I confess I didn’t read a book with any actual monsters in it for October’s Here There Be Monsters prompt for the TBR Challenge, but as it’s usually the month to pick up a paranormal, gothic or suspense read, I went with that and opted for The Lighthouse Keeper by Liv Rancourt, a late-19th century historical set on a remote island off the coast of Seattle that promised spookiness, evil doings and witchery in a race to prevent a powerful magical artefact from falling into the wrong hands before Samhain.

Vincent Fairchild, a witch born into a wealthy and powerful family – and promptly disowned by said family once his magical gifts appeared (having magic in high society is looked down upon) wakes up after a night out drinking with his friend and sometime lover, Rutger, with the hangover from hell and no recollection of what he and Rutger had got up to or how he, Vincent, got home and into bed. Summoned to appear before Madam Munro of the San Francisco Council of Witches, he learns that Rutger has disappeared and that he, Vincent, apparently turned a man into a dog – something that should be impossible. Instead of the punishment he’s expecting, he’s told that he needs to lie low for a while, and to that end, is sent to a remote location in Seattle where he’s to retrieve the Ferox Cor, a powerful and potentially dangerous magical object believed stolen by the late weatherwitch Martin Gallagher. He’s to be accompanied by Margaret Barnes, a no-nonsense weatherwitch who has little use or patience for Vincent’s famous charm and smile.

Vincent and Margaret travel to Elliot Bay, where the West Point lighthouse, which must be kept lit at all times, is tended by Della Gallagher and her son Rafe, who is curt and dismissive of their presence on the island and insists they don’t need help. (He’s also tall, dark, handsome and brooding, which is catnip to Vincent.) Della is more welcoming, however, and eventually explains something of their situation. Her late husband hid the Ferox Cor before he died, but his death has freed its spirit, a powerful demon, and without the amulet that controls it, they are powerless to stop it. Martin vowed, before his death, to cross the veil at Samhain to bind the spirit of the Ferox Cor and take it into the afterworld. But if he crosses the veil and becomes trapped he’ll become a source of never-ending evil – and Della and Rafe (and now Vincent and Margaret) have to find the Ferox Cor and destroy it before it’s too late.

The Lighthouse Keeper has an interesting premise and it begins well, but while some elements of the story are nicely done – the author does a great job of depitcing the hostile terrain, the fearsome storms and of creating a slowly escalating atmosphere of dread – others are not. The story doesn’t have a strong period feel – the historical element is mostly found in the descriptions of the clothing, travel and rudimentary appliances – and the plot is a mess at worst and confusing at best. We’ve got a magical maguffin, evil witches, a kidnapping, demonic possession, attempted murders… the second half of the book is basically a random series of problems and quick resolutions that make little sense. The worldbuilding is sketchy, there are so many unexplained plot-points (why wait twenty years after the theft of the Cor to send someone after it? Why send Vincent, a mediocre witch (at best) who has never bothered to learn very much about how magic works? If Rafe is so powerful, how come his spells keep getting broken?… if I listed them all this review would be twice as long), and the ending is rushed and inconclusive. (In a note at the end of the book the author does indicate the possibilty of a sequel to explain some of the things that aren’t wrapped up here – but no series is indicated at Amazon or Goodreads and I bought the book on the understanding it was a standalone, so that’s very annoying. At time of writing this review, no sequel has been published – and I’m not sure I’d read it anyway as I wasn’t particularly invested in the story or characters by the time I reached the end of the book.)

Sadly, the characters fare little better than the plot. Vincent is upbeat and fun and I quite liked his good-humoured inner voice, but he’s barely two-dimensional and comes across as a bit dim, a bit lazy or both. He’s lived an easy life – his family may not want to have him around, but he still has access to plenty of money and the family name – and seems to spend most of the time he’s not working for the Council (where his charm makes him a good mediator between witches and humans) partying and taking nothing seriously. He doesn’t seem too concerned when he finds out his friend is missing, or about finding out what happened during the hours he can’t remember (or why he can’t remember them), or worried about how he, a witch whose magic works on inanimate objects, turned someone into a dog. He doesn’t experience any personal growth throughout the story, and seems only to take action because the plot requires it, not from any sense that his character demands it.

As for Rafe… We’re told he’s incredibly powerful, that he’s seriously protective of his mother, and he’s clever and resourceful – but because the story is told entirely from Vincent’s perspective, we know practically nothing of his internal or emotional life. He’s sheltered and isolated, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the first man to flirt with him manages to get past his defences, but the romance is underdeveloped and underwritten. There’s no chemistry between the pair, and because we’re in Vincent’s PoV the whole time, there’s no sense of exactly when – or why – Rafe goes from finding Vincent a nuisance and wanting him gone to being attracted to him. It seemed to me that Rafe falls for Vincent mostly because he’s the first man to show any romantic or sexual interest in him, which, perhaps, is understandable in the circumstances, but it isn’t exactly what romance is made of.

I did like the first part of the book, which is what has saved it from getting a D, but ultimately, while The Lighthouse Keeper had a lot of potential, it’s severely let down by poor execution, and obviously, I can’t recommend it. The cover is lovely though – just don’t judge the book by it.