Book Review: “Dark Isle”

About Dark Isle

Mark Stine is an American academic enjoying his year as a visiting professor at Cambridge University. But when he starts researching the long-dead English writer, Monty Summerskill, he quickly discovers that truth is stranger than fiction. Turns out Summerskill’s ghost stories were based on horrifying reality. One that caused the author’s shocking death.

Mark’s journey takes him to dark places, where he finds himself haunted by a ghost from his troubled childhood. But that’s nothing compared to the terrors that await as he heads towards the Dark Isle, where the solution to an ancient mystery lies.

Something far more terrifying than any ghost is on his trail. Awakened after decades of hibernation, it is deadly, unstoppable and hungry.

Hungry for blood.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Isle-Paranormal-Supernatural-Horror-ebook/dp/B01MRQZZL0

My Review

I purchased a copy of Dark Isle, by David Longhorn through FreeBooksie. All opinions stated here are my own.

It is interesting that I picked Dark Isle up now, while I’m in the midst of developing three stories about curses for the Curses anthology, scheduled to come out in September. As it happens, this story features ghosts, an ancient curse, and an ancient evil. I felt Longhorn did a spectacular job of putting readers in a dark and ghostly mood in the gloomy English setting. There are ghosts a plenty. Add to that the awakening of an ancient evil curse, and Dark Isle turned out to be just what I was looking for.

I loved the way the weather in the English countryside sets the perfect tone of doom and gloom, creating a lovely, eerie background mood throughout. The tale is built around a rich history of Mark Stine’s predecessor, Montague Summerskill, who met his demise under mysterious circumstances while traveling the area by bicycle in an attempt to solve the mystery and write a first rate paper to gain acclaim. What he discovered is an evil curse which Summerskill inadvertently uncovered in his travels, which has now been passed on to him. How does one thwart an ancient evil curse is then the question foremost in his mind, and Longhorn comes up with an interesting solution. No spoilers here though. If you want to know what happens, you’ll have to read the book.

A gothic mystery that will make your spine tingle. I give Dark Isle five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.