Farallon Island by Russell James

 

Nate Thalmann wants to escape his life as a Prohibition Era bootlegger. He moves with his pregnant wife Alice to the Farallon Island lighthouse, situated on a rocky islet twenty-seven miles off the California coast. Joining three other keepers and their families, he hopes for peace and a deep reconnection with his wife. But one of the keeper’s children finds a secret cave, and releases a malicious entity imprisoned within. It possesses a former keeper and soon the islanders are being stalked and slaughtered. The demon within the keeper plans to only leave Alice alive, at least until she’s given birth to her child, who will become the demon’s permanent vessel. With no radio, no resupply, and no weapons, it is up to Nate to keep his wife and unborn child safe. But the body-hopping fiend seems to always be one step, and one corpse, ahead of him. Will anyone survive wrath of the demon of Farallon Island?

No phones no lights no motor cars as primitive as can be. Wait that's the wrong island There is no goofy humor here but Farallon does offer an ancient demon imprisoned in a cave, and now that it's been accidentally freed it's wasting no time in executing it's plan to get off the island and back to civilization where it can wreak havoc on the world.

This is high octane horror that moves along at top speed. Even though it is a short, quick read I don't feel like it skimped on character details. It gave me a good grasp of the relationship between Nate and Alice,  the state of their marriage and what brought them to pick up their lives and move to this remote island where there would not even be a doctor to deliver their soon to be first born. There are very few characters aside from the family that will be their new next door neighbors,  so there was no trouble getting to know them in the brief 158 pages. Even without a long list of characters the author manages to provide maximum carnage.

The scariest part for me was the simple fact of being cut off from outside help. To me, that is more terrifying than demons wanting to possess a baby. There's no phone and the radio works when it wants to. There is nowhere to run nowhere to hide, no way to get off the island or summon help.

This is my first time reading anything by Russell James. I'll be on the look out for more.

I would definitely recommend this one for all horror fans.

I received an advance copy for review.

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