Title:	The Boy from the Sea: A Dark Gothic Romance
	Author:	H.L. Macfarlane
	Published:	November 8, 2023, Macfarlane Lantern Publishing
	No. of Pages:	289
	Cover Price:	$14.99 paperback, $4.99 Kindle

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If you’re looking for a thriller that is unique, and a bit weird, you’ll want to pick up a copy of The Boy from the Sea: A Dark Gothic Romance by veteran writer, H.L. Macfarlane. Grace Ferguson, a PhD student is helping with a lab and sees a student, Dylan Lir, who sparks an obsession that leads to true love between both. There are strange goings on in the small Scottish town, such as a series of attacks on citizens. When Lir doesn’t come to her flat, she worries that he is one of the victims.

Grace is well-developed as a character, and Lir is also, albeit very strange, especially when it comes to his obsession with the sea. He reads books on myths which, it turns out, he has enjoyed during his childhood while being raised by his aunt after his parents committed suicide by filling their pockets with rocks, walking into the sea to their deaths, and abandoning Lir on the shore. Grace knows nothing about his childhood until the end of the novel, and that’s when the dénouement occurs, which is a mixture of surprise and disbelief. The story is easy to follow, and the writing is good.

All told, this dark novel is a big change from the norm. It is interesting, shocking, and seems to have some supernatural aspects. While this thriller isn’t for everyone, it is a change, and makes readers think about how serious true love can actually be.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.