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Sisters of Light #1
The Dandelion Clock
Silent Helene Van den Bergh has wandered the city since her release from a psychiatric hospital fifteen years earlier. Horrified when her friend is murdered, she knows the bullet was meant for her ‒ but why?
On Devil’s Peak, on the spring equinox, Helene waits for the gibbous moon to rise, unaware that two killers stalk her. The Dark Man, and Etienne Craig, The Diabolical Creation, a depraved lunatic whose lust for violence has reached its zenith. But something infinitely more evil tracks the hunters on the charred mountainside. Its depravity knows no bounds and its form cannot be predicted. Evil men set on slaughter may themselves become its prey.
Flash Peterson, Honey Esack and Petra Montgomery, the Sisters of Light, unite in a desperate scramble against the clock. Can they conquer the darkness in time to save their friend?
In this gripping psychological thriller, Sarah Key, author of Tangled Weeds, weaves the supernatural with crime to stunning effect.
On Devil’s Peak, on the spring equinox, Helene waits for the gibbous moon to rise, unaware that two killers stalk her. The Dark Man, and Etienne Craig, The Diabolical Creation, a depraved lunatic whose lust for violence has reached its zenith. But something infinitely more evil tracks the hunters on the charred mountainside. Its depravity knows no bounds and its form cannot be predicted. Evil men set on slaughter may themselves become its prey.
Flash Peterson, Honey Esack and Petra Montgomery, the Sisters of Light, unite in a desperate scramble against the clock. Can they conquer the darkness in time to save their friend?
In this gripping psychological thriller, Sarah Key, author of Tangled Weeds, weaves the supernatural with crime to stunning effect.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2015
682 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Key
10 books81 followersEnglish teacher, Adult Educator, Life and Communications Skills lecturer, HIV and AIDS activist, and mentor to apprentice jockeys, Sarah's working life has been varied. Her love of education, facilitation and writing has fueled her work for decades.
Sarah’s debut novel, Tangled Weeds, was published in 2014 by Rebele Publishers (Detroit). Her collaboration with Rebele saw the further release of The Sisters of Light trilogy - The Dandelion Clock, The Butterfly Wind and The Starlight Tide. Her novels are set in southern Africa and her characters are drawn from the rich and diverse cultures that populate this extraordinary part of the world. Sarah's fifth novel, Veils of Smoke was released in July, 2020.
Sarah is married and lives with her husband, two daughters and two mixed breed dogs. She loves good food, gardening, dogs and wine.
Sarah’s debut novel, Tangled Weeds, was published in 2014 by Rebele Publishers (Detroit). Her collaboration with Rebele saw the further release of The Sisters of Light trilogy - The Dandelion Clock, The Butterfly Wind and The Starlight Tide. Her novels are set in southern Africa and her characters are drawn from the rich and diverse cultures that populate this extraordinary part of the world. Sarah's fifth novel, Veils of Smoke was released in July, 2020.
Sarah is married and lives with her husband, two daughters and two mixed breed dogs. She loves good food, gardening, dogs and wine.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 27, 2017
This thriller by Sarah Key had me baffled and so engrossed that I kept picking it. I was anxious to see what was going to happen next.
Her characters are gritty and strong while telling their story in a mesh of worlds. Skillfully written so that you felt their strengths and their weaknesses.
The supernatural and the drug culture along with just vile characters made for a very strong mix. The language was unique and I was learning so many new phrases and terms.
Sarah brought Cape Town to me.
Her characters are gritty and strong while telling their story in a mesh of worlds. Skillfully written so that you felt their strengths and their weaknesses.
The supernatural and the drug culture along with just vile characters made for a very strong mix. The language was unique and I was learning so many new phrases and terms.
Sarah brought Cape Town to me.
November 8, 2019
The Spring Equinox is a month away in 1989 Cape Town, the city with the highest crime rate in violence-ridden South Africa. A vengeful psychopath is seeking yet another victim while a drug addled hit man is looking for a mysterious indigent woman, a woman whose only adult home has been the time spent in a mental institution. A doctor has a secret he will kill for, and somewhere in the city is someone – or something – is emanating an evil so dark that it dwarfs even murder.
Gruesome murders abound in this taut psychological thriller with a plot infused by the lingering undercurrents of the supernatural. At the centre of the darkness three young women must confront death, disappearance and disaster to find the strength needed to overcome the maelstrom that threatens their city.
While her character’s voices are powerful and her plot well-paced, Sarah Key’s main strength is her array of finely woven characters, believable and relatable, yet complex in the fabric of their past and present. In fact, while ‘The Dandelion Clock’ is set in 1989, this date is simply when the culmination of entire lives, of massive events, explode in depraved violence and murder.
I loved this book - a page-spinning, head-bulging, gasp-inducing riot of a read, Key keeps her readers glued to a story that moves at the pace of a Cape gangster’s bullet.
Gruesome murders abound in this taut psychological thriller with a plot infused by the lingering undercurrents of the supernatural. At the centre of the darkness three young women must confront death, disappearance and disaster to find the strength needed to overcome the maelstrom that threatens their city.
While her character’s voices are powerful and her plot well-paced, Sarah Key’s main strength is her array of finely woven characters, believable and relatable, yet complex in the fabric of their past and present. In fact, while ‘The Dandelion Clock’ is set in 1989, this date is simply when the culmination of entire lives, of massive events, explode in depraved violence and murder.
I loved this book - a page-spinning, head-bulging, gasp-inducing riot of a read, Key keeps her readers glued to a story that moves at the pace of a Cape gangster’s bullet.
July 20, 2017
The Book
Helene has wandered the streets of Cape Town for 15 years in mute silence with her dog, following her release from a state mental facility. When a fellow hobo is shot dead in an obvious case of mistaken identity, she falls back to the outskirts of town relying on the snippets of memory of former, happier years. Petra has always called her Titania and when her hobo friend vanishes and the reports of murders are released to the public, she knows that her silent friend is in danger and embarks on a desperate search to find her before it is too late.
My Thoughts
I liked
1. There’s a very eclectic cast of characters throughout the book, and while there are a number of them who I would consider to be more ‘filler’ characters, there are the three main ladies and our two evil doers who really steal the show. Each of them have very different personalities, and I find I enjoyed the dialogue which takes place between individuals during various stages of the book. It’s realistic and flows smoothly.
2. Plot twists are plentiful and as you think you’ve overcome the shock of one, Key immediately starts building up for the next. I enjoy this. I love a book which leaves me guessing and wondering at the end of each chapter. And when you finally get handed that final connecting piece of information that fits everything together…. Ah bliss! I had an inkling that I knew who was connected how, but damn did it still send me heart aflutter!?
3. The baddies are spine-chillingly scary, for me the best part of this book is there is no focus on one sole baddie, but the inclusion of others. There’s this unending potential for horror which left me scared to continue but desperate to know what happens. The Devious Creation freaked me out completely. Not only is he evil living in human form but it soon becomes evident that he is far from mentally stable. The worst part is I kinda felt bad for him as well, there was a sympathy that I couldn’t shake; I mean this is the exact reason for that nature vs nurture debate that often appears when looking into the lives of serial killers.
4. There’s a fair number of touchy subjects which I’ve found often leads to lengthy discussions in groups of people. Sanity vs insanity, body image issues, parental relationships… there’s a bunch there fresh for the picking which left me thinking of my own opinions on each subject.
5. If you've read this book, you can officially say you'll cope at speaking "South African", I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of local lingo and some very 'Saffa-esque' terms
I disliked
I’m undecided about
Reviewers Note: This book doesn’t have things I disliked; it’s more things which I don’t think I quite understood correctly. I feel this is a book I will certainly revisit once I’ve read the rest of the series as I find often times things make more sense then
1. I feel more could have been done by way of developing the Sisters of Light concept. I was expecting three heroines facing adversity and overcoming bad guys throughout, yet it seems that this was more the book for the coming together of our heroines, sort of a foundation demonstrating their abilities and how they could work together.
2. Creatures and Astrology.
Now, I thoroughly enjoy supernatural and astrological… stuff. So it’s not their inclusion which niggles at me, but rather the fact that I feel more could have been given of them to the book. I kind of feel like I may have ‘lost the plot’ so to speak somewhere, because while there’s a summary of each Sister’s astrological information, and reference to characteristics expected of certain signs, I felt lost about why there was this information to begin with?
And as for the creatures… I still don’t quite understand where or how they came about. First they’re there, then they’re not, then there’s a new one and it too vanishes as quickly as it appears. I assumed it was part of the instability of Helene and The Devious Creation, but later discovered that this wasn’t so. So now, who summons these things!!!? Are they real or not!? On second thought.... I don't want to know. I need my sleep at night,
Conclusion
Sarah Key has this sensational ability to describe the characters, setting and situations which left me feeling as though I were one with the characters, to be able to gain an idea of how mountains looked, or how characters appear and to see it in my mind is something I truly admire in an author and she certainly nails it for me. I love it when there’s a fair balance of description, back line story and dialogue. While the initial few chapters were a bit more difficult to follow, purely due to the introduction of that eclectic cast of characters, I found myself drawn into the story with each new chapter and as I neared the end, I was met with a sort of dread for finishing it. There doesn’t seem to be anything too taboo, scary or dreadful that Sarah Key’s will shy away from using in her work so I am really looking forward to reading Book 2 The Butterfly Wind and seeing what else she has in store for us.
Helene has wandered the streets of Cape Town for 15 years in mute silence with her dog, following her release from a state mental facility. When a fellow hobo is shot dead in an obvious case of mistaken identity, she falls back to the outskirts of town relying on the snippets of memory of former, happier years. Petra has always called her Titania and when her hobo friend vanishes and the reports of murders are released to the public, she knows that her silent friend is in danger and embarks on a desperate search to find her before it is too late.
My Thoughts
I liked
1. There’s a very eclectic cast of characters throughout the book, and while there are a number of them who I would consider to be more ‘filler’ characters, there are the three main ladies and our two evil doers who really steal the show. Each of them have very different personalities, and I find I enjoyed the dialogue which takes place between individuals during various stages of the book. It’s realistic and flows smoothly.
2. Plot twists are plentiful and as you think you’ve overcome the shock of one, Key immediately starts building up for the next. I enjoy this. I love a book which leaves me guessing and wondering at the end of each chapter. And when you finally get handed that final connecting piece of information that fits everything together…. Ah bliss! I had an inkling that I knew who was connected how, but damn did it still send me heart aflutter!?
3. The baddies are spine-chillingly scary, for me the best part of this book is there is no focus on one sole baddie, but the inclusion of others. There’s this unending potential for horror which left me scared to continue but desperate to know what happens. The Devious Creation freaked me out completely. Not only is he evil living in human form but it soon becomes evident that he is far from mentally stable. The worst part is I kinda felt bad for him as well, there was a sympathy that I couldn’t shake; I mean this is the exact reason for that nature vs nurture debate that often appears when looking into the lives of serial killers.
4. There’s a fair number of touchy subjects which I’ve found often leads to lengthy discussions in groups of people. Sanity vs insanity, body image issues, parental relationships… there’s a bunch there fresh for the picking which left me thinking of my own opinions on each subject.
5. If you've read this book, you can officially say you'll cope at speaking "South African", I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of local lingo and some very 'Saffa-esque' terms
I’m undecided about
Reviewers Note: This book doesn’t have things I disliked; it’s more things which I don’t think I quite understood correctly. I feel this is a book I will certainly revisit once I’ve read the rest of the series as I find often times things make more sense then
1. I feel more could have been done by way of developing the Sisters of Light concept. I was expecting three heroines facing adversity and overcoming bad guys throughout, yet it seems that this was more the book for the coming together of our heroines, sort of a foundation demonstrating their abilities and how they could work together.
2. Creatures and Astrology.
Now, I thoroughly enjoy supernatural and astrological… stuff. So it’s not their inclusion which niggles at me, but rather the fact that I feel more could have been given of them to the book. I kind of feel like I may have ‘lost the plot’ so to speak somewhere, because while there’s a summary of each Sister’s astrological information, and reference to characteristics expected of certain signs, I felt lost about why there was this information to begin with?
And as for the creatures… I still don’t quite understand where or how they came about. First they’re there, then they’re not, then there’s a new one and it too vanishes as quickly as it appears. I assumed it was part of the instability of Helene and The Devious Creation, but later discovered that this wasn’t so. So now, who summons these things!!!? Are they real or not!? On second thought.... I don't want to know. I need my sleep at night,
Conclusion
Sarah Key has this sensational ability to describe the characters, setting and situations which left me feeling as though I were one with the characters, to be able to gain an idea of how mountains looked, or how characters appear and to see it in my mind is something I truly admire in an author and she certainly nails it for me. I love it when there’s a fair balance of description, back line story and dialogue. While the initial few chapters were a bit more difficult to follow, purely due to the introduction of that eclectic cast of characters, I found myself drawn into the story with each new chapter and as I neared the end, I was met with a sort of dread for finishing it. There doesn’t seem to be anything too taboo, scary or dreadful that Sarah Key’s will shy away from using in her work so I am really looking forward to reading Book 2 The Butterfly Wind and seeing what else she has in store for us.
January 18, 2017
A slam dunk instant page Turner! The Dandelion clock you kept me reading like a mad woman, desperate to find out what happens next.. This compulsive tale will have you under its spell. This is one book that will have you racing to the last page, only to have you wishing the ride wasn't over. An absolute corker. Sarah Key bring on the next two post haste.
October 18, 2016
This novel transported me back to my (misspent?) youth in Cape Town while at the University of Cape Town. Full of contextual references to all the beautiful and the seedy parts of that great city. This is the first of 3 in the trilogy of the Sisters of Light - the sisters being Flash Peterson, Honey Esack and Petra Montgomery. Great, that means there's more to come like this in books 2 and 3.
With a sinister, brooding plot, the reader is drawn along in a gripping thriller, that treads a fine line between real, but evil and the downright supernatural. Great characters abound in this novel, and the time is taken to introduce them and build the foundation for what will be an excellent 3 novels if this, the first, is anything to go by.
With a sinister, brooding plot, the reader is drawn along in a gripping thriller, that treads a fine line between real, but evil and the downright supernatural. Great characters abound in this novel, and the time is taken to introduce them and build the foundation for what will be an excellent 3 novels if this, the first, is anything to go by.
September 11, 2017
Started this book with high hopes, and I ended up not being disappointed! What great characterization! Despite always being a fan of strong female characters (Think Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series), The sister's of light particularly rang with me. You get pretty believable solidly fleshed out characters in everyday life with extraordinary circumstances. Every character has good and bad, balanced moral grey areas. Hoping to read more of Joanie in the next book.
February 22, 2017
Silent Helene Van den Bergh has wandered the city since her release from a psychiatric hospital fifteen years earlier. Horrified when her friend is murdered, she knows the bullet was meant for her ‒ but why?
On Devil’s Peak, on the spring equinox, Helene waits for the gibbous moon to rise, unaware that two killers stalk her. The Dark Man, and Etienne Craig, The Diabolical Creation, a depraved lunatic whose lust for violence has reached its zenith. But something infinitely more evil tracks the hunters on the charred mountainside. Its depravity knows no bounds and its form cannot be predicted. Evil men set on slaughter may themselves become its prey.
Flash Peterson, Honey Esack and Petra Montgomery, the Sisters of Light, unite in a desperate scramble against the clock. Can they conquer the darkness in time to save their friend?
In this gripping psychological thriller, Sarah Key, author of Tangled Weeds, weaves the supernatural with crime to stunning effect.
I became a fan of Sarah Key’s after I read her first book – Tangled Weeds. She is an ingenious writer who is truly in touch with her story telling soul. She carries the story excellently and truly knows how to carry a reader through an intricately woven tale of so many lives.
The book itself and the pages bound within are of top quality and the text is easy to read. This is important for me for a book because there is nothing worse than a poor quality book with flimsy pages and text that is too small or printed too closely together.
The plot of the story; much like Tangled Weeds; is amazing in that it truly captures the human spirit. Between our silent protagonist and a mistreated boy-come-serial killer – Key has covered a truly dynamic range of characters. For me the best character out of them all was Petra who was a character I could strongly relate too – especially in the way she aggressively pushes people away when they get too close.
The story flows like magic and although I’m still not a fan of chopping and changing between characters I do have to admit that Key does it in such a way that you barely notice and it’s easy to keep tract of. The characters themselves develop as well as we move through their stories. They overcome their obstacles; conquer their fears; embrace their difference and forge deep friendships. It is an amazing inside look in the lives of the truly diverse nature of South Africans in one of the most culturally rich areas – The Western Cape.
The story itself was amazing and there was true magic in these pages that kept my fingers glued to the book and my eyes straining to keep in time with my brain as I devoured each page. It was an enjoyable book that will truly make you smile if you are South African as you identify the characters with people in your own life. The story was exciting with so many twists and turns that I did not see coming that I was kept on the edge of my seat and it does its genre proud. It’s got the thrills; it’s got suspense and it is an absolute mystery even in the end… I was left with questions that I know can only be answered by the next book in the series.
On Devil’s Peak, on the spring equinox, Helene waits for the gibbous moon to rise, unaware that two killers stalk her. The Dark Man, and Etienne Craig, The Diabolical Creation, a depraved lunatic whose lust for violence has reached its zenith. But something infinitely more evil tracks the hunters on the charred mountainside. Its depravity knows no bounds and its form cannot be predicted. Evil men set on slaughter may themselves become its prey.
Flash Peterson, Honey Esack and Petra Montgomery, the Sisters of Light, unite in a desperate scramble against the clock. Can they conquer the darkness in time to save their friend?
In this gripping psychological thriller, Sarah Key, author of Tangled Weeds, weaves the supernatural with crime to stunning effect.
I became a fan of Sarah Key’s after I read her first book – Tangled Weeds. She is an ingenious writer who is truly in touch with her story telling soul. She carries the story excellently and truly knows how to carry a reader through an intricately woven tale of so many lives.
The book itself and the pages bound within are of top quality and the text is easy to read. This is important for me for a book because there is nothing worse than a poor quality book with flimsy pages and text that is too small or printed too closely together.
The plot of the story; much like Tangled Weeds; is amazing in that it truly captures the human spirit. Between our silent protagonist and a mistreated boy-come-serial killer – Key has covered a truly dynamic range of characters. For me the best character out of them all was Petra who was a character I could strongly relate too – especially in the way she aggressively pushes people away when they get too close.
The story flows like magic and although I’m still not a fan of chopping and changing between characters I do have to admit that Key does it in such a way that you barely notice and it’s easy to keep tract of. The characters themselves develop as well as we move through their stories. They overcome their obstacles; conquer their fears; embrace their difference and forge deep friendships. It is an amazing inside look in the lives of the truly diverse nature of South Africans in one of the most culturally rich areas – The Western Cape.
The story itself was amazing and there was true magic in these pages that kept my fingers glued to the book and my eyes straining to keep in time with my brain as I devoured each page. It was an enjoyable book that will truly make you smile if you are South African as you identify the characters with people in your own life. The story was exciting with so many twists and turns that I did not see coming that I was kept on the edge of my seat and it does its genre proud. It’s got the thrills; it’s got suspense and it is an absolute mystery even in the end… I was left with questions that I know can only be answered by the next book in the series.
January 24, 2016
Spring Equinox is almost upon Cape Town and someone is killing homeless women. In fact two people are; an inept contract killer and a deranged pyscho, who has made a pact with a demon. Will the group of friends (a psychic nursing student, a carefree nanny, a rock singer and a rich anorexic) be able to deal with their personal issues and pull in enough favours to help save homeless woman Helene.
Well written, good pacing, great female characters and a captivating story. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series. If you are keen to read more by this author, get yourself a copy of “Tangled Weeds” – a review is on the 2015 page.
Suitable reading for a mature audience – contains some violence, realistic situations, and supernatural themes which some may find distressing.
Well written, good pacing, great female characters and a captivating story. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series. If you are keen to read more by this author, get yourself a copy of “Tangled Weeds” – a review is on the 2015 page.
Suitable reading for a mature audience – contains some violence, realistic situations, and supernatural themes which some may find distressing.
December 20, 2022
I don't know why I tried to read it, having read the others which I found "below the belt", this was in the same mould. Definitely the last I will read. Everyone is entitled to an honest opinion. I feel that life is short.
Why waste it reading books like this.
Why waste it writing books like this?
Surely a different subject matter?
Different folks different strokes.
Rather than leaving me feeling inspired, it left me feeling down, dirty, depressed.
I wonder what sort of minds like to write about the seedy side of life. Perhaps a morbid fascination.
It has a very masculine quality.
As though a man had written it. There is nothing feminine, gentle, kind about the writing, the style or the subject matter.
Why waste it reading books like this.
Why waste it writing books like this?
Surely a different subject matter?
Different folks different strokes.
Rather than leaving me feeling inspired, it left me feeling down, dirty, depressed.
I wonder what sort of minds like to write about the seedy side of life. Perhaps a morbid fascination.
It has a very masculine quality.
As though a man had written it. There is nothing feminine, gentle, kind about the writing, the style or the subject matter.
February 26, 2020
DISCLAIMER:
I received this book for free as a winner of a giveaway promoted by the author here on Goodreads.
Well written, overall a good introduction to the characters building the foundation of a good trilogy. The rythm is rather low for a supposedly fantasy thriller. Some charachters are not much relatable. It would have been a good thing to signal the presence of a glossary, since the south african slang pervades this book. Some parts seem ripetitive, but I think they contribute to give the general idea of plot and behaviours. A bit curious to read the second volume!
I received this book for free as a winner of a giveaway promoted by the author here on Goodreads.
Well written, overall a good introduction to the characters building the foundation of a good trilogy. The rythm is rather low for a supposedly fantasy thriller. Some charachters are not much relatable. It would have been a good thing to signal the presence of a glossary, since the south african slang pervades this book. Some parts seem ripetitive, but I think they contribute to give the general idea of plot and behaviours. A bit curious to read the second volume!
October 13, 2016
This book was so interesting and thrilling. There were many different plot lines, adding different dimensions to the characters and the plot. I loved the female protagonists and was disappointed not to learn all about Joanie's back story, but I'm very excited that I get to spend more time with them in the second book of the trilogy - I can't wait!
October 30, 2016
A really gripping read - a few story lines that come together in a nail-biting finish! Great setting in Cape Town, South Africa, in the 1980's,weaving together characters from very different backgrounds. I am looking forward to the next in the series.
October 13, 2016
Well written and thought provoking. Kept me on the edge of my seat and eagerly awaiting book 2 in the trilogy.
October 17, 2016
A gripping story from beginning to end. Thrillers are normally not a genre I enjoy but I could not put the book down. I cannot wait to read the next book in her Trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews