Decently-written and scary in places, but in the end this didn't quite come together for me. Characters carried the idiot ball altogether too much, and the ending felt tacked on.

Still a good, quick read though. ( )

I clearly undermined this book and questioned it a lot at first when I bought this.It turned out to be a good read, nicely written with surprising twist at the end.Usually, I don't like this sort of "paranormal withcy" stuff, but this book was an exception (mostly because I ran out of books to read, but oh well). Overall, a good read and definitely a page turner. ( )

This will put you off walking in woods for life!

After the death of his wife in London Nicholas Close returns to his Australian home town and his mother's house, a haunted man in more ways than one. The town has changed very little since he left including The Woods. In his childhood they were the scene of the murder of his best friend Tristram.

The Woods have a bad reputation in the town, parents warn their children not to go near them and people deliberately go out of their way so as not to pass by them. It is this, hinted at, creeping malevolence that make this such an atmospheric downright creepy read.

Nicholas' return seems to stir the malignant force in the woods and as Nicholas arrives, a young boy is brutally murdered in the woods in similar circumstances to Tristram's death. The reader discovers that this mysterious co incidence is anything but...but is part of a pattern that has been playing out in area for generations.

“The woods were alive… Something inside the trees had sensed him, tasted him on the cold air. Recognised him.”

Brilliantly written with strong, well drawn characters and a interesting plot that draw you in but it is the descriptions of those deep, dark haunted woods and their denizens that deliver the shivers.

Having said that I did want to shake Nicholas more than once and tell him to pull himself together!

Loved the primordial/pagan spin on this one, Blair Witch and The Wickerman spring to mind and the twisty ending seriously caught me out...wasn't expecting that!

Suspend your disbelief and go into 'There are more things in heaven and earth' mode and you will be rewarded with a deliciously, creepy 'crawly' story. ( )

Stephen M. Irwin obviously read a lot of Stephen King when he was growing up. Nothing wrong with that, especially if it spurs you on to producing a debut novel as strong as The Darkening. While not quite up there with King at his finest, this is easily better than many of the master's recent efforts.

When Nick Close's wife dies in a tragic accident for which he blames himself, he leaves London and returns home to smalltown Australia to be with his family. On his arrival, a young boy goes missing and is found murdered - in circumstances that echo the murder of one of Nick's childhood pals thirty years earlier. There's something dark and nasty going on in the local woods involving witchcraft, giant spiders, and an ancient pagan god. Nick is determined to put an end to it.

Read the full review at my blog ( )

THe first horror book I have read in a long time - maybe horror is too strong a word. There are however lots of fantastical and supernatural elements to this smart, fast-paced thriller. Nicholas Close is a man who, after a personal tragedy, sees ghosts, and is drawn back to his hometown and the death of a childhood friend. If you find woods or spiders scary then this will terify you. The characters are all well written and the mystery is gradually unravelled in an intelligent manner. Perhaps by the end of the book we are asked to imagine a little too much for the sake of credibility, but still this is a highly enjoyable novel. ( )