It’s the spooky season and the perfect time to read The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke. In this creeptastic tale, a mother searches for answers as her daughter lays in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. A dark tale that moves between the present and the past.
by C.J. Cooke
Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.
Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.
Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?
Dark, atmospheric and sometimes terrifying, Cooke brings us a tale that occurs on the Orkney Islands. A young woman and her boyfriend get caught up in something as we weave back and forth between events that occurred when a woman was wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago.
In the present day storyline, a mother searches for answers after her daughter ends up in the hospital. Erin, along with her friend and boyfriend, traveled to the remote Orkney Islands. Something sinister happened on that island. Erin is badly burned and keeps saying her name is Nyx. Her boyfriend is dead and her friend is missing. We learned of events along with Erin’s mother Clem, who worries her daughter will be blamed. The island and the secular group she meets gave me chills.
The author recounts events on the island in 1594, involving Alison Belford, who is accused of witchcraft and consorting with the devil. We see the story unfold and twist. The trials, the betrayal, and the people on the island shared a horrific tale. If you find the witch trials fascinating, you will want to read this tale.
I’ve read several books by Cooke and find her stories to be atmospheric and addictive from witches to abandoned sea vessels.
While the events of 2024 were creepy, it was Alison’s story that held me captive. Cooke blends history, fantasy and delivers a suspenseful thriller that pushes into the horror genre.
The Book of Witching is a story you will remember long after you have closed the book. It is the perfect fall book for your spooky reading list.
About C.J. Cooke
C. J. Cooke is an award-winning poet and novelist published in twenty-three languages. She teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women's writing and creative writing interventions for mental health.
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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Mary Kirkland
That sounds really good.
Anne - Books of My Heart
Glad you enjoyed it. It’s not the kind of story for me right now.