Grace - A.M. Shine

GRACE

A.M. SHINE

***

TO LEARN THE TRUTH

WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn’t been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago. But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.

They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

MY REVIEW

***

Gothic horror and Irish mythology combine - from the author of The Watchers, Grace seemed like a great choice for a dark and chilly night!

When Grace, who has been adopted, finds out her birth mother has died on the island of Croaghnakeela, she rushes back to settle the estate. But the ferryman warns her that evil lurks on the island – can she team up with a Priest to discover what dark secrets lurk on land?

It’s obvious from the first chapter that A.M. Shine is a master of horror storytelling. The atmosphere is set straight away and the imagery used to introduce us to Declan and the fate of his family is particularly chilling. We are then introduced to Grace, who is working on a bookshop on the mainland, and we follow her journey to the island to see her childhood home. Based on this, and the title of the book, I had assumed that Grace would be the main character, but she takes a back seat for the majority of the plot, which jumps perspective between Priest Richard and various characters on the island. I would have perhaps preferred for her to stay as the main character for a little longer, as having someone who didn’t know what was happening or who anyone was, is a useful technique to provide backstory and explanation to the reader. The narrative jumping perspective between a lot of characters on the island made for a lot of people to keep track of and was confusing in places. It took me longer than usual to read, just as I wasn’t as fully engaged with it from the beginning.

When I read The Creepers, also by A.M. Shine, I did mention that certain ideas seemed to have been borrowed from other places. There is a big similarity to a very well-known film with a big twist in the storyline for this book. In relation to this, I did really enjoy the conclusion of this storyline - it was a good twist and I (somehow!) didn’t see it coming.

The ending regarding the creature felt very abrupt with a solution that surely could have been worked out or utilised before. There also seemed to be quite a few threads which weren’t completely resolved.

Overall, Grace is an atmospheric and creepy horror, it does have a few flaws but it’s worth a read. Thank you to NetGalley & Aria & Aries for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones