WHEN DARKNESS LOVES US [Kindle Edition]

Elizabeth Engstrom (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sally Ann is a bright and bubbling farm girl, still caught in the thrill of a brand-new husband and a shining future ahead. When a careless exploration leaves her trapped underground, she learns to live again in the absence of everything she once knew. Even driven by love and light, Sally Ann finds the deepest darkness within herself in When Darkness Loves Us.

Old Martha Mannes has been a part of Morgan, Illinois since her birth. The whole town knows her as the dim-witted woman who was born without a nose, but Martha’s mind wasn’t always a blank slate. Unlocking the monster buried deep in her memories may bring back the sparkling child she once was…or it may send those around her crashing down into the nightmares of a little girl gone wrong.

A reprinting of Elizabeth Engstrom’s first book, this two-novella collection twists together the beauty and horror underlying the seeming simplicity of small town life.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 260 KB
• Print Length: 217 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0982159668
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Apex Publications (September 1, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002P8MQ5M
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,128 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Elizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended college and worked as an advertising copywriter.

After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.

Engstrom moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman, and their Duck Tolling Retriever, Jook. Liz holds a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and a Master of Arts in Applied Theology, both from Marylhurst University. A recluse at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to speak at a writers conference, or to teach a class on various aspects of writing the novel, essay, article or short story. An avid knitter and gardener, she is on faculty at the University of Phoenix and is always working on the next book. Learn more at www.elizabethengstrom.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creates Her Own World., October 26, 2005

By 

Kevin T. McGuinness (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Darkness Loves Us (Paperback)

I remember reading this book several years ago. The thing that struck me about it then (and even now) is how successfully the author managed to create her own world. The caverns where the story takes place have their own set of rules. Daylight is a myth. Kidnapping is okay. Monsters dwell in deep, dark pools.

Given how well the author pulls things off, I am quite surprised that this book isn't still in print. If you can track it down online or in your local library, please do. It's a good read.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful writing, haunting tales, December 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When Darkness Loves Us: Two Chilling Tales (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Engstrom has a way of making even the most horrific things beautiful simply by her words. If you can possibly find a copy of this book, do so immediately. The two stories in here will stay with you long after you're done reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a pick for its value, November 10, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Darkness Loves Us (Paperback)

Finding the light when swamped in darkness is never an easy thing. "When Darkness Loves Us" is a collection of two novellas from Elizabeth Engstrom. One story follows a young farm girl as she is engulfed by an underworld and yearns to escape, and an old woman who is facing the monsters of her past. Two engaging stories makes "When Darkness Loves Us" quite a pick for its value.