It is May, 1706. Ana, a young Spanish woman, lives in a small town on the north-west coast of Tenerife with her mother and twin younger brothers. The town is in the shadow of a mighty volcano, which legend says has the devil living inside it. However, there has been no eruption for thousands of years and no one believes it is a threat.
One day, Ana notices that the air feels strange and heavy, that the birds have stopped singing. Tending the family vineyard, a sudden strange tremor in the earth frightens her. Very soon it will be a race against time for Ana to help persuade the town that they are in danger and should flee before the volcano erupts and destroys their world. Will they listen? And Ana herself faces another danger . . .
TWG’s Thoughts.
What I think is brilliant about Quick Reads, is that you get the chance to read little tasters of an authors work, getting a feel of their storytelling before you delve into a full length novel. That is also handy when it is an author you haven’t read before, just like me and Kate Mosse. Until ‘The Black Mountain’, I had heard of Mosse and seen her work on Amazon and what not, but I had never read one of her books. Don’t ask me why – I am asking myself the same thing!
I didn’t know what to expect at all. Would the storyline be completely historical? Or would it have more of a fantasy/gothic feel to it? Or would it be a mixture of all of that and then some?
Personally, I thought ‘The Black Mountain’ to be the latter. The storyline had such a unique, spellbinding vibe, and I loved the historical element especially. I found the concept of the mountain and the history behind it very enthralling – I was eager to find out more.
Despite being a smidge over 100 pages, ‘The Black Mountain’ certainly packed a punch! I loved how the hook was there from the get go, along with the element of surprise and intensity.
If I had to sum up this novella in one word, I would choose ‘hypnotic’ because ‘The Black Mountain had me under its spell until the last page. A well thought out, nifty little read that had me questioning why I hadn’t read this authors works until now!
Buy now from Amazon.
The Writing Garnet 