Geist Fleisch by Christian Baines

Happy Wednesday Scribblers. I hope you’re having a great day and I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Today I’m back with another book review for you. This week I’m back with another book from the Haunted Hearts Series today I share my thoughts on Geist Fleisch (find the book here) by Christian Baines (find him here). The Haunted Hearts series is a collection of ‘ownvoice’ authors who came together and created a collection of ghost stories for the Halloween Season.

The Blurb:

Drawn by promises of excitement and freedom, how could Callum resist Berlin?

It's the end of 1932 and the Weimar capital is the heartbeat of the gay world, where a man like him can find companionship and love, even in the shadow of looming political disaster.

Still, Callum feels unseen, until he discovers a place where the dead mix with the living, an organization devoted to studying the supernatural, and a man in each world that could capture his heart... or seal his fate.

Haunted Hearts – Everyone deserves a happy ever afterlife!

Haunted Hearts is an Own-Voices Paranormal Romance Series about love and the things that go boo in the night. Join us on our romantic journeys over ten books from some of your favorite authors! Be sure to read the entire series so you don’t miss a moment of falling in love, or sometimes falling into a happily ever after-life! Each book is a standalone but why not read them all? Everyone deserves the HEA!

My Review:

Historical Ghost(ish) Story… Yes Please

Christian Baines continues to impress with his take on a historical ghost story. I wasn’t sure how this book was going to work out since the tale is set in 1932 Germany during the rise of the Nazis. However, Baines is an incredible author, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story follows Callum (an English man now living in Berlin), who has a unique condition that leaves him feeling unseen. This condition isn’t his only societal concern. He is a gay man living in a time when being gay could have gotten him killed or put away, even in Berlin during the height of gay culture for that time in history. These factors make the storytelling that much more impressive since Baines tackles the subject with the right amount of realism and fantasy. Making for a fun read.

I really enjoyed this story finding that Baines really puts you in the perspective of the main character as he includes quite a bit of German, making not only our protagonist confused at times, but us the reader as well, which I found enjoyable. The secondary characters were all unique and felt grounded for the time. Another plus to Baines writing and crafting of the story.

This is not your typical ghost story; however, the book has all the dark fantasy elements you want for a creepy novel. Definitely give the book a read.

There are my thoughts on Geist Fleisch by Christian Baines. I hope you check out the book and give the series a look as well, there are eleven books to pick from (find them here) so I’m sure you’ll find something to enjoy. Well, until next time have a great week.

Curse of the Stag's Eye by Glenn Quigley

Happy Wednesday Scribblers! I hope you are having a wonderful week. As you can tell I’ve been trying to get through my ‘To Be Read’ list and I’ve been posting a lot of book reviews. I hope you find them helpful and more importantly I hope you pick up some of these wonderful books I’ve been sharing with you. This week I’m here to share another book; Curse of the Stag’s Eye by Glenn Quigley (find him here). Let’s jump into the novel and my thoughts.

Blurb:

High on a wave-dashed cliff, the ancient standing stone known as the Stag’s Eye jealously watches over a cursed lighthouse with a grisly past. Paranormal investigator Rhys has chosen this place to hold his first-ever ghost tour. Ghost-hunting veteran Dawn and her boyfriend Nikesh are eager to go exploring, while first-timer Gaz is hoping to learn more about the spirit world. He also intends to learn more about Rhys for various reasons, not all of which are entirely innocent.

The ghost of a murdered lighthouse keeper is said to climb the stairs every night, tending to the light, but other, far more sinister phantoms may lurk in the shadows. As the night wears on and the haunting becomes more and more hazardous, Rhys and Gaz grow closer. However, it soon becomes clear that not everyone on the tour is being honest about their reasons for being there. Can the supernatural activity be blamed on the curse of the Stag’s Eye or does someone know more than they’re letting on?

Curse of the Stag’s Eye is a part of the Haunted Hearts Series. (find out more here).

My Review:

The Curse of the Stag’s Eye takes author Glenn Quigley’s love of the sea and lighthouses to the next level. The Curse of the Stag’s Eye is not a typical Glenn Quigley novel, Quigley typically writes Historical Fiction (beautifully so) and I’m excited to see him branch out into something new (to be fair over the last few years Quigley has dived into other genres’ and I highly recommend them, find more of his books here) however, if you think this a departure from his other works you are only partly correct. Quigley writes a lot about the sea and includes lighthouses in his works. If you follow him on Instagram (which I suggest you do, find him here) you’ll see he has a love for all things nautical. So why not take his love of all things ocean related and throw them into a good old ghost story? But the Curse of the Stag’s Eye is so much more. You get a romance, mystery, ghost story, and a thriller all rolled up into one and the story is utterly brilliant.

This book hits all the right pacing and checks off everything you need for a well-written tale. You also get a good dose of history and lore about lighthouses thrown into the mix, which makes the novel a fun read.

I love how Quigley goes beyond the pale and shows us people who are not typically the heroes of the story. We get to see wonderfully colorful characters that aren’t your standard archetypes (and bless him for doing this).

The story is beautifully claustrophobic, and the cast is small, which means there isn’t a wasted character or someone there to take up space and fill the page in the entire book. This is another talent of Quigley’s that I wish more writers would acquire.

Is this book scary? No, but the tale has its moments. There is no gore or anything over the top (most brilliant ghost stories don’t need to be gory). Is there a lot of romance in the book? There’s some, and it’s tastefully crafted and perfectly planned out. The mystery and the thriller aspect of the novel are what shines through and makes this story so lovely to read and enjoy.

I realize this novel is a part of a larger series of stories written by several authors following the theme of haunted hearts. I’ll be interested to read and see how the others do with the theme.

If you haven’t guessed, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend the novel. Well done Glenn, well done!

Well, there you are, another wonderful book for you to check out. Until next time have a great week.