Rosie Shadow (The Black Tongue Series Book 1) by Louise Worthington

 

Rosie Shadow (The Black Tongue Series Book 1) by Louise Worthington.

Published 1st March 2021 by Red Escape Publishing.

From the cover of the book:

'Whatcha crying for, sissy? Why don’t you grow a pair?’ Rosie says to her mother...‘Send me to school and I’ll rip off your arm! Beat you with the stump.’

Abandoned by her terrorised mother at the age of six, Rosie Shadow will do anything to win the affection of her father Archie, an undead cannibal in charge of Her Majesty's Prison Shortbury, now operating as a visitor attraction.

Clare is sent reeling into Archie’s arms with the grief of losing her boyfriend in a mysterious car accident when he collides with an ancient yew tree.

The secrets in the Medieval dungeon beneath the prison are under threat when Clare becomes suspicious of Archie’s true identity and his progeny.

Rosie Shadow is the first book in The Black Tongue Series, a gripping zombie horror by the author of Rachel's Garden, The Entrepreneur, Willow Weeps and Distorted Days.

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Rosie Shadow, with a blurb that promises creepy delights, is just the kind of horror book that does exactly what it says on the tin.

It starts with an off-kilter family reunion that introduces us the the fearsome Rosie and her terrorised mother, Elly, and proceeds via a car accident that results in the death of poor unsuspecting Lennie, to set the scene nicely for the nightmarish goings on that follow. Throw in Lennie's grieving girlfriend, Clare, firmly in the sights of undead cannibal Archie; an abandoned prison complete with Medieval dungeon that acts as both torture chamber and larder; a malevolent, ancient yew tree that it is very unhealthy to be around; a few weirdoes of the human kind; and a host of do-gooders who are slow to recognise evil when they see it, and you have the makings of a cracking horror tale that that will keep you up at night.

A sense of dread pervades the whole stomach churning story, and you cannot shake the feeling that no one is going to come out of this tale of evil unscathed. Louise Worthington uses the theme of creatures from your nightmares which sustain themselves by feeding off the weak rather well in this book, and mixing in a few corrupt predators of both the supernatural and human kind proves to be a clever and winning combination - especially when set against the pitch perfect background of a location that has long been the stamping ground of the sinful and the unhinged.

There are definite shades of The Omen, The Exorcist and many of Stephen Kings dark tales in this book, and it comes with the requisite unsettling ending that draws you inexorably towards the next instalment in the series - which I am looking forward to immensely.

Here, there be monsters... and it was lots of fun reading about them!

Rosie Shadow is available to buy now in paperback and e-book formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Louise Worthington and Helen Lewis of Literally PR for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Born in Cheshire, England, Louise studied literature at the University of Essex. As a teenager she read until the small hours, enjoying the darker worlds conjured by Stephen King and Daphne du Maurier.

Louise’s first novel, Distorted Days, was described by Kirkus Review as ‘a formidable work’. Her chilling blend of the lyrical and the dark is the most gripping in her thrillers and, forthcoming, horrors.

When Louise isn’t reading or writing, you’ll most likely find her outside enjoying the Shropshire countryside with her husband or messing about with her daughter, and furry and feathered friends.