Alan K. Baker

This was a story that was truly written for the "Ghost Story Junkie" if ever there was one! I love stories that have even a small grain of truth attached to them. The Island of Eilean Mor is in the Flannan Isles of Scotland. The island is notorious for its legends, one of which involves three lighthouse keepers who disappeared at the same time a century before, never to be heard from again. Nick is part of a metrological research team that decides to embark on a journey with his love interest, Rebecca. Once on the island, the team discovers something strange on the radar, a huge dark mass on the ocean floor, one that frightens away all sea life. Oh, but this oddity is just the beginning. Rebecca spots something moving in the snow, something that inexplicably draws her to an old, dilapidated chapel on the island. Inside, she discovers a journal belonging to Captain Dalemore, the occasional lighthouse keeper sent to the island a century ago to solve the mystery of his missing colleagues. Rebecca is in awe of the journal, but not half as mesmerized by what led her to the chapel in the first place...a white fox with five eyes. The rest of the team is skeptical of her story, but when Rebecca reads the journal aloud to them, strange events begin to occur such as an unexplained phenomenon that causes the sky to change into rippling waves above them. A mass of white matter that splashes out of the sea. A causeway suddenly that erupts from nowhere and takes form on the island. One member of the team is rendered catatonic from a sight he remains unable or unwilling to explain. The book is based upon true events that have been verified by more than one team on several different explorations. The story is creepy, eerie, and suspenseful and unexplained from start to finish. Alan K. Bates is a fresh burst of great writing as he alternates between the first-person account of Captain Dalmore’s journal and the omniscient storytelling of Rebecca and the team’s modern excursion. The book brings to light the true life “Flannan Isles Mystery” and explores the possibility of alternate realms, and how certain places on Earth, such as Eilean Mor, may lie on the thin border between those two worlds. The book is filled with ghostly encounters, freakish phenomena, and legends that have persisted throughout time. The story of Captain Dalemore and his three colleagues is dramatic as the captain risks his life to try and solve the mystery. The reader knows from the beginning the ultimate fate that awaits Rebecca and the team, a series of events that culminate into a mind-blowing ending. Are the events true? Who knows... and who really wants to risk going there to find out? Do I believe it? Can't say yes and can't truthfully say no either. The website is interesting and I'm including the link if anyone would like to see more about this strange place.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Eilean-Mor-Lighthous....… (mehr)

I had read about the Dyatlov Pass incident several years ago and it fascinated me based on the "supernatural" feel of what had happened or what the authorities "thought" had probably happened, so when I found this book I thought it would be interesting to explore perhaps another point of view, after all it had been 63 years without any real answers, just speculation. The author did a great job of presenting all the facts that have been put out there over all those years. Eventually the pace and suspense picks up leading to a compelling explanation that literally borders on cosmic horror. The book kept me reading hoping to understand what was going on but at the end I am still puzzled. Some of the explanations I have read before, some are the stuff of "Science Fiction Theater", but as the quote goes..."There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” I am not going to hash out the plot because basically it was a bunch of interviews with the key players and was very vague until the end. Even at the end there is the smell of mystery and the truth is, that what they found was in itself simply inexplicable. I respected the author for telling the story without adding embellishments that would have boosted book sales but would have been no closer to the truth. If you are interested in the real life mystery of Dyatlov Pass, I’d suggest this would be a good, honest start.… (mehr)

This took me awhile to read, partly due to illness and partly due to it being slow. For me, it was slow going for the first half then it sped up a little. It was an interesting mix of fact and fiction.
Dyatlov Pass and what happened to the nine hikers, (7 men, 2 women), stays with me. Is this book horror? Only in the deaths of these people. They died terrified and painfully. That really happened so it is always hard for me to read about. But it is also they way they died and the way they were found that haunts me and makes me want to know what happened to them. It has remained a mystery though there are thoughts about it, (if you haven’t heard of this, please go look it up. It’s worth it.)
In this book we have Viktor, a reporter who starts looking into it as a last chance for coming up with a story good enough for him to keep his job. In his investigation, we see how the Russian Government keeps it shrouded in mystery. I’m not going to go into everything because you wouldn’t need to read the book. I’m old enough to have been taught, in history classes, about the Cold War, Russian spies and the fear of the Russian government by the people of Russia. The book plays into that and also has a science fiction bend to it. For me, the book is a blend of mystery and science fiction rather than horror or thriller. I enjoyed the second half much better than the first half.
If you are looking for an explanation that is not sci-fi based, you won’t find it here. If you like sci-fi and government conspiracy, this is for you. I didn’t buy into the explanation, (and I do think something in the sci-fi realm could be possible. I don’t know why we think we may be the life out there.). I’m not sure why but nope. It is fiction though so you really don’t need to accept that explanation to enjoy the book. It certainly gives you something to think about. I’m not sorry I read this. It took me awhile but I did enjoy parts of it. I’m not terribly big on either espionage mysteries or sci-fi genres so please take that into consideration. I’m actually giving this 3.5 stars but I’m rounding up to 4 because if those were my genres, I might have liked it more.
I read this through the Kindle Unlimited program.… (mehr)