As the ravens gather and darkness descends, the time is drawing near for history to repeat itself… Ravens Gathering is a gripping thriller, interwoven with horror and fantasy, that demonstrates how you should never take things at face value.
The above is an edited snapshot taken from the Amazon(UK) book listing. “Interwoven with horror” sounded right up my street, so I grabbed a copy there and then. The reason for the delay in producing this spotlight is, partially, down to having to read the book first (apologies Graeme; for the delay that is, not for having to read the book!).
When I contacted the author about doing this, he kindly sent me a press pack with a great deal of information that makes these easy to write. Frankly, most of it is taken from such press packs; the images, bios and book blurbs, although often I add review links if I find them.
I tend to spotlight rather than review to help authors promote their work; in most cases I will hunt out reviews on either Amazon, GoodReads or blogs to make sure the book is well accepted by readers. While I do try and read the books, time is not always my friend and my TBR pile is large. If reviews are bad, then chances are I won’t bother reading it and will be even less likely to feature it.
My first thought on receiving the author image was of a man who knew all about the frustrations of angling for carp on old estate lakes containing monsters. I rather think that was the setting and wry smile.
On reflection, it has nothing to do with angling and a great deal to do with monsters. The smile (grimace) hides a disturbed mind brimming with twists and turns that wait to grab a reader and not let go.
Absolutely loved this book.
As I said above other reviewers have done that job already so do check out their links below.
But, what else does that smile hold?
Heard of the annual Blogger Bash?
Graeme is only on the committee as “Treasurer and keeper of the keys to the Bloggers Bash vaults.”
You can find the 2018 information on that event here.
Clearly community minded and an asset to the writing and blogging worlds.
Does make you wonder though, if you were to ever shake his hand, what grim ending he’s just concocted… in those moments when palms touch…
Author Bio:
Graeme Cumming lives in Robin Hood country, and has spent most of his life immersed in fiction – books, TV, movies – turning to writing his own during his early teens.
With his interests in story-telling sparked by an excessive amount of time sitting in front of a black and white television, his tastes are varied. Influences ranged from the Irwin Allen shows (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, etc.) to ITC series (The Saint, The Champions, Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) and so many more), so the common theme was action and adventure, but crossed into territories including horror, fantasy and science fiction as well as crime and espionage.
This diverse interest in fiction continued with his reading and his discovery of the magical world of cinema. As a result, his stories don’t always fall into a specific genre, but will always maintain the style of a thriller.
When not writing, Graeme is an enthusiastic sailor (and, by default, swimmer), and enjoys off-road cycling and walking. He is currently Education Director at Sheffield Speakers Club. Oh yes, and he reads (a lot) and loves the cinema.
Book Blurb
As she let her gaze drift around her, she saw that there were more birds. Perhaps a dozen or so, perched among the trees that stood on the edge of the clearing. And yet more were arriving, swooping down through the gap overhead and landing on branches that overlooked them. The birds weren’t threatening, yet the sight of them all coming together in this dark and isolated spot was unnerving. Tanya reached a hand out towards Martin, and was relieved to feel him take it. She felt him move in behind her. After the uncertainty she’d experienced with him in a similar position only a few moments ago, she recognised the irony of her reaction. His closeness offered security.
“You know what they are, don’t you?”
A stranger’s arrival in a small village coincides with a tragic accident. For the Gates family in particular it’s more than a coincidence, but unease increases following a brutal attack. As tensions rise, a dark past returns to haunt them and others, while newcomers to the village are drawn into a mystery with terrifying consequences.
And only a select few know why the ravens are gathering.
Ravens Gathering can be purchased from the following links
For an autographed copy contact the author directly from here
You can follow Graeme across his social media by clicking on the following links.
Reviews of Ravens Gathering can be found here.
Publisher.
Reblogged this on graemecummingdotnet and commented:
It’s always nice to get feedback when someone’s read your book. What Gary did here was take a lot more time and added a whole lot extra. Not only that, there are some very positive comments here, which is largely an indication of how good Gary’s post is – but obviously reflects how good Ravens Gathering is as well!
Will be over there to have a look and give it another shout out Graeme. I hope your Twitter notifications didn’t tick you off too! I’ve still a few more to throw your way!
Credit on the book too and you as an author; you’ve a great many friends that are only too willing to share and help out and thank you for your kind words too 🙂
How can I get ticked off by other people sharing the word? I’ll deal with the rest quite happily.
HI Gary,
Wow, the Treasurer? I had no idea how much went into throwing the Annual Blogger’s Bash. I have stumbled your post.
Janice
If it’s any consolation, Janice, the need for a Treasurer was a surprise to me too! Thanks for reading
Hi Janice,
Thank you for popping over 😊
Yes, they have an entire committee organising the event and I believe I caught a post saying they were forming a limited company to manage it all.
Most kind to stumble too and did I miss a meet and greet this weekend???
Yes come on over!!
This sounds delightfully unnerving!
Very much so Hayley; keeps you turning pages even if you mind says “Don’t do it!”
Excellent!
Delightfully unnerving? Two words I don’t normally put in the same sentence, but I’ll take them!
Haha.
This book sounds very scary, there is something about birds that gives me the creeps!
Graeme though, sounds quite a nice guy, despite the twisted mind!!!
Definitely worth a read then. you even have them on the cover here!
And yes, he is. Very talented and is taking the banter on here that suggests a good sense of humour.
Yes, he seems a good sport! 🙂
I’m still not sure about this twisted mind business…
HA!! Gary has a lot to answer for!!! 🙂
I’m beginning to realise that, Judy…
Bah, I merely toss the verbal hand grenades in and see what happens…truth will out and all that 🙂
Oh I do love a bit of verbal battling! 🙂
Ha,ha… All good fun Judy and if were ever taken badly I’d hope a nudge to that effect would drop in before adversity started yelling 😊
I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to reading anything horror like but I have two friends that I know this would be perfect for, and Christmas is coming!! I always try to give books as presents, so this will be absolutely perfect! And I love your author spotlights, Gary- everyone (including me) does reviews, these spotlights are something different and give a lot more insight!
I think horror has two aspects; one is gore in your face and the other is written to take the readers imagination on a ride. My own tastes are the latter. Graeme’s book also drags the reader with it too. There are not so many good horror writers out there that can make you want to keep those pages turning once the sun goes down.
As for the spotlights, I was going to do a post asking if they were what people found interesting. I deliberately avoided full on book reviews because a lot of people already do that and I want to move that way later on book blog tours pre-launch from publishers. I can’t thank you enough for the affirmation these ones are going in the right direction!!
A strong post Gary… Graham scary twisted? I am sure I met him at this years bash, nooo on second thoughts it couldn’t be as the one I breifly met in the Westminster hotel was charming… *gulp* maybe I should reword that bit at the blog awards. Great read for #socialsaturday.
Thanks Ellen, it was a fascinating one to do and right in my genre. Thing is…such minds that construct devilry oft hide it well behind a false charade…..beware the darker chaos lurking unseen…it plots and you never know when you may read a book and think “That’s me!”
All good fun though and, joking aside, I have heard many kind words about Graeme
Now I’m curious, Gary… Who else have I managed to con into sharing kind words?
Quite a few actually Graeme; some in the Big up you Blog group on Facebook., where this post is currently sitting on Social Saturday, and a few on other comments I’ve dropped into. All in all you have quite a good bunch of friends methinks! Not that I could possibly name drop you understand 🙂
I understand about the name dropping – just wondering who these poor, deluded fools are…
Excellent; I was not wrong then and you are collecting personalities to harvest in new books. Kudos that man 😉
I suspect chaos is afoot when he writes *chortle*
I rather think his writing persona is gaining control 😉
His muse has Muscle me thinks.
Obviously, the façade worked at the Bloggers Bash, Ellen – or maybe I need to let that twisted side of me loose in public…
No Graeme I could see the mischeif it leaks from your pen… but I could say it because I had cast eyes upon your actual self. Anyway it is a great post
You had me with your comment referring to a ‘twisted mind,’ Gary. But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you wrote that about Graeme. Those ravens can be so scary, can’t they?
Did I write that?? I deny all knowledge of it and suggest it was an autoincorrect moment….then again Ravens Gathering is filled with twists and turns. Horror writers minds are full of things best not discussed openly….um, or so I’m told…allegedly…ish….
Portents or omens of doom…birds flocking are well known for that in folklore…scary stuff 😱
Yes, from Edgar Allen Poe to Alfred Hitchcock, we’ve gotten scary vibes from the birds. That cussed autocorrect!
Good reason to walk looking at the ground then!! Mind you, there are places here where eating a sandwich on a sea front is likely to attract full on assault by sea gulls…a new age omen perhaps…
Or should I say Nevermore….
I’m beginning to wonder if this twisted mind thing is beginning to go a little too far…
Possibly so… or is it unleashing the inner dark side and the façade is cracking? Obviously this is a path many of my antagonists choose to undermine confidence…
Hmm… It seems you’ve found me out!
Umm, it might just be that I recognise my own writing mind in your demeanour… I will keep this very quiet my friend!
Great spotlight Gary! Graeme is a great chap!!
Thanks Ritu, and you’re right. I’ve found him tremendously easy to get on with in the lead up to this.
And when you come to the Bash next year you can meet! Hint hint!
He’s organising a get together in Birminghm in November too… Not got my head round this part yet !!
Cool!!!!
And I know you have a Birmingham connection, Ritu, so if you fancy a trip up for 4th November, there will be a small gathering (no ravens, though).
Thanks for your kind words as well – after all the “twisted mind” nonsense that’s been bandied about here, I was beginning to wonder about myself…
Lol! I wish I could but im.on a Governors training course on the 3rd… a day trip to Brum from here’s a toughie if I have school the next day! Maybe one day though!
You’re going to school on a Sunday?
Just thought it would be a good idea to create an opportunity for a few bloggers to get together informally away from London. We don’t have to stick to seeing each other once a year!
No but to travel back to Kent to be ready for Monday would be a bit of a sticky one for me. I agree though, it’s great to try and meet more often!
Sounds scary but good!
Very much so. Very twisted mind has Graeme….but I didn’t say that 😁
It is, but don’t let Gary fool you. My mind is not twisted… And, no, I’m not protesting too much!
Moi? surely not. I merely say it like I see it…. Although sitting on haunted carp lakes for a goodly spell in a previous life has possibly tarnished my view on many things! For the record, you have been a good sport in all this and it’s been a fabulous introduction to your work.
I need to get some more of my work out there then…
Absolutely, and if I can run anymore of these on your work then let me know!
It’s going more slowly than I anticipated, but Carrion should be out next year… I’ll keep you posted
Carrion; are we on crows next then 😉 I hear you on going slow though. I appear to be in a similar boat at present. Time will out though and keep me in the loop pre-publication too. I can help a little in promoting the release date if you like.
Crows, ravens… There’s obviously a theme. I’ll let you know as things progress. Thanks for your interest
My pleasure and themes are always good. Looking forward to the next book too!
You and me both!
Haha! Okay I’ll take your word for it. 😉
Interesting review…sounds a promising read for someone newly discovering their dark side…
Oh my yes. Graeme has done a fabulous job in this one. I finished it at the weekend and it really grabbed me. As for your dark side…NaNo…I believe you are asking for votes on a story thread yes? Not had time to cast mine yet 😉
Yep…both projects are ok but if I am going to do them justice then I need to put one on the back burner temporarily. And I am horribly indecisive…and I am back at the “Write what you know” and crisis of confidence thing again to the point I can’t even compose a decent shopping list..😢😢😢…
hmm Shopping lists are tricky blighters on a good day. Did mine today and it just seems like a bunch of £££ signs! I will hunt down your posts tomorrow and throw in my two cents worth… not that I’m much to go on opinion wise !
“Animal Tails” will be up on Saturday, but I would value your opinion, thank you. And the kettle has died…😢…at least I had a spare….
Excellent; can you link it to the other one please. I have read that, but would like to see them side by side 🙂
Flipping heck; you can’t be doing with not kettle AND becoming a writer!!!! make sure you keep the spare in good working order 🙂
Ah yes, good idea thank you…otherwise people will have no idea what I’m talking about..
I now also have a spare spare kettle, just in case…
I thought the spare kettle was now the primary kettle as the primary kettle broke. That leaves you needing a spare, spare kettle to replace the spare kettle that is now the primary kettle….or… does the spare primary kettle get relegated back to spare kettle when you buy a new primary kettle?
I’m sure that makes sense at some level 😊
It does. I have preferred brands…Russell Hobbs was the kettle that died today, which meant that Swan is now temporarily Number 1. I found a Cookworks kettle in the back of the cupboard which will now do duty as the spare spare kettle until I can find a suitable pretty replacement. Wilkos did have colour changing kettles on offer…
Good lord, it seems you do indeed (or did) have a spare, spare! Still, now is the time to go about colour co-ordinating with kitchenalia I guess. Not that I’ve ever thought of Wilkos as a resource for such…then again that would mean a venture into the town here, which I am loathe to do on the basis its rubbish!
The kettles change colour as they heat up…they’re see-through. Wonder if they’re LED…copper seems to be very “in” for kitchen stuff. Wilkos is online too..
Really? Tech there has moved on since my last kettle malfunction then. And Wilko…online?? Oh my, I never knew that. Must be that past nostalgic thing of before the inter web. The book page argument in a all purpose store thing!
That dark side sounds intriguing…
It’s taken a year Graeme…maybe more, but Samantha is really warming to it now 🙂
Yes..sometimes it’s not all sunshine and sparkles and an exploration of darker themes can be both rewarding and enlightening…🔮
Picture me smiling mysteriously…!
‘The smile hides a disturbed mind’ … 😀
It must! How else can you come up with this sort of thriller 😱 I hope you don’t mind me linking your review here too 😊
Ah… I know the author…. I dare not pass further comment 😉
Not at all 🙂 Hope you don’t mind that I’ve set this up to reblog in a few days 🙂
I rather think Graeme knows more than a few that might be tempted to discuss the merits of the mind behind the smile 😉 I’ve only got to know him a little during the course of this spotlight. He seems a really top bloke in truth. Also getting involved with the blogger bash committee is really impressive stuff too. Big kudos there.
Of course I don’t mind a reblog either! The whole point of my spotlights is to big up the authors concerned 😊
Graeme is a good guy and a good friend.He’s also written a really great book… although you have to watch him when he signs them for you… 😉
I’m not sure I’m happy about the way this conversation is going. And what was wrong with the signed copy?! (Apart from the handwriting, of course…)
Not a thing, Graeme 😀
Good to know! I shall now keep that in mind should I get an opportunity to get my copy autographed 🙂
You need to meet up with some fellow bloggers, Gary. I’ve got a meet in Birmingham in the process of being organised if you’re interested.
You may well be right Graeme. I’ve only been blogging, well on social media proper all round since January last year. I’m still amazed at how many bloggers are actually becoming friends. Have a few trying to tempt me to the bash next year too. Might be interested in this one, all depends when it is really!
The date is 4th November, and I think you’ll recognise names of some already going. If you’re interested, I’ll email you more details.
No harm in having a look at the info, but it does coincide with a birthday weekend here; one I’d rather blink and bypass this time!!!