“The Wild Hunt”
By Emma Seckel

Spirits of the Dead Plague Windswept Celtic Island

The stone circle perched high upon the craggy cliffs of the almost forgotten upper northern Scottish island cast a menacing shadow upon Leigh Welles as the ferry deposited her upon the home shores she happily fled years before in “The Wild Hunt” by Emma Seckel.

Returning because of her father’s untimely death, Leigh said goodbye with a flaming Viking funeral. Shooting a burning arrow into a boat carrying the deceased is just one of the many ancient traditions and superstitions common on the island.

During October, the locals fear that crows embody the souls of the dead. The residents also perform ancient Celtic rituals around the standing stones while chanting Gaelic spells dressed in long robes and wearing terrifying masks. October culminates with Bonfire Night and Halloween, the mythical nights of ‘The Wild Hunt’—evenings to be highly cautious—hungry ancients expect to be fed human sacrifices.

A local boy brutally kills a crow during the Bonfire Night festivities. He then goes missing. Soon the island is bombarded with murders of crows attacking individuals and destroying property. Did the teenager’s actions trigger the crow violence? Did he become a sacrifice for the Wild Hunt?

I enjoyed “The Wild Hunt” because it featured Celtic lore, mythology, mystery, and romance. It’s a fast-paced, easy-to-read novel that kept me engaged from the beginning to the end.

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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs

STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: “The Wild Hunt”
Author: Emma Seckel
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Mysteries & Thrillers
Publication Date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Tin House

Sincere thanks and appreciation go to NetGalley, Author Emma Seckel, and Publisher Tin House for this Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) for review.