Genre: Horror
Publisher: Dark Chapter Press
Publication Date: 14th March 2016
Pages: 31
MY REVIEW:
A copy of Tread
Gently Amidst the Barrows, was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the
author Jack Rollins in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This
book is published by Dark Chapter Press.
So, Jack Rollins. I make no secret of knowing the man himself,
as both a writer, and the main man behind the fantastic Dark Chapter Press. Let
this disclaimer be an acknowledgment of that fact and also that because of this
and the fact he got me very drunk at Emcon this year, this does not gain any
favours from me when it comes to reviewing his books. He has been quite vocal
in the fact that he is waiting for the time I review one of his books and think
it is rubbish.
Sorry Jack. You’re going to have to wait another while.
Oliver Stroud is working in Sweden. He is the man tasked
with looking after the daily running of lumber magnate Dick Jameson’s business
interests there.
Jesper is a night watchman. On one of his patrols of the
site, he disappears. No one can say for sure what has happened to him but the
locals are talking about Trolls. Stroud thinks this is nonsense but he must
investigate to ensure the safety of his men.
This is a short story. You will probably read it in an
hour depending on your reading speed. If you haven’t read anything of Jack
Rollins before, then this could be the one for you to give you a sense of his
writing style. This one, as with The
Séance and The Cabinet of Dr Blessing,
is set in Victorian times.
Our main characters are limited with it being a short
story. Stroud seems to be a very strong character. He seems to be very in
control of what he is doing but he is hiding something. Certain flashbacks to
his life in England point to some sort of catastrophe that he is trying to
escape. Jameson is a typical rich man of the times. Seems to be only interested
in the money and his hip flask. Soderlind and Beskow are two of the Swedish
workers who help on the hunt for the unknown assailant. They seem to be very
fearful of the local legends.
The plot is very simple. A man has gone missing and the locals
believe there is a beast involved. A search party goes to look for him. Now, in
itself, that sounds very simplistic. Normally the party would get armed to the
teeth with automatic weapons and have full body armour on. This, being set in
Victorian times, all they have at their disposal is two pistols, a couple of
lanterns and a hip flask.
The way Mr Rollins has written this tale gives you a
true feeling of the sheer desperateness of the situation and the total terror
and fear that each man is feeling as they get closer to the truth of the
kidnapping.
As always I am not going to give you any spoilers or
hints as to what actually happens in the story but suffice to say you will feel
the fear. As always with Jack Rollins stories set in Victorian times, you get
an amazing feel for the era. His descriptive writing of the sights and the
sounds and the smells and the clothes and the language is all perfect in
transporting you to a bygone time where all the home comforts you cherish so
much are completely stripped away and you genuinely feel the bleakness that
this type of story deserves.
I have mentioned before that I have discovered a new
found love of horror and dark fiction set in this time period and I have also
mentioned before that there are very few current authors who can pull off
writing a story that seems authentic enough to think that they lived in that
time themselves. Jack Rollins does it again.
To summarise: a short Victorian tale that is not what you
would expect. Full of fear and an exceptional atmospheric feeling of the times,
this is a perfect way to introduce yourself to the writings of Jack Rollins.
Just go buy it.
General rating:
★★★★★ wonderful.
Horror rating:
★★★★★ wonderful.
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Tread Gently Amidst the Barrows or any
other books from Jack. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many
people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
Tread Gently Amidst the Barrows sees Jack Rollins return
to the Victorian era for a chilling, thrilling tale as the progress of mankind
and technology trespass into the world of the mythical in Sweden.
A series of night-time disappearances among the workforce
of railway engineer Oliver Stroud threaten to bring the construction of a new
railway bridge to a standstill as local superstitions give rise to unrest and
desertion. Stroud is left with no choice but to investigate an ancient burial
site to bring closure to the matter once and for all but there is no peace to
be found among the barrows of Old Uppsala, for neither the dead, nor the
creatures of myth who live among them.
To read my other reviews of Jack’s work, see here:
And for more about Jack, visit his site or find him on social media:
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