Title: Craven Manor Author: Darcy Coates Genre: British Fiction, Occult, Supernatural, Ghost Story Blurb: Daniel is desperate for a job. When someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time. But an envelope waits for him inside the doorway. It contains money, and promises more. Daniel is desperate. Against his better judgement, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage behind the crypt. He’s determined to ignore the strange occurrences that plague the estate. But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret… one that threatens to bury him with it. My Review:
Overall: 4 out of 5 Stars Cover: 5 out of 5 Stars The author Darcy Coates has created a beautiful masterpiece with this novel. From the time I started it to the final pages, I could not stop reading this absolutely magnificent breath of fresh air. After being left jobless and near homeless, Daniel does whatever he can just to get to by while living with his "slob" cousin in their small apartment. It become very clear Daniel wants to move out and live on his own. His salvation appears in the form of a mysterious letter left in front of his apartment offering for him to go to Craven Manor, a mansion long avoided by the townsfolk for fear of what happened there. Daniel takes the job as the groundskeeper and comes face to face with the ghost of a little girl named Annalise and the strange master, Bran. Events turn more bizarre the further Daniel gets dragged into the world of shadows. I cannot say enough good about this novel. For each page I turned, I felt like I was walking the halls of Craven Manor myself. Coates replaces needless dialogue with luscious descriptions, immersing the reader into the world she wants them to see and feel. A limited cast of characters allowed the author to focus on making them deep and relatable, full of flaws and a bit angsty. I loved Bran's character. Everything about him screamed "personal prison" and guilt. When he finally became free of his burden, I could feel the weight lifted off of him. Something I cannot say, sadly for many characters nowadays. Craven Manor takes everything you can love in a ghost story, turns it on its head and makes it more deep than anything I've had the pleasure to read. The cover drew me in before I even cracked the spine. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the descriptions of Stephen King and the twists and turns of Edgar Allan Poe. Coates promised us a terrible secret and by the moon, she delivered one. Goodreads // Amazon // Website
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AuthorMy name is Iona Caldwell. I'm the author of the British Occult Fiction, Beneath London's Fog set to be published by FyreSyde Publishing October 2019. When I'm not busy weaving worlds of the arcane and dark, I'm spending time out in nature. I love books. My biggest inspirations are H.P Lovecraft, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Edgar Allen Poe. I blog about many things but mostly everything bookish. Archives
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