The Purification Ceremony

This book is back to the great writing of the 1st two books I’ve read by Mr Sullivan. Apart from the bizarre small print used to start each chapter or describe a notice board or sign which might be an Amazon Kindle glitch!??!

I have enjoyed all of the Mark Sullivan books that I have read. Each is different and each story so well told. Thank you to Mark Sullivan for writing this intriguing story which kept me involved with each character.

I don’t know if it is just the Kindle edition of this book, or white, but there are some structural errors that really distract. For example, one persons name changes: it’s either Grover or Graver, and even on the same page it flip flops. Where was the editor?? That said, there are also a fair number of hunting/tracking in the wilderness terms that seem gratuitous and unnecessary—like the author’s working too hard to impress with details about a subject that is foreign to him. I liked the story, the protagonist is credible and even the more mystical elements really do work. Is it scary? Only mildly, and I wasn’t totally onboard with the rationale for how the killer came to be in this scenario. A lot of really good pieces parts, but maybe needed another edit before publishing.

I can't ever remember enjoying a read so much as this book! It was enthralling on so many different levels. It is writing like this that sets the mind wondering if ones own thought processes are actually out of sink with the natural wold. Thank you Mark, I look forward to reading on through your entire catalogue. Rockstarbob@blueyonder.co.uk

Mark T. Sullivan's "The Purification Ceremony" focuses on Diana Jackman, a woman of Native American ancestry who has separated from her husband and family in the wake of her estranged father's suicide. His death re-awakens long-suppressed emotional issues for Diana, and, in a bid to reconnect with her family's love, respect and near-worship of nature and the outdoors, she books a deer hunting trip in British Columbia. Things almost immediately go wrong, however, as Diana stumbles across the dead and ritually mutilated body of one of the guides, and more violent death follows. Not only is there a madman stalking the hunting party, the group is snowed in, and the killer has cut of communication with the outside world. Diana must use everything her father taught her to survive and protect the others, but she faces a vengeful murderer whose near-supernatural ability to track and hunt and kill is like nothing she's ever encountered. "The Purification Ceremony" has a great set-up, a protagonist with an engaging and captivating backstory, and an author with a gift for language. There are moments of true tension, but also, unfortunatley, too much reliance on mysticism, some points in the story that should have been better, and a twist reveal of the villain that is plausible, but which somehow struck me as too pat. I wanted to love "The Purification Ceremony" - the first two-thirds are genuinely excellent - but I only ended up liking it.