The Lost Village

The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:

They are not alone.

They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?

Come find out.

"RELENTLESSLY CREEPY." —Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger (An NPR Best Horror Novel)

"IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP READING." —Ragnar Jonasson, author of The Island 

Title: The Lost Village

Author: Camilla Sten

Genre: Mystery / Horror

E-book:  320 pages

Publication Date: 03/23/2021

Publisher: Minataur Books

Language: English

ISBN: 1250249260

ISBN-13: 9781250249265

My Review

Nothing better than a Swedish dish of a novel every now and then. The time is right, scary reads are to be devoured and The Lost Village is kicking up the heat and chill factors with this engrossing tale of an entire town gone missing.

Found tied up on a lamp post in 1959, was the deceased body of a female villager, decayed, rotten, and riddled with flies. In the distance, among the workers deserted mining homes, an infant is heard crying.

Silvertjarn is Sweden's one and only ghost town and it hasn't been touched since 1959 when all its residents disappeared. Alice has a personal interest in finding out what happened to the village since it is where her grandmother was from. Her plan is to create a documentary to shed some light on this secretive place and she relies heavily on Kickstarter funding and a crew of friends to make it happen.

From inception to - what could it be called? - completion or disaster, this project is almost doomed. With a camera crew and equipment, the team of five sets out to explore the town. By the first night, strange things begin to happen that will trigger events to snowball into danger. Not only does everyone in the crew have personal issues, but there is something seriously scary taunting them in that scary ghost town.

Told in the "NOW" and "THEN" format, the storyline converges with Alice grandmother's timeline when the town was still thriving to it's demise. A tale that is infused with secrets and spun around cult-like circumstances that will leave clues for Alice to pick up on in her research.

What has rested for so long, has now been woken up and it's only a matter of time before the entire crew is lynched one by one before it is too late. Who will win this devilish race with time...the now or then and will Silvrtjarn remain Sweden's The Lost Village?

This is a sizzling thriller of the cerebral kind. The storyline of the past was my favorite part to figure out and it gave it some real character, unlike the mix of the film crew, which wasn't quite as developed to me as those in the correspondence and documents of the key players of the villagers. True, they had some baggage, and references were made but I think the main focus was truly on the past.

This wasn't the scariest of reads but it did have surprises around every corner. If you discount the factor of time and just take it as what it is is, a scary story, then things don't have to line up perfectly, so for example, some team members find shelter, they are hurt, but then split up to search for food and right away something new happens. It's like they evade one problem only to make decisions to get further into trouble.

Considering all aspects of the novel, they did come together pretty well. As we learn of the cult and what happens to the villagers in the past, the reader is still confronted with figuring out how it all translates into the now. These links have been cleverly placed and a few things have been left for interpretation.

There are some brutal parts in here but nothing like some other Scandinavian novels I have read. Awareness of the following triggers might be useful: rape, self-harm, and psychological disturbance. As a person somewhat sensitive to brutality and such, I was completely fine reading this book.

My overall enjoyment factor was high with this novel and I liked the mystery of the town's past and the hints given to solve them. Despite its little flaws, it was an entertaining page-turner.

Happy Reading!

I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

All opinions are my own.

Thank you