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Bellmere Common
Review Excerpt's
E. Kerry (Amazon.co.uk) - "I really enjoyed this book.
I read a lot and enjoy thriller and horror novels, this was a really good example of the genre. Plenty of bits that made me nervous to be alone in the dark, some really good twists (which I love trying to see coming nice and early to 'beat' the author to it when I can - I failed here!) and a shocking and dramatic ending.
Great debut novel and an author I will be watching out for in future!"
S. Pearson (Amazon.com) - "I enjoyed this story very much and found it to be engrossing and exciting."
Patrick never knew he had an aunt until he was told she was dead. No one had ever mentioned her. He organises a family trip to sort out the house she has left him. Everything starts off well, but it isn't long before an old sinister family secret rears its demonic head, and his wife’s recurring nightmares turn out to be visions. There is death and destruction all around them. Who can they trust? Will they survive?
E. Kerry (Amazon.co.uk) - "I really enjoyed this book.
I read a lot and enjoy thriller and horror novels, this was a really good example of the genre. Plenty of bits that made me nervous to be alone in the dark, some really good twists (which I love trying to see coming nice and early to 'beat' the author to it when I can - I failed here!) and a shocking and dramatic ending.
Great debut novel and an author I will be watching out for in future!"
S. Pearson (Amazon.com) - "I enjoyed this story very much and found it to be engrossing and exciting."
Patrick never knew he had an aunt until he was told she was dead. No one had ever mentioned her. He organises a family trip to sort out the house she has left him. Everything starts off well, but it isn't long before an old sinister family secret rears its demonic head, and his wife’s recurring nightmares turn out to be visions. There is death and destruction all around them. Who can they trust? Will they survive?
- GenresHorror
ebook
First published March 12, 2014
13 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Mark J Steen
6 books166 followersHi the names Steen, Mark Steen. Sorry! Ha ha.
I was born in Basingstoke England. Son to Sue and Max. After a rather unsettled first few years some of which was spent living in a big family tent we settled in the North West of England near Manchester. I have one younger brother by 4 years.
I left school in 1989 and went straight into the Armed Forces (Army - Royal Engineers to be exact) in which I spent 10 years.
After I left the Army I worked at Manchester Airport as a mechanic, working on all types of ground handling equipment from the large pushback tug's that tow the aeroplanes to belt loaders to high platform cargo loaders.
I know no writer can please all readers all the time but even if a few people enjoy my books I will be a very happy man!
Contact / follow:
www.WritersSurvivalKit.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msteenauthor (@msteenauthor)
Website: http://www.marksteenauthor.com
Email: msteenauthor@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msteenauthor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-S...
I was born in Basingstoke England. Son to Sue and Max. After a rather unsettled first few years some of which was spent living in a big family tent we settled in the North West of England near Manchester. I have one younger brother by 4 years.
I left school in 1989 and went straight into the Armed Forces (Army - Royal Engineers to be exact) in which I spent 10 years.
After I left the Army I worked at Manchester Airport as a mechanic, working on all types of ground handling equipment from the large pushback tug's that tow the aeroplanes to belt loaders to high platform cargo loaders.
I know no writer can please all readers all the time but even if a few people enjoy my books I will be a very happy man!
Contact / follow:
www.WritersSurvivalKit.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msteenauthor (@msteenauthor)
Website: http://www.marksteenauthor.com
Email: msteenauthor@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msteenauthor
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-S...
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 20, 2015
It's been quite some time since I've read a really really good horror story, Bellemere Common is bound to become a new classic! Throw in Stephen King and John Carpenter and what you have now is complete Steen magic, a completely new phenomena of horror. This journey will leave you on the edge of your seat literally and if you're fate of heart I suggest leaving the lights on after putting it down. Mind blowing horror mixed in with supernatural tenses leaves you never wanting to put this book down. Twists and turns you don't expect to occur leave you mesmerized. Steen's creative way of writing literally forces you to believe you're actually in Bellemere Common and can't escape! I enjoyed every scare and heart racing turn of the pages. Good of old fashion horror is finally back. This book is most definitely a must for your horror classic library.
March 22, 2015
WOW. I have been on the hunt for a good spooky story for quite a while now, and finally found it. I really enjoyed this scary fun romp!
That being said, I wish it was more fleshed out with the back story of the entity. More about what they were doing back in the day, and how they got there. The ending also seemed a bit abrupt, as well.
I did not see the typos that others were fussing about, so I must have gotten the newer version. I am just glad that I decided to read this and will look for more from Mr. Steen.
That being said, I wish it was more fleshed out with the back story of the entity. More about what they were doing back in the day, and how they got there. The ending also seemed a bit abrupt, as well.
I did not see the typos that others were fussing about, so I must have gotten the newer version. I am just glad that I decided to read this and will look for more from Mr. Steen.
November 8, 2017
www.nerdgirlbookreview.com
I couldn’t put this book down. According to my Kindle I was 90% done, so I forced myself to slow down. 93% brught acknowledgments and a preview to another book by the same author.
Nooooooooooooooooo!
This was a fast paced (GOOD thing) supernatural thriller that is truly creepy. Mr. Steen has taken the always entertaining idea of surprise inheritance and made it original again. This was truly a spooky tale painted in a picturesque and unwelcoming English town.
I’m left with a lot of questions – but refuse to give any spoilers. …that ending though!
Take a step out of reality and read this book. Steen has quickly become a new fav and I can’t wait to read another title. If you are looking for an entertaining creep out, this is your book, and your guy.
I couldn’t put this book down. According to my Kindle I was 90% done, so I forced myself to slow down. 93% brught acknowledgments and a preview to another book by the same author.
Nooooooooooooooooo!
This was a fast paced (GOOD thing) supernatural thriller that is truly creepy. Mr. Steen has taken the always entertaining idea of surprise inheritance and made it original again. This was truly a spooky tale painted in a picturesque and unwelcoming English town.
I’m left with a lot of questions – but refuse to give any spoilers. …that ending though!
Take a step out of reality and read this book. Steen has quickly become a new fav and I can’t wait to read another title. If you are looking for an entertaining creep out, this is your book, and your guy.
November 28, 2021
The characters are relatable and likeable.
Bellmere Common has a warmth and humour emanating throughout the book but make no mistake there is horror abound by the way of sacrifices and brutal slayings.
If you get the opportunity to read this then grab it with both hands and don't stop until you reach the last page but be warned it might just give you nightmares.
Bellmere Common has a warmth and humour emanating throughout the book but make no mistake there is horror abound by the way of sacrifices and brutal slayings.
If you get the opportunity to read this then grab it with both hands and don't stop until you reach the last page but be warned it might just give you nightmares.
November 28, 2021
Scary horror story
Loved this book. Likeable characters. Scary plot, gruesome in places. Will definitely read more books by Mark Steen.
Loved this book. Likeable characters. Scary plot, gruesome in places. Will definitely read more books by Mark Steen.
January 6, 2019
This was a great creepy read for those who don’t like a lot of gore! I really enjoyed the characters and the story had me right from the start all the way through! I would have Loved it if it was even longer ha! I’m greedy! So if you like a good scary story to read at night give this a go!
March 8, 2017
How do you read the book on here
October 29, 2015
The plot is familiar. A big spooky house in a small town with history, left to an unsuspecting relative, who didn’t know he had a relative, suspicious local town-folk, and scandalous gossip. All the ingredients one needs for the perfect scare yourself to death horror story. It takes a great storyteller to make those ingredients into something original. Mark Steen would be that kind of storyteller.
Bellmere Common follows Patrick, his wife Julie and their kids as they come into Bellmere to inspect their unexpected inheritance of his aunt’s home. Upon arriving in town they find his aunt had been a recluse after she was forced to kill her husband, who had been an extremely violent man and it turns out that the locals may know a bit more than they are letting on.
Not long after they arrive strange things begin happening. Their daughter develops an imaginary friend that her parents find just a little too realistic. Local teens find their game of ouija to be just a little too intense and a pair of ruffians end up dead by the hand of man that witnesses swear is already dead himself.
The story is told in two sections, both the modern day setting dealing with the protagonists of the story and a flashback set in 1950 providing a well fleshed out back story, that still leaves the reader guessing all the way to the end. The characters are striking. I particularly enjoyed the character of Seth. If you had asked me at the beginning, I wouldn’t have believed that he would have been as capable as he was. All the characters were well developed as the story progressed proving initial impressions to be lacking. It was quite an enjoyable read, much to my family’s dismay as their attempts to engage me in conversation, while my nose was buried in my Kindle (that just doesn’t sound as cool as buried in a book, does it?), were met with some serious annoyance.
About the only sore spot for me was the sex scenes (The warning label for graphic sex doesn't usually prove a deterrent for me). Though appropriate and great seasoning for the exposition of the story, the explicit language and descriptions felt out of place. I feel certain that the author is more than capable of keeping the intensity of those portions that drove the story so well without the common language that made those scenes feel more contrived than exposition. While this book could and should appeal to a wide audience, it could and should appeal to much wider audience in my opinion.
Bellmere Common follows Patrick, his wife Julie and their kids as they come into Bellmere to inspect their unexpected inheritance of his aunt’s home. Upon arriving in town they find his aunt had been a recluse after she was forced to kill her husband, who had been an extremely violent man and it turns out that the locals may know a bit more than they are letting on.
Not long after they arrive strange things begin happening. Their daughter develops an imaginary friend that her parents find just a little too realistic. Local teens find their game of ouija to be just a little too intense and a pair of ruffians end up dead by the hand of man that witnesses swear is already dead himself.
The story is told in two sections, both the modern day setting dealing with the protagonists of the story and a flashback set in 1950 providing a well fleshed out back story, that still leaves the reader guessing all the way to the end. The characters are striking. I particularly enjoyed the character of Seth. If you had asked me at the beginning, I wouldn’t have believed that he would have been as capable as he was. All the characters were well developed as the story progressed proving initial impressions to be lacking. It was quite an enjoyable read, much to my family’s dismay as their attempts to engage me in conversation, while my nose was buried in my Kindle (that just doesn’t sound as cool as buried in a book, does it?), were met with some serious annoyance.
About the only sore spot for me was the sex scenes (The warning label for graphic sex doesn't usually prove a deterrent for me). Though appropriate and great seasoning for the exposition of the story, the explicit language and descriptions felt out of place. I feel certain that the author is more than capable of keeping the intensity of those portions that drove the story so well without the common language that made those scenes feel more contrived than exposition. While this book could and should appeal to a wide audience, it could and should appeal to much wider audience in my opinion.
October 3, 2015
I read a lot of books of all genres with my favourites being horror and thrillers so when I read the blurb about Bellmere Common by Mark Steen I couldn’t wait to start reading it (I even put down my new Stephen King novel to do so)!
Bellmere Common is a sleepy village in England and after Pat’s Aunt Jeanette (who he never knew existed) dies and leaves him the house he and his family travel down from Manchester to sort out the house ready to sell it. But the village has a horrible past with murders and disappearances and secrets about Aunt Jeanette that Pat and his family never knew.
A demon is on the loose in Bellmere Common and looking for souls to feed the devil and now Pat and his family are in a fight for survival.
Overall I found Bellmere Common to be a good story, horrific, gory and engrossing. While I enjoyed reading it I did have several problems with it;
Firstly the book is littered with spelling and grammatical errors, some of which are so glaringly obvious and some that change the meaning of what the author is trying to say.
Secondly I thought that at times the author was trying to increase the word count by unnecessarily over-describing mundane paragraphs, for instance when Mary makes a cup of tea for the two teenagers that she is planning to offer as a sacrifice to her master describing how to make a cup of tea added nothing to the story and was pointless.
At some points I had to re-read some parts as they didn’t seem to fit with the story and maybe if they had been introduced earlier it would have worked better.
So for a debut novel by the author it is a good story that I would recommend reading, despite my niggles as mentioned above. I think if the book was re-edited and proofread better it would make for a much better, polished novel.
But as I said, I enjoyed reading it and am glad I did but definitely in need of re-editing especially if the author wants to make a career of writing novels.
Bellmere Common is a sleepy village in England and after Pat’s Aunt Jeanette (who he never knew existed) dies and leaves him the house he and his family travel down from Manchester to sort out the house ready to sell it. But the village has a horrible past with murders and disappearances and secrets about Aunt Jeanette that Pat and his family never knew.
A demon is on the loose in Bellmere Common and looking for souls to feed the devil and now Pat and his family are in a fight for survival.
Overall I found Bellmere Common to be a good story, horrific, gory and engrossing. While I enjoyed reading it I did have several problems with it;
Firstly the book is littered with spelling and grammatical errors, some of which are so glaringly obvious and some that change the meaning of what the author is trying to say.
Secondly I thought that at times the author was trying to increase the word count by unnecessarily over-describing mundane paragraphs, for instance when Mary makes a cup of tea for the two teenagers that she is planning to offer as a sacrifice to her master describing how to make a cup of tea added nothing to the story and was pointless.
At some points I had to re-read some parts as they didn’t seem to fit with the story and maybe if they had been introduced earlier it would have worked better.
So for a debut novel by the author it is a good story that I would recommend reading, despite my niggles as mentioned above. I think if the book was re-edited and proofread better it would make for a much better, polished novel.
But as I said, I enjoyed reading it and am glad I did but definitely in need of re-editing especially if the author wants to make a career of writing novels.
September 3, 2018
Two stars. Overall, I found it entertaining. Needs professional editing to make it better. There are many typos; sentences that don't have a full stop, full stops where there should be commas, words like 'baby' or 'sexy' written with a capital in the middle of a sentence, etc. Chunks of description can be omitted without affecting the book. Also, someone hooked on weed (can you even get hooked on weed?) is very unlikely to have withdrawal symptoms like the ones described, which makes for a very unnecessary and illogical rape scene. Yes, we get it, those two are not good guys. We would have surmised as much from the rest of the book.
The characters were likeable, though the baddies are two dimensional. The plot is lackluster and rushed at places (especially the ending of the book), but it shows promise that the next one will be better. Mark Steen is finding his voice and won't stop trying until he gets there. Judging from this novel, it will be sooner rather than later.
The characters were likeable, though the baddies are two dimensional. The plot is lackluster and rushed at places (especially the ending of the book), but it shows promise that the next one will be better. Mark Steen is finding his voice and won't stop trying until he gets there. Judging from this novel, it will be sooner rather than later.
September 16, 2014
A most enjoyable, scary read. There's gore and laughs in equal portions when the hero, Patrick, stumbles into more than he bargained for when he takes on the task of cleaning up the home of a deceased aunt he never knew he had.
Mark Steen knows how to tell a good story. The upcoming sequel is sure to be equally entertaining.
Mark Steen knows how to tell a good story. The upcoming sequel is sure to be equally entertaining.
October 26, 2015
This eerie tale will creep under your skin. Ritual torture, self-mutilation, ghosts and horny demons are just a few of the nasty bits that await you. Horror fans will have fun reading this debut novel. It’s a great one to get you in the Halloween mood. I look forward to more creepy stories from this author.
January 18, 2016
This is not the type of book I would normally read but I wanted something a bit different. I enjoyed the author's characters and the book kept me entertained. There was a lot of graphic scenes that were well written. Felt the ending was a tad rushed but that didn't really matter as I had enjoyed the book.
November 8, 2019
It's not bad. However, it takes a while for the story to revolve and the basic plot line is too predictable. Good as a children's horror.
Also, Mark, you need to proof read more, I endlessly found repeated words, missing words and sentences that ended and started with the same few words.
Also, Mark, you need to proof read more, I endlessly found repeated words, missing words and sentences that ended and started with the same few words.
March 27, 2016
Loved it!
This is the first book I've read of Mark Steen's. Excellent book! I loved the story but was a bit disappointed with the ending. I'm definitely going to read more of his books
This is the first book I've read of Mark Steen's. Excellent book! I loved the story but was a bit disappointed with the ending. I'm definitely going to read more of his books
June 14, 2015
Loved this book just couldn't put it down will definitely be reading more from this author
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews