“Nerdection Excellent Read”
Lost Grove is a haunting debut novel by Charlotte Zang and Alex Knudsen, blending elements of mystery, suspense, and the supernatural to craft a gripping tale set in a seemingly idyllic town steeped in darkness.
Spoiler-free Plot
For fans of Twin Peaks and Stranger Things, Lost Grove is the first in a paranormal mystery duology that explores the twisted legends and mysteries in one small town.
In the eerie, enigmatic town of Lost Grove, where secrets whispered among the rustling pines are as thick as the fog rolling in from the sea, the discovery of Sarah Elizabeth Grahams’ lifeless body on the windswept beach is but the first note in a haunting symphony of mysteries.
Sergeant Seth Wolfe, the town’s tenacious lawman, penetrates the cryptic and labyrinthine secrets veiled beneath the town’s cheerful facade. A connection to Sarah Elizabeth, one he could never have fathomed, begins to take shape, blurring the lines between his own existence and the mysteries that enshroud the town. Suspects multiply like whispers in a haunted forest, but each lead unravels, and the mysteries of the case deepen.
Meanwhile, a group of local teenagers embark on their own harrowing mission, driven by a relentless desire to answer the riddle of their friend’s vanished brother and expose the sinister secrets harbored by an affluent institute nestled in the heart of Lost Grove. Further complicating matters, one teen’s father left town the morning Sarah Elizabeth’s body was found. With ties to a similar case seven years prior, he has become a prime suspect in the case.
As Seth dives deeper into the abyss of darkness gripping Lost Grove, an unsettling discovery threatens to derail his investigation and shatter the illusions of safety the town has harbored for far too long. A chilling web of malevolence begins to tighten its grip, ensnaring them all in a nightmarish dance that will test the limits of their resolve. Readers who love the eerie, unsettling mystery of Stephen King’s The Outsider and the monstrous legends of Brian McGreevy’s Hemlock Grove will enjoy this twisty, taut thriller.
My take on Lost Grove: Part One
Charlotte Zang and Alex Knudsen bring us a work that mixes different elements from various genres such as adventure, mystery, fiction, thriller and suspense, under the idea of delving into the mysterious and unusual situations that occur in a small town. Zang became interested in literature at a very young age through authors such as Ray Bradbury and Roald Dahl who helped foster his love of science fiction and fantasy stories.
For his side, Knudsen, in addition to writing stories (mostly focused on horror), has also worked as a director of some short and independent films, which adds a new creative element and new perspective to Lost Grove.
Seth Wolf is a homicide detective who held that position for several years in the San Francisco Police Department, from where he was transferred to his hometown (Lost Grove) to work as a sergeant, something he viewed favorably since it would allow him to be closer to his parents, who are already quite elderly.
The event that triggers the whole plot and serves as the take-off point for the story is the dead body of Sarah Elizabeth Grahams, a townsperson who, curiously, had not been there in the last two years as she was studying at university. This presents us with the first mystery: How does Sarah’s naked, dead body end up on the beach (Mourner’s Beach) of her town when she was not even near that town? The concept, so far, may not seem like anything very new, however, as we said, this is just a starting point.
In this way, the town’s police force, including the recently arrived Seth, Sarah’s family and friends, and the rest of the town’s inhabitants, become involved in the mystery. In parallel, a group of young people are investigating the disappearance of the brother of one of them, something that creates the feeling in the reader that there is a relationship between both events. The authors execute the development of the initial events very well so that it serves as an element that attracts the reader to the story and leads them to want to continue knowing more, as the story becomes more and more complicated.
Sarah’s death helps the determined Sergeant Seth, willing to do anything to solve the mystery, delve into his own traumas and past to try to overcome personal situations that are revealed as the work progresses. The inhabitants of Lost Grove have a slightly more relevant role than it might seem, since they begin to promote rumors that serve to give clues about the mysteries, but at the same time they can lead to misleading both the characters who are in search of the truth and the reader who wants to solve the mysteries. All this without mentioning Mary, a character whose moral ambiguity adds more darkness and doubt to the work, nor the supernatural elements such as witches or murderous creatures.
Lost Grove is a story that quickly captures the reader through its dark atmosphere, the constant feeling of death and that anything can happen, especially due to the complexity of the characters that make it very difficult to try to predict what direction the plot will take.
About The Author Of Lost Grove: Part One
Alex Knudsen
Alex Knudsen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attended the University of Southern California. He started writing in the third grade when he created the short story, Mr. Raquetball. He went on to write numerous unpublished short stories and a bevy of screenplays. Knudsen is the founder of Gantry Productions and is the writer-director of numerous films, including the Independent award-nominated feature film, Autopilot, and the award-nominated short horror film Consuming Beauty, which was adapted from his wife’s novel of the same name. Knudsen is a self-taught mixologist and devourer of horror films. Alex currently lives in Oregon with his wife and three Basset Hounds. His previous novels are the epic horror The Nawie and Lost Grove: Part One.
Charlotte Zang
From the moment her mother started reading her bedtime stories, Charlotte Zang has cherished literature. The first stories introduced to her were fairy tales and folklore, which weren’t the kind you’d find the princess living happily ever after. Thanks to one oddly placed door in a friend’s basement, her first novel, Satan’s In Your Kitchen, sprang to life in all its glorious comedy. She also wrote a fairy tale of her own, a dark retelling known as Consuming Beauty. Blooding is her third novel, a horror story of the occult and monsters. She has written and published Lost Grove with her husband Alex J. Knudsen.
She is an author of fantasy, horror and magic, master of her garden, queen of delicious recipes and mother of basset hounds. She lives in the Pacific northwest with her three hounds and adoring husband.
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