Review: Could be better
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 31, 2012
As other reviewers have pointed out, Blackened Cottage has a real traditional 'Gothic Horror' feel to it and the narration maintains this timeless air which harks back to an era when words were there to be truly savoured. It was this rare quality which kept me going and I'm giving the book my 3 stars just for this.Now to the criticism and I've got two main issues. Apologies for the spoilers (although I'll try not to divulge everything).Firstly, the book seems to be all things to everyone. We've a horror story, a serial killer on the loose and a romance. Not only that, there are hints of child abuse, incest and ... well, you name it, you've got it. It would have been far better without the serial killer part and just written as a menacing horror story. If you twist my arm, you can even include the romance. Unfortunately all the mixing and matching I've described just does not work.Secondly, the device of not divulging identities is a cliché. If the reader is behind the eyes of the person speaking, writing, acting etc, they know their own identity (unless they are suffering from amnesia, of course). Discussing the entries in a journal but not disclosing who it is doing the writing is the act of a desperate author. There are more than enough plot possibilities in Blackened Cottage to render that unnecessary so why do it?Would I read more by the same author? Definitely.