REVIEW: The Night Singers – London Clarke

Don’t go near the attic door.
Don’t go outside after midnight.
Don’t ever listen to them.

Ghostwriter Callie Rowe has landed on what seems like a dream job: penning the memoir of her 90s rockstar crush, Riff Fall. But as she sets foot on remote Invisible Island, where Riff resides in his enigmatic beachfront mansion, she quickly realizes that beneath the allure of fame lies something more sinister.

Rumors swirl around Riff and his secluded existence, particularly concerning the inexplicable disappearance of his wife years ago. And entering Riff's world comes with a set of rules: never venture outside after midnight and steer clear of the blue door upstairs.

Despite her best intentions to keep personal and professional boundaries intact, Callie is drawn to Riff, whose troubled past intertwines with his present reality. Bound by a contract from decades ago, Riff is haunted not only by his lost reputation but also by something lurking just beyond the edges of his property.

But as Callie becomes entangled in Riff's self-imprisonment, she realizes that she, too, is being hunted by something malevolent. Forced to confront the darkness of her past and the terrifying truth about the price of fame, Callie wonders if she will discover Riff’s secrets or become the next victim of the night singers’ deadly symphony.

A music-laden tale of terror, The Night Singers explores the echoes of the past and the demented and dangerous journey that can lead to success or ruin.

Reviewed by Linda Tonis

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Callie Rowe is a ghostwriter hired to tell Riff Fall’s story. Riff was the lead singer of Cry of Crows and twenty years ago, his band was at the top and Callie had a teenage crush on him. Doing his story would finally reveal the truth or lies about his life i.e. why does he never leave his home; how did his wife die and why has he locked himself away on Invisible Island.

When Riff begins to reveal his story, he suddenly changes his mind and decides telling his story is too painful. Now Callie, disappointed, begins another musician’s tale of drugs, music, liquor and rock and roll, same story different participant. When Riff once again changes his mind, he invites Callie to his home, something she preferred and something he was at first totally against.

When she first arrives, he gives her a set of rules to follow, never go outside when it is dark especially after Midnight. Never open the windows at night and don’t ever open the sealed door at the end of the hall. He promises to explain everything in detail as they go about writing his story and it is a story that could be listed as paranormal not an autobiography.

His wife disappeared and he has no idea what happened to her, he is a prisoner of his home and property and is unable to leave. Every time he tries to leave, he gets violently sick, and one time nearly died. It all began when he was approached by a producer promising him and his band would be huge. Drugged and drunk he didn’t hesitate to sign a contract even though he had to sign it in blood, that was when his life turned into a nightmare.

While Callie is taking notes and tape-recording what Riff says she gets messages from her father, a father she hasn’t seen in years, no calls and no visits. Her abandonment by her father and what happened to her the last time she visited him has affected her entire life and the book she decided to write about it lies unwritten, filled with terrible memories she can’t seem to put on paper.

The more Riff reveals his story the more bizarre it gets leaving Callie doubtful as to his sanity until she sees firsthand what he was talking about, and it was every bit as horrible and scary as he described. Callie feels a desire to help Riff regain his life, but it seems to be an impossible mission. Now that she has witnessed what Riff talked about and now that she is writing his story and revealing everything, she becomes a target. I don’t want to reveal too much because it needs to be read to really get the full scope of what is going on.

To say this book was scary, and suspenseful, just touches on what happens. Riff and Callie are both damaged people going through an unbelievable experience that could mean their death. I read this book in one sitting since it held my interest from the first page, I couldn’t wait to find out what Riff’s full story was, and it was a humdinger.