Beneath the Lighthouse by Julieanne Lynch is a horror tale featuring death, ghosts, and coming of age. After the death of Emer, there has been an unsettling emptiness in the house and no matter how hard Jamie and his siblings pretended or prayed, that reality haunted everyone in the home. Jamie McGuiness can’t help frequenting the lighthouse where the body of his sister was found, but he isn’t the only one who lurks around the place. There are ominous ghosts whose presence can only mean evil. An encounter with a spirit will set Jamie on a dangerous path to uncover family secrets and old grudges as he fights to reconcile old feuds. Will he be drawn into the darkness of the dead or can he survive and make things right?
Julieanne Lynch is a master storyteller and I enjoyed the way she pulls the different elements of the story together. I was hooked by the beauty of the prose. The power of the prose — descriptive, and loaded with vivid imagery — is one of the strong appeals of this story. The author makes the reader feel the story by evoking emotions with clarity of expression and aptness of diction. Each sentence evokes a strong feeling and the author uses this style to allow readers to understand the dynamics in the McGuiness family, the emotions of the protagonist, and the pervading sense of horror that permeates the narrative.
The writing style, including the formatting, the unique phraseology, the paragraph breaks, creates an enjoyable reading experience. This is a beautiful story with a tricky plot, compelling characters, and awesome dialogues. I enjoyed the way the author allows the accent in some of the characters to come out in dialogues — a great example is Lenny, who reflects an uncouth personality. The story is also fast-paced and a great work of entertainment. Beneath the Lighthouse has great world building, relatable characters, and an exciting plot in a story that is deft and balanced.