Daniel Church is a new name in the horror scene and, with luck, it's going to be a big name. He certainly deserves it.
This book is a thrill ride of a horror novel. It starts with the local cop, Ellie, checking into the discovery of a frozen corpse on a hillside on the outskirts of her village.
The dead man is Tony Harper, a local drunk and troublemaker from a particularly nasty family of criminals, responsible for the majority of crime in the village.
What Ellie doesn't know is that this is just the first of many. As the winter storm moves in to cut the village off from civilisation, creatures are rising from the barrows beneath the hills to wreak havoc and pave the way for something else.
Church manages to keep the action moving at a cracking pace throughout, with minor pauses to allow the reader a welcome breath or two of relief, before the stakes are raised once more and the action begins again at an even more frenetic pace.
I could easily see this being adapted into one hell of a movie. It's got everything you need, a cut off location under siege, human villains who are as nasty as the monsters, genuinely scary creatures ripping the townsfolk to shreds, enough tension to build a dozen suspension bridges and enough action to keep the most jaded fan excited.
It's all written in an easy, unpretentious style. The lead characters are well drawn, even if some of the supporting cast come across as rough sketches. There were a couple of times when I wondered about the decisions being made, but it's human nature not to get everything right first time, and this book is about a high pressure situation. Mistakes will be made.
The way he manages to up the stakes even more, just when you think the threat is as extreme as it's going to get is something to be applauded.
This is high octane entertainment with a walloping side order of gruesome nastiness and sheer terror.
When it comes out in the shops, you need to buy it to experience it for yourself.
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