Assessment:

Plot/Idea: Lloyd's plot brings along with it the usual trappings of the genre that readers will be familiar with: mysterious pasts waiting to be investigated, hauntings, cautious locals, and headstrong out-of-towners who don't heed their warnings. What helps set it apart from some of its contemporaries is an early-on decision to jump headlong into the stranger aspects of its genre, and inject a bit of life into a tried-and-true formula.

Prose: Lloyd's prose does well to establish the picturesque scenery and grandiose MacKenzie Manor, though some readers may be less interested in the character-crafting, where many of the cast can start to feel like template-swaps of the same build.

Originality: Lloyd makes an interesting call by deciding early on to give away the ghost, so to speak, and introduce not only the supernatural, but mystical as well —all of which may serve to grab readers with the unexpected move.

Character Development/Execution: The cast of Shepherd's Warning are serviceable, if occasionally feeling rushed or somewhat underdeveloped. Still, fans of the genre will have enough meat to hook into that it should keep them invested.

Date Submitted: May 05, 2022