If you love evil-children tales, this is for you. Though there are maybe few surprises it’s the author’s style that draws in the reader. And it’s written in such a realistic way, it’s entirely plausible. In one sense, it’s quite a basic book and when I began I didn’t expect to like it all that much, but there’s something about the pacing that makes this insidious. Big blue beautiful eyes have never been so untrustworthy. ( )

Bernard Taylor is such a unique and unassuming voice in the world of horror fiction. His writing style is direct, very easy to assimilate and read, a type of cosy horror and just when you think it is safe he confronts you with something totally unexpected.

Alan and Kate live the idyllic life, in the picturesque village of Little Haverstraw, with their four beautiful children Sam, Davie, Lucy and baby Matthew. Alan is an illustrator and he works from his own studio close to the family home, and Kate is occupied with four busy and adventurous children. “A dragon-fly darted, hovered and darted, close to the bank. Flies hummed in the warm air. The flower in Kate’s hair slipped, tilted, and I reached up and secured it. I kissed her again, lightly. Now, I thought, now –just as it is; I wanted nothing to change” This is exactly what I love about Bernard Taylor, he gives you hope, he creates the illusion that you are safe in his hands, he paints a picture of the idyll as he invites you into his confidence with the shiftyeyed look of a black mamba!

They make the acquaintance of a pregnant young lady called Jane Bryant who they invite to their home and unexpectedly the baby is born. Immediately the mother disappears and after some deep soul searching Alan and Kate welcome baby “Bonnie” into their new extended and wonderful family. The story now adopts a more sinister feel as catastrophe and tragedy become the everday norm and Alan and Kate must now confront their worst fears as they fight to retain their sanity amidst the realization that the new baby has a dark and evil intent.

The Godsend did not quite inspire and entertain me as much as Sweetheart Sweetheart or The Moorstone Sickness but it was still an excellent read in the very creative and gentle style of Bernard Taylor. This is not horror that is graphic but rather relies on the reader and his imagination to create a picture in his mind and by doing so he can almost experience the story and live the tragedy as it unfolds. ( )

"The cuckoo chick is born with one deadly instinct - to kill off any possible rival. And it does just that. Kills all of them. It only rests when, at last, it's got the nest to itself."

Alan and Kate Marlowe have the perfect family life. They have a lovely home in a small Somerset village, Alan enjoys his work as a commercial artist, and they have plenty of time and love to shower on their four children, Lucy, Sam, Davie and newborn Matthew. When beautiful baby Bonnie is abandoned by her odd young mother, it seems only natural to welcome her into their home too, where she quickly settles into her role as the perfect daughter and the perfect sister. In fact, when Matthew dies suddenly in his crib, the couple are glad to have little Bonnie to occupy their time. Then the next child meets with a tragic accident... and the next... Finally the truth begins to dawn on Alan - but can he convince Kate of his sanity and break through her blind maternal devotion in time to save their last living child from Bonnie's murderous plotting?

As far as scary books go, this was perfect for me. It's probably not one for parents of young children - that would be prime nightmare fodder, right there - but for anyone wanting some suitably macabre Hallowe'en reading without the blood and gore, you could do much worse than this creepy little slice of vintage horror. Of course, the demonic child/cuckoo-in-the-nest device is hardly a new one - I'm thinking of classic stories like The Omen and The Midwich Cuckoos here - but the Marlowes' story is still deliciously compelling, if a tad predictable. It has a quiet kind of menace, devoid of technicolour splashes of crimson blood and overwrought, wailing grief; I think that in a way, the gentle pastoral setting and very close, loving family dynamics evoked by Alan's narration only make the dark plot all the more devastating.

The novel was by no means perfect, don't get me wrong. The opening is quite slow, with a significant amount of time elapsing before anyone starts to link the 'accidents' back to Bonnie and her unusual arrival in the household. The writing itself is a little heavy on the dashes and commas, with some awkward grammatical moments and a few irritating typos. While the VERY end is sort of perfect, right out of the Horror Writing Handbook, the gap between that and the climax a few pages earlier is frustratingly devoid of plausibility; without spoiling anything, it felt like there should have been serious consequences to the climactic moment, but Taylor skips right over the immediate aftermath. I also wanted him to offer some kind of theory or revelation as to the identity of Bonnie's strange birth mother, but this was left a mystery. These minor issues aside, however, I found this to be a very diverting read; I was turning the pages faster and faster as the day went by! Bonnie is so carefully drawn, beautiful and manipulative and completely beguiling even as she tears the Marlowe family apart, and her power over kind-hearted, grieving Kate is pitch-perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed it without feeling like it would haunt me for the next ten years (Pet Sematary, I'm looking at you); what more could I ask for? ( )

better than most. ( )