The Lost Village: A Novel

Dang; I should have written this right after reading!

What a creepy book! I wouldn't exactly say it was horror, but it was certainly creepy.

I had trouble with some of the names, since they aren't names we commonly hear. I figured out who was who though.

The book was worth reading, though. I don't feel like I wasted time reading it.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review!

The summary itself piqued my interest when it mentioned this book was a "Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar" novel set in a village where all inhabitants disappeared without a trace in 1959. I was also intrigued because my grandmother and her parents lived in Sweden and I thought it would be a great read that was also a little "close to home", even as scary as the story becomes!

The title character, Alice graduated with a film-making degree and would love nothing more than to tell the story that her Grandmother and her family experienced living in this village, Silvertjärn. She recruits four others as she starts the project to make a documentary about Silvertjärn and what really happened there sixty years ago. Why was a local resident stoned to death and why was there a baby discovered in a hospital room all alone as all villagers left their homes with coffee mugs on the table or doors and windows open as though they were completely interrupted by something. Alice intends to pull those pieces together with the knowledge she has from her grandmother and her family and the letters that Aina, her grandmother's sister, used to write to her grandmother. She has the financial backing, a crew to help photograph and film, and a professional film-maker whom Alice was not too keen to enlist due to a previous past but knows she will be a great asset to the success of the film. This is all Alice has dreamed of since film school.

Once they descend on Silvertjärn with their camping supplies and filming equipment, mysterious things start to happen as they unravel the mysteries held within the community. The village is still eerie with all the village homes dilapidated, things left behind, and traces of lives lost. Then they start to hear things within the village, odd noises on their walkie-talkies, a blur of someone outside of their vans... but that can't be, right?

The book was an enthralling and blood-chillingly good tale of a long lost village and the secrets it kept. Definitely, a must to read for any fans of mysteries and thrillers!

“Recovered, in recovery, or struggling, we are still people.” It's hard for me to pin down how I feel about this one. I really enjoyed the timeline in the past, before the village was abandoned. The eerie atmosphere was built there, and carried through to the present timeline well. Also, the characters seemed well fleshed out. The present day was less enjoyable for me. I didn't like any of the characters and I found their constant conflicts more annoying the integral to the plot development. I also would have liked if the concept of the documentary had been used more than a device to get the cast of characters to the location. Generally, I was entertained but I was hoping for more.

A documentary is set in Silver Sharon - a small village where all inhabitants mysteriously disappears. There are 5 young adults who enter the village, but 3 were lucky enough to survive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's refreshing, suspenseful and very captivating. The background of characters and the way they develop is stunning and heartfelt. The ending was, to my surprise, unpredictable!