• Author: W.C. Ryan
• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Paranormal/Historical Fiction/Murder Mystery
• No. of pages: 432
• Year published: 2019
• Dates read: 06.10.19 – 17.10.19
• Rating: 5 stars (favourite)
• Challenge: ONTD Challenge October Theme, “Read a book about War”.

Plot: Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die. For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one…

What an amazing mystery perfect for the spooky season! Ghosts, murder and the War!

I don’t have any problems with this book which is quite shocking as normally I find one or two things that could be improved on. I could find no faults.

I loved that from the beginning until the very end I was always one step behind the author. I had no idea where the story was going to go and I loved it. The level of mystery created from the first page until the last was very high. From the get-go you have yourself questioning who was who and who do we believe and this level of mystery and wanting to know the answer to everything was maintained until the last page.

I am not a massive fan of World War 1 and 2 stories. They are personally not my favourite but this time round I loved the war themes. While I know how much the war impacted the world we got to see how the war affected a variety of people not in ways that you would initially expect.

The atmosphere created was really chilling. From the first chapter you feel uneasy as we don’t know whether we should trust the characters we meet. Once we get to the manor and the storm really kicks in I found myself very wary and anticipating what was just around the corner. Some of the bigger action sequences with the raging storm let me with my heart pumping out of my chest.

I also loved the different POV we were given, the use of multiple POV allowed for the mystery to slowly form and make you scream for more! Just as a character found out some important information we would flick to the next person straight away and are left helpless and with a huge desire for more. This was the ultimate reason of why I kept reading.

The next book I will be reviewing is the graphic novel, Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu. I was mainly drawn to the story due to the art style as it was super cute and whimsical. I’m excited to see what they will give me.