Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: The Low Road

AUTHOR: Eleanor Harkstead

PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing

RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2019

LENGTH: 45 pages

BLURB:

Can a lonely driver and a tragic hitch-hiker cheat both time and death?

One night in the pouring rain, Alex stops on Gallows Hill to pick up a hitch-hiker. But when the hitch-hiker vanishes from the passenger seat, Alex fears for his sanity.

Then he discovers that Gallows Hill is a place filled with ghosts—of smugglers, witches and highwaymen.

And a young, tragic hitch-hiker named Joe.

When Joe appears again on Gallows Hill, Alex dares to hope that they can cheat both time and death. But how can there be a future for them when Joe is trapped in a few minutes of a rainy night forty years before?

REVIEW:

One stormy night, Joe was in an accident and killed after hitch-hiking a lift on Gallows Hill. Forty years later, he’s still hitching a lift. One stormy night Alex picks up Joe and soon realizes that he’s giving a lift to a ghost. After several encounters, Alex and Joe fall for each other. But what can happen when one is living and the other dead?

Well, for a story that is only ten thousand words, it melted my heart and managed to have a couple of twists in it. Rarely does a story so short affect me so much.

I found this little gem a technically sound baby masterpiece. It is incredibly tricky for short stories to have depth. The usual error authors make, is to try to fit a whole film into a trailer. Not the case here. What Eleanor Harkstead has done is take one element and give it life. The focus stays on Joe and Alex, which is a difficult thing to do. When writing any story, it is easy to get sidetracked. Other characters are brought in as and when necessary and not one of them is surplus to the plot. Scene setting, too, is just right. There is enough so that I could definitely imagine myself on Gallows Hill and as a passenger in Alex’s car. Yet, sufficient is left out, to keep that Halloween vibe.

Joe is an interactive ghost and is mostly unaware of his demise. He has few lines but manages to come across as likeable, with nothing ‘pet cemetery’ about him. Alex is a darling with a caring nature. He looks into the ghosts of Gallows Hill – an exercise that hints at the chilling ghouls out there. The more Alex talks to Joe the more he gets involved. Yet, in his heart he knows someone living can’t have a relationship with the dead – at least not a healthy one. To find out how it ends you’ll have to read The Low Road yourself. Some bloodthirsty Halloween junkies may not find it their cup of blood, but for me I enjoyed every word and will probably read it a few more times.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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