The Dark Between the Trees

1643: A small group of Parliamentarian soldiers are ambushed in an isolated part of Northern England. Their only hope for survival is to flee into the nearby Moresby Wood… unwise though that may seem. For Moresby Wood is known to be an unnatural place, the realm of witchcraft and shadows, where the devil is said to go walking by moonlight…

Seventeen men enter the wood. Only two are ever seen again, and the stories they tell of what happened make no sense. Stories of shifting landscapes, of trees that appear and disappear at will… and of something else. Something dark. Something hungry.

Today, five women are headed into Moresby Wood to discover, once and for all, what happened to that unfortunate group of soldiers. Led by Dr Alice Christopher, an historian who has devoted her entire academic career to uncovering the secrets of Moresby Wood. Armed with metal detectors, GPS units, mobile phones and the most recent map of the area (which is nearly 50 years old), Dr Christopher’s group enters the wood ready for anything.

Or so they think.

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was expecting to enjoy it but nowhere near as much as I did. This was an utter delight and I finished it over a weekend as I just couldn’t put it down.

The book was set in a creepy wood which is one of my favourite settings. There’s just something about a wood that draws my interest, both in real life and in books. I think that the woodland setting was just perfect! The woods were so dense and made for an excellent setting.

This novel had dual narrative which is one of my favourite narrative modes. The chapters alternate between an army in the 17th century who, battle weary, found themselves lost in the wood and a modern day academic who is looking into the disappearance of the army. I felt that this narration style provided some foreshadowing and explanation and I thought it was done so well! There were some parallels between the members of the different parties. Even though there were centuries between them, their similarities were very numerous.

Throughout the book there was such a creepy atmosphere of foreboding. I enjoyed the creepy ghost stories that were quoted by each of the parties.

I loved that it wasn’t initially clear whether things were happening or whether it was all in their imagination. I really enjoyed that element of doubt. I doubted myself at times.

I found this book to be creepy and chilling and I just loved it. It was scary but so much of the fear was the fear of the unknown. I already hated camping and definitely won’t be camping after reading this.

I could not see the ending coming at all. I thought it was such a fantastic ending and I really enjoyed it. This was such a compelling read. I highly recommend this book, it picked me out of a slump that I’d found myself in.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.