Customer Reviews

Pharos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Twenty-seven miles off the coast of Scotland lies the island that is the home to the Jacob's Rock Lighthouse. Cameron is the principal keeper of the lighthouse and he has been alone on the island so long that he is eagerly awaiting the boat that is bringing his new assistant. When Simon arrives, the two men quickly fall into a routine, which is broken when Simon rescues a young woman who has washed up on the rocks.

When the woman regains consciousness, she has no memory of who she is or where she came from. The two men feed and clothe her and gradually she comes out of her apathetic state and takes notice of the world around her. She hears strange noises and constantly sees a young mulatto girl running around the island. Cameron insists she is imagining things and he keeps on telling her that until she is convinced that there is something evil on the island, something that Cameron is hiding from himself and her.

Readers gradually get the feeling that there is something not quite right about the people who are living on Jacob's Rock. The shipwrecked woman comes to believe that the Principal Keeper does not want her to leave but she doesn't know why. There is a mystery about him that she intends to solve but there are other forces at work on the island that intend to have their way and there is nothing the amnesiac can do to stop them. Thus the audience receives an exciting gothic-like paranormal thriller that entertains from the moment the woman arrives on the rock.

Harriet Klausner

This is an intriguing and spooky, old fashioned ghost story, set in nineteenth century Scotland in a lighthouse on a remote island. At the lighthouse lives Cameron, the Principal Keeper of the Lighthouse, as well as Simon, his new assistant.

Life is very structured and routine on the island. Cameron and Simon work side by side in tandem, as they maintain the lighthouse and keep its nightly beacon of light burning brightly. They life a simple though apparently solitary life. Yet, at the opposite end of the island, a young golden girl sits in a trance by a crypt.

One day, Simon finds a woman with long dark hair and large gray eyes submerged beneath a bed of seaweed. This woman has no memory of who she is or from where she came. They arbitrarily name her Lucia after a ship that once wrecked itself on the rocks off shore. From the moment she is found, however, nothing is ever the same on that island.

Not even the arrival on the island of Charlotte, Cameron's no nonsense sister, can offset the growing sense of dread and wonder that oppressively seems to permeate the island. A sense of evil and of things being not quite right lays like a miasma over all.

This is an atmospheric and evocative novella that will keep the reader turning its pages. Those readers who like ghost stories will have an appreciation for this book.

While there's no denying that the author is a gifted writer (in the sense of her verbal dexterity), the plot was too thin and frankly incomprehensible. How did Simon acquire his powers of animism? How did Cameron, the lighthousekeeper go unhinged in the way that he did? How did that little girl get there? Where is everybody going? Which one's real? Which one isn't? The lines between ghosts and human and dream figures was too blurry for me to enjoy.

The book's too short! (And maybe 15 pages were devoted to beautiful but baffling diary entries.) Only Simon, the farmer magician was developed as a character. I didn't think I had picked up a blood-curdling horror novel. But I expected a ghost story to give me, at the very least, a few shivers of uneasiness.

As it is, it just makes good copy for a travel guide for Scottish lighthouses.

this book is so well written and the language is beautiful. that's why it's a shame that it wasn't able to keep my attention after the first half. the characters of the book morphed into something very different from their intitial description. it was charming that it was impossible to tell the supernatural from the natural players, but that grew irritating when it was not possible to tell anymore if things really happened or were only part of a characters delusions. this tool grew too contrived as the book went along.

I love mysteries and supernatural stories which is why I picked this up but I must say I was really impressed with Alice Thompson's style of writing. She is one of the few writers I've come across recently who really know how to summon up the perfect adjective or metaphor. I also appreciated the plot and the suspense and read the book in one evening. The only real flaw is that one of the main characters goes beserk seemingly overnight. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys taught suspense and superb writing.

Pharos: A Ghost Story by Alice Thompson was a delightful read. A pure ghost story without the gore, sex and filler you will find in today's books. I must say this was a very unexpected find and I am so glad I was able to get it.

Lucia is a woman who is plain but pretty, frightened by courageous and lost. She is without a memory and wonders how she came to the lighthouse and who exactly she is. A very interesting character who weaves through the book questioning, wondering, seeking and restless as to her purpose here.

The story is set on a remote island off the cost of Scotland with a Lighthouse to protect the ships which pass by from the treacherous reefs that protrude from its shores. Without this lighthouse it would be complete folly to pass through this area of the world unguided.

The story is clear cut with a real twist for an ending that is told with such simplicity that it is smooth and delicious. Even though it is slow to start it does pick up and keeps you wondering right to the last page. It is nicely finished explaining why, how and what things have been going on and are happening now.

I do believe the author is a gifted storyteller with a love for stories from of pure straight frowardness of the past. I would easily give this a 5 star even with the slow beginning just because of the old time, sit beside the fire story telling quality. This is a pure ghost story that could easily have been fact in the distant past. A quick must read for lovers of old.

A weird, sparse, charming little ghost story. I bought this on a whim someplace (as a fan of such tales), and it's a lovely read. I will point out that the book is rather short, though; so if you're uninterested in spending full cover price for this hard edition, I don't blame you.

Pick it up used or, if available, in paperback.