Bone Harvest

De: James Brogden

Narrado por: Liz Jasicki

From the critically acclaimed author of Hekla’s Children comes a dark and haunting tale of an ancient cult wreaking bloody havoc on the modern world.

Struggling with the effects of early onset dementia, Dennie Keeling now leads a quiet life. Her husband is dead, her children are grown, and her best friend, Sarah, was convicted of murdering her abusive husband. After Sarah’s tragic death in prison, Dennie has found solace in her allotment, and all she wants is to be left to tend it in peace. Life remains quiet for 12 years, until three strangers take on a nearby plot and Dennie starts to notice unnatural things. Shadowy figures prowl at night; plants flower well before their time. And then Sarah appears, bringing dire warnings and vanishing after daubing symbols on the walls in Dennie’s own blood.

Dennie soon realizes that she is face-to-face with an ancient evil - but with her dementia steadily growing worse, who is going to believe her?

©2020 by James Brogden (P)2020 by Blackstone Publishing

Awesome, Fulfilling Story

This novel is amazing and it's hard to search for just the right words. Can it be a little lengthy/wordy at points? Yeah. Is it possible to get confused some here and there? Sure. What this book will give you is a full beginning, middle, and end. The story starts during one place and time and ends during an entirely different time and place. I love that it is a full circle book with an ending that is satisfying, with all chapters closed. The adventure is wild and crazy, but totally worth it.

Gardening Has Never Been So Bloody

After Hekla's Children, I was convinced James Brogden was an author to watch. Then The Hollow Tree came along and had me wondering if we'd ever see eye to eye again. So I went into Bone Harvest cautiously optimistic—and wow, am I glad I did.

This is Brogden back at his absolute best. The horror is creepy, brutal, and gloriously gory without ever feeling like it's just trying to shock for the sake of it. Every grisly detail serves the story, and I couldn't get enough of the unsettling atmosphere. The blend of ancient folklore, history, and modern horror is incredibly well done, giving the whole novel a depth that made it even more unsettling. It actually reminded me a bit of Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi in the way the historical elements are woven so naturally into the terror.

Dennie is also a fantastic protagonist. Watching someone struggle to separate supernatural horrors from the effects of early-onset dementia adds a heartbreaking layer of uncertainty that keeps you questioning everything right alongside her. It's emotional, terrifying, and surprisingly compassionate all at once.

This is my third James Brogden novel, and it's officially my new favorite. If you like folk horror with ancient evil, memorable characters, and a gore level that doesn't pull its punches, Bone Harvest is absolutely worth digging into. Just don't expect to look at a garden the same way again.

that first part!

goregous opening chapters that ultimately lead to a fun slow burn folk horror with an anticlimactic and fatalistic end — worth it for the first half alone

keeps you interested

love the charcters in this book and the mystery of who are what are the charcters and what they are planning to do next

weird, very weird!

after the first hour and a half I almost returned this book. but I gave it a chance. it got better but really strange. good story line. the narrator did a good job.