The Torments (The Annie Jackson Mysteries: Book Two) by Michael J. Malone

 

The Torments (The Annie Jackson Mysteries: Book Two) by Michael J. Malone.

Published 12th September 2024 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Annie surged forward, but she was too slow, too late.
A hand came over and down, and she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck.
Then all became smoke, and silence.

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.

Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother’s home.

Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever…

The second book in the critically acclaimed Annie Jackson Mysteries series, The Torments is both a contemporary gothic thriller and a spellbinding mystery that deeps deep into a past that should, perhaps, remain undisturbed…

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Since the curse that has afflicted female members of her family for centuries made itself all too present, Annie has been hiding away from the world in the little cottage on the shores of a Scottish loch that has become her haven. While inside its walls, the murmers that plague every waking hour are just background noise, but outside, the voices of doom and visions of death are overwhelming.

When her adoptive mother Mandy comes to Annie asking for help locating her missing nephew, Damien, she can hardly refuse, even though she knows leaving the cottage will be hard. With the help of her brother Lewis, the pair set out on another amateur investigation to see if they can discover where Damien could have disappeared to. The shocking secrets they uncover may change them both for ever...

Annie Jackson is back, looking into another murky mystery that has dangerous consequences for herself and her own family, with the help of her brother Lewis. Drawn from her sanctuary, Annie must find a way to confront the tormenting presence of the murmers if she is going to be able to find Damien - as well as tackle the misguided, and sometimes downright hostile, attention that her powers have brought her...

The story follows the Jackson siblings as they uncover a trail of clues into Damien's disappearance, taking an unsettling turn back to a past rife with rumours of dark deeds, but they have no idea quite how dark - until it becomes obvious that those responsible have more than a passing interest in Annie herself. In parallel, Malone has a ball with a meandering plotline that begins in 1958, and delves into the history of two seriously disturbed characters, Sylvia and Ben, who become instruments for the nefarious activities of a secret society, controlled by the deliciously named Phineas Dance... and dance they do, to a tune that thrums with black magic, blood rituals, and attempts to call the sinister Baobhan Sith from her slumbers.

It takes some time to get your head around quite how these two plotlines relate to each other, but with an eerie slow-burn, the thread about Sylvia and Ben gradually begins to connect to Annie and Lewis' search for Damien. I did get a little bit lost with parts of the Sylvia and Ben storyline, but eventually saw where Malone was taking this, and once the threads come together around folklore, satanic rites, and seething revenge, I was there for every gripping moment that played out, hoping Annie and Lewis would survive their ordeal.

This has a different vibe to the first book in the series, The Murmers. Malone takes the original concept of a family curse that affects Annie's female bloodline and blows it wide open to create a horror story that is nostalgically old school. He combines a modern missing person mystery with nightmarish folklore, and all the bloody mayhem of those up to their necks in the dark arts under the mantle of respectability in a Hammer House of Horror twist. If you are of the right age, you may well feel yourself right back in your teen years, consuming the latest chiller from the likes of James Herbert, which I found very enjoyable.

I do not think this has quite the emotional tug of The Murmers, but it more than compensates for this in action and menace. In the telling, Malone explores some interesting themes, particularly when it comes to twin/sibling relationships, dysfunctional families, and manipulation. There is also a lot to ponder on when it comes to how people treat Annie, given the bewildering nature of her powers.

This was absolutely perfect for the run-up to Halloween, with atmospheric lines like 'Then all became smoke, and silence' to set the spooky season tone. Unnerving fun!

The Torments is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support brillinat indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country.

He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. Other published work includes: Carnegie’s Call; A Taste for Malice; The Guillotine Choice; Beyond the Rage; The Bad Samaritan; and Dog Fight. His psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and the critically acclaimed House of Spines and After He Died soon followed suit. 

Since then, he’s written two further thought-provoking, exquisitely written psychological thrillers In the Absence of Miracles and A Song of Isolation, cementing his position as a key proponent of Tartan Noir and an undeniable talent.

A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr.