What happens when Nature turns on man?–The former mining village of Mercy is about to find out! The white death in the trees in The Wolf Woods shows the damage of fire many years past. Only there had been no fire in Mercy and these same trees had been vibrant and green not long beforehand. The dying of the wood spreads and soon the villagers are encircled by ash grey trees with limbs that don’t … by ash grey trees with limbs that don’t seem to want them to leave. That’s when the people begin to disappear.
As Sheriff Joe Moorefield tries to figure out what is going on, while at the same time trying to keep his people sane, it becomes very quickly clear that the trees are the least of his worries.
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Plain and simple, this is a story about murderous trees. In the small town of Mercy, Maul noticed white substance starting to cover the trees near his home. Maul lived like a hermit in the woods and was only friendly with the bar keeper Sally. Rampike is the what they use to describe the white look to trees after a fire or lightning strike. In this story, the Rampike spreads quickly through the forest and becomes deadly for humans.
It is an interesting concept of nature vs man. I wish the story could have given some reason why the trees were getting covered with Rampike. But, it was still a good story with several people in the town trying to fight the trees and survive. What would you do if you tried to leave town and the trees made sure you couldn’t?
Maul, a hermit living in the hills above the small village Mercy isn’t popular with the villagers. Only Sally, the owner of the local tavern barters with him. One day he notices strange white markings on the trees as if they’re scarred by lightning or fire. The disease spreads fast and he wonders if someone deliberately poisoned his land. One night, the tendrils of the affected trees start to move and they catch him. When the sheriff notices that Maul hasn’t come to town for a while, he starts to look for him and also notices the strange whiteness of the trees.
This is a classic, straight forward horror story in the tradition of Lovecraft and Poe, written very visually and full of suspense. There’s no reason given as to why the vegetation suddenly turns on the humans of this particular village. There’s no mention of the period in which the story takes place but it was a time when hotels would still ask for a marriage licence of young couples. A perfect Halloween read.
Filling in the blanks
After reading Gossamer Falls I had so many questions about the town of Mercy. What happened to it? Where did all the people go? Rampike, like Gossamer Falls, is such a riveting story that I had a hard time putting it down so I could get to sleep or get on with my day. All my questions were answered. And wow! What a great story teller! This is what nightmares are made of! The narrator was great on the audiobook too. I completely love this author’s ability to tell a great story!
Rampike is filed with suspense, misdirection and a cast of characters who come in two flavors, easy to like and easy to hate. I started listening with full intent to stop after my morning walk and save this book for my week’s morning walks. Well I have to admit that plan vanished after I listened to the first hour, I had to finish the story and see how this story resolved. If you lie stories that contain paranormal element as well as being thrillers with a cast of characters that are believable then give Rampike the opportunity to get its hooks into your psyche.Tom Taverna’s narration is excellent!