Joe Thorne returns to his dilapidated childhood village of Arnhill to take a teaching position after receiving a cryptic message suggesting that his past is repeating itself. Twenty-five years earlier, Joe’s sister Annie vanished from her bed, only to return forty-eight hours later as a cold, unrecognizable version of the girl she once was. Now, a double murder and a suicide in the same community mirror the tragedy of his youth. Joe navigates old grudges and his own gambling debts while investigating the abandoned coal mines where a local legend claims the earth can bring the dead back to life.
Fans of supernatural thrillers and small-town folk horror read this for the atmospheric tension and the blending of realistic human cruelty with eerie, impossible occurrences. This is for readers who appreciate protagonists with deep flaws and histories involving childhood trauma. The audience walks away with a grim perspective on how shared secrets and unresolved grief can poison a community across generations. They expect a plot where the threat is equally divided between physical violence and the psychological weight of the uncanny.
Practical, clear-cut and escapist; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2019
- Language
- EN
