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The cover of the rather obscure audiobook for this equally unheralded book that I listened to at the gym stated it was around six hours long. But oh boy, it sure felt a lot longer! After a very brief introduction of the two so-called "protagonists," the novel devolves into a tiresome soap opera featuring characters who are far too similar and inhabit an estate in the British countryside. Halfway through the book, long after I had completely forgotten who they were, our "protagonists" make a return and the plot finally starts to move, well, more like simmer. It's obvious that whoever wrote the blurb on the back of the audiobook never actually listened to it. Because although Nicola is supposed to be a "protagonist" (meaning we readers are somehow expected to care about her), in reality, she has absolutely no agency. And neither does Edward, our supposed hero. In fact, the final nail in the coffin comes from an unlikely and rather random source. Frankly speaking, I'm really not sure who the intended audience for this novel is. At first, I thought it was going to be a kind of sleazy gothic romance, but everything is pretty tame and none of the various forgettable female characters are anyone that one would want to identify with. There are a few scenes of witchcraft or satanism, which are the only times when the reader, Rowena Cooper, seems to show any interest. But there just aren't enough of these scenes to satisfy someone looking for a knockoff of The Wicker Man. I guess what I'm really trying to convey is that it probably should have been titled The Devil on Lame Ass Night instead.
