Flame Tree Press Blog Tour - In Darkness Shadows Breathe

 

TITLE: In Darkness Shadows Breathe

AUTHOR: Catherine Cavendish

PUBLISHER: Flame Tree Press

PUBLISHING DATE: January 19, 2021

PAGES: 240

SOURCE: ARC

 

FROM GOODREADS: 

Carol and Nessa are strangers but not for much longer. In a luxury apartment and in the walls of a modern hospital, the evil that was done continues to thrive. They are in the hands of an entity that knows no boundaries and crosses dimensions - bending and twisting time itself - and where danger waits in every shadow. The battle is on for their bodies and souls and the line between reality and nightmare is hard to define. 

Through it all, the words of Lydia Warren Carmody haunt them. But who was she? And why have Carol and Nessa been chosen? 

The answer lies deep in the darkness…

MY THOUGHTS: It's actually kind of ironic that I read The Devil's Dreamer for my Retro Horror post at the beginning of the month because that is pretty much what this book reminded me.  However, while I felt that book was a waste of my time, In Darkness Shadows Breathe took the same concepts but did it so much better. 

The book is divided in two parts.  The first is about Carol, who has no real connections to anything and decides to watch an apartment for a wealthy couple while they are out of town on work assignments.  Strange things start to happen to Carol and she finds herself intermittently thrown into the past and into the body of Lydia Carmody.  The second part tells Nessa's tale.  Nessa is suffering from cancer and enters a local hospital for surgery and treatment.  While there, she also starts having similar experiences and is scared when she finds herself experiencing things that could not have happened to her.  Eventually Carol and Nessa's paths cross and they need to figure out how to stop the past from becoming their present.

This is the third book I've read by Cavendish and I can now say she is a must read author.  She has a distinct way with words and settings and all of her books I have read always have a strong Gothic undertone.  I was truly invested in what was going on with Nessa and Carol and found myself as confused as they were at times, but only because the author managed to pull me into the book, not because I wasn't enjoying what I was reading.  It would have been easy to portray both female protagonists as unreliable narrators but I never felt that for a moment.  Something unexplainable was clearly happening to these women and I was pleased to be along for the ride.

If you are looking for an extremely atmospheric read, then look no further.  In Darkness Shadows Breathe is one you definitely need to grab!

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Cat is now the full-time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels and novellas. She lives with her long-suffering husband and black cat in a 260 year old haunted apartment in North Wales