Patrick Torrington's Aunt Thelma was a successful artist whose late work turned towards the occult. While staying with her in his teens he found evidence that she used to visit magical sites. As an adult he discovers her journal of her explorations, and his teenage son Roy becomes fascinated too. His experiences at the sites scare Patrick away from them, but Roy carries on the search, together with his new girlfriend. Can Patrick convince his son that his increasingly terrible suspicions are real, or will what they've helped to rouse take a new hold on the world?
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[I could never have believed I would wish my son loved books less, let alone dread the consequences]***
(@flametreepress, 23 April 2020, 288 pages, ebook, #ARC from @flametreepress via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 8 May via #RandomThingsTours)
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I read the author's work many, many years ago and didn't think much of it. However, times and my tastes have changed (a lot) since then and I decided to take part in the tour as the blurb made me want to know Patrick and Thelma's story. I was not disappointed and I'm glad I took a chance on the book. The author has written a lot so I will need to check out more of his work. The book is slow paced horror rather than gory in your face horror which I prefer. There are so many questions as Patrick and his son start to look into what really happened to Thelma and the true meaning of her paintings which got progressively darker towards the end of her life. How did Thelma really die? Why did her art become so dark? Who is the shadowy faceless figure she started to paint towards the end of her life? The dialogue wasn't the best at times but the writing, setting, atmosphere and plot was spot on.
