The Solomon Archives is a brooding and atmospheric novel that drifts between mystery, theology, and the darker corners of human obsession. At its center is Professor Theo Blake, a man caught between scholarship and the supernatural, as strange rituals and deaths ripple across the Hampshire coast. The story unfolds through storms, ancient myths, secret societies, and whispered histories, all converging on the enigma of the “Archives” and those who would kill or be killed to unlock its secrets. It is a tale of old faiths clashing with modern ambition, where memory, power, and belief are tested against the backdrop of a relentless sea.

The writing often felt cinematic, lush in description, the kind of prose that lingers on weather, shadows, and the quiet weight of ritual. At times, I loved this. The way the author could make a coastline feel haunted, or a sigil scratched into stone, vibrate with meaning. But there were stretches where the detail felt heavy, and I found myself wishing the story would move faster. Still, the patience of the prose paid off in moments when the atmosphere became so thick I felt like I was standing right beside Blake, staring out into a storm. The narrative has a rhythm that mirrors the sea it describes, calm and meditative one moment, violent and unrelenting the next.

What struck me most wasn’t the occult scaffolding of the plot, but the human themes beneath it. Legacy, belief, the seduction of power, these are the real currents of the story. The characters wrestle with faith and doubt, with what it means to guard knowledge or to unleash it. Blake’s quiet, almost reluctant determination gave the story its moral center, while figures like Lucien and Wraxall embodied the dangers of brilliance without humility. I found myself torn between fascination and discomfort, often unsettled by how close the story edged toward relatable tendencies: the hunger for control, the worship of symbols over meaning, the way ritual can both bind and blind.

I felt the novel had less interest in giving me neat answers than in unsettling me, and that was its strength. It left me staring into the dark, thinking about what we inherit and what we choose to unmake. I would recommend The Solomon Archives to readers who enjoy slow-burning mysteries that mix theology with gothic atmosphere, and to anyone who likes their fiction shadowed by questions that can’t be buried again.

Pages: 124 | ASIN: B0FHG1BXH2