The Exiled by William Meikle : Review

When several young girls are abducted from various locations in Edinburgh, Detective John Granger and his brother Alan, a reporter, investigate the cases from different directions. The abductor is cunning, always one step ahead, and the only clue he leaves behind at each scene are the brutalized corpses of black swans.

When the brothers’ investigations finally converge at a farmhouse in Central Scotland, they catch a glimpse of where the girls have been taken, a place both far away yet close enough to touch. A land known throughout Scottish history with many names: Faerie, Elfheim, and the Astral Plane. It is a place of legend and horror, a myth. But the brothers soon discover it’s real, and, to catch the abductor, they will have to cross over themselves.

To catch a killer, John and Alan Granger will have to battle the Cobbe, a strange and enigmatic creature that guards the realm, a creature of horrific power that demands a heavy price for entry into its world. The fate of both realms hangs in the balance…and time is running out…

The Exiled by William Meikle is a bit of Scottish mythology, detective crime fiction, and horror all mashed up into one. I was originally not all that interested in reading this story and kept putting it off despite the fact I was looking for something new to read on a daily basis. It took only a couple pages of the book before I was sucked into the story and unable to put it down until I had finished it. I found it to be a fitting addition to DarkFuse’s catalog of dark and twisted stories.

After a young girl goes missing from a seedy housing complex detective inspector John Granger finds himself caught up in a series of missing children cases where the only evidence left behind is the mutilated remains of a black swan. Meanwhile reporter Alan Granger is has found a trail that may lead them to the missing children and their abductor. The only problem is when Alan and John follow the trail back to its source no one may believe the secrets that they uncover. The two brothers soon find themselves drawn into a battle that may decide the fate of more than just the abducted girls.

Containing extremely dark and graphic imagery, you learn early on this novel is not for the faint of heart, and I would not recommend it for those who do not enjoy reading such stories. That being said, I think anyone who reads this story will agree that William Meikle is an amazing author with a unique writing style and vivid imagination. He has created a story that you will be unable to put down once you’ve picked it up and started reading. I found the characters to be likable and to have believable flaws that made you like them all the more, and the plot had enough twists and turns that kept me guessing just where it was going and how the story was going to end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror or dark fantasy in addition to anyone who enjoys great writing, believable characters and an ending you will never see coming.

I received a copy of this publication for free in exchange for an honest review.