Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Published by: Moorhen LLP (Dec 2008)
Pages: 251 (Paperback)
My Rating: 8.5/10
CLAN BY DAVID P ELLIOT
About the Book:
My Thoughts:
This is David Elliot's debut novel and what an exciting, gory, suspenseful story it is!
Set in the present time, the story goes back and forth over 700 years of bloody history of the border clans.
David Elliot is an unhappy man, he is terrified of dying having achieved nothing he felt was worthwhile in his life. He decides to learn more about his family history and he and his daughter, son-in-law and grandson travel from Oxford to the England/Scotland border and stay in a local cottage.
At the same time a dark evil spirit, William de Soulis, has, over the centuries, been slowly gaining power and money with the help of a murderer, Andrea Dettori, and some evil dwarfs called 'Red Caps'. He has been trapped in the nearby haunted and brooding Hermitage Castle -- in the hope of coming back to earth to live again as a human and rule, he would sacrifice anything or anyone for the power and standing he thinks he is entitled to...........including the innocent Elliot family whose destiny is somehow wrapped up with Soulis's.
This is the age-old battle of good versus evil with a few twists and turns thrown in, and some of the writing is a little gory, especially the battle scenes.
The stories of the clan families warring with each other down the years I found interesting and I presumed there really is an Elliot Clan Chief as she has a quote on the back of the book, all of which I knew nothing about.
The chapter where we are introduced to the business partners of Andrea Dettori and of how they obtained their wealth went over my head and I found it quite boring, and I'm not sure if it added too much to the story.
However, I thought the overall storyline was very good, with just enough happening to keep me wanting to read on. I liked the Elliot family and I really got involved in their torment, and as a mother myself I could certainly identify with Kate's protection of her young son, which was quite moving.
David P Elliot's website can be found here and I must thank the author for sending me this book to review.
To see what other people are saying about Clan see Goodreads
Another book I would recommend in the same horror genre is Dark Worlds: Book 1: Project 31 by Zack Daggy.
David Elliot (the author and the central character share the same name) is 57, frustrated, out of work and has three failed marriages behind him. He goes to the borders of Scotland hoping that his ancestry will help him find some validation of his life.
Accompanied by his daughter, son-in-law and his beloved grandson, Thomas, Elliot finds that his bloodline leads his family into terrifying danger. 700 years of history threaten those he holds dearest as myth and reality of the “The Bloodiest Valley in Britain” combine.
The corruption of the rich and powerful meets legend as Good and Evil clash over the lust for the ancient Throne of Scotland and power in the modern world.
William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Border Reivers, creatures of supernatural horror and past heroes of the Elliot Clan are all involved as the evil Lord William de Soulis actions his plan to assume power over an unsuspecting world.
All that stands against him is a family fighting desperately to protect a child.
Their only weapon is their love of family… the power of their Clan.My Thoughts:
This is David Elliot's debut novel and what an exciting, gory, suspenseful story it is!
Set in the present time, the story goes back and forth over 700 years of bloody history of the border clans.
David Elliot is an unhappy man, he is terrified of dying having achieved nothing he felt was worthwhile in his life. He decides to learn more about his family history and he and his daughter, son-in-law and grandson travel from Oxford to the England/Scotland border and stay in a local cottage.
At the same time a dark evil spirit, William de Soulis, has, over the centuries, been slowly gaining power and money with the help of a murderer, Andrea Dettori, and some evil dwarfs called 'Red Caps'. He has been trapped in the nearby haunted and brooding Hermitage Castle -- in the hope of coming back to earth to live again as a human and rule, he would sacrifice anything or anyone for the power and standing he thinks he is entitled to...........including the innocent Elliot family whose destiny is somehow wrapped up with Soulis's.
Hermitage Castle sat brooding on the edge of what was once the 'Debatable Lands', a three mile wide and twelve mile long strip of rough moorland, a few miles to the north of Carlisle, which marked the disputed border area between Scotland and England. So politically sensitive was this area, that the mere building of this powerful defensive icon in the 13th century, gave Henry III an excuse to invade Scotland, claiming it had been built too close to the border.
This is the age-old battle of good versus evil with a few twists and turns thrown in, and some of the writing is a little gory, especially the battle scenes.
The stories of the clan families warring with each other down the years I found interesting and I presumed there really is an Elliot Clan Chief as she has a quote on the back of the book, all of which I knew nothing about.
The chapter where we are introduced to the business partners of Andrea Dettori and of how they obtained their wealth went over my head and I found it quite boring, and I'm not sure if it added too much to the story.
However, I thought the overall storyline was very good, with just enough happening to keep me wanting to read on. I liked the Elliot family and I really got involved in their torment, and as a mother myself I could certainly identify with Kate's protection of her young son, which was quite moving.
David P Elliot's website can be found here and I must thank the author for sending me this book to review.
To see what other people are saying about Clan see Goodreads
Another book I would recommend in the same horror genre is Dark Worlds: Book 1: Project 31 by Zack Daggy.
