Hewhay Hall [Kindle Edition]

I had thoroughly enjoyed "Perfect Score" - Ms Roebuck's first novel about two young men, their lives and the way they came to terms with their feelings for one another - so I eagerly pounced on her latest book - Hewhay Hall. In this book Jude, an ex-fireman who lost a leg in a bomb blast, has heard about a re-habilitation centre looking for volunteers to trial their latest treatments. Jude sets off to find this centre only to find it was not what it seemed to be. His wife, Tess, with the help of her feisty sister Leah and an eccentric neighbour who speaks with spirits determine to find Jude to ensure that he is fine as they are unable to communicate with him. Ms Roebuck's descriptions of the countryside, the weird and frightening monsters from the swamps and the inmates of the Hall are beautifully written and enthralling - definitely a page turner. This book is of a genre that I would not normally buy or read but I was completely converted and am now willing to widen my reading tastes. With these two books I now look forward to reading Ms Roebuck's next - no matter what genre she chooses!

Hewhay Hall is a charming novella, one for a single sitting. It's the story of Jude, whose desperation to feel whole again after losing a leg while trying to rescue a family from an imminent bomb blast, leads him to seek out the elusive and mythical Hewhay Hall. I shan't say too much about Hewhay Hall and who it is for, because it will spoil some of the revelations in the story... but it has fallen into bad hands and bad ways. Can our hero rescue himself from his dire circumstances or the other captives he finds there... before his family blunder into the same situation in their attempts to get him back?
There is plenty of horror here, and false leads, so you wonder frequently which are the voices or characters you should be trusting...the lovely Verity, the bog-wights, Gush, or the mad Wiccan next door? But there is also love... even when it doesn't know how to express itself any more... and heroism.
Roebuck has taken an unusual premise and so made her horror relevant to the atrocities which have affected our terrorist-torn cities. Although the story flows past these questions, they are still there... how do we cope after bombings and war? How do we welcome those affected back into our homes and communities; and what is left for them of the lives they used to lead? Do we speak the same language any more?
This story is also nicely planted in the real world, with characterisation which paints vivid pictures of daily life - a verisimilitude which only makes the horror bite deeper.

I'll admit to approaching this book with some trepidation. The author's previous - and debut - novel was a male/male romance set in cowboy country. How would she handle a dark supernatural tale? The answer is: pretty damned well. Roebuck's writing style is different from my own but I have to say that in parts my skin crawled and that little icy bicycle ran down my spine. That was a pleasant surprise. We get some good characters, too. The barmy local medium is just like someone I know. And in true Roebuck style there's no skimping on the sense of place. A commendable foray to the dark side and I hope she'll follow it up with more.