Shadow Coast

by Philip Haldeman

Barely surviving a spectacular yachting accident, Mark Sayres finds himself in a remote area of the Olympic Peninsula coast in Washington State. He has come to look for his wife, Maggie, who has been troubled by a disturbing discovery at the archaeological site where she is working. After recovering at the home of Sandra Torrel, whose mysterious husband bears a disturbing family secret, Mark learns of a succession of terrifying events in the little town of Neah Bay that seem connected with the nearby excavation. Why are archaeologists Paul Radwick and Ken Matsamura so secretive about what may have been unearthed? Can their discovery have something to do with an appalling incident of nearly a century ago that has begun to haunt the present? In this chilling novel, Philip Haldeman evokes the rugged seacoast, eerie rainforests, small-town confines, and human interrelationships of a remote corner of the Pacific Northwest, all within a ghostly tale of horror that not only brings to mind the best work of H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood, but whose themes of love, loyalty, and conflict will satisfy a wide variety of readers.

Genres: Horror

Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This kind of horror is what I hope for when I buy horror novels. Shadow Coast gave me the willies, and when I get a reaction like that, then I've found a good author. It starts off innocuously enough, but in short order the hackles started raising on the back of my neck. Also, I've been to Neah Bay WA where the book is set, so I really had a great vision of where all of this action was taking place. If you want to try something different, then do what you can to find this book and read it.

a little plot summary:

Mark Sayres, an architect in California, is alone at home with his daughter, while his wife Maggie is spending time in the Pacific Northwest on an archaeological dig. Maggie calls him, but the call sounded like Maggie was in some sort of distress, so he takes a job as part of the crew on a sailboat (for which in return he gets a free ride to the Northwest). However, the captain of the boat is a drunk and the inevitable shipwreck occurs just in sight of their destination. He is able to make it to shore and wakes up to find that his wife has gone missing, totally without a trace. The woman in whose home Mark is recovering also has a missing husband, along with others who vanished without a trace. Many of the natives believe that the disappearances are linked to what the archaeologists encountered in their dig. This isn't another cheap horror novel (I realize that many have similar premises), but a book of quality.

The characters are drawn very well and are believable; the story itself is positively eerie, and I was absorbed immediately, most likely due to Haldeman's ability to create an atmosphere of eeriness and the sense that something is just not kosher here.

Highly recommended; I love finding little gems like this one!

[Jeannie Sloan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a remarkable book.Even though I didn't particularly like the main protagonist I still thought that this book rocked. Nothing like a young and beautiful tragic figure to set my feminist alerts on target. And yes I would have liked the book more if the main protagonist wasn't such an asshole.That said it was a very good book that I came across at my library.I am glad that I read it because it was so entertaining.

[Amy Freese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It was a nice change from the paranormal I typically read.
I think the Washington state coastline setting combined with the intended mystery of the story matched up perfectly! I appreciated how the story unfolded, some past then some present. A little from this character, then another character. It kept the mystery going, kept me intrigued. For me this book had the perfect level of spooky.
As I am a South Dakota resident, I do not know much about the Native American cultures in other areas. I can tell the author did his best to respect the Makahs history and mythology. I can look at my local history of say, the Black Hills, to understand the mindset of the locals relating to the land. I can look at stories like Wounded Knee, which has not always been taught from BOTH perspectives, to understand the bitterness that can shroud entire generations of people. Author Haldeman did an amazing job showing the contrast between one person's superstition and another's belief. This is a constant battle within humanity, even today.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

California guy goes looking for his missing wife in the foggy, rainy, watery Olympic Peninsula of the PNW where she was working at an archeological dig on a reservation. People are dying mysteriously, ghosts are seen, there’s rumor of a Native American myth that’s been resurrected due to the ground disturbance and artifacts found there. I just couldn’t get past my dislike of the guy. For a visitor to a small town of close-knit residents, he asserts himself at all times and dominates everything.

[James Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set along the desolate coast of the Pacific Northwest, Shadow Coast, conjures up a wonderful supernatural story involving ghosts, fear of the unknown and Native American mythology.
Mark Sayles sails to a remote island off the Washington coast to visit his wife who has been working on an archeological site. A powerful storm sinks his ship and two of his crewmates are killed. Half drowned Sayles is rescued by local islanders but once he recovers from the accident his world is thrown upside down when he discovers his wife is missing, and she isn’t the one.
Then the mist and fog envelopes the coastline and Sayles and the town’s folk begin seeing visions of people that should not be alive. The story develops with Sayles having to accept his wife’s disappearance and probably death as he wrestles with the fact that supernatural forces may be at work and that no one is safe from the town’s past or the superstition of a mythological deity that comes in with the mist to cleanse the town for long ago misdeeds.
The physical descriptions of the area are magnificent. I have never been to the Pacific Northwest but through Mr. Halderman I could envision myself standing along the bleak rocky coastline, with thick forests standing behind me and I can envision the fog as it forms over the sea and moves inland—I get scared just thinking about it.
Hopefully, Mr. Halderman has some more stories for us in the future and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great supernatural tale. One word of caution: Don’t read this book if you find yourself alone on a remote island and the fog starts to roll in.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haldeman did an excellent job mixing setting, mythology and characters in this thriller. Neglecting any one of the above mentioned components would have caused this book to fall flat, but Haldeman successfully walked the razor's edge to compose a spooky and satisfying book.

[Mariya]

NO

[Sav · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculous, poorly paced, poorly done.

[Anne-marie Madden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out AMAZING, but plot and character development quickly fizzled out and book became torturous to finish.