Vorab-RezensentenMonique Snyman

From multi-Bram Stoker Award Nominee, Monique Snyman, Dark Country highlights the multicultural mythologies, magic, histories, beauty, and horror of living in pseudo-modern South Africa.

Too often people mistake monsters for gods.

When a ravaged corpse is discovered in Pretoria, South Africa, Esmé Snyder--an occult-crime expert--is called in to investigate. But she doesn't know the scope of what she's up against. Esmé is the target of a cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer who uses the paranormal to do his bidding, with the intent of becoming a god on Earth. With assistance from her team--a brusque detective, eccentric millionaire, stoic priest, hawkeyed secretary, and handsome British forensic criminologist--Esmé hopes to find the killer before he strikes again. But the clock isn't all that's working against them. The media catches wind of the threat against the citizens of Pretoria, and their reported speculations promise a post-Apartheid Satanic Panic. As the body count grows, Esmé must figure out who is behind the heinous crimes before she ends up the final sacrifice.

Shadow Grove isn't a typical town. Bad things happen here. Children disappear, one after the other, and nobody is doing anything about it. Parents don't grieve, missing posters don't line the streets, and the sheriff seems unconcerned. Seventeen-year-old Rachel Cleary lives on the outskirts of Shadow Grove, next to the creepy forest everyone pretends doesn't exist. Usually the forest is filled with an eerie calm, an unmistakable graveyard solemnity. But the trees have started whispering, forgotten creatures are stirring, and the nights feel darker than ever. Something is stalking the residents of Shadow Grove, changing them into brain-dead caricatures of themselves. It's up to Rachel to stop the devouring of her hometown before all is destroyed and everyone she loves is forever lost. **A Bram Stoker Awards Nominee for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel -- “Stephen King’s It meets Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight ... in a frightening story of horror and fantasy woven together to create a delectable tale of the macabre.” ~School Library Journal *ebook format available: PDF, mobi, and ePub*