The Mark

Supernatural Horror Series, Book 2

By: Lee Mountford

Narrated by: Hannibal Hills

A Satanic cult. A woman's brutal assault. Can she face her darkest fear before a demon is unleashed from hell?

Kirsty Thompson is no stranger to trauma. But when a vicious attack leaves her drugged and disoriented, she never expected to wake up to a permanent scar. She starts having demonic visions, all linked to the ancient symbol carved deep into her back....

With the help of her best friend, Amanda, Kirsty discovers the mark originates from the Devil's Bible and forges a connection between her and a terrifying creature. As they track the man who assaulted her to a satanic cult, the beast hunts them from the shadows. Can Kirsty escape the devil worshipers and her bond with the heinous creature to save herself from eternal damnation?

The Mark is a terrifying stand-alone horror novel. If you like mysterious depraved forces, tales of the occult, and stories that will have you looking under the bed, then you’ll love Lee Mountford’s gripping tale!

Buy The Mark to confront your darkest fears today!

©2018 Lee Mountford (P)2018 Lee Mountford

The Mark

Wow!Just wow!A really fantastic horror story! Hannibal Hills is a terrific narrator.I have been enjoying his books. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Perfect length

This is the perfect length for an audible book. It’s a good story told really well. Great atmosphere.

Predictable

Here we have a reasonably engaging tale that is sadly quite on the nose.

Okay, to start with Hannibal Hills gives us his usual impeccable performance that is a joy to listen to. His voices are excellently crafted, and while his female voices do leave the tiniest bit to be desired, I have no complaints. As always, his vocal inflections and tempo changes were spot on.

My one narrator issue with this book is that it's a little off-putting to listen to a male voice narrating a female led book.

Now, I really appreciate that rather than the long-winded character introduction that is common in horror, we jumped right into the action of the story.

Unfortunately, there was very little characterization. Simon eventually gets a bit of Backstory (and is, frankly, the most interesting character in the book. I would have preferred a story competely from his perspective).

Kirsty, however, is unfortunately entirely defined by her trauma. Throughout the majority of the book, she is little more than a caricature of a rape victim (I don't mean to belittle the trauma of such an experience. I just believe there should have been more to her character than that). I found it difficult to connect with her as the trauma is literally the only thing we know about her.

Add to that the fact that all the "twists" in the story were obvious and predictable, and we're left with a horror story that frankly just doesn't have much tension and isn't horrifying in the least until the major confrontation at the very end.

Now, let's talk about the prose for a minute.
Apart from a few incorrectly used words (such as nauseous when the author clearly meant nauseated) and some rather on the nose dialogue, the book is fairly well written.

My biggest qualm about the writing comes down to personal taste, and it's about the point of view choice. Although it's not immediately clear, it seems the book is written from an omniscient point of view, so there's a lot of bouncing between the perspectives of numerous characters, many of which are not important to the story.

Probably my biggest praise for this book is its ending. Although I would have liked to see a more redemptive ending, the way things come together at the end was brilliantly executed. There is a big reveal that was a lot of fun to read and brought us to a very satisfying close.

Possession demon type deal

Stepped out of my comfort zone and got my toes wet with some occult/ supernatural... and it wasn't bad at all. The human aspect and the characters very much held my interest

Mountford hits The Mark with this

This isn’t my first Lee Mountford story and it won’t be my last. He tells a wicked story and just when you think you know where things are headed, you quickly realize you don’t have a clue. This book perfectly depicts the classic mythos of demon cults and secret societies in a unique way.

The story is very fast paced and goes by very quickly, something Mountford does exceptionally well. I really enjoy how he gets quick to the horror and throws you into chaos right away. I love a good demonic story and with all of the other aspects of this story you get a nice rounded supernatural horror. Mountford doesn’t beat around the bush and just straight up tells you a great story.

As this story takes place over a few days, there isn’t much in character development with the exception of Kirsty. The plot itself is about everything surrounding the mysterious symbol combined with Kristy’s development of either staying a victim or becoming a survivor. Mountford can really describe a disturbing situation and this is filled with plenty. It gets a bit graphic with Mike, but I think his story is told exactly as it should have been. This delivers thrills until the end and wow was that a great ending.

Hannibal Hills has an excellent creepy voice, so if you want a horror story read to it should be from Hills. His voice has the ability to get you stressed out and on the edge of your seat. His narration and accent makes everything a bit more intriguing and holds your hand as he leads you down a dark narrow hallway.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.