What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lychgate
Sometimes vengeance goes beyond the grave. In an isolated spot on the South Lincolnshire Fens, a new community blossoms. Tired of the modern world, this loose collection of off-grid down-shifters yearn for lives of simple self-sufficiency. Most people steer clear of the initiative at Deeping Drove. A similar project nearly two decades before, came to a tragic end. Local ghost stories abound of how former occupants fled their secluded haven on Halloween, never to return. Now, conflicting spiritual powers once unleashed by a seventh century saint and a malevolent pagan holy man, will vie for dominance. Boundaries between life, death, body and spirit are about to be rent asunder. Will anyone walk away to tell the tale?
350 pages, ebook
Published December 6, 2019
27 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Devon De'Ath
12 books42 followersDevon De’Ath was born in the county of Kent, ‘The Garden of England.’ Raised a Roman Catholic in a small, ancient country market community famously documented as ‘the most haunted TOWN in England,’ he grew up in an atmosphere replete with spiritual, psychic, and supernatural energy. Hauntings were commonplace and you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting three spectres, to the extent that he never needed question the validity of such manifestations. As to the explanations behind them?
At the age of twenty, his earnest search for spiritual truth led the young man to leave Catholicism and become heavily involved in Charismatic Evangelicalism. After serving as a part-time youth pastor while working in the corporate world, he eventually took voluntary redundancy to study at a Bible College in the USA. Missions in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa followed, but a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of the theology and ministerial abuse by church leadership eventually caused him to break with organised religion and pursue a Post-Evangelical existence. One open to all manner of spiritual and human experiences his ‘holy’ life would never have allowed.
After church life, De’Ath served fifteen years with the police, lectured at colleges and universities, and acted as a consultant to public safety agencies both foreign and domestic.
A writer since he first learned the alphabet, Devon De’Ath has authored works in many genres under various names, from Children’s literature to self-help books, through screenplays for video production and all manner of articles.
At the age of twenty, his earnest search for spiritual truth led the young man to leave Catholicism and become heavily involved in Charismatic Evangelicalism. After serving as a part-time youth pastor while working in the corporate world, he eventually took voluntary redundancy to study at a Bible College in the USA. Missions in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa followed, but a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of the theology and ministerial abuse by church leadership eventually caused him to break with organised religion and pursue a Post-Evangelical existence. One open to all manner of spiritual and human experiences his ‘holy’ life would never have allowed.
After church life, De’Ath served fifteen years with the police, lectured at colleges and universities, and acted as a consultant to public safety agencies both foreign and domestic.
A writer since he first learned the alphabet, Devon De’Ath has authored works in many genres under various names, from Children’s literature to self-help books, through screenplays for video production and all manner of articles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 15, 2021
Something Walked Through the Lychgate...
No spoilers. 3 stars. This is the story of an off-grid Lincolnshire settlement called Deeping Drove...
... its denizens were made up of various people with some talent to offer that would contribute to making their community self-sufficient and sustainable...
... there was the founder who was a skilled potter, a roof thatcher, a family of skilled farmers...
... they also had a contractor, building laborers, a blacksmith, woodworker, a hairdress, a psychic/herbalist, a vicar, and...
... the story's narrator, Bob Mason, a university professor and historian...
Their story ended one Halloween night when something rose from the churchyard and walked through the lychgate, also known as the corpse gate...
This was a rather slow-moving tale whose action didn't really begin until the 70% mark. I liked the last 3% very much but it took a long time to get there and still there were some unanswered questions.
If you're okay with slow-burners you'll probably like this story but I like my stories to move a little faster than this one did.
No spoilers. 3 stars. This is the story of an off-grid Lincolnshire settlement called Deeping Drove...
... its denizens were made up of various people with some talent to offer that would contribute to making their community self-sufficient and sustainable...
... there was the founder who was a skilled potter, a roof thatcher, a family of skilled farmers...
... they also had a contractor, building laborers, a blacksmith, woodworker, a hairdress, a psychic/herbalist, a vicar, and...
... the story's narrator, Bob Mason, a university professor and historian...
Their story ended one Halloween night when something rose from the churchyard and walked through the lychgate, also known as the corpse gate...
This was a rather slow-moving tale whose action didn't really begin until the 70% mark. I liked the last 3% very much but it took a long time to get there and still there were some unanswered questions.
If you're okay with slow-burners you'll probably like this story but I like my stories to move a little faster than this one did.
June 14, 2020
Devon De'Ath's fascination with thriller novels is clearly shown in all his works. His other works I've seen--Maypole & Nevermere are truly great masterpieces with a mix of fantasy, thriller and fiction. And now this book, The Lychgate, did not fall short with the wonder of his other books. The Lychgate is like an adventure, with its stories set in various timelines. It was very interesting with how the author progressed this story, as well as how he connected these different timelines all together, which made the story more fascinating. Devon's works are truly a work of wonder, wherein you'll be kept on the edge for every chapter, leaving you guessing what could possibly happen next. Truly, a great work again!
November 10, 2020
Engrossing and creepy
This book starts and doesn't let up . it is interesting enough to pull you in so much so that you feel as if you are on site with the off the grid group so much so that you are caught with them when it all goes wrong. Excellent book and I will be looking for more by this author.
This book starts and doesn't let up . it is interesting enough to pull you in so much so that you feel as if you are on site with the off the grid group so much so that you are caught with them when it all goes wrong. Excellent book and I will be looking for more by this author.
November 10, 2020
Well done
This book is well written and well plotted. The events make sense as the fantastic world of horror invades the characters' reality.
This book is well written and well plotted. The events make sense as the fantastic world of horror invades the characters' reality.
August 2, 2023
Good story and writer
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews