Trembleath

I was first attracted to Trembleath because it is set in Cornwall, written by a British author and is a paranormal thriller. The front cover is dark and sinister, which I love, very atmospheric.

Amelia Scott arrives in Creek Bay alone; she was supposed to be moving with her boyfriend. Shortly after arriving Amelia thinks she sees someone struggling in the sea and calls the emergency lifeguards. Running down to the beach to see if she can help she becomes stuck in the quick sand and needs rescuing herself. Mortified at finding herself in this predicament and her rescuer being the swimmer she thought was drowning, Amelia becomes friends with Seth and he offers her a job in his bookshop.

What seems to be a cosy village is quickly turned on its head with the disappearance and murder of a teenage girl. Soon after another teenage girl goes missing and the villagers are in lock-down over a strange beast that seems to be patrolling the area in the evenings and a murderer on the loose.

The mystery surrounding the ‘beast' and the murders that took place intrigued me and kept me wanting more. I was desperate to know what happened to the girls and was fearful for Amelia as she was no doubt the next victim. What perplexed me was the relationship between Seth and William. William on the face of it seemed a handsome, rich bachelor who was interested in Amelia, she in turn found him very attractive. Amelia also found herself drawn to Seth who constantly warned her off of William. It was not clear at first if it was because he had his sights set on Amelia or whether there was something truly sinister about William. This love triangle was not something I was expecting from the book but it added to my enjoyment. I was biased towards Seth and felt he was the ‘safer' option, regardless of what the local Detective Inspector had to say about him.

I enjoyed how the paranormal aspect built up but was expecting more horror to the novel. I think the author could have pushed for more horror without it affecting the overall plot, I would have welcomed it. I was not anticipating the book to end in quite the way it did and can see how this would hook readers to reach out for the next book in the series. I guess it did answer some of my questions but left me with more questions.

Many thanks to damppebbles blog tours for inviting me on the Trembleath blog tour and introducing me to this debut novel and author.