Author: C.J. Tudor
Pages: 400
Publisher: Penguin
Read On: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: 500 years ago: eight martyrs were burnt to death
30 years ago: two teenagers vanished without trace
Two months ago: the vicar committed suicideWelcome to Chapel Croft.
For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it's supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn't easily forgotten.
And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft's history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome.
Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns.
Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls?
Who's sending them sinister, threatening messages?
And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself?
Chapel Croft's secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn't touch them if not for Flo - anything to protect Flo.
But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft - and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest .
Things I Liked:
1. I love reading C.J. Tudor's books. Her books are always spooky, exciting and very, very atmospheric. They are a mix of a mystery novel infused with some supernatural elements. This book was no different. I was so happy to pick this up and read it and lose myself in this world. This book sucks you in and keeps hooked from start to finish and when it comes to thrillers honestly what more can you ask for?
2. There is a lot going on in this book, a creepy village with a sinister history, two missing girls from 30 years ago and a clearly dangerous killer on the move making his way towards our main characters. The tension and the thrills never let up. I read the last 50% of this book in one sitting, like in under 2 hours, I just couldn't put it down.
3. Rev. Jack Brooks is an interesting woman to get to know. A lady vicar and someone who has a somewhat mysterious past. Seeing her grapple with her new posting in a very rural Church mired in unsolved mysteries, while trying to parent her teenage daughter all make for interesting reading. Also, I don't think I've read a book where our main protagonist was a member of the clergy. It was fun to read about the politics and pettiness prevalent within the Church and how it essentially like any other work place in some regards.
4. The history of the Burning Girls itself is quite eerie and it lends to the atmosphere of something being amiss in this village, and how is ancient history still affects the people of this village to this day.
5. This book just doesn't let up, one thing after the other keeps happening and keeps you hooked and all the various strands of this narrative come together and keep you constantly on the edge of your seat.
6. One of the main perpetrators came as a big surprise to me, which not to toot my own horn, doesn't happen often. So it is always a good thing be when it happens.
7. The atmosphere of this book is bang on. The sinister history, eerie burning dolls, a quiet village, a crumpling chapel, exorcism, murders, missing girls and stifling heat all come together and worm their way
under your skin and add so much more texture and added dimensions to this novel. Also, if you are a horror fan, worry not there is touch of ghostlyness in this book.
Things I Didn't Like:
Well, while I was reading this book, I was completely enraptured with this story. I couldn't read it fast enough.
Then I finished it, and sat thinking about what I'd just read...like you do.
And then I felt somethings in this book were a little tooooooo out there and far too convenient.
I don't want to give any spoilers but there is unreliable narrator and omitting things for the sake of prolonged mystery but some of the plot points were obfuscated a little too heavy-handedly.
So, by the end of the book I was left a little bit annoyed.
Also, some of these main twists I had guessed a long time before they were revealed, I almost didn't want to think that was the case because these events were so farfetched.
Rating: 4/5
I would still recommend this book, its eerie, atmospheric and fast-paced and spooky.
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