Where the Dead Walk

Where the Dead Walk #1

by John Bowen

For some, ghosts are no more than the wounds loved ones leave in their wake, haunting the living only with their absence. Others take a more literal view... Kate Bennett, presenter of paranormal investigation cable TV show, 'Where the Dead Walk', isn't sure what she believes, other than she seems cursed to lose all those closest to her. After investigating a neglected cliff-top house, empty for a decade because its 'haunted', Kate is left convinced a spirit within holds the answers to a childhood she can't remember and an unimaginable crime. What she can't know is that the house's owner, Sebastian Dahl, is searching for something too, and he intends to get it, whatever the cost.

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

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2014

About the author

John Bowen is a multi genre thriller author who lives in the UK. When not playing video-games, reading, catching up on movies, going to the gym, and enjoying time with his wife and children, he occasionally finds time to write...

His debut novel supernatural suspense thriller WHERE THE DEAD WALK is an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller, his second novel, action adventure thriller, VESSEL a #1 Bestseller in Kindle Thriller and Mystery, his short story collection COLD SWEATS & VIGNETTES a #1 Bestseller in Short Fiction, and his most recent novel, murder mystery DEATH STALKS KETTLE STREET also an Amazon Top #100 Bestseller.

You're welcome to visit his site and sign up for news, promotional discounts and giveaways - and find out how to pick up a FREE book at:

https://johnbowenauthor.wordpress.com

Find him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites

or contact him directly at:
johnybwrites@gmail.com

or visit him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnBowenWrites

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book literally contains all my favourite things, paranormal activity, ghosts, cults, myths, legends, smokescreens and of course a hero.

I really enjoyed this book and while it wasnt scary scary it definitely creeped me out, there was one evening when I got home late, was showering and a few unusual noises freaked me out (that's all I'm saying), this book played on my mind a lot! The author creates the perfect atmosphere.

The author also created the perfect female lead character which I find really rare in male authors. In fact I enjoyed all the characters, they all felt fully thought out, functional and believable.

I really want to mention the BDSM scene in this book, it was so refreshing to see a bruised bottom outside of its typical erotica/ romance genres. BDSM can live inside literature without it being the focal point of the plot. Bravo!

Big thumbs up from me with this book, it's been a brilliant fall read!

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where the Dead Walk
(Where the Dead Walk #1)
by John Bowen
This was not so much a ghost book but more of a different kind of paranormal story. A curse, a sorceress, a spell was involved plus visions and seances, ouija boards, and mediums. Good story but not really scary. Some suspense but more a great mystery and how the clues are tracked down and figured out!

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spooky Mystery!

Backstory:

The paranormal tv show "Where the Dead Walk" hosted by Kate Bennett have been offered a chance to go explore a mansion owned by Sebastian Dahl who believes the mansion is haunted. Normally the tv crew are not on the up and up with the show as they sometimes pretend that the places are haunted to keep viewers watching the show, but this time when they explore the mansion they soon find out that what it holds inside is real.

One of their main crew, Charles who is a medium realizes that there truly is something evil inside the mansion and when they decide to perform a séance they soon learn that the evil somehow wants Kate but to what purpose no one knows, but it will take all of their skills and investigating to dig deep into the mystery of the mansion or else Kate will end up in the clutches of whatever lies within the mansion!

That is about all I can on a backstory without giving away spoilers. If you want to know more than you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I was drawn right away into the mystery of the story. Though the more I became involved in the story the more I learned that the book was mostly just a haunting mystery. Almost the whole book was the tv crew looking for answers of why the mansion was haunted.

The story literally slowed down for me from the 30% mark to 70% mark with just the characters running around trying to find answers to their questions. I really was planning on giving this book three stars as it just seemed to drag along at a snails pace, but the last 30% of the book is where all the "mansion mystery" went into a full scale onslaught of everything coming together and what was truly going on within the story which drove my rating up to one more star as I literally could not put the book down with all that was happening within the story!

So for the most part this book was kind of a slow burn - the mystery and suspense kept my attention through most of the book but there were times that I wanted to just read something else as it was dragging with tons of dialogue that I felt wasn't needed for the story. There was too much talking and not enough haunting action but all in all it is a good haunted mystery story.

I just realized that there is a second book that features the paranormal tv crew so I am curious how that book will be compared to this one. I will try it out at some point to see if maybe it will be scarier than this book as this story is not scary at all. There are no nightmares laying beyond the doors of this story! Giving this book four Mysterious Haunting stars!

For images of this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/...

[John Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. 'Where the Dead Walk' is, as Ernie Wise would have said, the book wot I wrote.

I'd like to do something here which could be fun, to write a review not of the book, but the experience of writing it. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers but, still, if you think you might like the book then go read it first. I put a huge amount of work into it. It's good. Trust me. And besides, what follows will be way more interesting if you do it that way.

WARNING. SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW!

Okay, here it comes. How the sausage was made. Part 1.

Inspiration:

There's a show that used to be on cable, those in the UK will almost certainly be familiar with it, called 'Most Haunted'. When it first aired it was quite a fresh concept. The presenter, Yvette Fielding, and her modest crew embarked on a mission to visit some of the UK's (as the title suggests) most haunted buildings. It turned out to be a show both my wife and I enjoyed a great deal, but for very different reasons.

My wife's a believer; she believes in ghosts, an afterlife, the existence of a soul. Me? I'm not so sure. Like Mulder's poster used to say, 'I want to believe', but there's a strong rational, logical thread running through me that can't quite buy it. Where's the... Well, not logic in it perhaps, but at least the consistency?

If everyone who reported encounters with ghosts and spirits all described the same things I would find it easier to get on board, but they don't. No two mediums seem to agree on how spirits comunicate with them, and ghosts don't seem to be obliging enough to have any consistency either. I've never seen a duck-billed platypus first hand (a mamal with webbed feet and a duckbill, you say?), actually I'm not sure I've even seen one on film now I come to think of it, but enough people have a described them as looking same way I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Ghosts though? Some are reported to be ethereal wafting lights, some dense shadows, some semi-transparent, some as solid as a christmas cake...

What's one to think?

Again, though, I think much of my frustration comes from the fact - I want to believe. We'll come back to that later.

So why did I enjoy the MH so much then?

For me it was the atmosphere, at first, and the show's medium, a fantastic chap called Derrick Acorah. I never really cared as to the question of whether he was actually communicating with spirits, I enjoyed what he did either way. I won't bother explaining why, here's a You Tube link to a terrific example. Go watch it. Now. Really, trust me.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I8H_v8cM...#


Right. Where was I? Oh yeah, liking the show for a different reason to my lovely wife.

Besides the basic entertainment value of the man Acorah, and the cool atmosphere, even by the end of series one something altogether more interesting to began to develop.
The problem with searching for something which may not even exist is when you keep not finding it the pressure increases.

In the first few episodes of MH the show could get by on a bump, literally a bump. Everyone would freak out, brilliant. By the end of series one, though, bumps were getting a bit old. I won't labour the point, but suffice to say by the time MH eventually reached its final series tables would rattle and the crew would get goosed, brushed, and even scratched by unseen entities on a pretty regular basis. I'm making no judgements here, like I said, the show was great, but - well y'know.

The idea of writing a story following a show like that, having the crew go through that progression intrigued me. Maybe seeing them get jaded by the experience, especially if they then actually had something definitively paranormal happen to them. Maybe contact with a spirit, that wanted something?

What though? What exactly would a spirit want?

Part 2:

False starts.

OKAY. I REALLY MEAN IT, SPOILERS FOLLOW!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK AND YOU WANT TO - DO IT NOW!

So...

I'd been toying with writing a body swap story for a while. The original concept featured a cat-burglar chap who steals high value items to order. The idea was there are these super rich elite collectors all over the world who own priceless treasures they're not supposed to, super secretive, super illegal. We're talking paintings stolen by the Nazis during WWII and never recovered, coins from the lost city of El Dorado, the left ear of the colossus that once straddled the harbour in Rhodes... Things lost to long ago theft or history, etc. What chiefly turned these elite collectors on was commonly only they and a handful of others knew these ultra rare treasures even existed.

(Edit: a short version of this story exists in the form of The Steal, in my free short collection Cold Sweats & Vignettes)

The only problem with that is if someone were to rob you...

The idea was that some frail and decrepit, super rich, collector wants our cat burglar hero to acquire a rare occult item for him. Initially reluctant, our hero caves when he hears what the creepy old fossil is willing to pay.

Only its all a trick. When our hero lays hands on the item he suddenly finds himself miles away, in the feeble (and maybe terminally ill) body of the old dude. The rest of the book is about how the hero steals back his body. In fact I even had a title: Stealers.

I really liked the concept, a thief that has to steal back his most valuable possession, his own body!

Only I couldn't get the structure to work in a way I felt confident about.

Establishing what our hero could do, his skill set and character, so that when he found himself enfeebled we would see the contrast, would take a while, but the story wouldn't really start proper until this happened... Then a better idea came along, where the body/identity being stolen was the threat, that way it occurring near or even at the end of the book wouldn't matter. I could still incorporate the occult elements I was having fun imagining, maybe even more fully...

Part 3:

'That's what she said.'

So why a female protagonist?

Novels take time to write, for me, lots of time. I want to get the most out of every one I can. I knew writing a female lead would stretch me, keep me on my toes, make me work all the harder to get things right.

And, to a large extent WTDW is really a dual protagonist story. It's Henry's story too, but with Kate at the core. Kate gets top billing, and I knew for the story to work, she had to. If the reader didn't buy into her I was sunk. The story demanded she be tough and vulnerable at the same time, in a way that was believable, and I don't mean tough in a Lara Croft, ass kicking, kind of way, but in the way women tend to be tough in real life, by being able to feel things deeply, express that, and still function anyway.

I was raised primarily by my mom and my big sister. Both of them are tough in exactly that kind of way. Kate's that kind of chick.

Could I have written the story the other way around, Kate trying to save Henry from himself and Dahl?

Maybe, but I'm not certain.

Attitudes towards men and women, 'masculine' and 'feminine' traits, have come a hell of a long way since the days of even my youth, when Mario was busy rescuing Pauline from Donkey Kong, but I think we still remain in a world where it's more acceptable for women to feel emotional/vulnerable without it diminishing them in some way. A Kate rescuing Henry story would, I think, have to have been a very different one. Too much focus would have gone into making that conceit work instead of going elsewhere.

And ultimately, WTDW isn't supposed to about a guy rescuing a girl. It's about not being ready to let go, for good or ill.

Part 4:

So, the paranormal, why are we so attracted to it? Can it really exist?


WTDW starts with a couple of quotes, one from perhaps the world's most famous atheist, the other an eminent neuroscientist. Together they just about encapsulate my feelings about spirituality and the supernatural.

Personally, I like the scientific method's firm but fair stance. You set forward a theory, make observations; if what you observe fits your theory it stands, until you observe something that doesn't. Then you either modify, or throw your theory out.

One of the reasons Einstein's theory of gravity supplanted Newton's was because the observable evidence supported it over Newton's (something to do with the predicted path of a small moon around some planet, Mars? I don't recall the finer details).

As I said earlier - I'd like to believe the paranormal exists.

Which is a shame, because in a David and Goliath grudge match, the paranormal is David, and the scientific method Goliath, repeatedly pounding poor David's grill in.

If we were to use the scientific method to prove the existence of ghosts, for instance, the result would be pretty simple: they don't. The evidence isn't just flimsy, it's inconsistent and often simply not there at all.

It's the consistency thing I keep coming back to. The world we inhabit is governed by physical rules. We can examine them, test them, use them. If physicists are to be believed, there's likely to be one overarching rule, a universal theory, that may tie everything together.

Now, if the supernatural world was like that...

So I started constructing my own theory. A theory of the paranormal, one theory that would explain it all, ghosts, telepathy, levitation, remote viewing, pyrokinesis, mediumship... The lot, lock stock and poltergeist manipulated floating barrel.

I had a lot of fun, and it helped me ground my story. Make it feel more real to me, and hopefully my reader.
Rules are important in fiction. Crucial, I'd argue, when dealing with fantastical elements. You gotta make 'em, stick to 'em, and hopefully if you get it right your reader will suspend disbelief for a while and buy into your story.

Which brings me to... Why do we want to believe so badly in the paranormal anyway?

There are benign reasons, I think, excitement, fun, not wanting the world to feel all tied up in a boring bow of rationality, but I think sometimes there are less fun reasons people want to believe too.

Losing someone you love is hard. I'm lucky, most of the people I hold dear are happy and healthy, but I have lost a few. As of this year I have no living grandparents. I lost the one I was closest to when I was twenty, over two decades ago. I was devastated, and I still miss him to this day. My granddad was always fun, patient, caring and kind, toward me at least. Sure, he probably tried to stop my mum wearing mini-skirts and doing all kinds of crazy stuff she wanted to back in the day, but sorry mom, that's your problem. Gramps was the tops.

Do I wish I could talk to him again. Sure. Would I go to a medium to that end?

No.

Because even if I believed it was possible, how many visits would be sufficient? One? two? three? more? When exactly would I be ready to say 'bye gramps' for good until I presumably get to where he is?

In truth, I should probably go talk to the people I still have here a little more often, call my own mum and chat a while. I don't nearly often enough.

I'm gonna put it in writing; If something were to happen to me, I wouldn't want my wife moping around, waiting to put her name on any handy space left for it on my headstone. I hope she'd be lucky enough to meet someone else. So long as he loved her a much as I do, was as kind, considerate and gosh darn handsome (a tall order, I know), I think that would make dead me very happy.



...so, I guess that's it, all the big thoughts that stuck with me from the experience of writing 'Where the Dead Walk'. It's been fun wrangling them together. I hope they resulted in a good story for you.

Huge thanks for giving the book a chance. I'm thrilled you did, because like J K Rowling once said, 'No story lives unless someone wants to listen'.

John Bowen.

8/7/2014

[Terri Wino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this book was definitely more atmosphere than action. Don't get me wrong; it's very well written. I just found myself struggling to stay interested to the end because I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I also felt like this book was torn between being about a couple's relationship more than any supernatural aspect, which really didn't get rolling until the very end...and by then I had lost interest.
I really feel that if this book had been about 100 pages shorter it would have greatly benefited the story and made for a more intense read.
This one was just okay for me.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate Bennett and Henry White are joint producers, with Kate as presenter, of a supernatural investigation TV series, Where the Dead Walk. The story opens as there are doubts about their series being picked up again and they are looking for good locations. A rich man called Sebastian approaches them with a view to having his remote house in the country featured in the programme, but it soon transpires that he has a hidden agenda.

A lot of the story revolves around Kate's forgotten past which predates when she was adopted after a house fire involving a group of people who lived together. Sebastian also has links to this and convinces her that the spirit of her mother is haunting his house - initially, that didn't make sense but eventually a twist explains the basis of that idea. As Sebastian gains more mind control over Kate, Henry becomes increasingly desperate as he loves her, a love she rejects. There are other characters in the TV programme including Charles, the resident psychic, but they don't play a major role.

I didn't find it particularly spooky and the whole love angle rather took over in my opinion resulting in some repetitive scenes which slowed things down. So I rate this a middle of the road 3 stars.

[Chris Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another new Author to keep an eye on.

I’ve never been interest in those so called Haunted TV shows, so I went into this book at expecting much so I was very surprised by how much I actually enjoyed reading it.

Lots of twists and turns, such an enjoyable read.

[Ben Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once every blue moon we stumble across a book we have never heard of and no one else has heard of. 'Where the dead walk' is a self published novel (that much is evident from just observing and handling the book) and I found the lines did slant slightly..... However the quality of the story is on a par with anything Stephen King, James Herbert, Dan Simmons or Clive Barker have produced.
Where the dead walk is a pastiche on TV shows like 'Most haunted' where a TV crew film in haunted locations, but generally they aren't.. Until the WTDW crew get an offer from a genuinely haunted house and thus a story of manipulation, love, desperation and loss unfolds as presenter Kate Bennett finds herself sucked into the houses past and it ain't letting go.
Absolutely fantastic stuff.

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

Review: WHERE THE DEAD WALK by JOHN BOWEN

This Supernatural novel was amazing! I highly recommend it to.all readers; it's not just a superb "Spooky"--it's wonderful story, deep and rich and broad, convoluted in plot, twisted in character (Yes, there are "good guys":) but there are characters who metaphorically made my.jaw drop), sufficiently "spooky" to keep we readers flipping those pages. Even beyond all this, John Bowen knows how to write!: how to hook.and engage the reader and keep us entranced; how to plot, how to range effectively back and forth through three separate historical eras (two historical, plus contemporary), how to excavate the deeper levels of his characters, how to craft imagery and setting, action, and horror and intrigue.

Here is my highest personal praise: I've placed WHERE THE DEAD WALK on my "Esoteric London" shelf besides other authors I esteem: Paul Cornell, Christopher Fowler, China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock; authors who take my breath away and then carry me away.

[Tina Liouzis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I enjoyed the characters from the very beginning, became quite intrigued by the odd happenings at the house, but became VERY interested when the backstory was revealed.
This is more than a horror story about a haunted house, it is about passion, desperation, a lust for power and self-glory, brokenness, grief, loss, and manipulation. It is the depth of the characters and the intricacy of the plot that elevated it to more than a good fright tale. It isn't a horror story with proper fiction elements added to it, it is a well written novel with a frightening theme.

I will be vague so as to not reveal any spoilers, but I hope the author writes another novel (soon!) that is centered on the very people Selene and Lawrence came from. This was my favorite part of the novel.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is billed as a haunted house story, and, of course, it is. But it is also much more than simply being a story about paranormal hauntings. Where the Dead Walk centres around a television crew filming a 'Most Haunted' type reality television show, and it goes into really interesting, and in depth detail about the production of such programmes. All of this being said, the novel is really about relationships, and buried secrets. It is a slow burn, heavy on detail and low on action, and for this reason it may not be to everyone's taste.
Honestly, it could probably have been trimmed down by 100 pages and been an even tighter read, but nevertheless it is more than worth sticking with because it is very well written, and it tells a really good story.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy and atmospheric, imaginative, wonderfully descriptive and thoroughly engrossing.

This is more than a spooky read about a film crew investigating haunted houses; it's a mystery full of human fallibility, love that spans the afterlife, good versus evil and lots of wonderful twists. No spoilers from me - read it for yourself, it's a belter, I'm looking forward to reading the follow up, 'Crow's Cottage'.

4 solid stars!!

[Cera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this Paranormal Thriller!!

I really loves this book!! I thought the story had a really good concept. Loved the sexual tension between Kate and Henry!! I loved the creep factor and suspense!! Awesome book!!

[Mike Sumner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started so well. Kate, Henry and Charles investigating paranormal activity for their TV series Where The Dead Walk. When they are approached by property developer Sebastian Dahl to investigate alleged activity in a house he owned on the Cornish coast - they agreed. Kate Bennett is not in a particularly good place; robbed of two mothers, her birth mother and then her adoptive mum, and her husband Robert and young son Joel. She is perhaps more susceptible than most for 'ghostly' events.

As the plot descended into the realms of sorcery and what for me was a preposterous story line, I rather lost interest, particularly as the book was rather long and - rambled.

Well written but overly complicated. A shame as it seemed to offer so much more.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Where the Dead Walk by indie author John Bowen! I usually don’t read too many books in the supernatural or paranormal realm, but this proved to be a fantastic find. It has some definite creepy and disturbing elements that I feel surpass what most books in the supernatural genre tend to offer, which I very much enjoyed. This book will certainly appeal to fans of the paranormal but also to those like me that typically gravitate to horror or thrillers. It has an extremely well-developed and intricate storyline, but it’s not so complex that you find yourself getting lost. Mr. Bowen does an outstanding job describing the characters and the surroundings – you will feel like you’re there in the “haunted” house experiencing the supernatural happenings right along with the characters. I found this book was very difficult to put down once I started it.

I definitely appreciated how Mr. Bowen keeps you guessing until the end. I can’t stand books that are so shallow and predictable that you have the whole story figured out halfway through – that’s definitely not the case with Where the Dead Walk. Plus, once you learn the backstories of two of the main characters, Kate Bennett and Sebastian Dahl, and the real reasons that Sebastian is so interested in befriending Kate, you will be floored!

This is a wonderful debut novel by John Bowen that I highly recommend – I can’t wait to read his future offerings!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting enough, but I just wasn't able to get into the characters. They stayed shallow and distant... but that's only my opinion.
The story idea gets 4 stars... the characters 2 stars.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Bennett along with Henry White, her friend & colleague are in the midst of filming the second series of their ghost hunting TV show. Kate isn't sure what she believes- apart from the fact she seemed destined to lose all those closest to her!

The crew go to investigate a clifftop house. Although it is relatively new, the owner & developed Sebastian Dahl has not been able to keep tenants as they leave very quickly stating the house is haunted. Whilst they are there Kate is shocked to feel a presence. The resident ghost seems to want to communicate with her instead of Charles, their crew medium & what they have to say holds clues to her early childhood- a time Kate cannot remember.

Henry & Charles are soon very concerned about the hold Sebastian & the house have on Kate. She is determined to find out what this has to do with the fire that left her scarred & killed her mother but no-one could have imagined what the end game was.

This was a well written and eerie read. I really liked Kate & her crew & was really rooting for a happy ending. Was there one? Read it & see!!!

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as a e book from a facebook page that I am a member of called TBC reviews. I enjoyed reading it. It had a good story to it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

[Shell Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having won Where The Dead Walk on The book Club auction I couldn't wait to get started with it and I wasn't at all disappointed. This is my first read by John Bowen and most definitely won't be my last. I actually listened to the Audio of this book and I enjoyed it that much I couldn't wait to drive to work it definitely made my long Journey to work more enjoyable. This is one hell of a supernatural thriller which has a very unique story line. Being a fan of the Most Hunted TV show this book is right up my street.

Where The Dead Walks is a paranormal investigation cable TV show which Kate Bennett is presenter for and believe it not or she is very septical until a investigation at neglected cliff-top house, empty for a decade because it's "haunted", Kate is left convinced a spirit within holds the answers to a childhood she can't remember and an unimaginable crime. Can Harry her co presenter partner help Kate unravel the truth? The story takes a surprising dark turn when Sebastian Dahl the house owner is searching for something to.
I loved the characters in this story Harry has got a soft spot for Kate and make a great team. And would love to see more of them in the future maybe?!

Well what can I say I was totally hooked to the point where I was listening to this any moment I got because I absolutely loved it. John takes you on a journey dropping out snippets leaving me wanting more and left me totally flabbergasted that this is his debut novel. This is a corker of a read John's well crafted writing skills made me feel like he has been writing for years. with the mystery and suspense I was totally addicted and built up to a fantastic ending where everything comes together.

This is a must read for all Paranormal fans that love a well written good ghost story like myself. that will keep you wanting more until the end. This is one of those books that will stay with me forever. I cannot recommend it enough, this is a massive five stars from me and will be in my favourite books for 2016.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where The Dead Walk is a dark, tense and steady read that is perfect for fans of the paranormal.

I really enjoyed the whole storyline in this novel. The fact that the main characters, Kate and Henry, both work together on a paranormal TV show is just class. Most of us will have watched similar shows on TV and wondered if there is any truth in the stories or if it is all staged, I do think the author is quite realistic with the audiences expectations and keeps it very real.

Surprisingly Kate is quite sceptical about the whole thing herself. She has had many losses in her life and I would have thought she would have got into that line of work in the hope of getting some answers and finding away to make contact with her loved ones. If anything though, her personal loss has made her stronger and independent and she certainly seems to have built a wall around her to stop herself from getting hurt again.

I really liked Henry's character throughout the story. He obviously has feelings for Kate and cares for her a great deal. They definitely make a great team.

The story certainly gets a whole lot darker when Sebastian comes into it. It is quite apparent to the reader that there is more to this person than he is letting on. From this point on I was on tender hooks for Kate as I just knew that the house and Sebastian were not going to be a good omen.

Where The Dead Walk is a very well written novel that grabs you from the start. The author teases us as to what is really is going on with Sebastian and it certainly makes for a gripping read that is full of mystery and suspense.

[Fiona Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review updated to 4 stars to reflect communication with the author re editing. Also deleted comments about editing as an uncorrected copy was uploaded unknown to the author!

This was a pretty decent read for me. I enjoy supernatural books, and this one was definitely one of those!

But it was more than that. There were a lot of twists, turns and mystery within the pages of this story which turned it into something more than a simple paranormal read.

Once I got into it the story held my attention. It has a really good storyline and one which was as twisted as the main character!

Fans of Most Haunted will love this as the initial premise is centred round a fictional TV show investigating haunted buildings.

I have another book from this author to read and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with in it. The author is definitely one I will be watching in the future.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, and am writing a review because my daughter, who gifted me the book, asked for a review. This was not your typical "soil your pants" thriller laden with gore. It was written in somewhat of a matter of fact style, encouraging skepticism from the reader's point of view. Yet it sneaks up on you, and you start believing the occult dimensions and perspective. There are several plot twists, both expected and unexpected. The origin of the occult horror really needed to be expanded, but that's to be expected in a new author, who most likely was constrained by the saleable length of a first work. This is an author to watch in the future. Thanks daught for a great read -- and thanks to the author who put a spin on the haunted house genre!

[Shani Struthers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book held my attention from the first page. Plot, characters and pace are al there and, regarding paranormal matters, the author has clearly done his research - mixing fact with fiction in the great Dennis Wheatley tradition. I kept trying to work out what was going to happen at the next stage (a habit of mine!) but the author was always one step ahead, leading to an edge of the seat and very satisfying conclusion. This is the first time I've read a book by John Bowen but not the last. A keen reader of the paranormal, it's great to find an author who can treat this fascinating subject in both a knowledgeable and exciting manner. A hefty 5 stars from me!

[Sheare Bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging characters

I am fairly picky when it comes to tales with supernatural elements. I will consume them like potato chips, but few actually satisfy my desire for characters who are humanly flawed yet engaging, or in the case of the 'bad' guy's, have remotely understandable motivations. Bowen balances the genuine versus the debunked paranormal events nicely, provides real motivations for all of the characters--who are all very nicely realized as individuals rather than stock cookie cutter characters, and brings events to a scary climax with excellent timing.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic debut novel from a talented new writer, John Bowen. On reading the synopsis, I was expecting a story along the lines of The Supernaturals by David Goleman, which is one of the best paranormal novel I have read in a long time. Where the Dead Walk went in a completely different direction to that and took me by surprise as to how much I enjoyed it.

While it didn't quite satisfy the horror reader in me, I was able to appreciate it for the thoroughly entertaining tale it was. John Bowen is certainly a story teller I will be watching out for in the future.

[Christiana Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished reading "where the dead walk" tonight, what a brilliant book, lots of twists and in my own opinion lots of "omg" moments. I liked the way the characters where intertwined all the way through the book but really pleased that rat got what was coming to him haha (I kinda got right into this book) well done John

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.

The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.

i would highly recommend this author and this book.

[Angie Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good and well written but felt it was a bit long. I lost interest in the book from time to time but did finish it. The story was really good and the characters were interesting. It is my favourite genre (supernatural) but it wasn’t scary enough for me. Wasn’t a bad read and would try this author again.

[Sarah England · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the excellent twists in this book. The final chapters were so unexpected and morphed from a ghost story to something a whole lot darker and more original. Really nice writing and some wonderful turns of phrase too. Highly recommended.

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than just a ghost story

This book was a dark thriller with a supernatural backdrop. It was a highly enjoyable read, well crafted, with believable characters. I really enjoyed it.