Description
A compelling and spooky thriller in the best classic ghost story tradition. Inspired by Stephen King, Mike Lucas is a modern master of suspense.
One island.
One house.
One curse.
Ghosts aren't real and houses can't come to life.
Charlotte knows these facts to be true.
Yet when Charlotte and her siblings are orphaned and sent to live with their grandmother on remote Black Island, she begins to realise that only one thing is certain- they shouldn't be there.
But will they ever be able to leave?
Review
Set in England in 1930, three children from a rather wealthy family are suddenly orphaned and quickly sent to the far reaches of England to stay with their grandmother, who they have never heard of.
The children are thirteen-year-old Charlotte, her nine-year-old brother Jack, and their precious little six-year-old sister Emily. With little money and travelling third class, the kids quickly have a wake up call on their harrowing journey. Luckily, a boy about Charlotte’s age named Barnaby assists them.
They are dismayed when they reach their destination and there is no one to welcome them to the small, deserted island and the rather spooky house. It gets stranger by the minute when food and clothes miraculously appear, and then so does their grandmother. Charlotte knows something isn’t right, but when she leaves the island the local townsfolk shun her.
When she again comes across Barnaby she hopes that he will be able to help get them away. But Six-hundred-year-old folk tales involving the death of all of the town's children and other legends about their haunted island prevent any local from going there. So how can the children escape?
All about resilience, family, facing your fears and sticking together through tragedy and in the face of evil, this is a particularly engaging read. Full of legend, magic, ghosts, this is a truly scary and edge of your seat adventure that will best suit readers aged from 12 to 16 years.
