Fog Heart

By Thomas Tessier

“Following in the tradition of some of the best British ghost story writers, the American Thomas Tessier (who has spent several years in Ireland) has produced an atmospheric and haunting novel of couples shattered by their failures to understand, communicate with, and love one another.

Tessier’s strengths lie in the subtleties of his characters and the ways in which he draws on setting and nuance to develop an overarching sense of loss and dread throughout the novel. We pity, hate, fear, and cheer the three pairs of haunted individuals whose lives intersect through the reluctant medium Oona. Across two continents, a series of unforgivable acts sends ripples of inevitable tragedy through their lives.

By the end of the novel, Tessier’s plot twists and spectral appearances have driven the story to a surprising and painful conclusion. But it is the only ending to which these people could come. This is a deep and intelligent novel that horrifies and resonates. Moving and highly recommended.”

— Jack Haringa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Booth
• Release date: Jan 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310044748

Reviews for Fog Heart

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tessier gives us a look into the lives of two couples who cannot deny that the supernatural has invaded their lives. The Spences, Oliver & Carrie find themselves dealing with visits from the ghost of Carrie's father; he has something to say to Carrie but no words come out when he talks. Jan and Charley, the other couple, lost their only child years earlier in a horrible fire and now Charley finds himself having to face the fact that their daughter is trying to communicate with them. Both couples find themselves together at a seance with a strange, young medium named Oona, who sets into motion events that will leave tragedy in their wake. Oona, in fact, does her best to lay the ghosts to rest, all of them except the ones she carries within herself. Tessier's writing is very good. The novel started out very strong and was shortly scaring the bejeezus out of me -- I LOVE a good scary novel. Everything was really good, in fact, until the last part of the novel, where I found myself scratching my head and saying "huh?" when it just got weird. Much more than a ghost story, it is also a fine suspense read. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good way to spend a rainy afternoon, with the caveat that there is some incestuous behavior in the book; if you don't like that aspect, then you may want to skip this one. Otherwise, Fog Heart is a good read, and I will be looking for other books by this author.