{"id":4883,"date":"2016-10-12T13:53:55","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T17:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=4883"},"modified":"2016-10-12T13:53:55","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T17:53:55","slug":"book-review-dark-seed-by-simon-west-bulford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-dark-seed-by-simon-west-bulford\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Dark Seed by Simon West-Bulford"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dark Seed<\/em> <\/a>by Simon West-Bulford<\/p>\n

Medallion Press, 2016<\/p>\n

ASIN: B01JMJLOPO<\/p>\n

Available: Kindle edition<\/p>\n

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Simon West-Bulford has written an intriguing, historical, Gothic tale of an ancient evil that threatens to engulf the world through the foibles of humans.\u00a0 The story is told through the journals of a British archaeologist, Lord Edward Cephas Hargraven (1891), and a teacher, Dr. Alexander Drenn (1923).<\/p>\n

We learn that despite ominous warnings from a colleague, Hargraven brought a relic back from a dig in South America.\u00a0 Years later, Hargraven disappears, and Drenn awakens one night during an earthquake and finds his village enveloped in darkness and fog.\u00a0 Villagers are missing, or were grotesquely slain by monsters.\u00a0 Drenn and four villagers– a chaplain, an actress, a housekeeper and a strongman– are trapped in Hargraven\u2019s manor.\u00a0 Someone, or something, is gruesomely murdering them, one by one, as in an Agatha Christie mystery.<\/p>\n

What evil did Hargraven bring to the village?\u00a0 Is it a catastrophic product of Darwinian evolution?\u00a0 Can Drenn and his companions stop it from destroying England and the world, village by village, and city by city?<\/p>\n

Bulford\u2019s characters have convincing voices appropriate to their era and backgrounds.\u00a0 For example, Drenn writes in his journal, \u201c I am an educated man, though unremarkable in achievement; my legacy will be appreciated only by those whose make acquaintance of my students; and should any of them speak kindly of their tutor, Dr. Alexander Drenn, then this is satisfaction enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author\u2019s descriptions are vivid and inventive.\u00a0 Drenn witnesses the destruction of his village and watches a demon murder a young girl.\u00a0 He himself kills a crazed, possessed villager.\u00a0 His thoughts are in turmoil while he rests, sleepless in his deserted home.\u00a0 \u201cMy mind could not settle.\u00a0 It seethed and swayed and spun through churning seas of events and emotions that vied for attention like the endless tuning of an orchestra denied a performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dark Seed<\/em> is an entertaining, chilling read.\u00a0 West-Bulford has written several other novels, novellas and short stories encompassing fantasy, science fiction, mystery and the occult.\u00a0Recommended.<\/p>\n

Contains: graphic violence and gore<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee
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