The Burial Tide

The Burial Tide opens with the main character, Mara, in one of the most horrifying positions any of us could find ourselves in - buried alive. Not only that, she has no memory of anything before waking up in the coffin. The feeling of claustrophobia we immediately get from this continues as Mara feels isolated and doesn't know who she can trust as she tries to remember who she is and what happened to her.

The people of Inishbannock are quick to tell her who she is and start caring for her - except for the ones who look at her with suspicion and horror or want to have nothing to do with her at all.

The more she finds about her past, the less sense it makes. Seeing the story from multiple points of view somehow gives us more information and more perspective while still taking its time to reveal the truth of the mystery, even as Mara - and we - begin to put the clues together.  

Besides the mystery of Mara's identity, there's also the mystery - and horror - of what else is going on on the island. What is killing the sheep?  What are the creatures that people fear? What is attacking the islanders, and what in the body horror is happening to them? What are the secrets that the island and its inhabitants are so desperate to hide?

The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson is a chilling blend of folk and psychological horror, mystery, and Irish folklore. His prose is so descriptive, the novel practically played like a film, and with every new reveal, I changed my mind about what I thought was going on, right up to its perfect conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Books for the advance copy for my honest review. Pub date: 9/9/25

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