A Stranger's Grave

By Craig Saunders

The dead rise, and only the dead can rock them back to sleep...but sometimes it falls to the living to do what the dead cannot.

Elton Burlock's done his time. Twenty-six years for a terrible murder. Some of those years were hard, some easy. On the outside, he takes the only job he can find - the custodian of a local cemetery. A simple job, keeping the grass tidy...giving the dead a haircut.

But there are three black angels in the cemetery: a little girl's ghost that roams the night...and two women, one a vision in white, one a nightmare in black.

When the killing starts, who can rock the restless dead back to sleep? Who but Elton? Elton, custodian of the dead, but the gatekeeper, too. The keeper of this world and the next.

The dead are awake. The little girl is free of the earth. But there are no lullabies for the dead and if he's going to live, Elton's going to have to give her what she wants.

Then, maybe, he can find peace for them both - in the grave or out.

"With A Stranger’s Grave, Saunders has written a truly dark, atmospheric and character driven tale, packed with page-turning mystery, sorrow, and a jaw-dropping reveal that will leave readers haunted long after they’ve gone to bed." —David Bernstein, author of Machines of the Dead and Amongst the Dead

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grand Mal Press
• Release date: Feb 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781937727369

Craig Saunders

Craig Saunders is the author of forty (or so) novels and novellas, including 'ALT-Reich', 'Vigil' and 'Hangman', and has written over a hundred short stories, available in anthologies and magazines, 'best of' collections and audio formats. He tends to write science fiction as Craig Robert Saunders, fantasy as Craig R. Saunders, and most fiction as Craig Saunders...although sometimes the lines are blurred. Imprints: Dark Fable Books/Fable Books.  Likes: Nice people, games, books, and doggos. Dislikes: Weird smells, surprises, and gang fights in Chinatown alleyways.  He's happy to talk mostly anything over at: www.craigrsaunders.blogspot.com  @Grumblesprout Praise for Craig Saunders: [Masters of Blood and Bone] '...combines the quirkiness of Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series with the hardcore mythology of Clive Barker to create an adventure that is both entertaining and terrifying.' - examiner.com [Vigil] 'A gripping accomplishment.' - Murder, Mayhem and More. 'Saunders is fast becoming a must read author...' - Scream. [Bloodeye] '...razor-sharp prose.' Wayne Simmons, author of Flu and Plastic Jesus. 'Plain and simple, this guy can write.' - Edward Lorn, author of Bay's End.  [Deadlift] 'Noir-like, graphic novel-like horror/thriller/awesomeness.' - David Bernstein, author of Relic of Death and Witch Island. 'A master of the genre.' Iain Rob Wright. [Spiggot] 'Incredibly tasteless, shamelessly lowbrow, and very, very funny.' - Jeff Strand.  [A Home by the Sea] 'Brutal and poetic...' - Bill Hussey, author of Through a Glass, Darkly. [Rain] '...the best book I've read in a year.' - The Horror Zine. [Cold Fire] '...full of emotion and heart.' - Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Reviews for A Stranger's Grave

[charrlygirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this book from Grand Mal Press back in February when it was offered for free at Smashwords. Thanks, Grand Mal!

This is the story of an ex-convict starting up his new life as the caretaker of a cemetery. He meets a few people in the course of his new job. Some of them are not alive.

At it's heart, this is a ghost story. It takes a little while to figure that out, though. I did like the way in which the story was presented, with a few exceptions. There were chapters interspersed with the main narrative which would start off like "There's a gatekeeper in a cemetery in a small Norfolk market town." Now, I don't mind intervening chapters when doing a back and forth format say from present time to some time in the past. The format as presented in this book though, served no purpose to me,other than to vaguely foreshadow a few events to come. Secondly, there was some repetition going on that got on my nerves a little bit. (I know the guy has two degrees, I know! Enough already!)

Overall, I did like the premise of the book and I liked how the story played out. It's just that I could have done without some of that repetition and the few extraneous asides -(guy in a small market town) pages. I deducted two stars for those reasons and give this a solid three star rating. I would try more from this author in the future.

[rschiver_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is a cemetery in a small Norfolk town....Thus begins the journey of recently released Elton Burlock who served twenty six years in prison, five for murdering the man who took his wife and daughter, the rest because Elton was not a man to be caged.One of the most difficult tasks a writer faces is making their words transparent, allowing the story to come to life in the readers mind. Craig accomplishes this with a graceful ease that quite honestly makes me, as a writer, jealous. He paints a vivid picture of a man trapped between the authorities who at first eye him with suspicion, and his unspoken duty as the cemetery's caretaker to keep the dead at rest. But vengeance is what they seek and if Elton is to accomplish his task he must first locate a stranger's grave.This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good ghost story.