The Isle is a dark and demented look at the way life, or what passes for it, has evolved on a remote island off the New England coast.
No doubt, John C. Foster knows how to string words together...
"Dawn was a red rim of anger on the horizon as the storm gathered its strength and the wind tried to rip the door from his grip. Waves detonated against the rocks with loud explosions of white foam, the ocean matching the swirling fury of the storm clouds overhead."
Foster is an artist who is able to paint pictures with his words and does it again and again...
"The Isle is technically only a territory. Not part of Maine. It’s eighty-two miles off the coast. Isolated. Only about three hundred people living there. The only regular transport back and forth is a boat that delivers lobster and fish and picks up supplies."
The official synopsis for The Isle describes the story better than I ever could...
"A deadly menace threatens a remote island community and every man, woman and child is in peril. Sent to the isle to collect the remains of a dead fugitive, US Marshal Virgil Bone is trapped by torrential storms."
As the body count rises the community unravels, and Bone is thrust into the role of investigator. Aided by a local woman and the town pariah, he uncovers the island’s macabre past and its horrifying connection to the killings.
Some curses are best believed.
Sometimes the past is best left buried.
And some will kill to keep it so."
I enjoyed the way Foster would withhold secrets, reveling them at just the right moment. The story of the curse on The Isle was formidable. In some ways, this is a literary work. In others, it's an homage to New England gothic horror. However, you look at it, The Isle is a helluva lot of fun.
Recommended.
Published by Grey Matter Press, The Isle is available in both paperback and e-book formats.
From the author's bio -John C. Foster was born in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and has been afraid of the dark for as long as he can remember. The Isle grew out of his love for New England, where he spent his childhood. He is the author of three previous novels, Dead Men, Night Roads and Mister White, and one collection of short stories, Baby Powder and Other Terrifying Substances. His stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including Dark Moon Digest, Strange Aeons, Dark Visions Volume 2 and Lost Films, among others. He lives in Brooklyn with the actress Linda Jones and their dog Coraline.
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