Curse of the Stag’s Eye Haunted Hearts
paranormal romance
self
9/30/24
Kindle
190
Amazon
Amazon Link: amazon
High on a wave-dashed cliff, the ancient standing stone known as the Stag’s Eye jealously watches over a cursed lighthouse with a grisly past. Paranormal investigator Rhys has chosen this place to hold his first-ever ghost tour. Ghost-hunting veteran Dawn and her boyfriend Nikesh are eager to go exploring, while first-timer Gaz is hoping to learn more about the spirit world. He also intends to learn more about Rhys for various reasons, not all of which are entirely innocent.
The ghost of a murdered lighthouse keeper is said to climb the stairs every night, tending to the light, but other, far more sinister phantoms may lurk in the shadows. As the night wears on and the haunting becomes more and more hazardous, Rhys and Gaz grow closer. However, it soon becomes clear that not everyone on the tour is being honest about their reasons for being there. Can the supernatural activity be blamed on the curse of the Stag’s Eye or does someone know more than they’re letting on?
Review By Ulysses Dietz
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Amazon Link: amazon
This offering to the Haunted Hearts series really is about ghosts—although you might not believe it at first. The idea of haunted hearts is very strong in this particular novel, although, once again, it’s more complex than the reader might think at first.
This is the story of Gary “Gaz” Gilchrist who signs up for a “ghost tour” of the Stag’s Head lighthouse just off the coast of Wales; and an enthusiastic amateur ghost-hunger, Rhys Maddocks. The underlying romance here is between these two young bear-cubs, which seems pretty obvious from the start. The surprise comes as the story unfolds, and the history of the 200-year-old lighthouse is presented—and then discovered—by these two men and a young straight couple from Essex, Dawn and her boyfriend Nikesh. (For American readers: Essex is the suburban county adjacent to London, and has a distinct cultural connotation in the UK.
Against the dramatic geological backdrop of the craggy little island on which the lighthouse is located, what at first appears to be a slightly goofy tale of ghost-hunters and their gullible audience, gradually morphs into something rather more frightening, but definitely deeper and with more historical and emotional weight. Glenn Quigley does a great job at this, focusing on the alternating viewpoints of Gaz and Rhys—one the skeptical tourist and the other a well-meaning believer. He lulls us into seeing the story as a potentially lame reality show, and then gives the narrative an edge that startles and moves in equal measure.
My own emotions shifted from mild enjoyment to deep engagement—along with the characters themselves. Not a terribly long book, “The Curse of the Stag’s Eye” delivers.