Pharos (Paperback)

Set on an island off the coast of Scotland, characters that bob the white caps of this tale are Cameron, a middle-aged bachelor devouting his life to caring for the lighthouse and the safe passage of those at sea. Simon, the new assistant caretaker, finds Lucia in the water after a storm and brings her ashore. Charlotte arrives later. The sister of Cameron, she's there to care for the men and to be a stable witness, should one of them die in their work.

Lucia is a fairly sensible confused person and, I'd venture, the least wooden of the players in this work. That irony comes home to roost on the ledges of the lighthouse later on. When a crumbling crypt is the homiest joint on the island, don't expect a clambake anytime soon.

Holes in the raft: Cameron's complete walking of the mental health plank, seemingly overnight. Simon's face never really came to me, despite description, which seemed odd considering his "animist" talent. The female form on the cover fits Charlotte's physical description, not Lucia.

I read this book in the cold of the season and can't help but to wonder what kind of beach read it would make come sweat of Summer? Cold tequila against hot sand and the storm that contrast creates in the soul. --Laurel825

When the woman regains consciousness, she has no memory of who she is or where she came from. The two men feed and clothe her and gradually she comes out of her apathetic state and takes notice of the world around her. She hears strange noises and constantly sees a young mulatto girl running around the island. Cameron insists she is imagining things and he keeps on telling her that until she is convinced that there is something evil on the island, something that Cameron is hiding from himself and her.

Readers gradually get the feeling that there is something not quite right about the people who are living on Jacob's Rock. The shipwrecked woman comes to believe that the Principal Keeper does not want her to leave but she doesn't know why. There is a mystery about him that she intends to solve but there are other forces at work on the island that intend to have their way and there is nothing the amnesiac can do to stop them. Thus the audience receives an exciting gothic-like paranormal thriller that entertains from the moment the woman arrives on the rock.

Harriet Klausner