Paul, who fled the family who adopted him as they were too interfering, has his own life under another name. But his adopted sister, Adele, finds him and persuades him to see his parents once again. They live in Fellstones, named for the strange seven stones grading the village green. Soon, Paul is sucked back into coming back, while unbeknownst to him, his family is plotting something that has to do with him and the stones.

I’m honestly not sure what to make of Fellstones, the forthcoming book by the great Ramsey Campbell. All the horror tropes are there - the mystical seven stones in the village green, the close mouthed villagers who are harboring a secret, and the duped main character, who is slow to realize what’s going on. Yet there was, at least for me, no sense of dread or horror, while reading the book. I had to force myself to finish the book, which at times, just dragged. All in all, a decent effort.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of Fellstones. ( )