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Dark Curses #1
Iceman: A "Dark Curses" historical adventure novel
With the world occupied by war, an ancient evil stirs in the darkness. Something that is far more dangerous than the Nazi invasion.
London, 1941. The capital stands in ruins from the constant bombardment of nightly air raids. Stanley Grand, a wounded soldier from the French lines, returns home with the shadows of war hanging over him. After another night of bombing, Stanley stumbles across a hidden crypt hidden beneath St Margaret’s Church. Rescued by an unsuspecting Air Warden, Hazel Johnson, the pair find themselves thrust on a path of robbery, murder and secret societies.
When a notorious criminal is found murdered, there is more to his death than meets the eye. Stanley and Hazel’s only hope of proving their innocence is to accept the help of an ancient order of the Catholic Church. In exchange for their protection, the pair must help return an ancient artifact, stolen from the hidden crypt. Should they fail; an evil that has been imprisoned for thousands of years will once again walk the earth and bring with it a plague of darkness and evil – The Iceman.
While Stanley and Hazel seek to secure the secrets, there are others who would see The Iceman freed from his icy tomb. In a race against time, can an unlikely duo succeed or will the threat of war pale into insignificance against the evil that waits in the depths?
For fans of adventures like Indiana Jones, National Treasure and Tomb Raider comes a gripping historical adventure that will blur the lines between fact and fiction, myth and truth. Prepare to see a darker side of the world filled with mystery, puzzles, intrigue and danger.
London, 1941. The capital stands in ruins from the constant bombardment of nightly air raids. Stanley Grand, a wounded soldier from the French lines, returns home with the shadows of war hanging over him. After another night of bombing, Stanley stumbles across a hidden crypt hidden beneath St Margaret’s Church. Rescued by an unsuspecting Air Warden, Hazel Johnson, the pair find themselves thrust on a path of robbery, murder and secret societies.
When a notorious criminal is found murdered, there is more to his death than meets the eye. Stanley and Hazel’s only hope of proving their innocence is to accept the help of an ancient order of the Catholic Church. In exchange for their protection, the pair must help return an ancient artifact, stolen from the hidden crypt. Should they fail; an evil that has been imprisoned for thousands of years will once again walk the earth and bring with it a plague of darkness and evil – The Iceman.
While Stanley and Hazel seek to secure the secrets, there are others who would see The Iceman freed from his icy tomb. In a race against time, can an unlikely duo succeed or will the threat of war pale into insignificance against the evil that waits in the depths?
For fans of adventures like Indiana Jones, National Treasure and Tomb Raider comes a gripping historical adventure that will blur the lines between fact and fiction, myth and truth. Prepare to see a darker side of the world filled with mystery, puzzles, intrigue and danger.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 21, 2021
12 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Tobey Alexander
51 books99 followersIt's always a bit weird trying to sum myself up in a paragraph or two but here goes. I'm a father-of-three curious little humans who probably reflect various elements of my personality, full-time worker on the Thin Blue Line, adventurer in my own right and live for the escape of the outdoors where I can. Ever since I was young I enjoyed creative alternative worlds and stories and I suppose having now "apparently" grown up I can put it to use as an author.
I write to release my own over-active imagination and at the heart of everything is always the idea of adventure. I want my books to offer everyone the chance to escape form the everyday routines and things that niggle at us. In my books for younger audiences I want to nurture that sense of wonder, intrigue and adventure I remember growing up. In the older audience I want to reinvigorate that sense and offer a break from mortgages, bills, work and stress.
I'm not perfect, far from it in fact and all I am trying to do is make the best of what I have. For me, over the years, I've found out I carry a rare genetic deletion with unknown effects but seems to put me on the autism spectrum. Learning that helped me accept that the "quirkiness" of my nature is more acceptable than I had thought. Every story I write, every book I release I have seen in my head, acted out and watched as if it were a film. The way my brain works helps me do this and I only hope you find something you enjoy in my stories.
I write to release my own over-active imagination and at the heart of everything is always the idea of adventure. I want my books to offer everyone the chance to escape form the everyday routines and things that niggle at us. In my books for younger audiences I want to nurture that sense of wonder, intrigue and adventure I remember growing up. In the older audience I want to reinvigorate that sense and offer a break from mortgages, bills, work and stress.
I'm not perfect, far from it in fact and all I am trying to do is make the best of what I have. For me, over the years, I've found out I carry a rare genetic deletion with unknown effects but seems to put me on the autism spectrum. Learning that helped me accept that the "quirkiness" of my nature is more acceptable than I had thought. Every story I write, every book I release I have seen in my head, acted out and watched as if it were a film. The way my brain works helps me do this and I only hope you find something you enjoy in my stories.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 24, 2023
Having read the first book of another earlier series from this author, I was expecting this book to be aimed at younger readers too. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually intended for a more mature audience, and it is a much grittier read as a result. I found it to be very entertaining, and once started found it hard to put down. For those who have read the author's description of the series on his web site, the book is exactly what it claims to be - an exciting adventure inspired by the likes of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider and The Da Vinci Code. Yes, the book could be improved by an editing review, but as someone who has recently been tasked with reading and reviewing lots of books from indie authors, this is by no means an uncommon situation, and it does not take much effort to tune out this noise and just focus on the story itself. I personally am looking forward to reading more of the author's work.
November 30, 2022
Hats off to the author for his ideas, enthusiasm and dedication to writing. I feel bad giving a low score, but the reality is that this isn't publish-read by a country mile. The writing is really underdeveloped and basic, and would be fine for a first-draft but not book for sale. I don't just mean typos, I mean wrong spellings (eg, "affect" where it should be "effect") and wrong uses of words such as "primitive", and especially the word "tether" which the author frequently misuses to simply mean a scrap of material, (eg, "Victoria registered Eric’s face and the clawed tethers of skin that hung from his cheeks.").
As well as that, the descriptions are pretty bland and sometimes confusing. The POV head-hops continually, sometimes even between our heroes and the main antagonists. Chapter breaks seem almost random, and towards the end even include a confusing back-step in time.
Nothing about the story is particularly original. There were scenes that seems to have been largely recycled from Indiana Jones and The Mummy. The idea of a secret society called "The Order of the Benedictine Brotherhood" is a little silly since the Benedictines are one of the best known monastic orders.
And the Ice Man himself is disappointing, not being particularly frightning in any way, his motivations being incredibly nebulous and vague. I liked Hazel as a spunky protagonist, but Stanley was incredibly passive and didn't have much substance to him.
Sadly, despite the exciting premise and the beautiful cover, it really does feel like an amateur attempt at writing a book. I think if the author hones his craft, he's very probably capable of writing something exciting and fresh. Unfortunately, this isn't it at all.
As well as that, the descriptions are pretty bland and sometimes confusing. The POV head-hops continually, sometimes even between our heroes and the main antagonists. Chapter breaks seem almost random, and towards the end even include a confusing back-step in time.
Nothing about the story is particularly original. There were scenes that seems to have been largely recycled from Indiana Jones and The Mummy. The idea of a secret society called "The Order of the Benedictine Brotherhood" is a little silly since the Benedictines are one of the best known monastic orders.
And the Ice Man himself is disappointing, not being particularly frightning in any way, his motivations being incredibly nebulous and vague. I liked Hazel as a spunky protagonist, but Stanley was incredibly passive and didn't have much substance to him.
Sadly, despite the exciting premise and the beautiful cover, it really does feel like an amateur attempt at writing a book. I think if the author hones his craft, he's very probably capable of writing something exciting and fresh. Unfortunately, this isn't it at all.
Read
August 11, 2024"Iceman" by Tobey Alexander is certainly a historical adventure story with imagery reminiscent of "The Mummy" and "Indiana Jones." Set primarily in WW2 London, the story follows a wounded young veteran Stanley, an Air Warden Hazel, and a police detective Kelly as they uncover first the theft of an artifact and then discover its dark implications. Despite their preconceptions, magic, it seems, is real, and so is the danger.
This story had a foundation of mystery with a crime-solving tone, with characters moving from episode to episode learning secrets and escaping boobytraps. However, I didn't find any of the protagonists to be likeable and ended up cheering for the bad guy. (Hey, it's his life's pursuit! Who am I to tell him his goals aren't worth chasing?) He was my most preferred character because he was driven and goal-oriented, perhaps also because his chapters followed an independent plot line so I got to track his thoughts a bit more closely. The protagonists were often together, disallowing the reader from getting into a single perspective and developing a deeper insight into their personalities, desires, and voice.
The story is fairly ya-friendly and the plot simple, with an underlying story type of a regular Joe being thrown into extraordinary circumstances and striving to succeed. It is told in 3rd person omniscient.
This story had a foundation of mystery with a crime-solving tone, with characters moving from episode to episode learning secrets and escaping boobytraps. However, I didn't find any of the protagonists to be likeable and ended up cheering for the bad guy. (Hey, it's his life's pursuit! Who am I to tell him his goals aren't worth chasing?) He was my most preferred character because he was driven and goal-oriented, perhaps also because his chapters followed an independent plot line so I got to track his thoughts a bit more closely. The protagonists were often together, disallowing the reader from getting into a single perspective and developing a deeper insight into their personalities, desires, and voice.
The story is fairly ya-friendly and the plot simple, with an underlying story type of a regular Joe being thrown into extraordinary circumstances and striving to succeed. It is told in 3rd person omniscient.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews