Black Wood is a suspense thriller set in a fictional small town near Edinburgh in Scotland. It is spread across 2 time zones, the present day and some creepy events in the local woods 23 years ago.
SJI Holliday writes in an easy reading television drama style. Her characterizations are very good and her story is told in the way that holiday makers reveal their life stories to strangers slowly as they gain their trust. She creates great atmosphere with lovely suspense as the creepy scenes unfold in the woods. You imagine the dangers lurking in the woods and begin to join up the dots.
This story develops at a good pace the way you gain an understanding of the threats lurking below the surface. Normally I can't stand stories that roll backwards and forwards in time BUT Black Wood is different. This story is expertly told and the whole feel is one of getting to know people, so the time frame is not important. It starts off as an okay read but slowly and steadily it gets better. All the atmosphere and suspense build up into a first class read and you get drawn in big time. You walk your dog past some trees and all you can think about is Black Wood. The mood of the book really stays with you as a daily read. Holliday makes it easy to read her book in little bits as she has divided it into 66 chapters!
Psychologically this is a powerful read and there is a lot of tension here. There is nothing to offend your grandmother in this very British tale. It is a thrilling read that really entertains and draws you into the characters. I really enjoyed reading Black Wood, this is top class writing that I will very happily vote the top score of 5 stars. SJI Holliday is an author to watch, well done girl.
Black Wood is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.
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