★★★★★ Bloodthirsty and Brilliant
Bloodthirsty and Brilliant, October 29, 2010
By British Fangtastic
This review is from: Darkened Hills (Paperback)
Review copied from amazon.com
Darkened Hills lends a modern twist to the classic style of a horror novel and is artfully entwined with the cords of a murder mystery, a love story and set to the backdrop of `Melas’ a small American town two hours south of Pittsburgh PA.
The tale follows Jonathon Harker, curious about his former hometown of Melas – returns as a grown man after more than twenty years to discover that 43 (and counting) townsfolk are unaccounted for and strange occurrences are unfolding all around the town. Those that remain in the tight knit, yet tainted community are certainly not as they first appear and corruption is lurking behind almost every door. Harker is distracted by the charms of an old flame’s sister and the unexplainable lure of the looming hilltop presence of `Madison House’ The house is steeped in local history and a possible restoration project soon becomes a deadly obsession – but the current residents have more than just a hold on the town below them. Echoes of the past reverberate eerily through the present of Jonathan Harker’s life and the coincidences slowly become chillingly apparent, meanwhile a dark, blood thirsty storm is gathering strength, preparing to rain down on anyone, foolish – or greedy enough to cross into its path. Will Jonathan save the town before all hell breaks loose?
Flavours of Bram Stokers `The lair of the white worm’ and `Dracula’ are combined with extracts from Edgar Allen Poe throughout this novel to create a chilling, atmospheric and harrowing tale of murder lust and gore, which will creep up on the reader leaving a spine tingling feeling and the desire for a sequel.
As an ardent fan of the horror genre and novels by authors such as Anne Rice and Laurell K Hamilton I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a gripping tale of murder and mayhem.
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