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Shadow Flicker
An old man nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. A pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Oscar Basaran investigates a series of strange events on the Kidney Island.
“From its highly original premise to its deliciously isolated setting, Gregory Bastianelli’s SHADOW FLICKER hooked me and kept me squirming until the very last page. An entertaining and emotional read. I had a blast!” — Jonathan Janz, Author of THE SIREN AND THE SPECTER and THE RAVEN
Investigator Oscar Basaran travels to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to document the negative effects of shadow flicker from wind turbines on residents living near the windmills, but is unprepared for what he encounters from the islanders.
Oscar’s research shows that sleep deprivation, light deficiency and ringing headaches brought on by the noise and constant strobe-like effect of the sun filtered through the spinning blades of the turbines brings on hallucinatory episodes for the closest neighbors to the machines.
Melody Larson’s elderly father nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. The Granberrys' pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Tatum Gallagher mourns her young son who vanished more than a year ago, presumed swept out to sea by a wave while fishing on the rocky shore, but several people claim to see him appear only in the glimmer of the shadow flicker.
Aerosource, the energy corporation that owns the turbines, hired Oscar to investigate the neighbors’ claims, but the insurance agent shows no allegiance to the conglomerate, especially after learning a previous employee sent to the island a year before has disappeared without a trace.
When Oscar meets former island school science teacher Norris Squires, fired for teaching his students about the harmful effects of shadow flicker, he learns a theory regarding Aerosource that sounds too preposterous to believe.
While it seems the shadow flicker effect has driven some of the island’s animals crazy, is it possible it’s caused an even worse mental breakdown among the human inhabitants? Or is something more nefarious at work on the island?
As Oscar’s investigation deepens, he discovers the turbines create an unexpected phenomena kept secret by a select group of people on Kidney Island who have made a scientific breakthrough and attempt to harness its dark power.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
“From its highly original premise to its deliciously isolated setting, Gregory Bastianelli’s SHADOW FLICKER hooked me and kept me squirming until the very last page. An entertaining and emotional read. I had a blast!” — Jonathan Janz, Author of THE SIREN AND THE SPECTER and THE RAVEN
Investigator Oscar Basaran travels to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to document the negative effects of shadow flicker from wind turbines on residents living near the windmills, but is unprepared for what he encounters from the islanders.
Oscar’s research shows that sleep deprivation, light deficiency and ringing headaches brought on by the noise and constant strobe-like effect of the sun filtered through the spinning blades of the turbines brings on hallucinatory episodes for the closest neighbors to the machines.
Melody Larson’s elderly father nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. The Granberrys' pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Tatum Gallagher mourns her young son who vanished more than a year ago, presumed swept out to sea by a wave while fishing on the rocky shore, but several people claim to see him appear only in the glimmer of the shadow flicker.
Aerosource, the energy corporation that owns the turbines, hired Oscar to investigate the neighbors’ claims, but the insurance agent shows no allegiance to the conglomerate, especially after learning a previous employee sent to the island a year before has disappeared without a trace.
When Oscar meets former island school science teacher Norris Squires, fired for teaching his students about the harmful effects of shadow flicker, he learns a theory regarding Aerosource that sounds too preposterous to believe.
While it seems the shadow flicker effect has driven some of the island’s animals crazy, is it possible it’s caused an even worse mental breakdown among the human inhabitants? Or is something more nefarious at work on the island?
As Oscar’s investigation deepens, he discovers the turbines create an unexpected phenomena kept secret by a select group of people on Kidney Island who have made a scientific breakthrough and attempt to harness its dark power.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 29, 2022
9 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Bastianelli
8 books80 followersGregory Bastianelli , a New Hampshire native, graduated from the University of New Hampshire where he studied writing under instructors Mark Smith, Thomas Williams and Theodore Weesner.
He worked for nearly two decades at a small daily newspaper where the highlights of his career were interviewing shock rocker Alice Cooper and B-movie icon Bruce Campbell.
He is the author of the novels, "Jokers Club," "Loonies," "Snowball," "Shadow Flicker," and "October."
His pulp horror novella "Lair of the Mole People" appears in the anthology "Men of Mystery Vol. II"
He lives in New Hampshire.
He worked for nearly two decades at a small daily newspaper where the highlights of his career were interviewing shock rocker Alice Cooper and B-movie icon Bruce Campbell.
He is the author of the novels, "Jokers Club," "Loonies," "Snowball," "Shadow Flicker," and "October."
His pulp horror novella "Lair of the Mole People" appears in the anthology "Men of Mystery Vol. II"
He lives in New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 26, 2022
Insurance investigator Oscar Basaran has been hired by an innovative technology corporation called Aerosource to investigate the claims from several people on Kidney island (fictional name) off the coast of Maine who filed a lawsuit against the corporation. Aerospace built three huge wind turbines nearby three of the families included in the lawsuit claiming they are having serious side effects from these turbines including sleeplessness, headaches, inability to concentrate plus several other complaints that are quite bizarre. Marriages are also falling apart due to the unsettling effects from the turbines.
Oscar thinks this will be a an easy case to wrap up within few days after researching his findings and writing his report while Still enjoying some quiet time for himself on the island. The locals don't take too kindly to off-islanders so the job doesn't go quite as easy as Oscar had hoped but he is used to dealing with difficult people in his profession although he never expected some of the strangest stories and theories about the "Shadow Flicker" effects having on the people and animals living closest to the gigantic windmills until he rents a vacated house in the turbine vicinity and then he begins to feel some of the side effects himself but still can't bring himself to believe some of the other preposterous stories told to him. What Oscar discovers while still being an unbeliever brings him in contact with some very nefarious people and he will then be put in a fight for his sanity as well as his life while there's a good possibility that Oscar may never make it back home again.
This was a wonderful creepy, slow building yet continuously eerie story that I thoroughly enjoyed. There was plenty of horror, supernatural and chills and thrills especially in the second half of the book which really speeds up and I just couldn't read fast enough to find out what would happen next. All the characters were well fleshed out especially Oscar, a flawed man with personal issues himself yet never letting them interfere with his work or his compassion for others. This job on the island will test his mental and physical health beyond boundaries that he never thought he was capable of overcoming while only wanting to leave Kidney island and never looking back, although that might not be possible for this insurance investigator. Gregory Bastianelli does a wonderful job as a writer creating a uniquely different type of horror story that the reader will be left shaking their heads and will really enjoy that they will not be able to predict any of the outcomes in this book since It was so well-written and plotted out. Pay attention to every character because they will all play another part in the last thirty-percent of the story. That element alone deserves a 10 for cleverness! I am a fan of this author and I highly recommend this stunner of a book as well as his other book "Snowball" which I have never forgotten.
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for continually putting out great horror books year after year. Any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this fantastic story a rating of 4 1/2 CRAZY AND SURREAL 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!
Title: Shadow Flicker
Author: Gregory Bastianelli
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Oscar thinks this will be a an easy case to wrap up within few days after researching his findings and writing his report while Still enjoying some quiet time for himself on the island. The locals don't take too kindly to off-islanders so the job doesn't go quite as easy as Oscar had hoped but he is used to dealing with difficult people in his profession although he never expected some of the strangest stories and theories about the "Shadow Flicker" effects having on the people and animals living closest to the gigantic windmills until he rents a vacated house in the turbine vicinity and then he begins to feel some of the side effects himself but still can't bring himself to believe some of the other preposterous stories told to him. What Oscar discovers while still being an unbeliever brings him in contact with some very nefarious people and he will then be put in a fight for his sanity as well as his life while there's a good possibility that Oscar may never make it back home again.
This was a wonderful creepy, slow building yet continuously eerie story that I thoroughly enjoyed. There was plenty of horror, supernatural and chills and thrills especially in the second half of the book which really speeds up and I just couldn't read fast enough to find out what would happen next. All the characters were well fleshed out especially Oscar, a flawed man with personal issues himself yet never letting them interfere with his work or his compassion for others. This job on the island will test his mental and physical health beyond boundaries that he never thought he was capable of overcoming while only wanting to leave Kidney island and never looking back, although that might not be possible for this insurance investigator. Gregory Bastianelli does a wonderful job as a writer creating a uniquely different type of horror story that the reader will be left shaking their heads and will really enjoy that they will not be able to predict any of the outcomes in this book since It was so well-written and plotted out. Pay attention to every character because they will all play another part in the last thirty-percent of the story. That element alone deserves a 10 for cleverness! I am a fan of this author and I highly recommend this stunner of a book as well as his other book "Snowball" which I have never forgotten.
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for continually putting out great horror books year after year. Any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this fantastic story a rating of 4 1/2 CRAZY AND SURREAL 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!
Title: Shadow Flicker
Author: Gregory Bastianelli
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Read
March 19, 2025I'm sad to say I had to DNF this book at 30%. It just became a slog to read - there was no tension, at least for me. There's some buildup through gory scenes but they never really hit me viscerally. It just didn't click with me.
(Thanks to Flame Tree Press for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley)
(Thanks to Flame Tree Press for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley)
March 10, 2022
3.5 stars
Shadow Flicker, by author Gregory Bastianelli, is a psychological horror novel with many different "avenues" to follow. Our main character, Oscar, is sent from his insurance agency to listen to and record the complaints of residents on an island, about windmill turbines. Symptoms include a "shadow flicker" (from when the sun hits the blades), headaches, sleeplessness, apathy, and even some ... more difficult to substantiate . . . complaints.
The characterization and atmosphere of the life of the people on this small island was great. I could tell who was the center of each chapter just from a glimpse of their thoughts. However, the plot got a little farfetched (and convenient, in one case) for my tastes towards the end, and the middle was bogged down by issues that really didn't help further the plot along, in my mind. If this had been a novella, with some of these non-essential parts cut out, I feel it would have been a lot stronger overall.
I did receive an arc from NetGalley though, so it's possible many of these things were scaled back in the final edits. I do enjoy the author's writing style, and loved another novel I read by him not long ago. I found this book to be a real page-turner, up until it started to get a bit repetitious. The overall ending was NOT something I saw coming, and did have me staying up to see the final outcome.
Overall, a great idea that could have benefitted from being cut back a bit. Still a very worth while read, in my opinion.
Recommended.
Shadow Flicker, by author Gregory Bastianelli, is a psychological horror novel with many different "avenues" to follow. Our main character, Oscar, is sent from his insurance agency to listen to and record the complaints of residents on an island, about windmill turbines. Symptoms include a "shadow flicker" (from when the sun hits the blades), headaches, sleeplessness, apathy, and even some ... more difficult to substantiate . . . complaints.
The characterization and atmosphere of the life of the people on this small island was great. I could tell who was the center of each chapter just from a glimpse of their thoughts. However, the plot got a little farfetched (and convenient, in one case) for my tastes towards the end, and the middle was bogged down by issues that really didn't help further the plot along, in my mind. If this had been a novella, with some of these non-essential parts cut out, I feel it would have been a lot stronger overall.
I did receive an arc from NetGalley though, so it's possible many of these things were scaled back in the final edits. I do enjoy the author's writing style, and loved another novel I read by him not long ago. I found this book to be a real page-turner, up until it started to get a bit repetitious. The overall ending was NOT something I saw coming, and did have me staying up to see the final outcome.
Overall, a great idea that could have benefitted from being cut back a bit. Still a very worth while read, in my opinion.
Recommended.
January 1, 2022
I’ve read and enjoyed Snowball by the author before, so this was a pretty easy selection. And, mostly, a worthy one.
A conceptually terrifying tale of the high costs of renewable energy. Or something to that extent.
As if Maine wasn’t made creepy enough by genre literature to begin with, now there’s this…on a small island off the cost of it something strange is going on with their newly erected wind turbines. And effect they call a shadow flicker. It isn’t inexplicable, it has to do with the sun reflecting off the turbine and creating a high potency sort of flicker. It drives the island denizens nearest to it to distraction. But they are not the only ones. And the madness this flicker seems to induce varies from individual to individual. Some get sad, some get mad, some get dangerous. Some get litigious.
Enter an insurance investigator from the mainland, a fish out of water in every way, from his brown skin to his sexual orientation, the author really ramped up his protagonist’s otherness here. The man’s job is simple – talk to the locals, gather the information pertinent to the potential lawsuit, get out.
It seemed like a good idea, a good assignment for the time being, a nice getaway from an abruptly and brutally dissolved relationship. Until it wasn’t. Until the assignment proved to be more complicated then possibly imagined. Some might even say otherworldly.
So, conceptually this certainly lives up to its promise. It’s a fun, exciting and original tale. Kudos there. Writing wise is where it gets tricky. Mind you, Bastinaelli is, in theory, a pretty good writer, he understands the importance of character development, pacing, basic story dynamics and all that well. So, the sum total ends up like a perfectly readable and coherent story. But the individual sentences - the metaphorical trees of this forest - leave a lot to be desired.
Now, a fair disclaimer, I read a Netgalley ARC of this book, it is entirely possible that the book hadn’t made it to the final round of edits before offered (although this particular publisher is usually good about that), but the version of the book I read had strikingly clunky sentences all over it. From compound ones to ones that started with a but, not one but two in a row back-to-back, from just weird stiltedness and frequent repetitiveness…this book screamed for editor’s attention. The weird thing is that it still worked overall as a novel, it just jarred you now and again with the incongruity of quality of the individual elements when compared to project at large. Kind of like a person with individually unattractive features that still presents like a decent looking individual.
And, since my reviews are meant to reflect personal reading experience first and foremost (with overall semi-objective opinion of the book as second), it must be rated accordingly, which is to say good story with plotting dramatically outpacing the writing itself. Nevertheless, fun was had and Bastianelli continues to be an author worth watching and this book is worth reading if only for the really exciting idea behind it. Gotta love reading a book uncertain of where it’s going, all the surprises that comes with. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
A conceptually terrifying tale of the high costs of renewable energy. Or something to that extent.
As if Maine wasn’t made creepy enough by genre literature to begin with, now there’s this…on a small island off the cost of it something strange is going on with their newly erected wind turbines. And effect they call a shadow flicker. It isn’t inexplicable, it has to do with the sun reflecting off the turbine and creating a high potency sort of flicker. It drives the island denizens nearest to it to distraction. But they are not the only ones. And the madness this flicker seems to induce varies from individual to individual. Some get sad, some get mad, some get dangerous. Some get litigious.
Enter an insurance investigator from the mainland, a fish out of water in every way, from his brown skin to his sexual orientation, the author really ramped up his protagonist’s otherness here. The man’s job is simple – talk to the locals, gather the information pertinent to the potential lawsuit, get out.
It seemed like a good idea, a good assignment for the time being, a nice getaway from an abruptly and brutally dissolved relationship. Until it wasn’t. Until the assignment proved to be more complicated then possibly imagined. Some might even say otherworldly.
So, conceptually this certainly lives up to its promise. It’s a fun, exciting and original tale. Kudos there. Writing wise is where it gets tricky. Mind you, Bastinaelli is, in theory, a pretty good writer, he understands the importance of character development, pacing, basic story dynamics and all that well. So, the sum total ends up like a perfectly readable and coherent story. But the individual sentences - the metaphorical trees of this forest - leave a lot to be desired.
Now, a fair disclaimer, I read a Netgalley ARC of this book, it is entirely possible that the book hadn’t made it to the final round of edits before offered (although this particular publisher is usually good about that), but the version of the book I read had strikingly clunky sentences all over it. From compound ones to ones that started with a but, not one but two in a row back-to-back, from just weird stiltedness and frequent repetitiveness…this book screamed for editor’s attention. The weird thing is that it still worked overall as a novel, it just jarred you now and again with the incongruity of quality of the individual elements when compared to project at large. Kind of like a person with individually unattractive features that still presents like a decent looking individual.
And, since my reviews are meant to reflect personal reading experience first and foremost (with overall semi-objective opinion of the book as second), it must be rated accordingly, which is to say good story with plotting dramatically outpacing the writing itself. Nevertheless, fun was had and Bastianelli continues to be an author worth watching and this book is worth reading if only for the really exciting idea behind it. Gotta love reading a book uncertain of where it’s going, all the surprises that comes with. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
March 17, 2022
Life has not been kind to some of the residents living on a small island off the coast of Maine. If they had not been struggling under a burden of debt they probably would never have chosen to sell off parcels of their land when Aerosource wanted to put up wind turbines and build an access road.
What's done is done and now those who live closest to the turbines suffer the consequences. Aside from the headaches, lack of sleep, and strange effects on the animals, there is something much worse than these bothersome symptoms that will occur when the blades of those turbines begin to spin backwards.
Now, a few of the residents have filed a claim against the company and an outsider has arrived to investigate. He doesn't believe much of what he is told at first, until it's too late.
Shadow Flicker is an intriguing, character driven story with one foot in Eco Horror and the other in Sci-Fi. I loved the descriptions of the island and getting to know it's residents. It is a story of love and desperation and well as greed and fear. The horror creeps up slowly until suddenly it comes crashing in like high tide nearer the end.
I received an advance copy.
What's done is done and now those who live closest to the turbines suffer the consequences. Aside from the headaches, lack of sleep, and strange effects on the animals, there is something much worse than these bothersome symptoms that will occur when the blades of those turbines begin to spin backwards.
Now, a few of the residents have filed a claim against the company and an outsider has arrived to investigate. He doesn't believe much of what he is told at first, until it's too late.
Shadow Flicker is an intriguing, character driven story with one foot in Eco Horror and the other in Sci-Fi. I loved the descriptions of the island and getting to know it's residents. It is a story of love and desperation and well as greed and fear. The horror creeps up slowly until suddenly it comes crashing in like high tide nearer the end.
I received an advance copy.
February 12, 2022
Wow! I mean, really, WOW!
This novel was engrossing and it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be--not in a bad way.
An island with a small community is taken over be wind turbines and the symptoms that come with them--a constant hum and shadow flicker. I won't give anything away, but I was sucked into this story. I couldn't put it down. The writing was fabulous and the characters drove this eerie, chilling tale of the unexpected and very exciting. I loved the small-town vibe and the main character was loveable, intelligent, and a wonderful guide through this enthralling tale.
This novel was engrossing and it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be--not in a bad way.
An island with a small community is taken over be wind turbines and the symptoms that come with them--a constant hum and shadow flicker. I won't give anything away, but I was sucked into this story. I couldn't put it down. The writing was fabulous and the characters drove this eerie, chilling tale of the unexpected and very exciting. I loved the small-town vibe and the main character was loveable, intelligent, and a wonderful guide through this enthralling tale.
February 9, 2023
TW: Child death, depression, smoking, alcoholism, drug use, animal death, gaslighting, abusive relationship, cheating, homophobia, dementia, language, kidnapping, racism, gory scenes
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Investigator Oscar Basaran travels to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to document the negative effects of shadow flicker from wind turbines on residents living near the windmills, but is unprepared for what he encounters from the islanders. Oscar’s research shows that sleep deprivation, light deficiency and ringing headaches brought on by the noise and constant strobe-like effect of the sun filtered through the spinning blades of the turbines brings on hallucinatory episodes for the closest neighbors to the machines. Melody Larson’s elderly father nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. The Granberrys' pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Tatum Gallagher mourns her young son who vanished more than a year ago, presumed swept out to sea by a wave while fishing on the rocky shore, but several people claim to see him appear only in the glimmer of the shadow flicker.Aerosource, the energy corporation that owns the turbines, hired Oscar to investigate the neighbors’ claims, but the insurance agent shows no allegiance to the conglomerate, especially after learning a previous employee sent to the island a year before has disappeared without a trace.When Oscar meets former island school science teacher Norris Squires, fired for teaching his students about the harmful effects of shadow flicker, he learns a theory regarding Aerosource that sounds too preposterous to believe.While it seems the shadow flicker effect has driven some of the island’s animals crazy, is it possible it’s caused an even worse mental breakdown among the human inhabitants? Or is something more nefarious at work on the island?As Oscar’s investigation deepens, he discovers the turbines create an unexpected phenomena kept secret by a select group of people on Kidney Island who have made a scientific breakthrough and attempt to harness its dark power.
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Genre: Horror/thriller/Sci-Fi
Pages: 293
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What I Liked:
1. The writing style was unbelievably good
2. The characters are all equally as flowed and messed up as each other making them feel real
3. The plot was creepy and suspenseful
What I Didn't Like:
1. There's a lot of spelling errors and missing words
2. The ending lacked all the excitement the rest of the book had
3. The ending had characters feel like they weren't the same people
4. The ending felt rushed
Overall Thoughts:
I want to say I was very interested in reading this book as I am TERRIFIED of those scary giant evil wind turbines. I can't even look at them as I drive by. I related to how the people felt with the sound/lights. I live right next to an army base and during the summers you can hear them flying over my house plus shaking the house and the shadow of them going over and over it. It's annoying. It happens every 5 minutes. So I get it.
The characters are so well thought out. The author did a fantastic job at flushing out who everyone was and why they were that way. I'm seriously impressed at how much he packed into a book that's shy of 300 pages. I really loved the authors writing and felt he had a good idea about what he wanted his characters to be about.
I loved that this book started off as a horror novel then jumped to a thriller and ended as a Sci-Fi book. It was a wild ride as I tried to piece together everything that was happening. I loved that the isolation of the island reminded me so much of Wicker Man (original) and ended up being something like Looper.
Some of the characters motivations for things seem so odd and out of place to me. Tatum doesn't want to leave her farm aká sell it to move to an apartment with Dirk, but is more than willing to move off the island with Myles once Rigby graduates. I personally think she picks shit men and she should just get with Gavin - yeah he's shit too but at least he has money.
This book kept me enthralled the whole time I was reading it. Some of the characters were written so good that it made me hate them - looking at you Dirk - ah.
Final Thoughts:
The first 90% of this book I was absolutely obsessed with it but when I got to the ending it turned into one huge mess. I didn't understand why they kept Oscar alive during everything happening - even taking him to another island when they could have left him in the first dimensional world he was in until they could send him back. I didn't understand why they couldn't kill someone in another dimension. I didn't get that Mason was still killed after he was told if he made a sacrifice he'd live plus them not killing Oscar when he is the one that crossed dimensions. Also why did they say he couldn't kill someone in their dimension when they themselves turn around and can kill someone from another dimension?
When Oscar asks different people that are much smarter than him how they are doing the traveling all you really get back is "science" as their explanation. It felt so weak to just tell us that.
I feel like I invested so much time into reading this book and I just needed my questions to be answered instead of walking away with more. I just need the author to write a follow up book because I want to know more about this island. I wouldn't even be mad if a book explaining how everyone knew the dimensions were on this island and about Aerosource finding the place.
Recommend For:
• Isolated island story
• Strong queer representation
• Sci-Fi elements
• Horror elements
• Gory scenes
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Investigator Oscar Basaran travels to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to document the negative effects of shadow flicker from wind turbines on residents living near the windmills, but is unprepared for what he encounters from the islanders. Oscar’s research shows that sleep deprivation, light deficiency and ringing headaches brought on by the noise and constant strobe-like effect of the sun filtered through the spinning blades of the turbines brings on hallucinatory episodes for the closest neighbors to the machines. Melody Larson’s elderly father nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. The Granberrys' pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Tatum Gallagher mourns her young son who vanished more than a year ago, presumed swept out to sea by a wave while fishing on the rocky shore, but several people claim to see him appear only in the glimmer of the shadow flicker.Aerosource, the energy corporation that owns the turbines, hired Oscar to investigate the neighbors’ claims, but the insurance agent shows no allegiance to the conglomerate, especially after learning a previous employee sent to the island a year before has disappeared without a trace.When Oscar meets former island school science teacher Norris Squires, fired for teaching his students about the harmful effects of shadow flicker, he learns a theory regarding Aerosource that sounds too preposterous to believe.While it seems the shadow flicker effect has driven some of the island’s animals crazy, is it possible it’s caused an even worse mental breakdown among the human inhabitants? Or is something more nefarious at work on the island?As Oscar’s investigation deepens, he discovers the turbines create an unexpected phenomena kept secret by a select group of people on Kidney Island who have made a scientific breakthrough and attempt to harness its dark power.
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Genre: Horror/thriller/Sci-Fi
Pages: 293
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What I Liked:
1. The writing style was unbelievably good
2. The characters are all equally as flowed and messed up as each other making them feel real
3. The plot was creepy and suspenseful
What I Didn't Like:
1. There's a lot of spelling errors and missing words
2. The ending lacked all the excitement the rest of the book had
3. The ending had characters feel like they weren't the same people
4. The ending felt rushed
Overall Thoughts:
I want to say I was very interested in reading this book as I am TERRIFIED of those scary giant evil wind turbines. I can't even look at them as I drive by. I related to how the people felt with the sound/lights. I live right next to an army base and during the summers you can hear them flying over my house plus shaking the house and the shadow of them going over and over it. It's annoying. It happens every 5 minutes. So I get it.
The characters are so well thought out. The author did a fantastic job at flushing out who everyone was and why they were that way. I'm seriously impressed at how much he packed into a book that's shy of 300 pages. I really loved the authors writing and felt he had a good idea about what he wanted his characters to be about.
I loved that this book started off as a horror novel then jumped to a thriller and ended as a Sci-Fi book. It was a wild ride as I tried to piece together everything that was happening. I loved that the isolation of the island reminded me so much of Wicker Man (original) and ended up being something like Looper.
Some of the characters motivations for things seem so odd and out of place to me. Tatum doesn't want to leave her farm aká sell it to move to an apartment with Dirk, but is more than willing to move off the island with Myles once Rigby graduates. I personally think she picks shit men and she should just get with Gavin - yeah he's shit too but at least he has money.
This book kept me enthralled the whole time I was reading it. Some of the characters were written so good that it made me hate them - looking at you Dirk - ah.
Final Thoughts:
The first 90% of this book I was absolutely obsessed with it but when I got to the ending it turned into one huge mess. I didn't understand why they kept Oscar alive during everything happening - even taking him to another island when they could have left him in the first dimensional world he was in until they could send him back. I didn't understand why they couldn't kill someone in another dimension. I didn't get that Mason was still killed after he was told if he made a sacrifice he'd live plus them not killing Oscar when he is the one that crossed dimensions. Also why did they say he couldn't kill someone in their dimension when they themselves turn around and can kill someone from another dimension?
When Oscar asks different people that are much smarter than him how they are doing the traveling all you really get back is "science" as their explanation. It felt so weak to just tell us that.
I feel like I invested so much time into reading this book and I just needed my questions to be answered instead of walking away with more. I just need the author to write a follow up book because I want to know more about this island. I wouldn't even be mad if a book explaining how everyone knew the dimensions were on this island and about Aerosource finding the place.
Recommend For:
• Isolated island story
• Strong queer representation
• Sci-Fi elements
• Horror elements
• Gory scenes
IG | Blog
March 3, 2022
Before reading Shadow Flicker, I didn’t know the term “shadow flicker” although I was of course familiar with the phenomenon itself: shadow flicker is the effect of the sun shining through the rotating blades of a wind turbine, casting a moving shadow. Every time I drive or cycle past windmills I say that it would drive me bonkers if I had to live with that, so naturally, a book in which this phenomenon is escalated really intrigued me.
However, not only the premise is intriguing, the whole book is. Shadow Flicker is a slow-burner for the most part, but it is so intriguing and mysterious throughout, I just couldn’t stop reading.
A wind park has been erected on an island off the coast of Maine and some of the residents have filed a complaint. The story is told from the perspective of the independent investigator of said complaint and is set entirely on this small island with its sparse population, so Shadow Flicker definitely has a kind of locked room trope going on, which I always enjoy and which really helped build the atmosphere and the mystery.
The island is rocking a bit of a Twin Peaks vibe and I really didn’t know what to believe, nor what to expect. Most of the people are acting weird, and some of the animals are as well, and what is up with the kid who went missing a year ago but has been seen in the shadow flicker?
The last 30% or so clashes a little with what came before, when we finally find out what’s what with things coming to a head. Here is where the speculative bit of the story really comes into its own and I have a sneaky suspicion not everyone will love it, but I really enjoyed it.
Shadow Flicker is a hugely entertaining speculative mystery that will have me looking warily at windmills for a long time to come.
Massive thanks to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
However, not only the premise is intriguing, the whole book is. Shadow Flicker is a slow-burner for the most part, but it is so intriguing and mysterious throughout, I just couldn’t stop reading.
A wind park has been erected on an island off the coast of Maine and some of the residents have filed a complaint. The story is told from the perspective of the independent investigator of said complaint and is set entirely on this small island with its sparse population, so Shadow Flicker definitely has a kind of locked room trope going on, which I always enjoy and which really helped build the atmosphere and the mystery.
The island is rocking a bit of a Twin Peaks vibe and I really didn’t know what to believe, nor what to expect. Most of the people are acting weird, and some of the animals are as well, and what is up with the kid who went missing a year ago but has been seen in the shadow flicker?
The last 30% or so clashes a little with what came before, when we finally find out what’s what with things coming to a head. Here is where the speculative bit of the story really comes into its own and I have a sneaky suspicion not everyone will love it, but I really enjoyed it.
Shadow Flicker is a hugely entertaining speculative mystery that will have me looking warily at windmills for a long time to come.
Massive thanks to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
February 16, 2022
So, I’ve enjoyed the author before and was eager to give this one a read. And it is a trip.
I was definitely a little confused at first, but I was also really invested in our main character and wanted to know what was going on. Once I figured it out (or so I thought), this was a fast race to a very satisfying and surprising end!
Horror fans should be pleased with the reason behind everything and the book is eerie enough to keep you reading.
I really liked tha the author managed to surprise me here and I’m looking forward to his next offering!
*ARC via Publisher
I was definitely a little confused at first, but I was also really invested in our main character and wanted to know what was going on. Once I figured it out (or so I thought), this was a fast race to a very satisfying and surprising end!
Horror fans should be pleased with the reason behind everything and the book is eerie enough to keep you reading.
I really liked tha the author managed to surprise me here and I’m looking forward to his next offering!
*ARC via Publisher
April 8, 2022
The writing was interesting in that in most of the book you were going round each of the residents of the island and gradually building up a picture as to what was happening to them, then all of a sudden it was all based on the main character, Oscar, the investigator, and his adventure with the turbines. I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting the ending!
There were a lot of short chapters which gave a good pace to the story. Whilst the chapters were short there was a lot of detail that was crammed in. So much seemed to happen in such a short space of time! It kept my attention and made it easy to keep up with all the different storylines.
There was a good mix of storytelling and conversation so you were able to explore the characters' thoughts and feelings.
The characters were excellent and I loved that they all had their own personal storylines that cleverly came together under the one investigation. I also particularly enjoyed how the turbines themselves were their own characters and I liked how they were described as alien and outsiders.
Lastly I loved the remote island setting. I think that emphasised what was going on with the characters and added to the darkness. It was very isolating and certainly made you question what was real and what was not for the characters.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and loved the twist at the end. I highly recommend it to sci fi/thriller fans.
✨For a longer review see my book blog✨ https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com
There were a lot of short chapters which gave a good pace to the story. Whilst the chapters were short there was a lot of detail that was crammed in. So much seemed to happen in such a short space of time! It kept my attention and made it easy to keep up with all the different storylines.
There was a good mix of storytelling and conversation so you were able to explore the characters' thoughts and feelings.
The characters were excellent and I loved that they all had their own personal storylines that cleverly came together under the one investigation. I also particularly enjoyed how the turbines themselves were their own characters and I liked how they were described as alien and outsiders.
Lastly I loved the remote island setting. I think that emphasised what was going on with the characters and added to the darkness. It was very isolating and certainly made you question what was real and what was not for the characters.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and loved the twist at the end. I highly recommend it to sci fi/thriller fans.
✨For a longer review see my book blog✨ https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com
April 6, 2022
Before I give you my thoughts of Shadow Flicker, I must say that I have never found a book that's been published by Flame Tree Press to not be my 'cup of tea'. Judging by the front cover and the blurb, I was raring to get started reading. A book that's a blend of genres, horror, mystery, sci-fi and supernatural it was a book I enjoyed to the fullest.
A small island, wind turbines and a strange outsider sent to investigate complaints from the island community. This is a slow burner that slowly puts everything in place , sets the strong foundations which makes for a creepy and ominous tale.
Oscar is the outsider who is sent to the island to investigate the complaints about the wind turbines. He interviews the residents who have complained and gets to hear some stories that are increasingly bizarre. These stories are, according to the residents, due to shadow flicker and the noise that comes from the wind turbines. Are these wind turbines really causing these crazy things, or are the members of the Island community experiencing mental illnesses?
This really is a book with a fresh and unique plot. Gregory Bastianelli has done some fantastic world building to make the reader feel like they are transported to Kidney Island with the strange things that are going on.
His characters are all so different with their own personalities so there is no confusion as they are introduced into the story. This made it such an easy book to just ignore the world around me and keep flipping the pages for as long as I could. As I got into the second half of the book the action ramped up along with the strangeness. The pace of it had me almost wearing the kindle out as I read so fast to find out what happened next.
Such a unique book that has a great mix of genres throughout that I can't pin it to one or two. It's different and a fabulous read. I so enjoyed it.
A small island, wind turbines and a strange outsider sent to investigate complaints from the island community. This is a slow burner that slowly puts everything in place , sets the strong foundations which makes for a creepy and ominous tale.
Oscar is the outsider who is sent to the island to investigate the complaints about the wind turbines. He interviews the residents who have complained and gets to hear some stories that are increasingly bizarre. These stories are, according to the residents, due to shadow flicker and the noise that comes from the wind turbines. Are these wind turbines really causing these crazy things, or are the members of the Island community experiencing mental illnesses?
This really is a book with a fresh and unique plot. Gregory Bastianelli has done some fantastic world building to make the reader feel like they are transported to Kidney Island with the strange things that are going on.
His characters are all so different with their own personalities so there is no confusion as they are introduced into the story. This made it such an easy book to just ignore the world around me and keep flipping the pages for as long as I could. As I got into the second half of the book the action ramped up along with the strangeness. The pace of it had me almost wearing the kindle out as I read so fast to find out what happened next.
Such a unique book that has a great mix of genres throughout that I can't pin it to one or two. It's different and a fabulous read. I so enjoyed it.
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November 26, 2022I was intrigued by wind turbines since I am weirdly afraid of them but the writing style is not for me.
April 22, 2022
I started reading this with a conspiracy theory thriller vibe, but then it shifted into a surreal, eerie, mystery. One which threatened to expose many secrets on the island. Now, I wouldn’t call this book fast-paced, but it didn’t need to be. It gently creates tension and before I knew it, it felt palpable palpable. I was hooked and couldn’t put it down.
The effect of the moving shadows from the wind turbines’ huge blades, and the constant humming sound that came with it, was different for each person and even the livestock on the small island. From headaches and sleeplessness, to effectively losing one’s mind. With complaints from the residents, the owners of the wind farm want an investigators from their insurers to visit the island and find out what’s happening, all while denying any responsibility.
I liked many of the characters. Those from Aerosource were immediately pigeon holed as suspicious, evasive, bad guys. Oscar and Melody were my main favourites; both strong , inquisitive, flawed, and very likeable. Other characters played their parts well and were credible.
Overall, this book kept me up way too late, and I’ve overdosed on Brazilian coffee. This was an enjoyable read which held my attention, and which I am happy to recommend to readers of mystery novels. I gave Shadow Flicker, by Gregory Bastianelli, four stars.
The effect of the moving shadows from the wind turbines’ huge blades, and the constant humming sound that came with it, was different for each person and even the livestock on the small island. From headaches and sleeplessness, to effectively losing one’s mind. With complaints from the residents, the owners of the wind farm want an investigators from their insurers to visit the island and find out what’s happening, all while denying any responsibility.
I liked many of the characters. Those from Aerosource were immediately pigeon holed as suspicious, evasive, bad guys. Oscar and Melody were my main favourites; both strong , inquisitive, flawed, and very likeable. Other characters played their parts well and were credible.
Overall, this book kept me up way too late, and I’ve overdosed on Brazilian coffee. This was an enjoyable read which held my attention, and which I am happy to recommend to readers of mystery novels. I gave Shadow Flicker, by Gregory Bastianelli, four stars.
March 30, 2022
I must confess I owe a debt of gratitude to random tours for the promotional copy of this book .
Initially I would have seen this book, judged it by the cover assumed it was a thriller, probably not for me, and skipped along to a different book but within a couple of chapters of this tale I was hooked.
Without giving any spoilers away this is a mysterious tale based on a small island which has been taken over by wind turbines, an “outsider” has been sent to investigate the symptoms that the local community are experiencing (consisting of a constant hum and shadow flicker).
It’s so hard to convey the depth of plot without giving away spoilers but let’s say the family’s all hold a lot of secrets and the way the plot unfurls reminded me of broad-church, that small town with secrets hidden everywhere, each family with their own story to tell .
I can completely see this being a fantastic tv drama!
It was easy to read. I read the first quarter of the book in one hit as I couldn’t put it down. But after that I did notice it was slightly repetitive at times and slightly ‘padded out’, I feel it could have been condensed slightly to make it even more enjoyable . But overall was really impressed with great plot and certainly will be reading more from this author!!
March 3, 2023
Never imagined that wind turbines could be turned sinister, but “Shadow Flicker” won’t let me forget it now! I thought this was such an original concept for horror. The shadow flicker effect was fascinating and I really liked the different islanders’ perspectives; it reminded me a little of Stephen King! There was an incredible eerieness throughout the story and I loved how increasingly disturbing it became. The climax just got CRAZY in the best way possible, but I do think it went too off the rails towards the end. It was an excellent slow burn horror, but the sudden transition into a frantic conclusion felt too disconnected from the rest of the pace. But I really enjoyed the creativity of this book and will absolutely keep reading this author’s works!
February 1, 2022
Sci-fi mystery where an insurance agent comes to a small island to investigate claims against a wind turbine company. As he hears tales of the bizarre, strange events seem to surround those living nearest to the turbines, including himself. An ex-school teacher has a very strange theory of what’s happening. And people are going missing. Is everyone mad or are the turbines making them go insane?
April 7, 2022
This book delves into the idea that there can be a sinister side to wind turbines...which is pretty unique as horror stories go. It starts off with main character, Oscar, coming to Kidney Island off the coast of Rockland, Maine to investigate claims by the locals regarding strange incidents that keep occurring. They claim it's because of the turbines. Oscar comes to find out it goes much deeper.
This story was interesting and kept me guessing, although I feel like I may need to read this one again just to catch a few things that flew past me on the first go. I like books like this with a twisted bent, particularly when the deal with parallel dimensions and odd occurrences. I hope to read more of this author's work in the future to see what other interesting tales he can spin.
This story was interesting and kept me guessing, although I feel like I may need to read this one again just to catch a few things that flew past me on the first go. I like books like this with a twisted bent, particularly when the deal with parallel dimensions and odd occurrences. I hope to read more of this author's work in the future to see what other interesting tales he can spin.
April 7, 2022
I do love a creepy read and this one did not disappoint.
I was engrossed right from the start and keen to follow Oscar on his journey to Kidney Island to speak to the locals and find out about the effects of the shadow flicker.
Being an outsider on the island some of the locals were rather suspicious of him. I don’t want to say too much and give away any spoilers.
I definitely recommend reading this book especially if you love a creepy mystery mixed with some science fiction.
I was engrossed right from the start and keen to follow Oscar on his journey to Kidney Island to speak to the locals and find out about the effects of the shadow flicker.
Being an outsider on the island some of the locals were rather suspicious of him. I don’t want to say too much and give away any spoilers.
I definitely recommend reading this book especially if you love a creepy mystery mixed with some science fiction.
January 15, 2022
This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
I had never heard of the "shadow flicker" effect from wind turbines before I found this book. The idea of that effect having severe ramifications on the people and animals near where they're located made for an intriguing horror premise. Unfortunately, while I found the writing to be decent, I just really couldn't get into the story as a whole. There were too many times that it felt like what might have been a successful novella was padded to stretch it into a full-length novel. Based on the Goodreads rating system, I consider it an "OK" book.
I had never heard of the "shadow flicker" effect from wind turbines before I found this book. The idea of that effect having severe ramifications on the people and animals near where they're located made for an intriguing horror premise. Unfortunately, while I found the writing to be decent, I just really couldn't get into the story as a whole. There were too many times that it felt like what might have been a successful novella was padded to stretch it into a full-length novel. Based on the Goodreads rating system, I consider it an "OK" book.
June 19, 2022
Great premise, great beginning, very stupid and rushed ending. Homeboy definitely had no idea how to end his story or justify the effects, so he just made up a whole new world with dimensional shifting. I wish I could persuade the author into rewriting the last 25% of the book, come up with some deeper meaning that doesn’t include crazy sea worlds. Very disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2022
This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
This was an interesting ride with many ups and downs. I really enjoyed the first half of this book, although it was a bit slow you could feel it building up to something. I really enjoyed the characters, the neighbors that sold their land to the company who put up the wind turbines. They were so fleshed out had so many things going on in each of their lives. I really felt for them. I was very sad to see what happened to some of these characters after building up a fondness for them.
I also felt the uncomfortable presence of the wind turbines. I couldn't stand dealing with a flickering light, let alone all the other odd things occurring. These people were stranded with no way to get out and they just had to put up with it and I can relate to that.
Our main character, Oscar, oh poor Oscar. He was a man thrust into an impossible situation. He had every right to think that everyone had lost their minds.
About halfway through I started to lose interest, but I pushed through. At around 75%, everything went wild. It went so far off the track I thought we were on and so much happened and so much was revealed in such a short piece of the book that it left me feeling like a shook-up soda bottle. When it ended, I was just very taken aback, like, what just happened?
Now I think I could have walked away from this book okay with how it ended. I could have accepted the wild turn of events. I would have felt a bit unsatisfied but still overall thought it was alright. It would have been even better if it would have happened at the halfway point so we could get more detail and more time spent about this dramatic shift in the story.
That being said. There was one huge thing that I cannot get past, and I am so bothered by it. The treatment of women in this book is not okay. I rarely get offended by a book, but I am thoroughly offended by some parts of this book. I am flabbergasted that our gay main character would meet a woman for the first time and just judge her appearance so harshly. She COULD have been attractive if it weren't for yadda yadda yadda.
Women aren't here just to be attractive skin suits. Why does a gay man care and judge a woman's attractiveness? He dogged on that woman. That woman who was going through hell and he had the audacity to judge her appearance. I tried to let this go, I tried to move on but then he met up with her again and did it AGAIN! He was even harsher the second time. He at this point had met other men on the island and never once judged them for how they looked. He mentioned one person being attractive that was a man. He never mentioned a man being ugly or COULD have been attractive IF.
Women go through a lot in life, and nobody should sit there and say they COULD be attractive if they just didn't look so tired or whatever other none sense these self-entitled people think.
I thought we were past the worst of it but then the big plot shift happened, and wow did it get worse for the women in this book. I don't know how much I can say because it is an ARC but lord, this was not okay.
To put this as nicely as I can... it seemed like suddenly we were in an erotica novel, a mans wet dream. I don't even know but... there was a woman at her work who was topless getting here nipples pinched like it was an endearment. I don't think that is a spoiler, because what? What? There was a studded collar at one point. Women. Deserve. Better.
I'm going to leave it at that.
This was an interesting ride with many ups and downs. I really enjoyed the first half of this book, although it was a bit slow you could feel it building up to something. I really enjoyed the characters, the neighbors that sold their land to the company who put up the wind turbines. They were so fleshed out had so many things going on in each of their lives. I really felt for them. I was very sad to see what happened to some of these characters after building up a fondness for them.
I also felt the uncomfortable presence of the wind turbines. I couldn't stand dealing with a flickering light, let alone all the other odd things occurring. These people were stranded with no way to get out and they just had to put up with it and I can relate to that.
Our main character, Oscar, oh poor Oscar. He was a man thrust into an impossible situation. He had every right to think that everyone had lost their minds.
About halfway through I started to lose interest, but I pushed through. At around 75%, everything went wild. It went so far off the track I thought we were on and so much happened and so much was revealed in such a short piece of the book that it left me feeling like a shook-up soda bottle. When it ended, I was just very taken aback, like, what just happened?
Now I think I could have walked away from this book okay with how it ended. I could have accepted the wild turn of events. I would have felt a bit unsatisfied but still overall thought it was alright. It would have been even better if it would have happened at the halfway point so we could get more detail and more time spent about this dramatic shift in the story.
That being said. There was one huge thing that I cannot get past, and I am so bothered by it. The treatment of women in this book is not okay. I rarely get offended by a book, but I am thoroughly offended by some parts of this book. I am flabbergasted that our gay main character would meet a woman for the first time and just judge her appearance so harshly. She COULD have been attractive if it weren't for yadda yadda yadda.
Women aren't here just to be attractive skin suits. Why does a gay man care and judge a woman's attractiveness? He dogged on that woman. That woman who was going through hell and he had the audacity to judge her appearance. I tried to let this go, I tried to move on but then he met up with her again and did it AGAIN! He was even harsher the second time. He at this point had met other men on the island and never once judged them for how they looked. He mentioned one person being attractive that was a man. He never mentioned a man being ugly or COULD have been attractive IF.
Women go through a lot in life, and nobody should sit there and say they COULD be attractive if they just didn't look so tired or whatever other none sense these self-entitled people think.
I thought we were past the worst of it but then the big plot shift happened, and wow did it get worse for the women in this book. I don't know how much I can say because it is an ARC but lord, this was not okay.
To put this as nicely as I can... it seemed like suddenly we were in an erotica novel, a mans wet dream. I don't even know but... there was a woman at her work who was topless getting here nipples pinched like it was an endearment. I don't think that is a spoiler, because what? What? There was a studded collar at one point. Women. Deserve. Better.
I'm going to leave it at that.
January 19, 2022
Look around you right now. Suppose what you see now actually exists, right now, on another plane. The same place, just slightly different. The a different society, different dress, buildings are similar, but different. Many people believe that alternate planes exist in the same place. You swear you saw a ghost, but what if it was just a person who somehow wandered through an opening from their plane into yours, the "opening of the mouth".
Maybe you hear a voice and call "who's there?" In the same room, on another plane someone hears the words "Who's there?", they look around and see nothing.. Unknown to you, you're standing next to each other on alternate planes.
When Oscar goes to investigate complaints from the residents of Kidney Island about the ill effects caused by wind turbines he's met with strange, impossible to prove tales that are just plain crazy. Time stopping, a suicidal horse and cow, missing people....then Oscar starts seeing some strange things himself and finds himself in one predicament after another where safety seems to be a cruel illusion that can never be real again. #shadowFlicker #netgalley
Shadow Flicker is a wonderfully, imaginative novel. This book would be especially interested to anyone interested in the theory of alternate realities and different planes of existence.
Maybe you hear a voice and call "who's there?" In the same room, on another plane someone hears the words "Who's there?", they look around and see nothing.. Unknown to you, you're standing next to each other on alternate planes.
When Oscar goes to investigate complaints from the residents of Kidney Island about the ill effects caused by wind turbines he's met with strange, impossible to prove tales that are just plain crazy. Time stopping, a suicidal horse and cow, missing people....then Oscar starts seeing some strange things himself and finds himself in one predicament after another where safety seems to be a cruel illusion that can never be real again. #shadowFlicker #netgalley
Shadow Flicker is a wonderfully, imaginative novel. This book would be especially interested to anyone interested in the theory of alternate realities and different planes of existence.
March 6, 2022
In horror fiction, there is always something creepy about small, isolated communities and if that small community is on an island off the main coast, we can safely double the creep factor.
Kidney island with its looming wind turbines, mad cows, disappearing children and suspicious locals lives up to this expectation. Oscar Basaran is the outsider ( and not just geographically) tasked with documenting the effects of the wind turbines on the island folk.
Oscar is a sympathetic character and his unease is realistically described by the author and yet you can understand why he chooses to stay when his back story is revealed.
The secondary characters are an eclectic mix of normal trying to cope in an awful environment to the outright strange and unwelcoming but the wind turbines themselves are just as much as a character as the islanders- looming and humming in the background and ever-present.
The tension slowly builds up through the book’s explosive climax which I won’t go into as this would completely spoil the story. But I have to say I was not expecting that explanation on why the shadow flicker was causing so much harm.
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves their mystery with a touch of science-fiction.
Kidney island with its looming wind turbines, mad cows, disappearing children and suspicious locals lives up to this expectation. Oscar Basaran is the outsider ( and not just geographically) tasked with documenting the effects of the wind turbines on the island folk.
Oscar is a sympathetic character and his unease is realistically described by the author and yet you can understand why he chooses to stay when his back story is revealed.
The secondary characters are an eclectic mix of normal trying to cope in an awful environment to the outright strange and unwelcoming but the wind turbines themselves are just as much as a character as the islanders- looming and humming in the background and ever-present.
The tension slowly builds up through the book’s explosive climax which I won’t go into as this would completely spoil the story. But I have to say I was not expecting that explanation on why the shadow flicker was causing so much harm.
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves their mystery with a touch of science-fiction.
March 29, 2022
When Evil Turns The Blades
I love books that take me to places I might want to go on vacation. The island where this story takes place reminds me a bit of Martha's Vineyard and some of the ordinary people I met there. Of course, aside from big fish stories, I never heard anything to stretch the boundaries of my imagination like this.
The characters were fleshed out well enough that, despite their flaws, I felt a lot of sympathy for them. They had very real problems aside from the elements of horror. Caring about them made me want to know what was really going on and what would happen to them.
Shadow Flicker begins ominously and gets steadily creepier. I enjoy it when authors incorporate unusual, historical, even esoteric concepts into their stories. Gregory Bastianelli has enough knowledge of the subjects he chose to successfully weave them together to make a highly original story.
I don't want to give any spoilers, and I really liked the book, but I would have liked a few more chapters. I still have questions and I hope there's a sequel planned.
Thanks to the author, Flame Tree Press, and NetGalley, I read a free advanced reader's copy of Shadow Flicker. I appreciate the opportunity, but my review is uninfluenced by the gift. I highly recommend this book!
I love books that take me to places I might want to go on vacation. The island where this story takes place reminds me a bit of Martha's Vineyard and some of the ordinary people I met there. Of course, aside from big fish stories, I never heard anything to stretch the boundaries of my imagination like this.
The characters were fleshed out well enough that, despite their flaws, I felt a lot of sympathy for them. They had very real problems aside from the elements of horror. Caring about them made me want to know what was really going on and what would happen to them.
Shadow Flicker begins ominously and gets steadily creepier. I enjoy it when authors incorporate unusual, historical, even esoteric concepts into their stories. Gregory Bastianelli has enough knowledge of the subjects he chose to successfully weave them together to make a highly original story.
I don't want to give any spoilers, and I really liked the book, but I would have liked a few more chapters. I still have questions and I hope there's a sequel planned.
Thanks to the author, Flame Tree Press, and NetGalley, I read a free advanced reader's copy of Shadow Flicker. I appreciate the opportunity, but my review is uninfluenced by the gift. I highly recommend this book!
December 27, 2021
I never heard the term "shadow flicker" until the title of this engrossing, suspenseful, novel. In fact, I knew very little about wind turbines or wind farms, except that this is purported to be a new reliable source of renewable energy.
In SHADOW FLICKER, a totally absorbing story, a small Maine island is the site of a small wind farm of only three turbines, yet enough to provide sufficient energy for Kidney Island plus surplus for sale. However the three farm families on Haven Road have suffered a continuum from headaches and sleep deprivation through dementia, loss of intimacy, divorce, to loss of livestock and life. A scientist in the employ of the Turbine provider disappears; then an insurance claims adjuster is tasked with interviewing the resident claimants suing the provider.
Throughout the novel, the reader is pondering whether madness or ghosts or hypnosis or governmental conspiracies [I was reminded of the CIA's Project MK-ULTRA] or some bizarre Cosmic paranormal element is operating here
In SHADOW FLICKER, a totally absorbing story, a small Maine island is the site of a small wind farm of only three turbines, yet enough to provide sufficient energy for Kidney Island plus surplus for sale. However the three farm families on Haven Road have suffered a continuum from headaches and sleep deprivation through dementia, loss of intimacy, divorce, to loss of livestock and life. A scientist in the employ of the Turbine provider disappears; then an insurance claims adjuster is tasked with interviewing the resident claimants suing the provider.
Throughout the novel, the reader is pondering whether madness or ghosts or hypnosis or governmental conspiracies [I was reminded of the CIA's Project MK-ULTRA] or some bizarre Cosmic paranormal element is operating here
March 7, 2022
Shadow Flicker by Gregory Bastianelli takes on the very real phenomenon of shadow flicker in a very spooky way. Oscar Basaran is an insurance investigator who is sent to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to investigate claims that wind turbines are having an adverse impact of the health of nearby residents. As Oscar interviews the complainants, he hears some pretty bizarre stories about what the residents think is happening as a result of the shadow flicker and noise that comes from the wind turbines. Could the wind turbines which provide clean renewable energy to the island cause the events that he’s hearing or have the residents simply gone mad?
Wow! I read this book almost in one sitting (darn having to go to work) and was captivated right from the first sentence. I will not spoil anything, but this book was so much fun! It is a combination of supernatural, science fiction, horror, mystery, etc. This is my first book I’ve read by the author, but it will definitely not be my last.
Wow! I read this book almost in one sitting (darn having to go to work) and was captivated right from the first sentence. I will not spoil anything, but this book was so much fun! It is a combination of supernatural, science fiction, horror, mystery, etc. This is my first book I’ve read by the author, but it will definitely not be my last.
March 26, 2022
The synopsis for this sounded really great and I couldn't wait to start reading. Only...it started off okay. It wasn't my favorite writing style, the main character felt slightly off to me and the treatment of women by the men in this book was...not the best. That and our main character hung up on his ex and everything we see about that was...not written the best. I was curious enough to see what was going on with these wind turbines and why they were causing the crazy things that were happening to keep reading...only I got to the end of the book and it just took a left turn and kind of forgot about that. The whole last act was...odd. And didn't make a lot of sense and yeah it lost me in the end. After I finished reading I had so many questions about why stuff even happened and yeah it was odd. It didn't work for me at all and by the time I was in the last act I just wanted it to be over.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book
March 30, 2022
SHADOW FLICKER is a solid novel that has a strong narrative and an interesting plot and characters, especially the main one who just happens to be gay. He is an assurance investigator who is trying to get to the bottom of a few complaints about wind turbines which seem to weirdly affect some local people, not to mention their animals, on this island near Maine. At first everything seems kind of strange but somehow manageable but eventually he soon realizes that he is way over his head, and that's when the weirdness really comes to fruition. The last third of the books is all about the, ahem, reality of the situation, and though the denouement is quite involving I still feel the author could have gone even further with it. But, hey, that's just my little opinion. That said, I say read SHADOW FLICKER, for it is one darn good book.
June 7, 2023
I really enjoyed this book at first- it was a unique idea that I hadn't encountered before, and I liked the eeriness of the build. Some of the clues dropped seemed to point to something Lovecraftian, and I was looking forward to finding out how everything unraveled.
However, the tone shift towards the end was just too much. It started seeming less horror and more... action sci-fi. There also just seemed to be too many handy coincidences put in place to wrap things up. I found myself skimming through the last fourth or so of the book.
Still, I did like the author's writing style, and can appreciate the uniqueness of his ideas. I wouldn't mind trying another book of his.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
However, the tone shift towards the end was just too much. It started seeming less horror and more... action sci-fi. There also just seemed to be too many handy coincidences put in place to wrap things up. I found myself skimming through the last fourth or so of the book.
Still, I did like the author's writing style, and can appreciate the uniqueness of his ideas. I wouldn't mind trying another book of his.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
April 3, 2022
This novel is built on an intriguing concept with the use of wind turbines anchoring it into the modern world. Plenty of twists and wonderful weirdness.
I did have trouble getting into it, though. The plot lacked paced during the first half and it felt like there were a few too many characters. Or maybe they weren't differentiated enough. The women in particular felt interchangeable.
After the midway point, the action speeds up and it's much better, but by then it had failed to really hook me.
This is definitely a book to consider, and I'm sure it will find some big fans (no pun intended!).
I did have trouble getting into it, though. The plot lacked paced during the first half and it felt like there were a few too many characters. Or maybe they weren't differentiated enough. The women in particular felt interchangeable.
After the midway point, the action speeds up and it's much better, but by then it had failed to really hook me.
This is definitely a book to consider, and I'm sure it will find some big fans (no pun intended!).
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