Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no. 2)

If asked to describe THE LEBO COVEN by Stephen Mark Rainey in a single word that word would be chilling.

After ten years, Barry Riggs returns home to find that his brother Matt has vanished. The brothers parted company on bad terms, but Barry is intent on figuring out what happened. With the aid of a childhood acquaintance, Jennifer Brand, Barry enters into a world far darker than he realized was possible.

What follows is a spine-tingling, edge of your seat roller coaster ride that conjures up black and white magick that is palpable and real. Rainey is a master storyteller who weaves his own brand of magic with intricate pacing and a delicate hand that just as swiftly knocks you back and leaves you breathless. It is a beautiful thing to bear witness to.

The endgame will leave you stunned and will sit within the dark recesses of your skull long after you’ve put the book away. It is quite simply one of the finest horror novels I've read and is a shining hope for horror's future as we sail into the 21st Century. If Dennis Wheatley and Hugh Cave were to have coupled, this would be their offspring.

If unbridled horror, with a touch of that old Lovecraftian charm, is your cup of tea then look no further. Thrills and chills await within the pages of The Lebo Coven.

4.25 out of 5