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pathenshaw's review against another edition
4.0
My Booklist review:
Daniels’ third Beartooth Mountains book entwines two concurrent stories set in Montana outside the boundary of Yellowstone Park. In one, former New York City homicide detective Bentley Jamison, now a sheriff’s deputy, is called to the sheep ranch of Maddie Conner when her sheepherder’s teenage assistant returns to the ranch covered with blood and babbling about aliens in the mountains. When Maddie and Bentley ask where the sheepherder is and if the older man is hurt, the teen doesn’t answer, so Maddie and Bentley saddle up to look for him. While they make their way to the upper pasture, Sheriff Frank Curry is surprised when his former wife, Pam, attacks him with a baseball bat. Then, when he files charges against her, a judge swears Pam was at home that night. Daniels delves into drug running and vendettas that will keep readers on the edge of their chairs from beginning to end, adding only a little romance to lighten the grim tales.
Daniels’ third Beartooth Mountains book entwines two concurrent stories set in Montana outside the boundary of Yellowstone Park. In one, former New York City homicide detective Bentley Jamison, now a sheriff’s deputy, is called to the sheep ranch of Maddie Conner when her sheepherder’s teenage assistant returns to the ranch covered with blood and babbling about aliens in the mountains. When Maddie and Bentley ask where the sheepherder is and if the older man is hurt, the teen doesn’t answer, so Maddie and Bentley saddle up to look for him. While they make their way to the upper pasture, Sheriff Frank Curry is surprised when his former wife, Pam, attacks him with a baseball bat. Then, when he files charges against her, a judge swears Pam was at home that night. Daniels delves into drug running and vendettas that will keep readers on the edge of their chairs from beginning to end, adding only a little romance to lighten the grim tales.
jim_donohue's review against another edition
3.0
Fun mix of Gothic and Modern-Day Witch horror. Strong debut novel by Barker.
kfogg's review against another edition
5.0
Non-stop creepiness from the outset. Fast paced and nice short chapters.
jasonlee77's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, what a debut novel this is for J.D Barker! This is how you write a book if you want to get noticed right away!
FORSAKEN has two stories, simultaneously playing out; one in the 1600's and one in present day, weaving a witchy tale of terror that is sure to raise your blood pressure.
I love reading stories about authors and them writing, promoting books and that is what main character Thad does for a living in this book. His stories are dark tales of witchcraft and the witch persecution period of the 1600's. His stories gradually become more real and when we hook up with him at the beginning of this book, his latest novel is seemingly coming to life as his wife Rachael is having nightmares about characters from his book, their lawn suddenly turns up dead one day, their daughter keeps seeing creatures that are living in their walls as the mysterious witch priestess of Thad’s seemingly non –fiction novel, puts him and his family into a life and death struggle against her ancient evil.
There were many creepy moments throughout this book that could hang with the best of today's horror elite such as King (King’s Needful Things story actually plays into this book!), Koontz and others. The story gets darker, more sinister, more supernatural and more threatening to all characters involved as it goes along, culminating into a crescendo of evil witchery that is sure to leave horror novel fans with a cringe up their spine and a smile on their face. This book certainly cast its spell on me and was hard to put down until it was finished!
J.D Barker has came out of the gate with a bang here; a strong, captivating story with great characters that we care about and great writing to back it all up. Bring on the follow up novel!
FORSAKEN has two stories, simultaneously playing out; one in the 1600's and one in present day, weaving a witchy tale of terror that is sure to raise your blood pressure.
I love reading stories about authors and them writing, promoting books and that is what main character Thad does for a living in this book. His stories are dark tales of witchcraft and the witch persecution period of the 1600's. His stories gradually become more real and when we hook up with him at the beginning of this book, his latest novel is seemingly coming to life as his wife Rachael is having nightmares about characters from his book, their lawn suddenly turns up dead one day, their daughter keeps seeing creatures that are living in their walls as the mysterious witch priestess of Thad’s seemingly non –fiction novel, puts him and his family into a life and death struggle against her ancient evil.
There were many creepy moments throughout this book that could hang with the best of today's horror elite such as King (King’s Needful Things story actually plays into this book!), Koontz and others. The story gets darker, more sinister, more supernatural and more threatening to all characters involved as it goes along, culminating into a crescendo of evil witchery that is sure to leave horror novel fans with a cringe up their spine and a smile on their face. This book certainly cast its spell on me and was hard to put down until it was finished!
J.D Barker has came out of the gate with a bang here; a strong, captivating story with great characters that we care about and great writing to back it all up. Bring on the follow up novel!
ingo_lembcke's review
1.0
Lent this with Kindle Unlimited, which I paid for, as I found a few books, which I would have bought otherwise, so the fee for a few months is justified and cheaper than buying the books.
Main reason for lending was that I like the 4th Monkey Killer-series and wrongly believed this would be crime.
DNF during prolgue, with the Stephen King "Needful Things/Castle Rock" sentence. Read the blurb (which I obviously did not read before or I would not have lent this book). Every book liked to Stephen King is not for me.
Also not a too great frind of horror, or in German "das war ein Griff ins Klo" (= "that was a grip into the toilet").
Main reason for lending was that I like the 4th Monkey Killer-series and wrongly believed this would be crime.
DNF during prolgue, with the Stephen King "Needful Things/Castle Rock" sentence. Read the blurb (which I obviously did not read before or I would not have lent this book). Every book liked to Stephen King is not for me.
Also not a too great frind of horror, or in German "das war ein Griff ins Klo" (= "that was a grip into the toilet").
icarussfalls's review against another edition
4.0
When I first picked it up I wasn't quite sure if I was going to like it but alas I continued to read. It's been a few years since it was published so now to wait for the second? Hmmm. Very good though. Interesting yet so much unanswered.
billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
It's a good thing
a) I don't care if people see the cover of the book I'm reading, and
b) there's Kindle, if I do
because the cover really is cheesy. Lose the faded in woman's face and we're fine. Otherwise it looks like the countless cheesy prints you'd find in Walmart, you know: those with mysterious faces looking at you, women or the ever popular big wolf face superimposed on a forest.
Yes, I don't care if people see the cover of what I'm reading (and I can say that with all confidence because I read this on my Kindle), but what I do care about is that I almost didn't read it because of it. Never judge a book and all that, but it was close.
Anyways, this is unfair to the story, because this is a very well written novel. J.D. Barker tells this tale through three streams: a journal detailing a witch trial in 1692, a writer on a publishing deal trip, and his home. Combining this with (almost annoyingly) short chapters, and the story is a very, very fast read.
I'm almost giving Barker 5 stars for the fantastic dipping into Stephen King's Castle Rock. Very well done, sir. But I'll give this one 4.5 only because it wasn't "amazing", but I "really liked it".
I very much recommend this book, and I am looking forward to reading J.D. Barker again.
a) I don't care if people see the cover of the book I'm reading, and
b) there's Kindle, if I do
because the cover really is cheesy. Lose the faded in woman's face and we're fine. Otherwise it looks like the countless cheesy prints you'd find in Walmart, you know: those with mysterious faces looking at you, women or the ever popular big wolf face superimposed on a forest.
Yes, I don't care if people see the cover of what I'm reading (and I can say that with all confidence because I read this on my Kindle), but what I do care about is that I almost didn't read it because of it. Never judge a book and all that, but it was close.
Anyways, this is unfair to the story, because this is a very well written novel. J.D. Barker tells this tale through three streams: a journal detailing a witch trial in 1692, a writer on a publishing deal trip, and his home. Combining this with (almost annoyingly) short chapters, and the story is a very, very fast read.
I'm almost giving Barker 5 stars for the fantastic dipping into Stephen King's Castle Rock. Very well done, sir. But I'll give this one 4.5 only because it wasn't "amazing", but I "really liked it".
I very much recommend this book, and I am looking forward to reading J.D. Barker again.
desert_rose's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. From the very first chapter I was hooked.
The writing style is so engaging and flows like a river.
Rachel's husband Thad has become a famous best seller author, writing his ideas and stories in a journal given to him as a gift 10 years prior. Then things start happening that make Rachel regret a deal she made when she got him the gift.
Full of secrets, betrayals and witchcraft the author weaved a very interesting and hard to put down book.
Can't wait to read the second book to see what happens next.
This is the first time for me to read by this author, and I would like to thank both the publicist and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The writing style is so engaging and flows like a river.
Rachel's husband Thad has become a famous best seller author, writing his ideas and stories in a journal given to him as a gift 10 years prior. Then things start happening that make Rachel regret a deal she made when she got him the gift.
Full of secrets, betrayals and witchcraft the author weaved a very interesting and hard to put down book.
Can't wait to read the second book to see what happens next.
This is the first time for me to read by this author, and I would like to thank both the publicist and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
jdubbs8791's review
2.0
It's ok for what it is, I guess, but it's not for me.
The story wasn't enough for me to want to read the sequel. (& it's a definite cliff hanger) Some might like it though.
The story wasn't enough for me to want to read the sequel. (& it's a definite cliff hanger) Some might like it though.
lucycatten's review
4.0
‘The people of Shadow Cove have many secrets, many stories left to tell. The Draper are still waiting for you in those woods…’
Well, how deliciously creepy can you get? This is a thoroughly gripping debut novel from a writer that I will be watching very closely. As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m a bit of a sucker for dark and twisty stories so I just chomped through this in record time.
The novel opens much like any other. We meet Rachael; wife and soon to be mother of two. In her words: ‘Their lives were perfect. A fairy tale…’ Well, as we know, fairy tales are very often dark and this is absolutely no exception. Pretty soon it’s hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction – as a result, you’ve just got to keep on reading.
The whole novel takes place over only four days and the story is told through a dual narrative. On the one hand, we see through the eyes of Rachael, and later, her writer husband Thad, but interspersed with this ‘modern’ story are excerpts as shown in the blurb from the 1692 journal of Clayton Stone. These two threads at first seem a world away from one another, but as the story progresses towards its conclusion, the strands move closer and closer together.
We learn very early on that Rachael is going to be put in an impossible situation – but we don’t know why: ‘”Three days,” the woman told her. “And the child is mine”’. But it’s not just her that’s haunted. Thad’s latest novel centres on Her and we soon realise that She is beyond dangerous: ‘For almost a decade, She had haunted his dreams with her scarred face, guttural voice and nails like long blades… This woman, this witch, had crept into my soul’. Even their young daughter Ashley is in danger and privately battling her own ‘demons’: ‘When a tiny hand reached out from behind Winnie the Pooh and pushed, she gasped’.
This novel is incredibly atmospheric and cinematic – it would make a fabulously creepy movie. I would love to see who was cast as Carmen Perez – the frighteningly cold but efficient housekeeper or the highly desirable, erotic but dangerous Christina. There is also one setting in particular that has stayed with me since I finished it. At one point, Thad wakes to find that: ‘Their entire lawn was dead. Every single strand of grass… Not only dead; their lawn was rotten’. Later, their dead garden is filled with Bougainvillea: ‘grown thick, their thorny branches lacing together into a thick impenetrable fabric. They rose at least six feet…’ I mean, how creepy can you get? Nature gone wild. Just incredible imagery and (to me at least) reminiscent of the rose garden in Beauty and the Beast.
So, ultimately, in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Thad must retrieve the legendary Rumina Box and release Her back into the world, or risk the lives of his family: ‘”Carved of oak and lined with lead, it forever holds the souls of the dead”’. And if you want to find out what happens, you’ll just have to read it yourself!
A truly gripping read. Highly recommended.
‘Clickity, click, click…’
Well, how deliciously creepy can you get? This is a thoroughly gripping debut novel from a writer that I will be watching very closely. As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m a bit of a sucker for dark and twisty stories so I just chomped through this in record time.
The novel opens much like any other. We meet Rachael; wife and soon to be mother of two. In her words: ‘Their lives were perfect. A fairy tale…’ Well, as we know, fairy tales are very often dark and this is absolutely no exception. Pretty soon it’s hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction – as a result, you’ve just got to keep on reading.
The whole novel takes place over only four days and the story is told through a dual narrative. On the one hand, we see through the eyes of Rachael, and later, her writer husband Thad, but interspersed with this ‘modern’ story are excerpts as shown in the blurb from the 1692 journal of Clayton Stone. These two threads at first seem a world away from one another, but as the story progresses towards its conclusion, the strands move closer and closer together.
We learn very early on that Rachael is going to be put in an impossible situation – but we don’t know why: ‘”Three days,” the woman told her. “And the child is mine”’. But it’s not just her that’s haunted. Thad’s latest novel centres on Her and we soon realise that She is beyond dangerous: ‘For almost a decade, She had haunted his dreams with her scarred face, guttural voice and nails like long blades… This woman, this witch, had crept into my soul’. Even their young daughter Ashley is in danger and privately battling her own ‘demons’: ‘When a tiny hand reached out from behind Winnie the Pooh and pushed, she gasped’.
This novel is incredibly atmospheric and cinematic – it would make a fabulously creepy movie. I would love to see who was cast as Carmen Perez – the frighteningly cold but efficient housekeeper or the highly desirable, erotic but dangerous Christina. There is also one setting in particular that has stayed with me since I finished it. At one point, Thad wakes to find that: ‘Their entire lawn was dead. Every single strand of grass… Not only dead; their lawn was rotten’. Later, their dead garden is filled with Bougainvillea: ‘grown thick, their thorny branches lacing together into a thick impenetrable fabric. They rose at least six feet…’ I mean, how creepy can you get? Nature gone wild. Just incredible imagery and (to me at least) reminiscent of the rose garden in Beauty and the Beast.
So, ultimately, in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Thad must retrieve the legendary Rumina Box and release Her back into the world, or risk the lives of his family: ‘”Carved of oak and lined with lead, it forever holds the souls of the dead”’. And if you want to find out what happens, you’ll just have to read it yourself!
A truly gripping read. Highly recommended.
‘Clickity, click, click…’