“You’re in for a dark surprise”

  • Book: Into The Woods
  • Location: The Lake District, Wasdale Valley
  • Author: David Mark

Review Author: Yvonne@FictionBooks

Location

Content

Dark Surprise! That doesn’t even begin to describe what’s going on in this small corner of The Lake District and beyond!

Getting my thought processes into logic mode was quite difficult for this book, so you do need to read my review in its entirety, as my emotions and thoughts were so mixed.

There was a good strong beginning to this deeply disturbing book, and a rather satisfying and hopeful conclusion. However whilst the unique storyline definitely sucked me in completely, messed with my head until I had no idea which day of the week it was, then spat me out and left me to get on with picking up the broken pieces of my mind and senses, I felt that I wasn’t able to engage with it in the way I had hoped for, and anticipated. However that was totally my problem, as the plot was just so dark and twisted, as to be delving into the realms of horror/fantasy/ supernatural on occasion, making one or two scenes quite difficult to connect with, for me personally. I actually felt a little cheated that it didn’t quite achieve its full potential for me, as if it had, then I believe that the bits of me it had already left for broken, would have been totally destroyed to the point of being irreparable, such was the power and quality of the narrative and dialogue. For me personally, I think that some of the problem rested with the rather lengthy chapter headings, which left me slightly unsure and confused about where I was in the timeline at any given moment, thus making the storyline rather disjointed and not as fluid as I would have liked.

The author’s totally immersive and highly visually descriptive narrative has a terrific sense of location, which had me mesmerised, as I became drawn into this forbidding landscape, although I’m not sure that as an ‘armchair traveller’, David’s honest observations really endeared me to the area, and they certainly wouldn’t have been included in any reputable travel brochure! However they set the scene for this story, in an unimaginably powerful and atmospheric way.

This unconventional, multi-layered, intensely disquieting storyline, evoked and stirred so many emotions, all of which kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. So adroitly was I manipulated, that at times I found myself becoming unfathomably angry by certain turns of events, causing me to have to pause and remind myself that this was a work of fiction, although oftentimes fact is indeed stranger than fiction! Is this display of drink and drug fuelled, ritualistic and menacing depravity, really so far removed from the reality of 20th/21st Century life as we think we know it, albeit that we strive to hide our perverted mores and proclivities; or is there simply a sickening reality in this chain of corruption and denial amongst authority? This is definitely not a story to relax and escape into, as the rich atmosphere which David weaves around events, is not conducive to putting the reader at ease in any way, although it is far too compelling and gripping to let it slip through your fingers and close the pages on it. This is most definitely not a journey to be rushed through, but is one which needs time taken to savour all the nuances and I felt as though I was right at the heart of the action, albeit that the dots didn’t always quite join up.

David introduced me to an equally unconventional multi-faceted cast of characters, to whom applying the epithet ‘quirky’, doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. I was up close and personal with some of the strangest, most dysfunctional and often downright frightening individuals I am ever going to meet between the pages of a book. In fact they are a group which I would be running to get away from under any normal circumstances, although the story really would be nothing without them! They were drawn and defined with great complexity, then brought to life with complete confidence and total authority by an author who can obviously visualise and hear them all in full and glorious 3D, long before he commits pen to paper. This seems to be the community which time forgot, as this disparate and eclectic mix of bohemian, hippy and ‘otherworldly’ figures, trance their way through an existence which is far removed from contemporary normality. None of them are easy to connect with or invest in, with character dynamics and synergy, or coherent and intelligent conversational dialogue, being almost non-existent. Nonetheless, David has managed to really get under the skin of his cast and give them an unconventional form of life, giving them a physical appearance which you only have to shut your eyes to visualise and some ‘off the wall’ dialogue imbued with just the right level of unintentional wit and sarcasm, so as to make them stand out from the crowd, from time to time. The most forthright of the characters, is definitely disgraced journalist and would be author, Rowan. Alcohol, drugs and some ‘necessary’ violent and unscrupulous dealings, which have gone badly wrong, have seen him fall on hard times and his cynicism is clearly on display for all to see, as he is determined to make a story out of what he thinks is nothing, in order to fulfil his obligations and pay his debts.

As the author previously spent some fifteen years in journalism, many of those as a crime reporter, before wielding his pen in an entirely new direction, to forge a path for himself in fictional crime writing, he is clearly operating in an area which he knows all too well first-hand. But there is where I hope the similarities between himself and the dour Rowan end!

In my opinion, it is certainly a real understatement to say that this book might take each reader on a totally unique and individual journey, as it is more or less definitely guaranteed to do that!!

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