4 Stars!

William Meikle is a writer that I do not think gets enough attention as he never fails to thrill and scare me with his novels. It always amazes me how some authors continuously get overlooked even when their work outshines some of their better-known peers. In any event, I am always happy to get a new novel from Meikle and The Green and the Black promised to be another scary read.



When a professor and a group of students and assistants travel to the heart of Newfoundland to try to uncover the secrets behind an old Irish mining camp, they expect to find the signs of a tragedy that kept the camp from becoming a success. As industrial archaeologists, they were prepared to find evidence of poor planning and execution that led to the failure of the camp. What they did find, however, was something that none of them could be prepared for. What they found was an ancient evil that could mean the end of them and maybe even the world as they know it.



When the group first arrives at the scene, they find a journal detailing the camp’s misfortunes as well as figures made out of sticks that foretell of something much larger than human error. The journal tells of a strange infection that spread throughout the camp and eventually led to its doom. It seems like a tale straight from a horror novel, too fantastic to be true, until the members of the group begin to become infected as well. They desperately flee back to modem civilization only to find that doctors are unable to determine what the infection is and how to treat it. As things grow more desperate, it soon becomes clear that the group must go back to the mines and face the evil that has lived there since the rocks were formed. They must confront this ancient evil and figure out the cure if they are to have a future of their own.



The Green and the Black is a very creepy novel even though it is not one that will make the reader jump out of his seat. Meikle keeps the story on a slow burn throughout and ramps up the tension as the story goes along. There are a lot of typical horror tropes in the story but it never feels bogged down at any point. Even the flashes into the past and the journal entries which are integral to the story are handled deftly and do not feel stale. Meikle brings a sense of urgency to the story that keeps the reader pushing forward at all times and keeps the novel to a shorter length that works perfect for the tale. There are no words lost here. Just a streamlined horror story for a quick and unsettling read. That is refreshing when it seems like too often writers feel that longer is better and the narrative begins to wander. There is nothing wrong with a long book, but a book of the perfect length is much better.



Meikle is at his best in The Green and the Black. This novel really got under my skin right away and remained creepy throughout. There is nothing in this book that is going to make the reader lose any sleep but it does have a way of working under your skin and making the reader uneasy while reading the book. Meikle does a good job of balancing the two stories that run through the novel and blending the past with the present in a way that flows seamlessly together. I never really felt as if the story was something that could not happen in real life and that gives it even more of a surreal feeling. Meikle make the impossible seem possible with a measured dose of real life mixed with smaller doses of the fantastic. I know that this is not going to happen in real life, but it feels as if it could.





I would like to thank Crossroads Press and NetGalley for this review copy. The Green and the Black is available now.

When an archaeological research group travels to a mining camp in Newfoundland, they find some weird things going on. Throughout the site they discover strange wooden twig and leaf figures, and when one of the students takes a sip of ancient whiskey found at the site, he opens far more than just an old bottle, releasing some very old and long forgotten powers. The author weaves an impressive, almost magical tale of folklore and horror.

“As the ash’s canopy moved in the breeze overhead so too did the dancing shadows and it looked like the twig doll was swinging its legs, waving its hands and smiling, with tiny green eyes staring straight into Keith’s soul.”

An industrial archeologist, his research assistant and 3 students investigate a mining camp in Newfoundland that has been deserted since the 1870s. They find a lot of relics of the silver mining process and they also find the journal of one of the miners that reveals why it was not a good idea to explore this particular site.

I have read other books by this author, and he is good at writing horror. While there were some loose ends in this story it was definitely creepy. There are references to Irish folklore, but I have no idea whether the wee people ever caused anything as horrific as this author devised. A unique plague was visited upon the researchers. It reminded me a little of Poe.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

The perfect read for people that really enjoy folklore horror. While the book starts being really slow paced and takes a lot of time to set up the story and the characters, if you like this type of stories, you will definitely appreciate this one.
A book that doesn’t reveal all the secrets too early, but instead, it draws you into the mine and the myth and builds upon that to make the story creepy and give you that feeling of uncertainty.
The book is basically telling the story of a mine and what happened there. The story is told through two parallel story lines. The first one follows a few college kids and their professor going to an old mining site while the other story is told through the journal entries written by the foreman of the old mining site.

This was a relatively short book that was broken up into three sections. Although it had a fairly good storyline, it never fully sucked me in. Part of the problem was that the same song lyrics kept being repeated over and over again. It felt almost like the author was purposefully trying to take up space. Aside from that, this was decently written. It’s not going to become a classic or anything like that, but it will allow you to pass three or four hours, while being reasonably entertained.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an copy. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

It was a nice and entertaining read. The idea was great and it fulfilled every element I want from a good horror story. The characters were well written and likeable; the plot was consistend and thrilling - I adore a great horror book and William Meikle did deliver exactly what I was hoping for.
The fact that the story was based on some Irish men made me love the book even more, since I have a mild obsession with Ireland and Australia and technically, I am going to read almost anything feature even just the mention of both those countries.
The story kept me engaged to the book; I had some difficulties putting it down and the idea of the curse itself was absolutely unique! I have never before read anything comparable and I cannot say anything bad about this book, except one minor hiccup: The diary was written too modern for my liking.
But other than that, I can't say I have anything to complain about. I loved the characters, I loved the story, I especially loved the background and I was absolutely smitten by the writing style. If the author's other stories are as well as this one, I have found myself a new favorite author!

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is my first time reading one of William Meikle's books, and it certainly won't be the last. I love horror that has its roots in the history and folklore of specific places, and The Green and the Black hits those note really well. At the same time, the characters strike sympathetic notes as the struggle to maintain their humanity and sanity in the face of ancient nightmares come to life. There are moments of genuine terror as well as a mood of intensifying suspense.

What whiskey will not cure there is no cure for. - Irish proverb

An archaeology professor, an assistant and three students head into the Newfoundland wilderness trying to track down an abandoned silver mining site from the 1800s.

They do find the site and uncover a diary from 1874 that talks about the Irish mining expedition that was there before them.

When strange, scary things start to happen at the mine shafts and in and around camp, the diary helps the modern-day explorers understand what happened back in 1874 and is happening again.

I've read other horror novels by author Meikle and enjoyed them and this was a creepy take on Irish folklore.

I heartily recommend this book to readers of horror, fans of Meikle, and fans of Irish folklore.

I received this book from Macabre Ink (Crossroad Press) through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

The Green and the Black

[Blurb goes here]

The author takes you to Newfoundland where an archeologist and a group of students stumble into a cursed site. The imaging in this book was describe in great detail, which I loved. The story, not so much. Although I have to say that I enjoyed 'the diary' the group found in the site. It was hard to put the book down, that's a plus. Unfortunately the way one of the characters gets rid of the curse is one of those absurd moments in which a magician takes the bunny out of the hat: no warnings, no clues, no nothing, and suddenly the guy knows how to free his friends from becoming garden plants. All in all, I enjoyed the read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This is the third book by this author that I have tried, and unfortunately I am just not a fan. This was a DNF for me.

My thanks to Crossroad Press, William Meikle and Netgalley.
I'm a true blue, Meikle fan. I really enjoyed the poop outta myself with this book!
Meikle has the innate ability to annoy the shit out of me with his creature features, or lull me into something of which I want no part, but will still tag along! This story.... I sang old lullabies to my first born daughter. This was one. I had never realised how my lullabies tie to the old.💔
Meikle did a nice job here. I actually felt for those Canadian Irish. So hopeful. To pay off debts, and to home!

With a good bit of editing and the removal of a LOT of adjectives and adverbs, this could be a good horror story. It has a lot of overlaps with Swamp Thing, though, to the extent that I'd be worried about copyright infringement. I did like many of the details, although the way the group behaved and spoke to one another was not terribly realistic, nor was the way archaeology was depicted.

This books made no sense to me at all. I finished this book still none the wiser as to what happened and why. It goes at a steady pace and doesn't drag but it was just all very bizzare. I don't think there was enough explanation for me to fully understand what was supposed to be happening and why.

So, this was an easy little read that kept me occupied most of the day. It’s a folky tale of almost body horror that made me feel a little queasy in parts (a good thing as it’s meant to since it’s a horror novel!), although, I felt there could have been some more information on the folk element. There’s a plot based around Irish folklore but no real information (that I gleaned) about this - some more context would have elevated this novel for me! All in all, a good and easy little read.

A good and gripping story with the right creepy factor.
Good plot and world building, interesting characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A very quick read, but while I did have to suspend belief at some points especially where they instantly trip over a diary and the diary while written so far in the past really didn't seem like the language changed all that much, I thought it was a fast paced interesting thriller. I can't really fault the diary because it is extremely difficult to write so I am willing to overlook it.

Other than that I did enjoy the characters and the story overall. I'd definitely check out what else this writer pens.

I really enjoyed this book. Great characters, great pacing, great story. William Meikle is definitely someone I'll have to read more of.

In a remote Newfoundland location an old Irish prospecting camp is discovered, something of great interest to a local archeology professor and his team. So they go exploring an eerie abandoned site and there in a darkness, where the green meets the back, discover a terrifying secret that might kill them all. Now doesn’t that sound like fun? Of course, it does.
So the thing is, I’ve been reading Meikle for a while now, his books often come up as freebies, and the overall impression up until now has been decent. That’s it, though, just decent. But with this book he really elevated his game. It’s like suddenly all the elements comprising a good literary fright, atmosphere, character development, scares, etc. went from average to really good. And this novel just worked so well. Backstoried by Irish myths, this is essentially a version of Green Man scenario mixed in with the Fairy/Wee folk tales. The descriptions are great, Meikle brings the camp site and it’s twig figures to life in 3D cinematic vividness. The story is psychologically dark, dynamic and very engaging. No cheats, no cheap thrills, no overreliance on gore and guts, just a good old fashioned scary story told well. If possible, read this one at night, in the dark. I did and it certainly boosted up the overall effect. Overall, very nicely done. Recommended, especially for genre fans. Thanks Netgalley.