The Mine

by Frances Carden

Deep in the heart of the Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a group of business men play with lives and the law. Their illegal mining town, however, soon yields more than just diamonds. With a strange gust of a wind and a billowing black substance, cold as ice, the mine ushers in madness, revenge, and burning yellow eyes in the night.

Hundreds of miles away from the nearest city, the group must decide between profit and survival as a strange plague starts to breed weird dreams and blood lust. If you die in the jungle, does anyone hear you scream?

Genres: Horror, Fiction

187 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2019

About the author

Give me a spring day, an open window, my beautiful cats, a pot of coffee, and several good books and I am in Heaven.

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good lord, this book is disturbing but kind of cool too!
It’s a tale of greed and how it ruins everything it touches. In the book, it is mega greed that is the ruination of all the people, from the common workers to the arrogant businessmen.
The only winner is the jungle that snuffs out all who would try to ruin it.

[Destinee Sims · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I won this one a while back from the @goodreads giveaways… I’m not quite sure why I finished this one. The novella follows two couples and their children as they attempt to pull riches from an abandoned mine located in a Congolese jungle. The overall plot has some potential, but the POV killed the story for me. The narrator speaks directly to the audience repeatedly, and said narrator is quite pompous and irritated the hell out of me. The writing style was also a bit odd to me, as it came off like the writer was trying way too hard. I hate posting negative reviews, but I have limited positive thoughts on this 132 page story. I liked the idea of people opening a mine and unleash something evil; I just didn’t like the way the story was executed. I really hope someone else enjoys this more than I did though, as it did get some positive comments on Goodreads’ review section. I don’t have much else to say without just being mean, so I’m going to go ahead and cut the review off here 😬🥴

PSA- This story contains graphic violence 🚩

[(the.darkandmoody.reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 - “It’s in the water… Stay away from the monkeys.”

I’m not sure what I just read but I liked it. That was a cool horror short story. There was suspense, mystery, blood - bloody deaths. The world building put me right smack dab in the Congo. I’m concerned about rain now.

This story is written in third-person omniscient. The narrator is the one controlling everything that is happening to the characters. It was a bit jarring at first because I was being told the story as if I were sitting at a campfire being told a ghost story. BUT it wasn’t the author telling it was all show, which to me was rather amazing.

I wish the book was longer. The whole story is intriguing and I want to know more.

Total rec.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a kindle copy of THE MINE through a Goodreads giveaway. The premise sounded interesting, but I went in not knowing what to expect. Now I’ve finished, and I’m still not sure what I think. I’m pretty positive my face had a screwed-up, horrified look the entire time I was reading, but I couldn’t put it down. Recommended if you like dark and shocking reads!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Tamra Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stayed up to finish

I won an ebook. Love of family or greed? Save yourself or throw your children to whatever waits in the dark jungle? It is very well written. You are in the jungle and can fear their fears. You cheer for the children to keep going and hope they get out.
GOODREADSGIVEAWAY

[Ashley Nycz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book! Would definitely recommend to horror fans

[Tanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up without really looking into what it was, and I'm just not a fan of horror. But this was so deeply captivating and engaging. It doesn't feel quite right to say that I enjoyed reading it, because it's just too deeply disturbing and unnerving for that, but it definitely kept me engaged.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

It's dark but that darkness feels justified. It explores how the greed of humans exploits and destroys the environment and their fellow humans.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story had me hooked from the very first line. The eerie setting deep in the Congolese jungle, combined with the sinister happenings at the mining site, creates an atmosphere of pure suspense. The mysterious plague, the strange black wind, and those haunting yellow eyes chilling! It’s a brilliant mix of horror, psychological tension, and social commentary. Highly recommend if you're into thrillers that push boundaries.

[Gabriela Teixeira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nah... This one didn't do for me. The tone was annoying, the language too much, with its long sentences, metaphors and repetitions. The story had potential, but I just didn't buy it, with an entity (demon, goddess, mother nature, earth, spirit of Africa????) completely unrelatable.
Almost DNF'd... didn't only because it was so small I decided to brave it.