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Nevermere
There's something in the water...
In 1644, a small Cotswold village suffers a spate of witch trials. The convicted are weighted down and thrown into a local pond to drown.
In present day London, Douglas Ashbourne is made redundant from his job as a Project Manager.
With growing violence in the city a worry, Doug, his wife and three children move to Gloucestershire to start a new life.
Their dream of running cottage industries making mead and beeswax products is soon interrupted by a series of dangerous and inexplicable occurrences.
Why is the village of Coln Abbots so obsessed with witchcraft?
Is there any truth to local rumours that occult powers are still at work in this sleepy corner of the Cotswolds?
What is the dark and ancient secret that plagues the woodland pond above their cottage, known as Nevermere?
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 25, 2018
59 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Devon De'Ath
12 books42 followersDevon De’Ath was born in the county of Kent, ‘The Garden of England.’ Raised a Roman Catholic in a small, ancient country market community famously documented as ‘the most haunted TOWN in England,’ he grew up in an atmosphere replete with spiritual, psychic, and supernatural energy. Hauntings were commonplace and you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting three spectres, to the extent that he never needed question the validity of such manifestations. As to the explanations behind them?
At the age of twenty, his earnest search for spiritual truth led the young man to leave Catholicism and become heavily involved in Charismatic Evangelicalism. After serving as a part-time youth pastor while working in the corporate world, he eventually took voluntary redundancy to study at a Bible College in the USA. Missions in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa followed, but a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of the theology and ministerial abuse by church leadership eventually caused him to break with organised religion and pursue a Post-Evangelical existence. One open to all manner of spiritual and human experiences his ‘holy’ life would never have allowed.
After church life, De’Ath served fifteen years with the police, lectured at colleges and universities, and acted as a consultant to public safety agencies both foreign and domestic.
A writer since he first learned the alphabet, Devon De’Ath has authored works in many genres under various names, from Children’s literature to self-help books, through screenplays for video production and all manner of articles.
At the age of twenty, his earnest search for spiritual truth led the young man to leave Catholicism and become heavily involved in Charismatic Evangelicalism. After serving as a part-time youth pastor while working in the corporate world, he eventually took voluntary redundancy to study at a Bible College in the USA. Missions in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa followed, but a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of the theology and ministerial abuse by church leadership eventually caused him to break with organised religion and pursue a Post-Evangelical existence. One open to all manner of spiritual and human experiences his ‘holy’ life would never have allowed.
After church life, De’Ath served fifteen years with the police, lectured at colleges and universities, and acted as a consultant to public safety agencies both foreign and domestic.
A writer since he first learned the alphabet, Devon De’Ath has authored works in many genres under various names, from Children’s literature to self-help books, through screenplays for video production and all manner of articles.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 1, 2024
1.5 stars.
This one just wasn't for me.
The pacing was all over the place, with huge sections detailing every aspect of their days (bathroom breaks, mead making--in excruciating detail--every minute interaction with anyone), and then a short section that hints at the tension the book is supposed to be about. A lot of fascination with teenage sex, etc., that just did NOT fit in with the other happenings (and seemed to be more prevalent than the actual "mystery").
However, the biggest thing that that bothered me was that this was all too obviously a "man writing women" characters. As the women were more focused on, this was a huge issue all throughout.
While not for me, other people gave higher ratings, so if the subject sounds intriguing to you, I always encourage others to read for themselves.
This one just wasn't for me.
The pacing was all over the place, with huge sections detailing every aspect of their days (bathroom breaks, mead making--in excruciating detail--every minute interaction with anyone), and then a short section that hints at the tension the book is supposed to be about. A lot of fascination with teenage sex, etc., that just did NOT fit in with the other happenings (and seemed to be more prevalent than the actual "mystery").
However, the biggest thing that that bothered me was that this was all too obviously a "man writing women" characters. As the women were more focused on, this was a huge issue all throughout.
While not for me, other people gave higher ratings, so if the subject sounds intriguing to you, I always encourage others to read for themselves.
February 15, 2021
A small insular English village in the Cotswolds, during the disruptive and vicious English Civil War, not an unusual or surprising setting for accusations of Witchcraft, nor for torture and subsequent execution. In the 21st century, a London family renovates Pennycress Cottage, family home of the wife's grandfather, which she has inherited. Nearby is the pond Nevermere, drowning site of seven suspected Witches. This upright and loving London family can't possibly know they were in less danger than in the city, for they and innocents in the Village are targets for fulfillment of a four-hundred year old contract with the Devil.
I really empathized with the protagonist family and several other characters. I think that is the author's demonstrated strength here, in unwrapping the usual layers of concealment to elucidate the real characters beneath.
Caution: some violence, sensual situations, horror.
I really empathized with the protagonist family and several other characters. I think that is the author's demonstrated strength here, in unwrapping the usual layers of concealment to elucidate the real characters beneath.
Caution: some violence, sensual situations, horror.
June 14, 2019
Absolutely a quick read.
I love books that have a good mix of different things going on at once, this has history, local lore, ghosts and witchcraft. This was a page turner right from the beginning, very well written and engaging. So happy to have won this forban Amazon/Goodreads giveaway!
I love books that have a good mix of different things going on at once, this has history, local lore, ghosts and witchcraft. This was a page turner right from the beginning, very well written and engaging. So happy to have won this forban Amazon/Goodreads giveaway!
March 29, 2021
I am voluntarily reviewing this novel after receiving a free copy.
Actual rating: 2 stars
In a line: bland, cheesy, and weirdly fascinated by mundane things (beekeeping, mead-making) and teenage sex.
This was definitely not a fun read. The pacing is very strange - there are huge, drawn-out scenes where the characters just waffle on and on about beekeeping or mead-making or whatever other inane things they do. Some exposition of that would be fine, but it's scene after scene of us watching them build their new little empires - going through the whole process of creation, branding, price-setting, all that junk no one cares about. The characters are all very flat and basic. The dad is Dad Character. The mom is Mom Character. There's also Annoying Teenage Girl and Hormone-Addled Teenage Boy. Oh, and let's not forget Weird Recluse Who Seems Evil But Isn't Actually, What A Twist.
The threat isn't particularly interesting, but it is executed in an interesting way some of the time. I will give the author props for using drowning in so many circumstances, even though one was very silly (the mead-drinking one). I saw one villain reveal coming, but the characters they were affiliated with were a surprise.
The climatic fight is a big miss. All the spooky horror goes out the window for some dumb wrestling on a beach + spooky magic storm + summoning a bee-man (????). Very weird and goofy.
My biggest problem, though, was the author's bizarre fascination on teenage sex and mb. Sure, Hormone-Addled Teenage Boy character can be fascinated with the flirty girl next door. It's plot-relevant enough to justify itself. That's fine. But did we need to see her give him a handy in excruciating detail? Did we need to know when he was mb-ing in his room? Did we need Mom Character to just randomly overhear Annoying Teenage Girl mb-ing in her room in the middle of the night, in a scene that has literally nothing to do with the plot whatsoever? She literally is just wandering around the house, pauses because she hears Annoying Teenage Girl moaning, and then continues on with the scene. And, in the conclusion of the novel, did we really need to have Annoying Teenage Girl and Bland Teenage Hunk profess their love to each other - and then have sex there on the ground, for literally no reason? Can't we just understand they like each other without a shoehorned in paragraph or two that come in at the epilogue and serve literally no purpose?? It was just baffling. I don't want to say the author is skeevy or anything, but it was literally so strange that it kept coming up over and over.
Adding onto that, all the sexually promiscuous women in the novel are villainized, which is another boring, overused trope that had me rolling my eyes. Hasn't the genre gotten past that junk yet?
Overall, this was just not a very good read. The characters are stale, the threat is pretty boring, and the overabundance of weird sex stuff was just not something I want to experience again. I would not recommend this novel.
Actual rating: 2 stars
In a line: bland, cheesy, and weirdly fascinated by mundane things (beekeeping, mead-making) and teenage sex.
This was definitely not a fun read. The pacing is very strange - there are huge, drawn-out scenes where the characters just waffle on and on about beekeeping or mead-making or whatever other inane things they do. Some exposition of that would be fine, but it's scene after scene of us watching them build their new little empires - going through the whole process of creation, branding, price-setting, all that junk no one cares about. The characters are all very flat and basic. The dad is Dad Character. The mom is Mom Character. There's also Annoying Teenage Girl and Hormone-Addled Teenage Boy. Oh, and let's not forget Weird Recluse Who Seems Evil But Isn't Actually, What A Twist.
The threat isn't particularly interesting, but it is executed in an interesting way some of the time. I will give the author props for using drowning in so many circumstances, even though one was very silly (the mead-drinking one). I saw one villain reveal coming, but the characters they were affiliated with were a surprise.
The climatic fight is a big miss. All the spooky horror goes out the window for some dumb wrestling on a beach + spooky magic storm + summoning a bee-man (????). Very weird and goofy.
My biggest problem, though, was the author's bizarre fascination on teenage sex and mb. Sure, Hormone-Addled Teenage Boy character can be fascinated with the flirty girl next door. It's plot-relevant enough to justify itself. That's fine. But did we need to see her give him a handy in excruciating detail? Did we need to know when he was mb-ing in his room? Did we need Mom Character to just randomly overhear Annoying Teenage Girl mb-ing in her room in the middle of the night, in a scene that has literally nothing to do with the plot whatsoever? She literally is just wandering around the house, pauses because she hears Annoying Teenage Girl moaning, and then continues on with the scene. And, in the conclusion of the novel, did we really need to have Annoying Teenage Girl and Bland Teenage Hunk profess their love to each other - and then have sex there on the ground, for literally no reason? Can't we just understand they like each other without a shoehorned in paragraph or two that come in at the epilogue and serve literally no purpose?? It was just baffling. I don't want to say the author is skeevy or anything, but it was literally so strange that it kept coming up over and over.
Adding onto that, all the sexually promiscuous women in the novel are villainized, which is another boring, overused trope that had me rolling my eyes. Hasn't the genre gotten past that junk yet?
Overall, this was just not a very good read. The characters are stale, the threat is pretty boring, and the overabundance of weird sex stuff was just not something I want to experience again. I would not recommend this novel.
April 7, 2021
A good effort, but nothing new....
I was excited about this book because it sounded like a story Phil Rickman would write. Phil Rickman is my favorite author when it comes to old English folk horror. Unfortunately, while there was great effort and attention to detail on the part of the author, the end result did not work for me.
I've seen the basic story many times before (outsiders get caught up in an ancient evil in a rural village, will they survive?); therefore, there had to be something special that made the book stand out. Usually, that role falls on the characters. In this case, the characters were pretty straight-forward, cardboard cut-outs. A pretty generic family with some additional generic village types. Too many tropes, little complexity. I didn't really care about anyone and the big reveal wasn't that hard to foresee. There weren't that many characters.
Secondarily, it took a long time to get into the story. There was a lot of set-up in the "ordinary world" after the historical prologue. It would have been better to head straight to the family in the village and get right to the action.
As an aside, this is also the second folk horror book I've read in the last year that has the standard "beautiful naked woman" as the personification of evil. Sigh. :/
I received a free copy of this book, but am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was excited about this book because it sounded like a story Phil Rickman would write. Phil Rickman is my favorite author when it comes to old English folk horror. Unfortunately, while there was great effort and attention to detail on the part of the author, the end result did not work for me.
I've seen the basic story many times before (outsiders get caught up in an ancient evil in a rural village, will they survive?); therefore, there had to be something special that made the book stand out. Usually, that role falls on the characters. In this case, the characters were pretty straight-forward, cardboard cut-outs. A pretty generic family with some additional generic village types. Too many tropes, little complexity. I didn't really care about anyone and the big reveal wasn't that hard to foresee. There weren't that many characters.
Secondarily, it took a long time to get into the story. There was a lot of set-up in the "ordinary world" after the historical prologue. It would have been better to head straight to the family in the village and get right to the action.
As an aside, this is also the second folk horror book I've read in the last year that has the standard "beautiful naked woman" as the personification of evil. Sigh. :/
I received a free copy of this book, but am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 17, 2025
This was unexpected. After reading the description, which is apt, I somehow had an entirely different idea of how things might play out. To say I was wrong would be an understatement. What I read instead? Well, once again, this author's writing kept me glued from start to finish with only bathroom breaks in between. I finished it in one sitting, less than a day. It was creepy, yet cozy. I know they sound like they don't belong together, but somehow, in this book, they do! And it works! Brilliantly! It's a wonderfully laid out story that's well worth the read. I highly recommend it for those readers looking for a bit of mystery with a side of both creepy and cozy.
November 7, 2021
Interesting book by a new (to me) author
The beginning of the book really starts things off with a horrifying look at another town’s dealings with witch trials.
I liked the lead up to the circumstances that have our family leaving London for a family holding out in the countryside. The local legends, the ghostly sightings, the inclusion of the local spinster who everyone calls a witch…lovely characters all.
Quite a twist at the end of the book…I didn’t see that one coming.
Give this one a go. You’ll enjoy it.
The beginning of the book really starts things off with a horrifying look at another town’s dealings with witch trials.
I liked the lead up to the circumstances that have our family leaving London for a family holding out in the countryside. The local legends, the ghostly sightings, the inclusion of the local spinster who everyone calls a witch…lovely characters all.
Quite a twist at the end of the book…I didn’t see that one coming.
Give this one a go. You’ll enjoy it.
April 5, 2025
Thanks for a great read Devon!
I read this book while on vacation in the down time and I found myself very much looking forward to the quiet time where I was free to just get into the story. I really liked the spin he put on the witch curse element. I didn't guess who the villains were until it was revealed in the story which I really liked (not predictable at all). I will also say that something of the "racey" scenes in the plot were VERY well done hahah! I will definitely look for other books by this author to read!
I read this book while on vacation in the down time and I found myself very much looking forward to the quiet time where I was free to just get into the story. I really liked the spin he put on the witch curse element. I didn't guess who the villains were until it was revealed in the story which I really liked (not predictable at all). I will also say that something of the "racey" scenes in the plot were VERY well done hahah! I will definitely look for other books by this author to read!
June 10, 2019
When Doug finds himself without a job, he and his wife decide to move to the country, away from the violence of the city. Doug begins a winery and his wife creates handmade goods. This seem to be going well, but behind the scenes darkness is building. Their children are in danger. Can Doug and Elizabeth protect their children? Can they break a 3 century old curse?
Would love to give this a better score but there are many spelling and grammar errors. Review and edit for better reviews.
Would love to give this a better score but there are many spelling and grammar errors. Review and edit for better reviews.
May 29, 2019
Just starting this book, and already noticing errors. They’re getting characters mixed up within the first few pages, spelling errors, etc. I’ll keep reading and hope the story gets good enough to forget about the mistakes. I felt obligated to review because I won it. I’ll update again when I finish.
November 22, 2019
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway...
If you’re a fan of Witches, Devil Worshipping Cults and the Supernatural you will love this book. The story is solid with fully developed characters. Pacing is good and is a quick read. I give it Four Stars.
If you’re a fan of Witches, Devil Worshipping Cults and the Supernatural you will love this book. The story is solid with fully developed characters. Pacing is good and is a quick read. I give it Four Stars.
August 12, 2021
Unable to put down
I thought that the beginning was a bit bag but stuck with it and I'm glad I did. The story line was gripping would recommend and will look for more books from this author.
I thought that the beginning was a bit bag but stuck with it and I'm glad I did. The story line was gripping would recommend and will look for more books from this author.
November 2, 2020
Not your typical...
This is a beautifully written story of love, the occult and country living. It's a horror story with a "feel good" vibe. Quite different from most.
This is a beautifully written story of love, the occult and country living. It's a horror story with a "feel good" vibe. Quite different from most.
December 13, 2020
Horror story.
Nothing new here
Nothing new here
October 7, 2021
Very good bit of writing.
Good read, in fact a very good read. Had everything you would want from a good horror. Definitely be reading more of Devon De'Ath.
Good read, in fact a very good read. Had everything you would want from a good horror. Definitely be reading more of Devon De'Ath.
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November 26, 2023DNF
Three references to women, referring to his wife, and then daughter:
The female, the woman, the girl. And weird descriptions of their looks. Nope- SW out
Three references to women, referring to his wife, and then daughter:
The female, the woman, the girl. And weird descriptions of their looks. Nope- SW out
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews