- Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley -

Published : 29th October 2020

Format : Kindle, Audio, Hardback, Paperback

Genre : Horror/Folk Tale

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Synopsis

The worst thing possible has happened. Richard and Juliette Willoughby's son, Ewan, has died suddenly at the age of five. Starve Acre, their house by the moors, was to be full of life, but is now a haunted place.

Juliette, convinced Ewan still lives there in some form, seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists. Richard, to try and keep the boy out of his mind, has turned his attention to the field opposite the house, where he patiently digs the barren dirt in search of a legendary oak tree.

Thank you Tandem and John Murrey for this incredibly eerie limited edition read and goodies.

Waterstones Book Of The Month pick for November

My Review

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴. . .

Richard and Juliette moved to Starve Acre, Richards childhood home in the moors to live an ideal lifestyle with their child and the peaceful countryside landscapes.

When Ewan turns five and starts the local village school things start to take a turn for the worst and Ewan does things that no little boy should even consider doing, causing harm and straying out in the early hours to the barren field opposite the home to stare at nothing and then run back in horror. He tells his father that Jack Grey tells him to do the unspeakable things that the has done and that he is scared but Richard thinks they are just nightmares because they couldn't be anything else could they? Until her decides to dig around his fathers study and slowly begins to learn the truth about Starve Acre, the reason why his father slowly went mad and the unnatural things that happened so many centuries ago involving a legendary oak tree that once stood in the field upon his families land.

Why I Loved It

Told over two parts, from Richard and Juliette's perspective.

I loved the tension and horror that seeps out of every page, the feeling of evil never leaves you as you read about Starve Acre and the horrors that took place within the fields and upon the legendary oak tree.

With the son it is clear that something has taken hold of him and controls his evils deeds but for a while you are left questioning wether or not there really is something sinister that haunts the land or wether it is mania brought on by sheer grief when it comes to Juliette.

I loved how within part two the entire story of the Stythwaite oak comes together leaving you with a feeling of dread for Richard and what he has unknowingly re awakened and welcomed into his home, I was left feeling a little freaked out by this part.

The way the author draws you in leaves you with no doubt that with every page turn something could happen that could leave the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck, this isn't an in your face obviously gruesome tale, but a slow burning, disturbing story that unwinds itself and leaves you with an uneasy feeling about where you leave the Willoughby's at the end of this tale and what might have happened to them after.

Dark, totally eerie and utterly mesmerising this folk story tells from the very first page of a couple ravaged by grief from the loss of their son and the unnatural things that did happen and continue to happen forcing them to stray on the brink of grief and insanity.

Rating

★★★★★

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Meet the author

Andrew Michael Hurley is a critically-acclaimed, prize-winning author– his debut novel The Loney was originally published by Tartarus Press (a small independent publisher based in Yorkshire) as a 300-copy limited edition, before being republished by John Murray in 2015.