In the Midst of the Sea

A moody, atmospheric and terrifying horror thriller reminiscent of classic Stephen King, In the Midst of the Sea is an impressive debut novel by a gifted new writer. This is a gripping story of supernatural horror and psychological realism that slowly reveals that the greatest danger is the people closest to you in your own home. Trapped in an isolated old house on Marthas Vineyard in winter, Diana Barlow is either seeing ghosts or losing her mind. After an estrangement from her parents, Diana came to Marthas Vineyard to start a new life with her husband Ford and young daughter Samantha. The beautiful Victorian house that Ford inherited seemed the perfect home for a fresh beginning. But in the winter, when the tourists go home and the island is deserted, Diana is afraid shes going crazy. Spectres of people long dead flicker in and out of her vision. The antique dolls in her house never stay where they are put. Samantha suddenly has a whole group of imaginary friends who live in the house and tell her terrible things. And Ford is becoming increasingly moody, unpredictable, and violent. The mysteries of the old house deepen when Diana finds a strange book in the basement -- the journal of Elizabeth Steebe, whose husband built the house in 1871. Diana finds an eerie parallel between her own life and Elizabeths, as she reads Elizabeths fear-filled chronicle of her religion-crazed husbands descent into abuse and insanity. As Diana researches Elizabeths fate, she begins to wonder whether the phantoms she encounters on the Vineyard are illusions or a glimpse into the past, and whether Elizabeths journal was left to her as a warning. While Diana investigates the horrifying history of the house, the past, the present, the living and the dead fatally intertwine, and Diana realises she and her daughter must escape -- if Ford and the house will let her.