With a central character that sounds like someone you’d find in a Jackie Collins bonkbuster, you might expect Marked to be a saucy little start to Sue Tingey’s SoulSeer Chronicles. In truth, there are moments where Lucky De Salle finds herself the object of carnal desire. Unfortunately for her, the motives of her suitors are driven more by power than lust.
Lucky, an ironic name for a young lady who has no family, possesses a psychic ability that has branded her a social outcast and whose only friend is Kayla, a ghostly apparition that has been around her entire life.
It almost seems like her luck has in fact run out, when pupils from her old school manage to summon a demon assassin during a fated Ouija board experiment. A demon – or daemon, as they like to be known here – on a mission to not only scare the living daylights out of unlucky Lucky, but to deliver a chilling message from the Underlands. The bottom literally drops out of Lucky’s world from here on, secrets and lies unravel, more daemons join the party and political battle that even Russell Brand wouldn’t challenge manifests.
There is much intrigue within the pages of this not so originally titled but tasty read. Tingey’s Marked is instantly absorbing, the creepy opening sequence has The Shining written all over it, yet the direction and atmosphere switches smoothly that supernatural horror morphs into another realm entirely.
Lucky, although irritatingly trusting, is a very likeable heroine, and attracts some truly beautiful daemons, as well as the dastardly ones. Her guardians Jamie and Jinx are a particularly colourful and familiar pairing, easy to visualise with the help of Tingey’s detailed descriptive writing.
Marked will certainly leave a lasting impression, if you’ll pardon the pun.
