Editorial Content for Dark Tides
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Winter, with its cold days and long, dark nights, is the perfect time to curl up with a chilling thriller. With a long-unsolved disappearance, a string of revenge murders, creepy small-town characters and ancient cultural traditions set on the Isle of Man, DARK TIDES by Chris Ewan fits the bill for a fun and frightening mystery.
On Hop-tu-Naa, the Manx Halloween, Claire Cooper went trick or treating with her mother. Following a strange doorstep incident with her mother’s boss, the terrifying Edward Caine, Claire’s mother went to work late that night and was never seen again. Over the years, the police investigation yielded almost no clues, and eventually they stopped searching. At 14 Claire is suddenly befriended by a girl named Rachel and a group of four other teens who want her to accompany them on their Hop-tu-Naa antics. Reserved but curious, Claire goes out with them that night, and a bond is formed that lasts into their adulthood.
"DARK TIDES is an entertaining and atmospheric read.... fast-paced and moody with some nice twists and red herrings."
The friendship is punctuated each year by their annual Hop-tu-Naa dares. When two of the boys (David and Mark) vying for Claire’s affection devise a Hop-tu-Naa prank to scare Caine, the night ends in a horrific act of violence, leaving Caine all but dead. Mark takes full blame for the home invasion and brutal beating of Caine, and finds himself in prison. Nothing is ever the same among the six friends, who drift apart and are rarely in contact in adulthood.
Perhaps it was her guilt for her part in the Caine crime or her mother’s unsolved case that led Claire to be a police officer. She still maintains that Caine had something to do with her mother’s disappearance and has remained ever-wary of him and his sickly son, Morgan. When one of the six friends, Scott, dies in a car wreck on Hop-tu-Naa, a particular clue --- a single footprint --- makes Claire think that it was no accident. And the following year, when another friend dies on Hop-tu-Naa, she is convinced that someone is killing them off one by one. Stopping the murderer means revealing her involvement in the crime against Caine. And to stop the killer, Claire must stay alive herself.
DARK TIDES is an entertaining and atmospheric read. The Isle of Man is a wonderful setting: claustrophobic and ruggedly beautiful. There are some aspects of the story that Chris Ewan could’ve explained better, like why Claire was brought into the circle of her eventual friends in the first place. But the story is fast-paced and moody with some nice twists and red herrings. The balance between Claire’s search for justice, her gnawing guilt and her need to learn what really happened to her mother makes for a compelling thriller to enjoy on a long, dark winter night.
Teaser
When Claire Cooper was eight years old, her mother mysteriously vanished during Hop-tu-naa, Halloween on the Isle of Man. At 14, Claire is still struggling to come to terms with her disappearance when she's befriended by a group of five teenagers who mark every Halloween by performing dares. But Claire's arrival begins to alter the group's dynamic until one year a prank goes terribly wrong, changing all their futures and tearing the friends apart. Six years later, one of the friends is killed on Halloween in an apparent accident. But Claire, now a police officer, has her doubts.
Promo
When Claire Cooper was eight years old, her mother mysteriously vanished during Hop-tu-naa, Halloween on the Isle of Man. At 14, Claire is still struggling to come to terms with her disappearance when she's befriended by a group of five teenagers who mark every Halloween by performing dares. But Claire's arrival begins to alter the group's dynamic until one year a prank goes terribly wrong, changing all their futures and tearing the friends apart. Six years later, one of the friends is killed on Halloween in an apparent accident. But Claire, now a police officer, has her doubts.
About the Book
When Claire Cooper was eight years old her mother mysteriously vanished during Hop-tu-naa, Halloween on the Isle of Man. At 14, Claire is still struggling to come to terms with her disappearance when she's befriended by a group of five teenagers who mark every Halloween by performing dares. But Claire's arrival begins to alter the group's dynamic until one year a prank goes terribly wrong, changing all their futures and tearing the friends apart.
Six years later, one of the friends is killed on Halloween in an apparent accident. But Claire, now a police officer, has her doubts. Is a single footprint found near the body a deliberate taunt? As another Halloween dawns, bringing with it another death and another footprint, Claire becomes convinced that somebody is seeking vengeance. But who? And which of the friends might be next? If she is going to stop a killer and unlock the dark secrets of her past, Claire must confront her deepest fears, before it's too late.
Chris Ewan, author of the stand-alone thrillers SAFE HOUSE and DEAD LINE, returns to the Isle of Man with DARK TIDES --- a thriller that will keep you up all night.
Audiobook available, narrated by Alex Tregear
