The Hungry Dark

Description

Macabre murders plague a rural town as a scam-artist psychic races to find the answers in this haunting thriller from award-winning author Jen Williams, perfect for fans of Camilla Sten and Alex North.

As a child, Ashley Whitelam could often see odd things nobody else could: quiet, watchful figures she called the Heedful Ones kept a strange vigil wherever she went. As an adult, she keeps these visions to herself, but she’s turned her taste of the beyond into a career as a “psychic”­ – parting people from their money with a combination of psychology and internet research. When the Lake District is gripped by a series of grisly child murders, Ashley offers her services to the police for the free publicity. But as Ashley leads the police on a fruitless search around the small town of Green Beck, she catches a glimpse of those old ghosts of her childhood and, following them into the woods, she finds something she never expected: the corpse of the latest missing child.

The press fly into a frenzy and the police grow suspicious: either Ashley’s psychic abilities are real, or she is guilty of murder. Hounded by interviews and interrogations, Ashley teams up with Freddie Miller, a podcaster covering the crimes. As they investigate, Ashley realises that there’s no way to distance herself from these murders: whoever or whatever it is that’s haunting the Lakes is haunting her, too.

Master of unsettling suspense Jen Williams is back with another chilling, dark read that will draw readers into a gruesome and atmospheric nightmare.Praise for The Hungry Dark:
“[A] winning mix of heart-pounding plot, eerie urban legends, unreliable protagonists, and full, lush character development.”
—Booklist

“I was absolutely blown away. This serial killer mystery and thriller fully embraces its folk horror origins. The spooky, sinister setting is superbly drawn. I could almost feel myself shivering in the shadow of Red Rigg Fell.”
—James Oswald author of For Our Sins

“I, for one, just love tales of crime laced with a hint of the occult and I can think of no better offering in this category of fiction than The Hungry Dark. Nonstop plotting, richly drawn characters and a masterful touch in blending crime procedure with otherworldly gothic makes this novel a one-sitting read. Fantastic—in every sense of the word!”
—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector and Hunting TimeJen Williams lives in London with her partner and their small ridiculous cat. Having been a fan of grisly fairy tales from a young age, these days Jen writes dark unsettling thrillers with strong female leads, as well as character-driven fantasy novels with plenty of adventure and magic. She has twice won the British Fantasy Award for her Winnowing Flame trilogy, and when she’s not writing books she works as a bookseller and a freelance copywriter.US

Additional information