The Cabin Sessions: Book Review
Whew! It was really nice to take that week off! I cleared off a lot of my plate, so I can concentrate on my writing — which of course, includes this blog!
Today, I am reviewing a book I got through my Blackthorn Book Tours connection, so yes, I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The Author
Isobel Blackthorn has a long-standing association with the Canary Islands, having lived in Lanzarote in the late 1980s. A humanitarian and campaigner for social justice, in 1999 Blackthorn founded the internationally acclaimed Ghana Link, uniting two high schools, one a relatively privileged state school located in the heart of England, the other a materially impoverished school in a remote part of the Upper Volta region of Ghana, West Africa.
- Isobel Blackthorn’s website
Blackthorn is an author of dark psychological thrillers, mysteries, and contemporary/historical fiction. Her works include Twerk, The Cabin Sessions, and The Legacy of Old Gran Parks. She is currently working on a new mystery series.
The Novel
A storm is is rolling into the narrow mountain pass when hapless musician Adam Banks stands on the bridge over the river that cleaves the remote village of Burton. The night is already blighted by an astrological omen, and Adam thinks of turning back. Instead, struggling against a rising panic, he resolves to fulfil his obligation to perform the guest spot at The Cabin Sessions. He cannot let down his mentor, Benny Muir.
- The Cabin Sessions Amazon page
The Cabin Sessions is a dark and twisted tale told from the third-person view points of Adam and Philip, in-between the flowery diary entries of Eva, and takes place over a single evening: Christmas Eve at a bar called the Cabin, for a fated open mic night.
Warning for those who might be sensitive to certain subject matter: there is child death and incest/abuse.
The Review
First let me start out with a fun story — I was out doing some chores and I decided to drop by a cafe for a coffee and to start reading The Cabin Sessions. This cafe has a chalk wall and someone had drawn a cabin in the woods on it. I also found out that I had shown up on their open mic day. Are there such things as coincidences?
Anyway, it was too good a story to share. Onto the book!
Darkly decadent, The Cabin Sessions traps the reader in one place, sinking them deep in the mire that is the town of Burton’s twisted history. The reader learns secrets piecemeal, drowning in the suspense, as Blackthorn rushes them to the explosive conclusion.
At first, I had a hard time getting into Blackthorn’s writing style. It felt really heavy. But — and if you read my review of The Only Good Indians — once I got used to her style, it gripped me tight. So I would definitely recommend you push through the first couple chapters if you find yourself floundering. The tale is absolutely worth the swim. (How many puns? So many puns.)
The Cabin Sessions reminds me of the classic Gothic novels I really love, like The Mysterium. I felt like I was drowning in Blackthorn’s delicious prose, in the almost living setting of Burton, and sinking deep into the dark secrets of those who live there. It’s subtle, it’s brutal, it’s unforgiving.
No one can be trusted, no one can be depended on, and the end left me gasping.
Absolutely brilliant.
9/10
x PLM
