The Lost Village Review:

 Reviewed By Steve Parkes

Bald Mage Rating 8/10

I would like to thank Quercus Books and Netgalley for giving me a free copy to review, the release date for this book is 19th October 2017.

‘There are secrets in Imber that must be told. And very soon, you’re going to find out what they are’

Here we are, it’s October, and it’s near Halloween so it’s time for me to indulge into some scary books, so I decided to start with The Lost Village. I can tell you that is a very intelligent novel that kept me thinking until the very end. The author caught me out on many occasions as to what was going on during the book, when I thought I was getting to grips with the story and tried to second guess the plot then the author threw in some key moments that got me re-thinking the outcome of the plot all over again. This story states that it’s based on real events which made it even more interesting to read.

I do have a love for the paranormal and this book has two paranormal investigators that investigate a village called Imber in the valley of Salisbury plain in 1932. The book is told from Sarah’s perspective as she recollects the events that took place during that time. The book starts off on a high note as Sarah is investigating The Brixton picture palace on her own, and much like Sarah my senses were heighted by the darkness, I could sense every noise and felt every breeze that Sarah encounters during her investigation. Sarah does experience something strange and this is frequent with Sarah throughout the story, if you read the book you will find out what I’m talking about. The plot centres around these experiences which leads her to the village of Imber and to her former boss Harry Price.

Harry Price was a very interesting character and I could imagine the great Peter Cushing playing this role if the book was made into a film during the 1960’s. Harry is a scientist; a very good one in fact and he has many other skills that I won’t mention but he loves the paranormal and he likes to prove if paranormal experiences are real or not real and on many occasions he will de-bunk claims. Harry and Sarah have history and Sarah has a secret she wishes to keep from Harry. It was clear during my read that Sarah does have a bond with Harry; liking and loathing him at the same time and as a reader you sense that fascination that Sarah has with Harry, but Harry does push Sarah to the limit at times and I must admit that if I was in Sarah’s shoes I think I would just punch him.

When the action switches to the village there are some really strange things happening in which the Army is involved, I won’t go into much detail here but families have been evicted so the Army can carry out various training regimes. This segment of the book was really good as the author gave me so many thing to digest such as; the tale of the drummer boy, the haunting of Sergeant Edwards and many more things for the reader to consider which made me feel part of the investigation team.

The book has many things you would expect from a ghost story, apparitions are featured, visions of horrible, terrible things, of course ectoplasm is featured and don’t forget a good old fashioned Séance takes place as well. But all this heightens the tension for the reader and creates a suspense that keeps you flicking over the pages to find out what happens next.

I always appreciate a book that makes me look up information on people and events that are featured in it, and this book is no different. I looked up Johann Georg Schropfer and I was happy to see he was a real person, but I warn you, DO NOT look him up before reading this book as vital information could spoil the plot for you!

Overall I really enjoyed the book, it was a sad and emotional tale and the author did a good job of tricking me and keeping me guessing as to what was going on, as usual I’ve read a book that is in a series and this book is the second so I will have to read the first sometime to see if that is just as good as this one.