31 Days of Horror: Neolithica by Dan Soule

Like Crichton or Preston and Child at their best, but with even more horror and heart, you won’t want to miss this stunning novel from Dan Soule.

Strange things start happening in Glasgow after a surprisingly perfect Neolithic bog body is found by a road crew.

As murders increase, and a procession of odd phenomena besiege the Scottish city, two people battle to end the nightmare. Archeologist, Dr Mirin Hassan, recently returned to work after a tragedy and researcher on the bog body, and policeman Hardeep Bhaskar, who witnessed the crime scene that surrounded the bog body’s discovery.

With such dark forces against them, do Mirin and Dip stand a chance at success?

I found this novel a very satisfying read. It has a large cast of characters, though Mirin and Dip are the central protagonists, and all the characters are drawn so well that I never felt lost or overwhelmed.

The plot is strong and did something few books do – it surprised me! It’s so rare when an author manages to pull the wool over my eyes that I find it immensely enjoyable.

There is some sly humor thrown in here and there to relieve the horror. The tension builds nicely, and even though the book starts with a jolt, the pace continues to escalate as it moves towards the exciting end.

The stand outs in the novel for me were Jackie Chan, Dip’s pug, and Mary, a homeless woman who could talk to birds.

What further elevated this novel was the imaginative glimpses into the past, the details of the ‘wee man’ bog body, and the metaphysical aspects of the narrative.

Near the end of the novel there is a scene that is so moving, and so horrible, that I have to applaud Soule for having written it. I don’t want to give anything away, but I found it one of the best described deaths I’ve read.

I award Neolithica…