When Sally and David move to David’s ancestral home in Dunballan, strange things occur that threaten the couple’s relationship. However, as Sally fights to keep them together, she discovers that it’s not just the fate of their union that hangs in the balance, but of the whole town.
A compelling cosmic horror, where nothing is as it seems.
This novella opens with a stunning hook which had me rushing through the pages to find out what happens next. Revealed in a series of flashbacks and some epistolary chapters, there are lots of interesting aspects of this tale that I loved.
The beast (that graces the front cover) and it’s link to ABCs (Alien black cats).
The small town with the big secret.
Mysterious cults and arcane knowledge.
The main character’s childhood and how it formed her character.
The theme of a world without God.
Unfortunately, as the novella progressed, the main character’s actions didn’t make sense, even within the story world, and the info-dump in the last couple of pages didn’t sit well with me.
I award Quiet Places…
Iseult Murphy 
I don’t like info dumps as endings, either. The elements of this story sound pretty cool, though!
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They’re really cool, which probably is why I was disappointed by the rushed ending. Twenty thousand more words to finish it and I would have been happier.
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How disappointing!! After such a great start too…
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Fantastic start. It’s a great story, adapted from a short story to a novella but I think it needed a bit more room to breathe.
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