I thoroughly enjoyed Ravens Gathering (although some scenes make for very uncomfortable reading). Despite being at work this morning I did stay up quite late last night to finish this book as my curiosity wouldn’t allow me to leave the last few chapters until this afternoon. OH, MY DAYS!! I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this. Having said that, I did find it to be on a par with Stephen King’s and Dean Koontz’s writing. This is a unique, supernatural thriller which is very intelligently written. I didn’t really know what to expect when I started it. The blurb is quite vague which I think is perfect. I think I enjoyed it more for going in blind, so to speak. I was instantly intrigued by the gathering of the birds, at the beginning of the story, and felt physically unsettled by their presence myself. Martin intrigued me massively. Does his return to the village have anything to do with a recent tragic accident and why do his family seem to want nothing to do with him? I found his story totally compelling and I really warmed to him in the end. I was totally unprepared for the direction this story took. Strange (to put it mildly) things start to occur, and all manner of dark secrets are revealed. I can’t really say much else without giving anything away, but this is a completely captivating read, packed full of unnerving suspense. As I said above there are some quite disturbing scenes which truly add to the horror the residents of this village are facing and have had to face in the past. Intrigued? Course you are! Give it read for yourself and all will become clear. A dark, but highly entertaining supernatural fantasy thriller. I highly recommend!

Wow. I’ve been left a little adrift as to know where to start reviewing this book. It is an impossible book to categorise and has taken me to places that were totally unexpected before I read it. It has slightly blown my mind and I am considering best how to convey my thoughts about it adequately in this post. Firstly, I have to take a minute to apologise to Graeme, and to Kelly at Love Books Group Tours, for the delay in posting this review. I was supposed to be part of Graeme’s tour but somehow some confusion happened in my addled brain and I missed my spot. It has never happened before and it won’t happen again. I blame hormones, as my diary system is normally failsafe, but I am mortified by my lapse. Sorry again, Graeme and Kelly. On to the book, and what can I say. This novel was unlike anything I’ve read before, although it had elements of other books and movies I have loved in the past. At the beginning it made me think of The Wicker Man, then there was a part that brought to mind The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (one of my favourite authors ever). There was another scene later that gave me a flashback to Straw Dogs, but at the same time this book is something completely unique. I was totally gripped from the beginning, with intrigue, interest, but mostly a creeping and unsettling tension that bloomed to full on horror as the book progressed, but for most of the book I could not tell you why I was so very unsettled. The tension was insidious and all encompassing, but there was nothing overtly horrifying about the story to begin. This was why it reminded me of The Wicker Man, I think. The plot was very twisty and confusing, but this was obviously deliberately done. I had no idea what was happening or who was trustworthy and who wasn’t, which made certain events in the book all the more unexpected and shocking when they came. A couple of times I had to go back and reread a couple of chapters after happenings further on had totally spun previous events on their head in the light of the new information. In fact, I think I need to reread the whole book now I know how it ends, so I can hoover up all the clues that I clearly missed the first time around. It is really cleverly structured; it’s not often I am so completely bamboozled by a book as I was by this one. I bet Graeme is really good at crosswords, although I think his brain might be a slightly scary place to be sometimes! This book has elements of crime, horror, fantasy and the supernatural. In places it is very twisted and explicitly violent, but everything was done in support of the story and not gratuitously. The writing reminded me in a positive way of some of Stephen King’s work, and there can’t really be higher praise than that, since I believe King is pretty much a genius. This book isn’t going to be for everyone, but for anyone who likes a creepy, Gothic horror of a novel with a supernatural twist, this is a must read. I think my friend, Jill Goodwin of Double Stacked Shelves would love it, maybe you will too.

So as you know I don’t normally review Sci-fi or fantasy books but after becoming a big fan of this authors blog where he posts some interesting observations about music and 1970s tv shows, I knew I wanted to read his fictional debut no matter what genre he was writing in. And to be honest I’m quite a contrary madam anyway! I say I don’t like Westerns but my favourite ever film is The Searchers, I say I don’t like Historical Fiction but my favourite ever book is Forever Amber and I say I don’t like marmalade but give me a jar of Roses Lime Marmalade and a pile of toast and I’m in heaven!!! And although I’ve always said I’m not a fan of sci-fi I now have to admit that *whispers* my eldest daughter is named after a character in the 1970s sci-fi series Blake’s 7. So hopefully that explains why I was happy put all my preconceived notions about sci-fi and contemporary fantasy novels aside and order a copy of Ravens Gathering from Amazon and OMFG am I glad I did! For me, to get all the stars in my review ratings a book has to do one of two things -be totally unputdownable or to surprise the hell out of me!! Ravens Gathering has the enviable honour of doing BOTH of those things! I couldn’t put this book down! I read the first 40% in one sitting then life got in the way and I had to stop reading for a day but that first session really built up the tension for me. I have to say though that it left me wondering where on earth the author was going with the storyline. There was such a menacing undertone but I couldn’t work out WHY!! There were a lot of characters to get to know which was why I wanted to keep reading so I could get them all straight in my head. Most of them were pretty unlikable and seemed to be hiding a multitude of secrets but I do have to say that I loved Tanya from the moment I met her! Her character was built up perfectly without becoming too much of a cliché and, although as a woman I should probably have disliked her actions and attitude intensely, I had a soft spot for her recognising the vulnerability hidden behind her motivation. Then I read from 40% to the end! WTF?! I saw all the clues but had missed them big time and I was left speechless (yes I know, hard to believe!!). The last few chapters were dark, shocking and full of some very violent and disturbing scenes so do be warned!!! This author has one brilliantly warped imagination!! Mostly though, things aren’t implicitly described which I think is scarier as you tend to conjure up your own worst nightmares instead! There is a visual feel to the village setting of this novel that inspired me to draw comparisons with a few films, mainly Straw Dogs and The Wicker Man (one of my favourite films-the 1973 version with Edward Woodward still scares the hell out of me!!) and I had to laugh as my first thought when the village pub was entered was also The Slaughtered Lamb from An American Werewolf in London which is mentioned by one of the characters later on. I absolutely loved Ravens Gathering and am desperate to see if the village will be revisited by the author in any future books. I would like to just say that it’s very difficult to pigeon hole this novel into any particular genre so I would like to see Graeme Cumming branching out into something a little bit more commercial now he has published his all important, personal first book. He has an engaging writing style that is able to conjure up such visions with just a few choice phrases (I loved chapter 14 in part 4 so much I had to reread it-such an evocative observation) so I would love to see him reaching a wider audience bringing him the commercial success and recognition that he deserves. Highly recommended by me!