House of Brutes and Angels Dunmoor Book #2
Gothic Horror, British Horror
Independently Published
June 21, 2022
Kindle
344
Amzon
Passionate hearts. Dark secrets.
England, 1819. Augusta Leonard’s childhood memories are terrifying and best forgotten. Even so, when her half-brother Lord Drake Winters sends a letter begging her to meet him at Dunmoor House, their childhood home, she has no choice but to go. After all, she’s never denied him anything. But revisiting the past may require more of her than she anticipated, and righting the wrongs of childhood could cost her everything.
A few miles from Dunmoor, Alex Jameson is tasked with finding his murdered lover’s ten-year-old daughter Arabella and bringing her to safety. Arabella is not only troubled but also spouts dire predictions of destruction that have an uncanny habit of coming true. When Alex is visited by an entity that threatens the life of every man, woman, and child in the region, he finds himself battling an ancient evil that seeks to destroy everyone he loves
As Alex and Augusta cross paths in their search for the truth, both will learn that the past is sometimes better left buried.
House of Brutes and Angels is the chilling sequel to Dunmoor, featuring family curses, wicked secrets, and a mysterious house with the darkest of pasts. If you liked Mexican Gothic and Crimson Peak, then you’ll love bestselling author London Clarke’s atmospheric, haunting story of forbidden love and a generational struggle of good versus evil.
Review By S.C. Principale
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
The Mistress of Gothic Horror, London Clark, takes us back to the haunting (and haunted)
halls of Dunmoor in the sequel, House of Brutes and Angels. While this is a compelling read that
offers some insight into the events that occurred at Dunmoor, it isn’t quite the continuation many fans
hoped for.
In Dunmoor, we learned about the evil of both men and demons as we followed the twisty,
bittersweet story of Luke and Helena, but they are not the stars of this tale. Instead, we meet
Augusta, the half-sister of Drake Winters, Helena’s husband, who wasn’t actually deceased. We also
reunite with Luke’s cousin Alex, who enters into marriage with Violet to save her from an unwanted
betrothal. We meet Arabella, a child who is able to see the Angel of Death and knows that he is
stalking the grounds of Dunmoor.
Layers of mystery are woven into this gothic horror, becoming tangled and difficult to navigate,
but the story is still riveting. All roads lead to the same place—the Dunmoor curse and the heart of its
dark powers, powers that even fire couldn’t stop in the end of book one.
In a way, this is a tale of three women, Augusta, Arabella, and Violet. Augusta grew up in the
horrible halls of Dunmoor, tortured alongside her brother Drake. They became incestuous lovers out
of comfort and because of a curse. Finally, as teenagers, they killed their tormentor and escaped.
When Augusta returns to Dunmoor, summoned by the actually alive Drake, she finds that her love for
him is merely manipulation. He wants her again, even though he knows it is wrong. Augusta
ultimately finds the strength to resist him.
Arabella and Violet share a strange tattoo, supposedly a good luck charm, but in reality it is the
symbol for the demonic order that is associated with Dunmoor. While ordinary children are supposed
to die, left to bleed in order to fill the bellies of those seeking immortality with a demonic pact, Violet
and Arabella are supposed to be special sacrifices. Alex, who married Violet to save her, is falling in
love with her, and she loves him. When she’s kidnapped to be given to the order, he swears he will
find her and buy her freedom with the only thing the order wants more than victims—the chalice that
is source of Dunmoor’s power.
rabella is the child of Alex’s late love, Persephone. An older child, she is haunted by what she
sees at Dunmoor, and confides in Augusta that she sees the Angel of Death, she sees forthcoming
deaths.
Augusta, Violet, and Arabella’s fates intertwine. Augusta and Violet are both kidnapped by the
order on the night that they plan to sacrifice a baby born in book one. With the help of Alex, Luke, and
Drake, the women are saved and able to save the baby as well. Drake dies an eleventh hour hero,
freeing Augusta from his hold over her, and leaving Helena free to marry Luke. Violet and Alex
reunite, able to put horrors behind them and adopt Arabella. The demons? They confine themselves
to the chalice.
Dunmoor’s sequel ends in a much more satisfying manner than the first book, with tenants of
Dunmoor reporting no more ghosts and spirits, good or evil. All the players in this tale of love and
horror find peace or justice, in one way or another. A satisfying read with plenty of substance, scares,
and a few notes of sweetness. If you love gothic horror, I highly recommend The House of Brutes and Angels.