The Ritual by Adam Nevill

 

The Ritual by Adam Nevill - 418 pages

Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common, and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired, they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. This place of dark ritual is home to a bestial predator that is still alive in the ancient forest. And now they’re the prey.

As the four friends struggle for salvation, they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees..

This book was spooky enough, but I feel it could have been more so.  The story seemed to lag in the middle and the ending for me was not what I was hoping for.  However, the idea of this book is good and I did for the most part enjoy it.  I will definitely seek out another of his books.

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco - 320 pages

This is the sequel to The Girl from the Well.  Okiku and Tark have reached an understanding where the vengeful spirit and the boy can coexist.  But stresses in Tark's life at school bring out the worst in both of them and it brings another student to harm.  A friend of theirs back in Japan led an expedition into the so called "Suicide Forest" and is missing so Okiku and Tark leave to go and try and find their friend.  They stumble into a mystery that blends the present and past in terrifying ways.

This book wasn't as good as The Girl from the Well.  It suffers some from heavy handed exposition where a lot of the background is told to the reader by a character who wanders through just for that reason and nothing more.  The violence in this teen series is pretty strong so it might be an issue for younger teens.