Lynnwood by Thomas Brown Review

The unthinkable is happening in Lynnwood - a village with centuries of guilt on its conscience. 

Who wouldn’t want to live in an idyllic village in the English countryside like Lynnwood? With its charming pub, old dairy, friendly vicar, gurgling brooks, and its old paths with memories of simpler times.

But behind the conventional appearance of Lynnwood’s villagers, only two sorts of people crawl out of the woodwork: those who hunt and those who are prey. Visitors are watched by an entity between the trees where the Dark Ages have endured to the twenty-first century. Families who have lived behind stone walls and twitching curtains know that the gusts of wind blowing through the nearby alluring Forest bring with them a stench of delightful hunger only Lynnwood can appease.

About the Author

Thomas Brown is a postgraduate student at the University of Southampton, where he is studying for an MA in Creative Writing. Literary influences include Friedrich Nietzsche, S. T. Joshi and Russian novelist Andrei Makine. His first traditionally-published novel, LYNNWOOD, is set for release through Sparkling Books 17/06/13. He writes dark, surreal fiction.

Thomas has written for a number of magazines, websites and independent publishers, including: Almond Press, Dark River Press,  FUSSED Magazine, Hampshire View, Notes from the Underground, Pen of the Damned, Sirens Call Publications, trans lit mag and the University of Southampton’s annual Creative Writing anthologies. He won the University of Southampton’s Flash Fiction Competition 2010 for his short story, ‘Crowman’, and is a proud member of the dark fiction writing group, Pen of the Damned.

Thomas is currently working very hard to promote his writing and is most appreciative of the support he has received to date.

My Thoughts
I read this book in two sittings, a fast read, and I found it to be very interesting. A dark gothic type of tale that will have you chilled to the bones. A quaint little town that has people going missing in the Midwinter each year, this has been going on for a long time. Outer appearances show Lynnwood to be a nice little village with nice people, an ideal place to live, away from the hustle and bustle of a big city. But not all is what it appears to be as an evil lurks beneath the surface of this village. It took me awhile to figure out what was actually going on, as the author's writing was very poetic and gave nothing away.  This is the type of book to read curled up in front of a fire, just don't be alone...I enjoyed it immensely.

My review copy was from NetGalley and I was not monetarily compensated for my review.