Awake In The Night is a new release and I had the privilege of being sent an advance review copy. But you can get your copy today!
This is a ghost story but it's not your typical haunted house tale. The author gives us two timelines in the same home, one from 1955 and one present day. And as we go back and forth we begin to realize how these two different eras come together in a horrifying way.
Our main protagonist moves into the home with her wife in the present day. All seems well with this couple. They're obviously in love, happy, and content with each other. They meet their older neighbor, Susan, who is a feisty energetic woman who loves to be in their company.
But back in the fifties, this same home was owned by the Catholic church and was a place for orphans and pregnant women without spouses. And it was a place of torture for these women and girls as we'll find out.
The brutality of what happened in this house during this time period is really the true horror of this book. Experimental medical "procedures", a priest with a gambling addiction that forces him to make extra money at the well being of these young women, and an illegal adoption service all serve as the background for what happens in the present.
Yes, extremely frightening spirits show themselves to our protagonist but these spirits are victims and not the source of the horrors, although, we nor the characters know this at first so these encounters are terrifying, as you can imagine!
Susan has been living next door for many many years though and she knows more than our protagonist thinks. And there is a fantastic unexpected twist about halfway through that changes how we look at a certain character. It's hidden so well by this author that, when it's revealed, it comes as a shock.
Eventually the past will meet the present and it's a bloody brutal road to the finale but well worth it. I highly recommend this book!
Pick up Awake In The Night here.
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Dave from Horror Reads
