Genre: Horror / Witchcraft
Publisher: Hampton Creek Press
Publication Date: 14th Nov 2014
Pages: 388
MY REVIEW:
Forsaken by J.D. Barker has been on my Goodreads “wish
list” for a long long time. Other things just kept getting in the way of me
acquiring it and reading it. When a friend of mine and fellow blogger/reviewer,
Maxine Groves, messaged me to let me know she was helping with the promo for
the book and would I be interested in a review copy, I decided enough with the
waiting and let’s get it in the “near future” to be read pile. Why the hell did
I wait so long! Thanks Maxine (she knows her books people) you have just
reminded me why I need to follow my gut when it comes to a book.
Thad McAlister is an author. He struggled to begin with
but now he is at the top of the New York Times bestsellers list. He has just
finished his latest book. It wasn’t very hard to write. In fact it sometimes
felt as though he didn’t write it at all. It is based around the witch trials
in Salem in 1692. Is it fiction? Is it fact? Is it something completely
different?
As he leaves for New York to meet his agent to pass over
the manuscript, His wife Rachael and daughter Ashley stay at home waiting on
the birth of their second child. Unbeknown to Rachael, her husband is in grave
danger when he arrives in New York, being hunted by an ancient evil. Unbeknown
to Thad, his wife and daughter are in grave danger in their own home,
threatened by the same ancient evil.
She has been banished since 1692. She wants to come back.
She intends to use Thad and his family for just that purpose. Suddenly Thad’s
work of fiction becomes reality.
Even though my reviewing juices are flowing for this one
and I want to gush and gush about it, I’m also tempted just to say – buy it!
The end.
This is what horror stories are all about. A good old
fashioned story about witches and evil and monsters and death and creepiness
and good versus evil.
This book has it all in abundance.
The story begins with Rachael having very real nightmares
and being visited by “Her” demanding her unborn child. It sounds like dreams
but it’s too “real” to be in her head. Thad is ignorant to all of this. All he
can think about is his book and its potential and the upcoming discussions with
Hollywood producers about film rights. You know something is up when a stranger
pays a visit to their house in the middle of the night burying something in
their garden. From this point on the story takes off. It is non-stop to the
very last page filling you full of dread as the story progresses.
I’m not going to tell you anything more of the plot. It
weaves a wonderful story switching between the modern day story of Thad and his
book and excerpts from the journal of Clayton Stone in 1692. Clayton was the
scribe at the witch trials in Salem in that year and his part of the story
describes all that went on in the courtroom and the evil battles surrounding
the accused and her victims. The 17th century scenes are printed as
if they are taken from Thad’s book but they also seem very genuine. The
switching back and forward is very effective in building the tension. One thing
I absolutely love about a good book is being able to imagine the sights and
smells when you are transported back in time. J.D. Barker does this perfectly
giving you a genuine feeling of what the atmosphere would have been like at the
trials. You can feel and smell the fear as the people of the time tried to
understand what they were dealing with in their midst. You can really
understand why they felt absolute terror.
Characters wise, there isn’t a bad one in this book.
Thad, Rachael and Ashley are a loving family. They have had tough lives but they
get on with things. They are looking forward to the new baby and a new life
once the book is published. They fit well together. Clayton Stone is the
perfect narrator for the scenes during the trials. The other characters in the
trials quite honestly couldn’t be better for the time period. The evil
characters in the book are just that. Evil. It oozes out of every pore in their
bodies, both the characters in the olden times and the modern times. It’s like
a family that has been operating for centuries, keeping their own special brand
of evil a secret waiting for their special day.
Without giving away anything of the story, there are
monsters. Little gremlin type monsters. Initially I thought they were going to
turn out quite cute. Was I ever wrong on that one? Whenever they appear it
brings sheer terror to the story. The suspense is amazing and you will have to
remind yourself to breathe when they appear.
I want to type and type and type about this one. I want
to tell you all about the story but can’t without giving it all away. That’s
the last thing I want to do though. You need to read this yourself and enjoy
all the twists and turns it produces.
To summarise: old school horror. Good versus evil.
Witches and spells. Little gremlins with a huge bite. Plenty of hold your
breath moments. Plenty of you shouting things and gasping (I did). Fantastic
writing that just flows across the page and will keep you routed to the spot
until you get to the last page. The first book of a “saga”. I cannot wait for
the rest of them. Absolutely superb.
General rating:
★★★★★ Perfect
Horror rating:
★★★★★ Creepy as hell with jump out your skin moments in abundance.
You can buy Forsaken here:
Book Synopsis:
Book One of the Shadow Cove Saga
Inspired by Actual Events
Excerpt from the Journal of Clayton Stone - 1692
She was examined today without torture at Shadow Cove
township on the charge of witchcraft. She said she was wholly innocent of the
crime and has never in life renounced God. I watched as they brought her out. A
poor, sickly thing, worn by her time behind the walls of her prison. Her bared
feet and hands bound in leather, her clothing tattered to that of ruin. Despite
such condition, her head was held high, her eyes meeting those of her accusers.
Upon being stripped and examined, on her right side is found a bluish mark,
much like a clover leaf; it was thrice pricked therein but she felt no pain and
no blood flowed from the wound. She still refuses to provide her name so we
remain unable to search baptismal records, nor has her family stepped forward
to claim her as their own. We have no reason to believe she is anything but an
orphaned child. I find myself unable to look at her directly in the moments
preceding her trial. She is watching me though; with eyes of the deepest blue,
she is watching me.
Thad McAlister, Rise of the Witch
When horror author Thad McAlister began his latest novel,
a tale rooted in the witch trials of centuries past, the words flowed
effortlessly. The story poured forth, filling page after page with the most
frightening character ever to crawl from his imagination. It was his greatest
work, one that would guarantee him a position among the legends of the craft.
But was it really fiction?
He inadvertently opened a door, one that would soon
jeopardize the lives of his family.
She wants to come back.
At home, his wife struggles to keep their family alive.
Secretly wondering if she caused it all...a deal she made long ago. A deal with
the Forsaken.
J.D. Barker holds a B.A. in English from Beaumont
University and currently lives in Shadow Cove, Massachusetts where he is hard
at work on his latest novel.
You can see more of J.D. at his website.
J.D.’s author page can be found here.
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