Something Evil

Something evil lurks on tiny Beauregard Island and is willing to kill whoever gets in its way . . . Something Evil is Gilbert B. Cross’s first novel in the “new adult” category, and it is set in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Sea Islands of Georgia. Alex Keniston attends a private high school in Geneva where she has her first mature relationship with a member of the staff. Upon graduation, she joins her father at Cusabo House on Beauregard Island off the coast of Georgia. He is surveying the island to see if a hotel can be built there. The islanders are violently opposed to any development, knowing it will ruin their way of life forever. Stephen has remarried, and his new wife is beautiful and a superb cook. She appears to be everything a man could desire. However, his daughter is less impressed. She soon begins to feel Elly is not who she claims to be. Alex meets Matt Swainson, and, after a rocky start, they eventually fall in love. Matt is a student from Oberlin College who is studying the Gullah language, a fascinating version of English used by the islanders. Alex and her stepmother are rivals for Stephen’s affections, but he is blissfully unaware of this. Frequently exhausted, he has recurrent nightmares. At night, there are often mysterious noises and movements in Cusabo House. Soon Alex meets and befriends Nana Bryant, mayor of Mancipation Village, who takes an interest in her welfare. Nana teaches Alex basket weaving while warning her of the dangers of spirits, demons and “haints.” At first, Alex dismisses these tales as mere superstition but soon realizes malevolent forces are at work, and she is in mortal danger.

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