example, in which a group of experts converge on a haunted island in the Hebrides. I love ghost stories and tales that take place in a creepy isolated setting. I love stories about islands. This book should have been right up my alley.

But I just don't like Cottam's writing style, which I find to be clunky and repetitive, very strong on the "telling" rather than the showing. And it seems that he prefers to write a sort of horror/adventure hybrid instead of a straightforward ghost story, which is not my preference. And I think that the final nail in the DNF coffin was the huge cast of characters, most of whom were cliched and unengaging. I'm not sure if he is recycling some of these characters from book to book, or if he just sticks to certain types, but as I was reading, I kept being reminded of characters I didn't like The Waiting Room: the dishy psychic, the burly priest, the intrepid investigator, and so on. And if there is one type of character who is sure to bore/annoy me, it's the rugged ex-military stereotype, which features strongly in this novel, even sleeping with a bayonet under his pillow.

Honestly, this book wasn't terrible, and I'm still curious about the haunting on the island. But after 60%, it was starting to feel more like a chore than a pleasure to read, and I just have too many other books piled up, waiting for my attention, so I'm abandoning ship.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of The Colony by F. G. Cottam

There is a small pantheon of authors whose books I will read no matter the topic or genre. One of them is F. G. Cottam, who does not have it in him to pen a bad book, nor anything less than sheerly perfect. While Mr. Cottam is peeling his characters down to their bare bones and revealing everything about them we didn’t even imagine to ask, his horror is subtly, on little cat feet like the fog (as a famous poet once told us), creeping up behind us to tap us on one unsuspecting shoulder and deliver a fright that will truly terrify the living daylights out of us. Make that many frights, for in this story the terrors are both unstoppable and non-stop. But unlike some authors, Mr. Cottam doesn’t leave us wallowing in the gulping quicksand of terror; instead, he finds value and hope where none should exist, much like a daisy peeping up in a barren nuclear wasteland.

My only complaint is that Mr. Cottam can’t publish once a month or oftener. My recourse is to read all he has published, and then to reread.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm relieved to be finished with this disappointment.

A team of tv-famous investigators are selected by a crackpot billionaire to look into the disappearance of cult members from an island in the 1800's. The billionaire thinks it was aliens and wants the team to prove it, but he also sends a psychic, an archaeologist, a disease specialist and a Catholic priest along with an alien theorist. A small security team arrives first and encounters spooky trouble; most of the team is replaced by a better team. More trouble is encountered, but nobody is too forthcoming lest they be labeled irrational. Finally after TWO THIRDS OF THE BOOK the investigators arrive and begin getting picked off by a gleefully sinister entity. By that point, they couldn't get picked off fast enough for me.

This is a ghost story with two-dimensional characters, stilted writing, a slow moving plot, and zero buildup of tension. I felt no fear, no concern for anyone, nothing at all for these characters. Take my word for it and give this dreadful book a pass.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read! I genuinely could not put this book down. I am prone to skim-reading if a book does not draw me in quite enough, but I can honestly say I read this one word for word. The children and the dog got fed, but all other housework was neglected until I had reached the last page. I even took my iPod to work so I could keep reading on my lunchbreak!
The synopsis of the book tells the basic premise of the story but it doesn't warn the unsupecting reader just how creepy the tale is. I read the first chapter in bed, late at night, and that turned out to be a big mistake. Cue visions of the little girl at the bottom of my bed every time I closed my eyes!
I have read every book that FG Cottam has written, including his earlier works, and the horror ones in chronological order, beginning with The House Of Lost Souls. Until today, Dark Echo was my favourite, but that has now been superseded by The Colony.
I read a fair amount of horror and would chalk 80% of it up as being sensationalist, gratuitous dross. (Sorry to anyone who likes that kind of horror.) But fortunately there are a few true gems out there, and Cottam is one. His writing is intelligent, subtle and psychological as opposed to being pulp and trite. It draws you in and makes you think, and it doesn't let you go again.
The characters in The Colony are many; you have to juggle your brain a bit to keep track of them all, but they are all individuals in their own right and have their own distinctive voices. I found them easy to envision and believe in. My particular favourite was Philip Fortescue, from the moment his hand trembled in the Liverpool Maritime Museum as he pointed the way to the Ballantyne Chest. I was pleased to find that he featured quite prominently as the novel progressed.
Emotionally, I went through a whole spectrum of feelings, from being so spooked I was scared to even look over my own shoulder, to feeling horribly sad and ashamed of our own dark history when reading the section detailing the events that happened on board the slave vessel Andromeda. I have to confess, I even felt sympathy towards Seamus Ballantyne at the end of the book, despite his appallingly brutal actions aboard the ship. He certainly paid the price in full for them.
This is a book that is both scary and thought-provoking. It's main themes are loss and revenge, but there is redemption and grace too, particularly in the deathbed scene of the sorcerer Shaddeh. Sadly it was all too late for Captain Ballantyne and his community.
In short, if you want a horror book that is a cut above the rest in terms of being both intelligent and atmospheric, read The Colony. Then go back and read FG Cottam's other books. He is a master of this craft.

[Martin Belcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, my third that I've read by F.G. Cottam. This is intellectual horror at it's finest, no gore fest here. The Colony at it's heart is a paranormal investigation of why a whole community of people just disappeared from the remote Scottish island of New Hope. Alexander McIntyre a wealthy newspaper owner has the means and the inclination to put some serious research and an expedition in place to finally put the mystery to bed. What they discover and unearth is a tale of true terror that will chill you to the bone.....
There are a whole host of very interesting characters in The Colony and I love the way F.G. Cottam gives you thoroughly believable three-dimensional characters that you genuinely feel for and are interested in. The story builds pace from the beginning and introduces slowly drip by drip the horror behind the community and gives you chills in each chapter. The climatic ending is a crescendo of terror on the island and you never quite know who is going to make it out alive!
A brilliant read and one I highly recommend, just be careful you might have a sleepless night after reading......

[Robert Vanneste · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 - 3.5

[Lon Bixby · Rating 1 out of 5]

The description sounded intriguing and I was excited to start reading it. Sadly, the excitement didn't last as I could not even make it through the first l-o-n-g chapter. And I tried. I tried hard. I started the book three times, could not get into it, and finally gave up... So my review is based on the first half of the first chapter. Great premise, boring execution with way too much needless back-story on what seemed like too many characters. I do not recommend.

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, media magnate Alexander McIntyre decides to use his money and resources to solve the New Hope mystery (over 150 people disappeared leaving no trace) once and for all. The truth behind the disappearance is terrifying and inescapable. The characters are sort of one-dimensional and the book could use some editing, but overall not a bad read.

[Anne Hawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I couldn't get into this book, but I am glad I stuck with it. I think it was because I thought it sounded like the kind of science fiction I don't like. It is definitely not science fiction. The plot involves an abandoned island in the Hebrides where all the inhabitants of the island mysteriously disappeared. A wealthy newspaperman decides to put together a team of people from various disciplines to go to the island and find out what happened. He suspects that the people have been taken by aliens and he wants to get definitive evidence that aliens have interacted with humans.

The author does a good job of creating believable characters who represent all the various hypothesis people have as to what happened. He has 2 reporters, an archaeologist, a doctor specializing in virulent diseases such as plague, a detective, a woman who has helped the police solve crimes through her gift of second sight, an exorcist and a few others. There are tensions and romances among the people and quite a bit of history.

The only criticism I have is that it was just a little too pat, but then, this is fiction. Even though the clues were from the 1700's, there were diaries, journals, mysterious people who appeared in dreams and a number of fortuitous finds that explained most of what happened.

The pace was fast and the topic fascinating, so the reader can overlook a few heavy handed plot devices. There was a lot of suspense and a good resolution.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed. I recently read The House of Lost Souls by the same author, and, while I didn't LOVE it, I was sufficiently intrigued to purchase two more books by him. But, oh, what agonies of impatience and irritation I suffered as I slogged through page after page of tedious, repetitive build up. The first 80% of this novel was mostly each character musing about all the other characters and how attractive or unattractive they were, with a few tidbits of plot-propelling action thrown in to keep me (just barely) hanging on. Then a quick finish and, nauseatingly, an epilogue wherein the exhausted reader learns, unsurprisingly, that everyone hooks up and they all live happily ever after, with more redundant explanations just in case you didn't get it the first million times. The premise of the novel was interesting but I feel like it started out as a much shorter work and the editor (was there one? I wonder) said, "Yeah, we need about 200,000 more words."

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok but didn't "do it" for me. There are others who I know will love it. The premise is great: a group of diverse individuals are sent to investigate the mysterious disappearance approximately 200 years ago of a colony of settlers on New Hope Island. I was distracted by too much time taken up developing the main characters who I still could not connect to, and also the constant switch from past to present with no warning. At times, I had to put the book down and leave it for awhile. I finished it mainly because I was intrigued by the story line. The book is very promising and I just wish that there could be a slight re write to make the book flow more easily.

[solitaryfossil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ghost story set in the Hebrides, which is a favorite place of mine. I’ve never been there but the author does a good job describing the wild west coast of Scotland.

[Leiah Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly Atmospheric “It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their photographs on surrounding scenes and objects and whoever heard of a place haunted by a noble deed, or of beautiful and lovely ghosts revisiting the glimpses of the moon?” - Algernon H. Blackwood
“Many miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the Shore of a dark Scottish lake.” – Sir Walter Scott
“The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” ― J.B.S. Haldane, Possible Worlds
 
The island is known as “New Hope.” Hard. Unyielding. A tiny speck of rock in the Outer Hebrides, off the western coast of Scotland, it was an odd place to begin a religious colony. Especially as a colony of crofters. And odder than that? Their religious leader simply walked away from his lucrative business as a slave ship captain known for his murderous treatment of the slaves in his hold, embracing a desperate sort of religious fervor incomprehensible to those who knew him.
 
But the colonists arrived, and for a while, they thrived through sheer hard work and determination. Until, that is, they simply vanished from the face of the earth. No bodies. No graves. Food still on plates with chairs pushed back, boots and shoes left at the door.
Gone.
 
Fast forward to modern time. Alexander McIntyre is a media mogul, determined to prove that paper and print are not a lost art – that the internet will not destroy the business he loves. And Alexander McIntire has a secret. A secret, he hopes, that will help him to do so. Alexander’s pet private eye has found a snippet of film from the 1930’s. A snippet which may well help solve one of the foremost mysteries of a century ago. What really happened to the 150 settlers who landed on New Hope Island, only to disappear into the ether?
 
His sturdy band of specialists includes everything from virology and forensic archaeology to a lecturer on alien abductions. Throw in a well-respected medium and a Catholic exorcist, and surely the mystery will be solved after all these years. And, of course, McIntyre’s paper will be saved.
 
So, off the intrepid team sails, to a land not only cold and inhospitable, but very, very deadly.
 
“A God capable of creating the universe would not wish to be worshipped by man, says Captain Ballantyne. Vanity is a human failing. Why would an omnipotent being crave our fear or flattery or even be sincerely interested in our gratitude?”
 
I don’t often read horror, but the premise and setting of The Colony caught my attention. And of course, a good cover always helps. For some reason, this stark, black-and-white image kept drawing my eye until I had to see what it was about. And then I was hooked. And the story itself didn’t let me down. As bleak as the shores which it portrays, the story strips its characters bare, touching the worst, and yes, the best, in the human soul.
 
The second book is The Colony: Dark Resurrection.
 
Yes. Humans never learn.
 
This book is free with Kindle Unlimited. So, what are you waiting for? The books needs serious editing by a Scottish editor, but it is highly atmospheric.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story, well told.

The only problem, and it was an important one for me, was that there were too many lead, point-of-view characters. They were all introduced up front but this was in a bit of a torrent and I found it tricky to remember who was whom. It wasn't until their numbers were whittled down that I started to cope. As a result, I found it difficult to get involved initially or to sympathise with anyone until around halfway through.

Still, it's the kind of story I like with all of the pre-requisites in a good haunted house (island)tale - a group of people cut off from outside help, historical secrets, gradual exposition, strong female characters...and the ending didn't wimp out!!! Too many modern horror stories have weak endings but this one didn't.

Like the previous Cottam book I read (Dark Echo), the book could have done with being 100 pages longer. This would have given more time to develop and differentiate the characters and to explore some of the areas that were perhaps glossed over.

While I only gave this one 3 stars, I'm quite a tough marker. 3 stars is still enough for me to seek out more of Mr Cottam's books.

[Canyonxplorer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like The Colony because at its heart is an idea that I found fascinating - the lost colony - presumably based loosely on the Roanoke mystery and transplanted to a Scottish Island. The trouble with the book is it takes ages to get anywhere - it has too many characters and not only do you get their back-story but you get there view of all the other characters who interact with them. This really does fill up a big chunk of the book and really slows things down.

Considering the book is supposed to be about investigating what happened on the island too much of the story takes place off the island - you are over 65% through the story before the research team actually get there. The ending, when it comes, is rushed and unsatisfactory.

The actual mystery and history elements I enjoyed and if the exposition had been cut down the book could have been a 3 or 4 star read.

[Kiwileese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend the audio book enough!
It is brilliantly read by David Rintoul, He keeps the listener riveted waiting to hear what happens next.
I listen to Audio books in my car and admit to having parked in my driveway just to listen to another chapter long after I've arrived home.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it took a while to get where the story was going, once it got there it was quite good.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another superior supernatural thriller from Cottam. I've read and enjoyed several of his novels and consider him one of the best horror writers around today. THE COLONY is a really tense thriller about what happened a couple of centuries ago on the remote New Hope Island in the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. In 1825, a colony that had settled there simply disappeared without a trace. The colony was founded by a former sea-Captain, Seamus Ballantyne, who dealt in the slave trade. So what happened to the people there who vanished without a trace? Alexander McIntyre, a rich media mogul had been fascinated with the disappearance for years and is also a proponent of UFOs and alien life. Could the people on the island have been abducted by aliens? When an old film from the 30s is discovered showing some kind of disturbing presence on the island in the form of a spectral young girl, he decides to form an expedition to the island to try to solve the centuries old riddle of what happened there. He puts together a group of experts including an archaeologist, a psychic, a UFO expert, a virologist, a priest and a group of security personnel to go to the island and get to the bottom of the disappearance. But as soon as the group gets there, people begin to disappear and a very dark presence is perceived to be there. So what exactly is happening and what could possibly account for the disappearances in the past as well as the present?

Cottam really knows how to spin a good paranormal tale of terror. He included a great memorable cast of characters in this novel and throws in some interesting historical facts as well. Although the treatment of prisoners on a slave ship is pretty well known, some of the details in the novel still provide a shock. Overall, a high recommendation for this one. There are a couple of sequels to this novel that I will also be looking out for.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich media mogul who wants a sensational story for his failing newspaper, thank you internet pseudo-journalists, pays a bunch of flawed attention seeking celebrity "experts" to unravel a two hundred year old mystery on an inhospitable, remote, and uninhabited island off the coast of Scotland. Very cool setting for a horror story.
This is my first novel by this author and I rather enjoyed it. This was a fairly slow paced historical mystery/horror novel that was pretty light on horror, it was creepy but not gory, but still a fascinating read.
The story itself was very interesting and the setting was absolutely perfectly described. The characters were well done and overall I enjoyed the writing style.
A few unanswered questions at the end, and the cause of all the deaths and disappearances could of been more interesting, it felt a bit rushed, but this is only book 1 in a trilogy. Hopefully all the secrets of the island of New Hope are answered adequately by the end of the trilogy. Overall, very nice read.

[Doghouse Gav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Not my normal style of book. Not a great ghost fan but decided to give it a go. Was a pretty good read that much surprised me. Wouldn't say I'm converted to ghost stories.

[Globalt38 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly Good

Wasn't sure what I expected but was pleasantly surprised. I think the writing seemed to improve as the story went on and I started to be able to imagine the places and events.
Would make a good movie I think.

[Kathy Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, good fast-moving horror story.

[Jeremy Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to a spooky ghost story, but this wasn’t it. In fact it was not at all spooky, instead the great mystery of the island was almost completely disappointing. The central problem is that the explanation felt banal and contrived. Also too many characters, none of whom really took the central role of protagonist so it felt like a works outing. Meh. 3/10

[Federica De dominicis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping!

A good plot, well narrated, with interesting characters. Not too much of a fan of the 'happy ending' but definitely interested in the next books.