By the Light of Dead Stars

Beyond the Lost Coast, Book 1

De: Andrew Van Wey

Narrado por: Tom Jordan

On the Lost Coast, some things should never be found....

When tragedy shatters 13-year-old Zelda Ruiz’s adolescence, she retreats with her uncle Mark to the bucolic town of Greywood Bay. It’s a chance to heal and build a new life together.

But nothing can prepare them for the malignant terror that has long coveted these lands.

It looms over redwood groves and lurks in the foundations of homes. It festers in the dark hearts of the wounded. And now, this cosmic horror has found a new weapon: a means to worm its way into our world.

To save their community—and each other—Zelda and Mark will need to confront their darkest demons, both inside and out. For what stalks Greywood Bay hungers for suffering above all else.

And soon, it will feast…By the Light of Dead Stars.

©2022 Andrew Van Wey (P)2023 Andrew Van Wey

A great performance by Tom Jordan

There is so much about this book that I enjoyed. At its heart, it is truly a horror novel with all of the scary bumps in the night, weird shadow creatures, and a weird history! All great horror stories have to have a ‘history’. In this quiet planned neighborhood, the newest residents are an odd pair of outsiders thrown together by a fatal automobile accident that killed the parents of a young teen named Zelda. The nearest relative, an uncle was named as the benefactor of the estate and guardian to Zelda.
Uncle Mark and Zelda decide to make a fresh start in this new community. I’ll leave it here to prevent giving away too much of the story.
Apart from being a great story, the real art of author Andrew Van Wey's writings is the wonderful character development and possibly the best dialogue I’ve read. It's one thing to create verbal interaction between adults, but it's a whole other level of talent that can dredge up early/pre-teen nonsensical conversations. I couldn’t help but laugh as the young 'stars' Zelda, Ali, and Maura meet for the first time. Ali is riding his bike with Maura, a member of the football and wrestling team riding on the back, her leg in a cast. They approach the ‘new girl’, Zelda. From this point on, the adventure never lets up.
There are several storylines occurring concurrently that will keep you on your toes and looking over your shoulder at any unexpected sound or breeze.
I already mentioned that I really enjoyed reading this first book of a new series. I also highly recommend the Audible book performed by the very talented Tom Jordan. I will patiently wait for the next book in this series.

4 ✨, recommend

4 ✨, recommend

By the light of dead stars was a well written story.

I thought the character development was really good. I felt that I could relate and definitely share emotions with them. I really love how it is written in different perspectives.

It was very interesting and easily grabbed and held my attention throughout. I did listen to the audiobook: read by Tom Jordan and he did a great job.

By the Light of Dead Stars

When I think back about listening to this book I get pulled back into the feeling I had while listening. I felt totally immersed in this book, like I was inside of it. The characters were likable and relatable. The story was intriguing. I definitely suggest listening to this! The narrator does a wonderful job of pulling you in and bringing it all to life.

Amazing Book

I wanted to read this for a while, I've had the paperback in my cart, but i just signed up for Audible and chose this as my first listen and it was so fun! The characters are so well rounded, the story never had a single dull moment, no one scene lasted for an awkward amount of time, and the plot was just on point. 10/10 highly recommend.

Surprisingly enjoyable

I’m usually not one for cosmic horror but found this to be an exception to the rule. Looking forward to the next book.

Kept me questioning

Could’ve used some editing and direction seem to be going all kinds of ways yet turned out to be quite a good story. Definitely fell for the characters.

The tension and smart build of cosmic horror

The performance didn’t seem as punchy. It could have used some special effects for a lot of the end dialogue.

Coming of age cosmic horror

Fantastic writing by Van Wey and excellent narration by Tom Jordan!

I love love loved these characters - Mark’s uncertainty as he moved his life for his niece (not to mention he’s a teacher trying to do well by his kids), Maura, who’s an amazing badass, and how she keeps her friends in line, Ali’s nerdy wordy jokey self, and of course, Zelda, finding her way through adolescence and her grief for her parents.

Van Wey draws in his readers quickly and dazzles them with the light of these dark stars; this is a tale of cosmic danger and how we often misread those on the fringes of society.

As I understand it, there are more titles coming; I’m not one for reading series, but damn, I’m definitely ready for more here. Please release book two soon!!

Definitely check this one out if you love cosmic horror and coming-of-age tales!

Outstanding realism in a fantasy horror novel

This book had me on the edge of my seat multiple times with scary, monstrous scenes and situations. What set it apart from a standard genre book for me, however, was the very realistic writing of the humans, their choices, and the consequences they faced for each of their decisions. Really looking forward to the next installment.

An Okay Story with Awful Narration

The story itself is nothing special. Serviceable weird scifi story. Sadly the narration is terrible. The different voices and accents are poorly performed and inconsistent. The narrator mispronounces many common names/words to the point of distraction.