“There was something on the moors, he just knew, something that scared the villagers enough to make them leave their homes and everything else to be rid of it. Something ugly and hungry had scared them away, something that moved beneath the veil of dark and fog. The Beast of Prior, perhaps.”
Kealan Patrick Burke’s MASTER OF THE MOORS (first published in 2008 in a signed, limited edition; 2012 in trade paperback) opens with a woman frantically running alone on the moors of Dartmoor near Brent Prior in 1888 at night. Equally frenzied are those in the party out searching for her. The scene, with all the haunting visual power of Hammer film’s THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959) which also takes place on the moors only lacks James Bernard’s intense film score. This scene of eerie terror aptly sets the stage for the novel’s continual and powerful suspense and typically mesmerizing Burke storytelling. As readers and Burke’s search party quickly learn, there are greater dangers than a “treacherous” misstep on the moors at night with its “boulders, bogs, excavation pits and mires scattered throughout.” Something more than a giant hound. Something very powerful, pernicious, and pure evil. The dire consequences of this one night on the moors impacts all the novel’s subsequent events which pick up years later in 1904.
Kealan Patrick Burke has risen to the upper ranks of modern-day writers of thrillers and MASTER OF THE MOORS is a prime example of the foundation upon which his current reputation rests. His writing is colorfully descriptive with exact, measured word choices and distinctive character dialogue which brings each page of the novel to life. The author’s use of the “isolated and desolate” moors for the novel’s setting is ideal for the atmosphere and mood of the story which continually seeps from the pages of the novel.
Definitely a master of suspense, in MASTER OF THE MOORS Burke introduces one intriguing layer of mystery after another as the story focuses upon a brother and sister, sixteen-year-old Kate Mansfield and her fifteen-year-old, blind brother living with their incapacitated and possibly dying father. Cared for by a loyal groundskeeper, Grady, and a loving, tenacious charwoman, Mrs. Fletcher, the siblings find themselves subject to malevolent machinations by others, many of whom hold deadly secrets close to their hearts and are not who they appear to be. Sorting out good from evil proves nearly impossible in MASTER OF THE MOORS due to Burke’s cunning plotting, but when a mysterious stranger appears with his head mostly covered in ragged bandages, it is clear the evil which has previously lurked in the shadows is becoming more bold and events inexorably become more ominous as does the ever-present sense of doom and calamity.
Burke brilliantly depicts the human characteristics of desire, the yearning for revenge, the need for belonging, and the uneasy feeling of dread of the unknown in MASTER OF THE MOORS. He also cleverly utilizes folklore and manipulates a traditional element of the supernatural in MASTER OF THE MOORS, making the horror that steals from the shadows and the motivation for the events which take place not only more rationale than a conventional treatment, but also more fear inspiring.
“It was an abomination, an unnatural thing woven from shadows, with white fire for eyes.”
As more and more people disappear and bodies (or pieces of them) begin to pile up, the distinction between hunter and prey begin to become clearer as Burke reveals what skulks in the heart of wickedness in Brent Prior. In an energetic and thrilling climax with a couple of nasty twists few, if any, readers will see coming, Burke brings MASTER OF THE MOORS to its amazing and portentous end.
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Reviews with images
Hauntingly perfect Gothic horror
I was pretty excited to get this book in the mail. I have been wanting to dive deep into the older works of Kealan Patrick Burke, eager to see if his style changes or I don't know, maybe could feel him Americanize through his work. Therefore, when I seen Master of the Moors was set in the UK, it became a must have.This book feels different than the others. It feels somewhat more natural and comfortable. Although Kealan's vocabulary is always vast and often impressive, this one feels effortless, second nature if you will. I appreciate his turn of the 20th century setting, making the atmosphere very vintage, old worldly goth. I am loving everything about it. A vast open land, blinding fog, missing people...this is screaming CREATURE FEATURE at me.So I sit with my book in the dark with only candles lit to give it a much more authentic feel to the reading experience. We start with some characters joining a search to find a missing woman on the moor. Great opening scene here. It sets the tone of what will happen later. No spoilers but the woman is found dead and insanity ensues.Fifteen years in the future, a survivor of the search/hunt is super sick and his children are in danger. People begin to be violent, strange animals are seen in the dark, and a strange bandaged man arrives in town. Some say he is here to grant wishes, but soon fifteen year old Neil will find out.OK so things I love: setting, atmosphere, language, the creaturesThings I loved less: Donald
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
This book feels different than the others. It feels somewhat more natural and comfortable. Although Kealan's vocabulary is always vast and often impressive, this one feels effortless, second nature if you will. I appreciate his turn of the 20th century setting, making the atmosphere very vintage, old worldly goth. I am loving everything about it. A vast open land, blinding fog, missing people...this is screaming CREATURE FEATURE at me.
So I sit with my book in the dark with only candles lit to give it a much more authentic feel to the reading experience. We start with some characters joining a search to find a missing woman on the moor. Great opening scene here. It sets the tone of what will happen later. No spoilers but the woman is found dead and insanity ensues.
Fifteen years in the future, a survivor of the search/hunt is super sick and his children are in danger. People begin to be violent, strange animals are seen in the dark, and a strange bandaged man arrives in town. Some say he is here to grant wishes, but soon fifteen year old Neil will find out.
OK so things I love: setting, atmosphere, language, the creatures
Things I loved less: Donald
Hauntingly perfect Gothic horror
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
I was pretty excited to get this book in the mail. I have been wanting to dive deep into the older works of Kealan Patrick Burke, eager to see if his style changes or I don't know, maybe could feel him Americanize through his work. Therefore, when I seen Master of the Moors was set in the UK, it became a must have.Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
This book feels different than the others. It feels somewhat more natural and comfortable. Although Kealan's vocabulary is always vast and often impressive, this one feels effortless, second nature if you will. I appreciate his turn of the 20th century setting, making the atmosphere very vintage, old worldly goth. I am loving everything about it. A vast open land, blinding fog, missing people...this is screaming CREATURE FEATURE at me.
So I sit with my book in the dark with only candles lit to give it a much more authentic feel to the reading experience. We start with some characters joining a search to find a missing woman on the moor. Great opening scene here. It sets the tone of what will happen later. No spoilers but the woman is found dead and insanity ensues.
Fifteen years in the future, a survivor of the search/hunt is super sick and his children are in danger. People begin to be violent, strange animals are seen in the dark, and a strange bandaged man arrives in town. Some say he is here to grant wishes, but soon fifteen year old Neil will find out.
OK so things I love: setting, atmosphere, language, the creatures
Things I loved less: Donald
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2018
If you take the atmospheric delight of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles and mix it with a supernatural air of pure human terror such as in 30 Days of Night , then you will have a small idea of what you're getting yourself into with this gripping tale.
This mere 200 page novel takes off like a shot, and will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. My jaw was on the floor for dang near the first two chapters entirely. Burke's use of imagery is astounding at times. In some horror novels I have a hard time picturing things that should not exist, but not here. The scenes payed out like a movie in my head. Love, lust, loyalty, human frailty and betrayal, as well as redemption, are some of the underlying themes throughout. And just as with his descriptions, Burke handles these themes and characters adeptly. I was invested from the beginning and without saying too much, the ending left me astounded and only wanting more.
This mere 200 page novel takes off like a shot, and will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. My jaw was on the floor for dang near the first two chapters entirely. Burke's use of imagery is astounding at times. In some horror novels I have a hard time picturing things that should not exist, but not here. The scenes payed out like a movie in my head. Love, lust, loyalty, human frailty and betrayal, as well as redemption, are some of the underlying themes throughout. And just as with his descriptions, Burke handles these themes and characters adeptly. I was invested from the beginning and without saying too much, the ending left me astounded and only wanting more.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2020
Top reviews from other countries
Confessions of a Reviewer
Another masterpiece.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2013