In a nutshell:When development sub-contractors accidentally tear down a wall in an old Russian bathhouse, they discover a small statue of a golden bear. The niece of the developer, Rosa Kovalenka, can immediately tell – through her second sight – that there is some strange magic surrounding the ...
The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins is the first novel I've read by the author, though I did enjoy a novella collection of hers earlier in the year. I can also definitely state it won't be the last novel I read by the author. I should also note I read it as an audiobook borrowed from the library.The...
Taking a job on an isolated island in the Sea of Norway, scientist Victoria Scott wants a quiet place to finish her doctoral thesis. But Victoria isn't prepared for the strange shadows outside her cabin window, the rumors of a murderous hag who sucks one's soul during sleep, and the tales of myth...
Rollo asked. Asa turned to Rollo with an irritated expression. “I’m the oldest, I should steer,” she said for the fifth time. They had left home three hours ago and her fingers hadn’t once left the tiller. “But if I don’t learn how to steer now—” “You keep studying the map.” Rollo glanced down at...
By the afternoon, though, a new discomfort had settled in for Em. She held off saying anything as long as she could, but finally told her travelling companion. “Daniel,” she said, “I need to pee.” Daniel pulled the oars in and they clattered against the wood panels of the boat, splashing Em’s ank...
And waited. The moment spun out, and the sick disappointment began to swell in my stomach. “Keep going,” I said. My own voice was barely recognisable to me; it sounded like a pleading child’s voice. An unwieldy fear sat an inch outside my consciousness, the kind of fear that signifies that everyt...
The wind was brisk, but blew in the wrong direction to flood through her windows. The low ceilings compounded the feeling of unbearable closeness, and her breath seemed woolly and hot in her lungs. The tedium of the journey, too, had begun to grind her down. At one stage, she saw another ship, bu...
Beyond those gates was her answer to what had happened to Rowan. But she didn’t know whether that answer would be a happy one or an alarming one. A late afternoon rainstorm was blowing in; the wind lifted her hair off her neck and promised her only cold. She spurred her horse forwards, deaf to th...