A review by 38_simulated
Hope Island by Tim Major

3.0

This is a supernatural horror novel, but it has a vibe that you also find in a certain stand of 60s British SF like John Wyndham or Quatermass And The Pit. Fans of those influences and the wider area of folk horror will find a lot to enjoy here, whereas the gorehounds are likely to be disappointed. Despite the Maine setting it’s not a full on Stephen King horrorfest, but more a character study of someone already going through trauma being thrust into an unsettling and unexplained situation that starts to turn very nasty. The novel cleaves rigourously to her viewpoint - you will spend the entire book firmly locked inside her head and have to make your own mind up about what’s “real” or not. From that point of view it’s a success. Major conjures up the fear and paranoia of being stuck on a hostile island with no escape (the handling of the local geography is particularly good, and even without a map you’ll have a good idea of how each location relates to another), and the eventual supernatural denouement is very effective.