Reese Wallace and friends sneak into a campsite at Strong Lake for a weekend of fun. Things become strained between friends before the evening even begins. Reese cuts into a weird looking tree for firewood and hears a strange disembodied voice warn him to leave. The next morning he awakens to find his friends brutally murdered.
He is the only suspect until Detective Greyeyes begins to experience strange things as well and begins to believe him. Other murders are happening. Something evil has been released from Strong Lake and the two will have to work together to get answers and stop the killing.
I enjoyed this book. Nice paced with likeable characters. What seems obvious is only the beginning.

After reading twenty pages of JH Moncrieff’s Those Who Came Before, I had the sinking feeling that I had been there before, many times. The opening has a distinct creature feature vibe with four dumb kids being stalked and butchered by a vicious beast lurking in the forest. Thankfully it amounts to much more and I was delighted I never gave up the ghost too soon, as this highly entertaining novel does not disappoint. Yes, there is a creature, but it is only part of a more complex and intelligent narrative.

Large sections of Those Who Came Before is narrated in the first person by Reese, who is in his early twenties and about to finish college. He is travelling with his girlfriend Jessica and their two friends Kira and Dan to a campsite where they intend to spend the weekend. However, Reese and Jessica spend much of the time arguing, and if it was not for the terrific sex, he would probably have dumped her. Upon arrival they are dismayed to find the camp already closed for the season and they unwisely break into Camp Strong Lake, which is built upon an Indian Reservation. Jessica continues to moan and the two men look for wood to burn and stumble upon a huge diseased tree and chop off a few branches. None of the four are having any fun and are thinking of cutting their losses and heading home early the next day.

Thus far the novel could be lifted straight out of any number of slasher films or stories, but it makes an unexpected and welcome turn into fresher territory. As Jessica is still pissed at Reece, she bunks up with Kira, much to Reece’s dismay for the lack of potential make-up sex. He wakes up the next morning and realises his three friends are dead; Dan’s head rolls out of his sleeping bag and comes to rest beside his foot. At this point the book picks up a gear and has much more to it than Big Foot romping in the woods with three of what looks like the main characters killed in the opening sequences. With most other areas of the book I will be intentionally vague to avoid spoilers, but there are plenty of entertaining twists and turns.

We then jump to the other main character, Native American detective, Maria Greyeyes; her heritage plays a key element to the story, as Those Who Came Before also has much to say about the present situation of the indigenous population. I find this part of the story thoughtful and cleverly blended within the structure of a supernatural thriller. Greyeyes begins to investigate and wonders why does Reece not have any memory of the killings? She does not believe him to be guilty, but at the same time the lack of other suspects is alarming. Feeling the pressure to crack the case, she turns to the local reservation police and is shunned, as they believe the campground to be cursed and is totally avoided by the local tribe. Strangely, when we see the story from Maria’s point of view, it is told in the third person. This is odd, but it does not hold the story back.

Maria Greyeyes is a great character and although she is Native American, she is torn between being a modern policewoman and old cultural traditions, an angle which gives the book an extra dimension. It is also her first big murder case and she does not wish to lose it to another area of the police force should she fail to make progress. Initially Reece is very open with the police, but as the evidence mounts, up the story begins to get more complex.

The campground is bleakly described and although the four kids visit when it is closed, one wonders why anybody would want to stay there at all. It oozes negative vibes. A couple of the characters swear they hear a voice saying, “You’re not welcome here,” and that is seriously unsettling. Those Who Came Before has a number of excellent moments, including convincing dream sequences which are so vivid they must be read, and great flashbacks to much earlier in the history of the native tribe. The scene where Reece visits the parents of his murdered girlfriend is equally impressive.

I have already noted this is much more than a monster novel and the way in which the supernatural element of the story fans out is very cleverly played with a seriously sinister amulet, curses, and the impact on the detective’s marriage and sanity. As a certain point you will most likely see where the novel is going, but this does not detract from a superior horror novel which spares a thought for injustices suffered by Native Americans without blatantly ramming the issue down your throat.

An easy read, an entertaining and well written book. I liked how the characters and the plot were developed and the creepy factor was quite high.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Reese Wallace goes on a camping trip with his girlfriend and another couple. He becomes the lone survivor of a grisly murder. Detective Greyeyes must figure out whether Reese is a sadistic murderer or not. Is he the murderer or is there something supernatural occuring?

As Greyeyes delves deeper into this mystery she and her family are pulled into the fray. What is happening to her? To Reese? Who are the Lost People of Strong Lake? Why is there an arrowhead that Greyeyes cannot be rid of? Detective Greyeyes enlists the help of Chief Kinew from the nearby reservation, but can she believe him? He blames the murders on the mythical Wendigo, but surely that is just a children's tale.

More and more she dreams of Little Dove and her peoples' harrowing ordeal. The dreams are telling her the story of the Lost People of Strong Lake.

I enjoyed the pace of the book. It was frightening with some gore, but not overly gruesome. I enjoyed the dreams of Little Dove. Her story was heart wrenching.

Those Who Came Before is a horror novel about two couples who go camping at Stone Lake, only to find out the campsite it closed. They go in anyway, and cut down a strange black tree for firewood. Despite a whispered warning, they stay the night - but only one survivor leaves the next morning.
Detectives are understandably suspicious of the survivor. But one detective thinks he might be telling the truth when she hears whispers as well. When she learns the history of the campsite, she only has a matter of time before more people start dying.

Those Who Came Before was phenomenal! Fast paced, yet filled with information. The characters felt like well fleshed out people. Detective Greyeyes was by far my favourite, having a strong female detective was a nice change of pace from other books.

The best bit of Those Who Came Before was the use of history. Moncrieff didn't shy away from using painful history as part of the story, dealing with residential schools, the hardships of reserves, as well as the diseases brought by settlers to the Native American people. All of this plays a part in the history of the campsite, which suited it really well, and made it feel more immersive. Using some traditional stories as well for the horror aspect of the story was brilliant.

Despite loving this book, I did find it a bit slow at parts. There are flashbacks scenes as the history is built, and some of those at the beginning of the book took me a bit to get into. When I realized the purpose of them, they were much more enjoyable, but I found it a bit jarring jumping between past and present at first.

Ultimately though, I highly recommend this book. J H Moncrieff is an author I've enjoyed before, and I know I'll enjoy again, and I look forward to whatever book comes next.

This is the perfect horror story to take on a camping trip! Although I'm not sure I'd actually be able to sleep out in a tent if I started reading this while I was out there. I'd probably hightail it home the first chance I got. It's all about the Native American mythological figure-the Wendigo and a camping trip from your worst nightmare. If you're not as chicken as I am you should definitely read this around a campfire!

A solid horror/mystery that keeps you reading as the plot unfolds. A few interesting twists kick in just when you think you might have it figured out. A splendid writing style keeps you engaged page after page.

I actually enjoyed the crap out of this book! I understand that it's a wee bit mad, but for me the wendigo makes sense. It always has. I grew up around reservations. My best friends from 2nd to 10th grade were native Americans. I learned the gosh awful truth, not in school, but from Penny's mom. She was my bestie from 7th to 11th. Then, she got stupid, and decided to get married! Idiot! This book was not everything I look for in a wendigo story. It's just a fact that I'm a bit sniffy when it comes to these type of tales. Still, J.H. Moncrieff did one hell of a job. I must admit that I hated the ending. Still, it was an end. I'm someone who wants the story from the victims, murderers, and everyone in between. I didn't feel much for these people the way I should have. For me, The heart wasn't there.

Except for the one who died. Crikey, this may sound like I didn't enjoy this book, but I really did. I just wish the author had gone deeper.
My thanks to Flame Tree press, Netgalley and always, the author. One review given and taken. For the price of a measly review.
Also, I've never read this author before. But, I will more than likely look them up on Amazon. Yep, I would recommend this.

“This land is your land, This land is my land,

This land was made for you and me.”

Throughout this read, these two lines and most of the ‘This Land is Your Land,’ song played throughout my head. Originally written by Woody Guthrie, this was a rebuttal at the time to the frequent playing/airing of ‘God Bless America.’

Whether J.H. Moncrieff had this tune in the back of her mind while writing this story isn’t known, but the lyrics (and in my case the modified Canadian lyrics I grew up hearing) were synonymous with what played out.

Let’s get into the meat and potatoes of ‘Those Who Came Before,’ shall we?

Strong Lake.

Reece, his girlfriend Jess as well as her friend Kira and boyfriend Dan, head to Strong Lake to go camping during the long weekend. Unfortunately the campground is closed, but that doesn’t stop them. They bust in, find a site and decide to have some fun. A discovery of an odd tree begins a horrific story and a sprint through Native American lore. Then after the other three go to bed, Reece hears a voice, so close you’d think it was directly behind him; “You’re not welcome here.”

J.H. Moncrieff has returned with a stunning, new tale of supernatural horror wrapped in a small town’s history of bigotry and racism.

“As I went walking that ribbon of highway,

I saw above me that endless skyway;

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me.”

I became a huge fan of J.H.’s previous work, loving ‘Return to Dyatlov Pass,’ ‘The Bear Who Wouldn’t Leave,’ and most recently ‘Monsters In Our Wake.’ J.H. creates startling tales filled with characters that feel real. I love how much depth she gives even to the smallest of characters and in this story that character building shines. Sometimes to the detriment of the reader. In this case, I really couldn’t stand Reece at the beginning. He comes off as uncaring towards his girlfriend and simply staying with her because they have great sex. Same with Detective Greyeyes husband, Ben. Couldn’t stand the character. I didn’t like how flippant he felt towards their marriage or towards Greyeyes job. If you’ve married a professional athlete, you know what to expect. Same with a police officer or detective. I’d like to believe Moncrieff made those two like this purposefully, but as it played out they did their jobs effectively.

“I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps,

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;

While all around me a voice was sounding,

Saying this land was made for you and me.”

The real gem of this story is the Native American folklore that this story is based on. The forgotten tribe and the story behind them was fantastic. I enjoyed learning more and more about Little Dove, Lone Wolf and then Little Bear. As we found out more about what became of them as well as the connection to the modern day portion of the story, it was really well done. The present day Chief, Kinew was a great character and Moncrieff used his storyline to the absolute limit, pushing how he interacted with Maria and then with Reece to the max and it created a great push and pull dynamic.

By adding in the arrowhead and the visions associated with it, it was a fantastic way to connect the two time lines.

Moncrieff also does a great job working in historical facts. One of the most hideous things that has come to light over the course of indigenous history is the introduction of small pox through infected blankest given as gifts. This is a book that will make you do some research after you are done reading. For me it was done before and during, due to a book release on my end, but also wanting to do some due diligence of my own. One of the most shocking statistics I found, which J.H. herself relays in the afterword, is that the last residential school in Canada closed in 1996. I always thought this was something that only occurred back in the 60’s and 70’s. How wrong was I?

“The sun came shining, and I was strolling,

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling;

As the fog was lifting, a voice was chanting,

This land was made for you and me.”

Of course, no Native American tale like this wouldn’t be complete without the usage of a demon from their tales, and in this case the Wendigo is paramount. There was a reason for Reece going through a transformation throughout this story and with it the use of the Wendigo was a great way to create a monster that is able to move through the forests at will, but also can think and react as a human does.

Recently, when watching the movie The Ritual, based on Adam Nevill’s book (which I still have to read) the ‘monster’ character that was featured was outstanding. Moncrieff, with the description used to introduce us to the Wendigo has created a creature to rival Nevill’s. I would absolutely love to see this story be told on the big screen.

At the end of all of this, the climax and the epilogue were outstanding ways to tie it all together. Moncrieff absolutely delivers on the bigotry narrative, the interpersonal dynamics that occur between Native people working a ‘Caucasian’ job who have to then interact with Native’s. Reece’s parents were done well as were a few others, who I won’t describe to avoid spoilers. But from page one to THE END this book delivers time and time again.

Moncrieff continues to elevate her writing game and I hope this book takes everything to the next deserved level. She dedicates this book to Tina Fontaine and the book unravels from there. I’ve included a few links at the end here if you’re interested in reading a bit more on a few things alluded too throughout. At the end of the day, we need to do more and we need to be better.

While Moncrieff has already released a number of outstanding works (I still need to read The Ghost Writer series) this is her masterpiece. In this case though, I have no doubt Moncrieff will continue to churn out stunning releases. She’ one of the BEST authors out there.

Review was originally featured here; http://kendallreviews.com/book-review-those-who-came-before-j-h-moncrieff/

Loved the mythology in this book. Loved the wilderness storyline. Great horror novel by an author I hope to read more of. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE is an extraordinary novel of paranormal horror, based on Native American mythology and grounded in ugly historical fact. Seen through the perspective of a new University graduate and a Native American homicide detective, the novel also interweaves visions which clarify past history of both the indigenous tribe and of the onslaught of European settlers. A tremendously engrossing novel with a deep emotional impact, this is non-stop reading.

Those Who Came Before is a fantastic horror story. It is well written and has great characters. I would read more by this author.

I love horror novels, but I'm picky about them. I only love good horror novels. So many of them are cheesy, or trite....but not this book.

It starts with the story of stranded teens struggling to survive the wilderness, which I really enjoy. Then things get mysterious. Then dark and twisted and scary.

I was drawn into the story, the characters, the mystery of what was happening.

Thank you to net galley for an advance copy. I truly enjoyed this book.