Reviews

A variety of people on a small island in the North Atlantic are featured in this quiet story. We meet:
-Sig, who's full of guilt and grief after her beloved husband died,
-Matt, Sig's brother-in-law, with whom she has an argumentative relationship because of her grief-induced behaviour, including a solo climbing accident where she badly broke one of her legs
-Rex, Sig's stouthearted dog
-Evie, Sig's niece by marriage who's recovering from a car crash that killed her parents,
-Tom, newly arrived on the island with his divorced father and new wife and baby half-sister, and
-Kevo, an ex-con newly arrived on the island to reunite with a former girlfriend

There are several other characters, but most play supporting roles, and end up essentially becoming fodder when a malevolent, ancient curse is released on the island, transforming those it takes over into essentially zombies.

The first half of this quiet book has a measured pace, allowing you to get comfortable with the characters' lives. The author delivers a slow build of suspense; the book is atmospheric, claustrophobic, and has a great sense of growing dread.

I liked how C.A. Fletcher gave me time to care about the characters, before destroying the peace and safety of the island in the back half of the book when the pace picked up. Though this was not a gore fest, there were enough sudden deaths and mayhem to keep me worried about the main cast.

I had no idea what to expect from this author's work, as I haven't yet read "A Boy and His Dog", but I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy and disturbing pleasure.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

anna_dan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

kjenny13's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bionicsarah's review against another edition

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4.0

I have a not so secret love of a good zombie book sometimes they are just what I want to read .i loved this author’s previous book The Boy his dog and the end of the world and was excited to see this book on NetGalley Uk
The format of this story is not typical for the zombie genre it states with us getting to know a selection of interesting characters quite well and the remote Scottish island they end up being stuck on when storms prevent the daily ferry crossing .it’s a small population made even smaller by the fact that most islanders are off ok the mainland for a music festival .The claustrophobia this creates is helpful to the story and means that ultimately you know both healthy and afflicted islanders well enough to be affected by their outcomes
The underlying story of a Viking curse isn’t quite as strong as the naturalistic sections of the book but do serve to explain the turning of some islanders to water zombies .
There are some very amusing sections one which I particularly enjoyed was the old man and his gentle dog both of whom are turned
Personally I thought the book ended too suddenly and the way the story ended was rather unsatisfactory.
I enjoyed the book but not quite as much as the boy his dog and the end of the world which I loved
I would recommend to lovers of zombie books who might enjoy the differences this story has from the standard zombie fare
I read a copy on NetGalley Uk the book was published in the Uk on 22 July 2022

regalvee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not entirely sure where to start this review because I'm not 100% sure exactly where I stand with this book.

To start with I feel like there is way too many POVs to follow especially in the beginning. It gets a little easier towards the end but considering how slow this book is I wish there were less to track. I also felt like not all of them really adds anything to the story and it was a waste of time having them in there making this already long book longer.

This book is about 500 pages (format depending) and to be perfectly honest the first 250 pages for me were an absolute slog to get through because nothing happens and it's was so slow and I was very very close to throwing in the towel.

The last 250 pages are a bit more action packed and the pace does pick up a little bit and the POV's the story is told by does cut down and makes it easier to follow.

I really only liked 3 characters in this book which were Sig, Evie and Matt and to be honest I wish this book had been short and told just from their view point.

I will say that the book is very atmospheric in the setting and with the storm and isolation and I definitely could appreciate that.

In a quick summary it's too long, too many POV in the beggining and it's so slow but I did like the atmospheric writing and the overall storyline if it had been skimmed down.

jspears6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dogmom198611's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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