Melissa "Dog/Wolf Lover" Martin's Reading & Ramblings: The Mark Of Cain by Lindsey Barraclough

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Mark Of Cain by Lindsey Barraclough

A spine-chilling companion to Long Lankin, here is the story of a wronged witch’s revenge, spanning generations and crossing the shadowy line between life and death.

In 1567, baby Aphra is found among the reeds and rushes by two outcast witches. Even as an infant, her gifts in the dark craft are clear. But when her guardians succumb to an angry mob, Aphra is left to fend for herself. She is shunned and feared by all but one man, the leper known as Long Lankin. Hounded and ostracized, the two find solace only in each other, but even this respite is doomed, and Aphra’s bitterness poisons her entire being. Afflicted with leprosy, tortured and about to be burned as a witch, she manages one final enchantment—a curse on her tormentor’s heirs. Now, in 1962, Cora and Mimi, the last of a cursed line, are trapped in an ancient home on a crumbling estate in deepest winter, menaced by a spirit bent on revenge. Are their lives and souls forfeit forever? @goodreads

MY REVIEW:

4 STARS

Well this wasn't a wee bit creepy or anything!

The book starts out telling Aphra's tale. She was found by a couple of witches down by the river when she was a baby. Aphra grew up loving her two moms so to speak. She watched them practice healing for the folks but Aphra seemed to take a darker side. She learns the use of voodoo dolls to make people that harmed her to suffer, um, but she would take it a bit farther than the witches wanted.

Anyhoo, we all know the people of the village are going to come and put an end to the witches. Alphra escapes and has to live in the woods and forests. She meets Long Lankin in these woods, he is a leper that is supposedly really creepy as well. They stay in a little hut together for a bit until some unfortunate events break them apart.

Aphra goes to live in the big house with the Guerdon family. Lets just say things don't turn out really good there for a few people including Aphra and she puts a curse on the family.

Jump ahead to the future and we meet Cora and Mimi, two sisters that move to an old house with their dad and an aunt. Their other aunt Ida left the house to them.

The creepiness starts right off with voices, seeing things moving in the corner of your eye, to seeing things outside the window. These things get so bad the girls aunt up and leaves them and moves back to London! Just leaves a note for them to tell their dad! I mean really? Just leave them out there in the middle of nowhere with the closest home across the hill. So dad replaces her with a lady from the town.

There is also a sweet boy named Roger that hangs out with Cora and helps her with the problems she is having.

These two women always seem to be on the road to town when the girls head up there, they seem all creepy at first but they are not what they seem. Nothing in this book is what it seems, but it all comes out.

Someone takes off the protective barriers to keep Aphra's spirit out of the house and you can only image! Cora, Roger and a few others have to fight to get rid of Aphra before she kills everyone!

I found the book to be really creepy.. word of the day: CREEPY. I also loved how the author described all of the surroundings, I could picture every -->creepy<--- thing. Either way I enjoyed it. I didn't read the first book, but this one does just fine as a stand alone book so don't feel like you HAVE to start with the first one.

And remember, don't go creeping around out in the night either!!