Title: Bootleg Cove
Author: Devin Govaere
Genre: Horror, Ghost Story, Dark Fiction
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
“Who knows the secret of Bootleg Cove? ”
Young widow Willie Douglas recently moved to remote, isolated Bootleg Cove on the Chesapeake Bay with her four-year-old son. Her plan to renovate and re-open an abandoned restaurant. Almost as soon as she arrived, a handyman showed up out of the blue, offering to help. Then Amanda and Sam, two apparently orphaned teenagers, came to her door in need of help and a place to stay.
But it s not just the sweltering heat that s wearing on Willie s already fragile emotions. Her mysterious handyman seems to know more than he s willing to say, Amanda and Sam are acting very strangely indeed, and Willie s beginning to realize that all three of her houseguests have more history with Bootleg Cove than she could ever have imagined. Willie is seeing too many things that she either can t explain or refuses to believe. But the most shocking revelation about Bootleg Cove is still to come “
In Bootleg Cove, young widow Willie Douglas moved to the remote Bootleg Cove with her four-year-old son. She wants to get a fresh start, and to renovate and open up an old restaurant abandoned years ago. But the moment Willie arrives, strange things start happening. Her son befriends a wayward teenager, Sam, who has a disability, doesn’t say anything, and showed up out of the blue. Then hours later, he’s followed by his sister, Amanda, who is arrives at Bootleg Cove soaking wet. A handyman appears too, offering to help her even though she never advertised for help.
The residents of the nearby town warn her for strange happenings on Bootleg Cove. Willie blames it on superstition at first, but then the children start acting up, her handyman knows more than he’s willing to let on, and then an unexpected and unwanted guest turns up on her doorstep. What’s going on in Bootleg Cove?
The book is a standard ghost story, with a nice twist at the end. I saw it coming, but I’m pretty sure people less used to reading ghost stories probaly won’t expect it. The book sometimes tries to take on too ambitious storylines, and focuses heavily on some subplots that don’t really add up to much in the end. It probably would’ve worked better as a full-length novel. At it stands now, it’s definitely not a bad read though. It’s a fast and engaging story.
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