The Lost Village is a spooky and atmospheric novel with an apt comparison to The Blair Witch Project.

The Lost Village follows Alice, an aspiring filmmaker, as she seeks to uncover the mystery of The Lost Village. A village full of people who disappeared without a trace.

The Lost Village is told from Alice’s perspective in the present and her great-grandmother’s perspective in the past. Sten strikes a good balance between the past and present chapters. The story doesn’t get bogged down in the minutia of daily life in both the present and the past. Readers are given the relevant information quickly so that they are situated in each perspective to watch the story unfold.

The ending of The Lost Village is satisfying with a twist I didn’t see coming. Though the story wraps up fairly quickly, at no point did it feel rushed.

The reason I rated the novel four stars instead of five is because the characters are all surface level. There are four other characters who accompany Alice to the village. The two male characters might as well have not been there for how little they were used. The relationship between Alice and Emmy had the potential to be deeper, but isn’t fully explored.

Overall, The Lost Village is a spooky and atmospheric novel that explores the disappearance of an entire village. It’s one of those novels that will capture your attention from beginning to end.

Many thanks to Camilla Sten, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. The Lost Village is marvelously atmospheric, with an intriguing premise that grabbed me from the very first page. It kept my interest throughout, and I was anxious to see how it would end. Ultimately, I had issues with the conclusion (which I won’t detail here so as not to spoil the story for anyone). Still, this was an enjoyable, engaging read that I would recommend to others.

This was a quick read and I found it enjoyable but not at all scary. I had hoped it would of drawn me in quicker and although I liked it I was looking for something bigger... The plot was interesting but once the story was unfolding it became a bit underwhelming.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins press for a copy of this book for an honest review.

This review will be posted on my Goodreads account.

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I was instantly sucked into this book! I could easily picture the scene in my mind and I could feel the emotions of the characters. Definitely a page turner and one I would recommend to others who may like a bit of suspense in their life!

From the first page, I was hooked on this book. The characters, conflict, and premise of the lost village and what could be behind the mass disappearances of the villagers and the murder of a woman kept me reading long after I should have put this book down for bed and other obligations. Go away, I am reading was really a thing for this story. I didn't want to miss anything.

The main character had issues. So did everyone in the group. But the combinations of letters from the past and the creepy abandoned village were spellbinding. Now I want to go and read everything else this author might have. Amazing read! More please!!

This was a very interesting book for me. While I absolutely adored the concept, something didn't click for me in the story. I am unsure why, as the writing by Camilla Stern was absolutely beatiful. This missed the mark for me in the smallest sense. Great story development and story-telling... something was just off.

Thank you to NetGalley St. Martins Press and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It was creepy and spooky and a little sad with virtually no romance. I liked the way it bounced back and forth between the history of the town and the current story of the group exploring it. It kept my attention throughout and was a pretty quick read. Would definitely recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I was looking for a creepy, dark thriller/suspense and The Lost Village by Camilla Sten was just what I was in the mood for- a dark horror! Well, I’m never in the mood for anything too gory or scary, this was just the right combination. The residents of a small Scandinavian town have just vanished into thin air. What happened? That’s was filmmaker Alice sets out to find out. Soon after she arrives with the film crew in that town, weird things happen, things that cannot be rationally explained. Someone is watching them…

Take a look:

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:

They are not alone.

They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?

If you like the feeling of being scared, nervous, and anxious, then this is the book for you. Coming out on March 23!

I received a copy of this novel-ARC from #netgakley, thank you. This was a creepy, thrillingbstody involving a descendant from a lost village or ghost town. She is trying to figure out what happened to all the residents while experiencing creepy outcomes.

This book follows a documentary film crew to a ghost town in Sweden and it has just the right amount of creepiness to be fun but not too scary. The blurb I read compares it to Midsomer- I mean it's set in Sweden, but that's about it. There is a creepy pastor/church that we find out about through flashbacks, but nothing as horrific as Midsomer. Overall, this is a fast-paced, creepy story and I'd definitely read something by this author again.

📚

The Lost Village
Camilla Sten


The Lost Village was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. This was a creepy story shrouded in mystery and suspense. It had elements of a horror movie and it was easily imagined! I felt like I was there in the village, an uneasy feeling, knowing something wasn’t right. It has an air of spookiness that you could just not shake. The atmosphere of the book remained tense, and off, made you want to run away for the characters!

There is just something about mass disappearances that sparks my curiosity. Fiction or non fiction it always catches my attention and sucks me in. The Lost Village was no different. It had me glued to the couch for hours needing to know the fate of the village.

I’m a huge fan of Josh Gates. He has two shows Destination Truth, and Expedition Unknown, they were on the sci-fi channel and the travel channel. This book reminded me of the many places that they investigated. The plot about a team trekking out to the middle of no where to investigate an abandoned village, is one that is just so irresistible!

The writing was fantastic and plot was full of intense moments and some great twists! I enjoyed the now and then perspectives. It really worked for this book.

This may be one of my favorites for 2021. I honestly had no idea how the book was going to end! I’ll just say that it was was awesome and you need to read it to discover the fate of this village!

available March 23 2021.

This book puts you in an abandoned village in Sweden with 4 young ambitious adults hoping to make a documentary. The story is a fast page turner and the characters are all likeable. The mystery behind the abandoned village also has the reader quite curious to know what really did happen there.

The book is told in present and past tense where you follow the story from the young individuals filming the place and from village people back in that time.

This is a slow burner with no real twists or scares. However the story is very nicely told. It does keep you captivated until the end.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Alice is obsessed with the village her Grandmother grew up in--60 years ago, everyone vanished without a trace except for one newborn baby. The village is isolated and hard to get to, once a thriving mining town that began to die once the mine was shut down. She puts together a crew and crowdfunds to make a documentary on it.
As all abandoned places are, it was creepy but silent--no animals, no insects. Then, the longer the stay, strange things begin to happen. Is it someone from their group...or outside forces?

I really enjoyed this book--there is something about Nordic thrillers that just drags me in. They're dark and cold and make you wonder what happens up there in the dark...The translator did a fantastic job of capturing the eerieness of the original, as well. Definitely a must read for people who like thrillers!

Alice has assembled a small team to film a documentary about her ancestral village, Silvertjarn, whose citizens disappeared sixty years ago. One by one, hoping to solve the village mystery, the members succumb to the evil that permeates the village ruins. Camilla Sten provides the reader with the storyline of Elsa, Alice’s great-grand mother to flesh out what happened to her family and neighbors. The atmosphere throughout this novel is intense. Elsa’s account seems to flow smoother than Alice’s which seems to get bogged down in constant pain and horror among decaying ruins. Whatever evil existed years ago is still very much alive. Alice and her companions experience this; so do we.

3.5. I have long held a fascination for ghost towns, deserted places and haunted hotels. When we took family vacations we would search out these places. One of my favorites was a trip to Jericho, AZ, we stayed at a hotel that was once a sanitarium. It has an interesting history, and though we neither saw nor heard haunted spirits, the place itself had a spooky vibe.

Sweden 1959, an entire village goes missing. Receiving an anonymous call, the police arrive to find a dead woman in the town square and a baby crying in a deserted schoolroom. The rest of the village residents had vanished, no other clues ever found.

Fast forward to the present, and Alice, a documentary film maker sets out with a small team and limited budget to try to solve the mystery. Her grandmother lost her whole family when those in the town disappeared. Arriving in the town, they soon feel as if they are being watched. Why they find here will tax the imagination and expose them to many revealed secrets and outright horrors.

Creepy atmosphere, characters with hidden secrets and an intriguing mystery. The US edition publishes in February but this would make an excellent Halloween read. Reading it in Winters chill wasn't bad either. Just scary enough.

ARC from Netgalley

The description of the book quickly drew me in, and the story is so compelling and atmospheric and doesn’t let go. It is about a remote village in Sweden, which was once a thriving community, and now has unexplainably been abandoned for years. What happened to all of the residents? A documentary filmmaker, with a small crew, goes to the village to try to figure out what happened all those years ago. This is a very good book and highly recommended.

Camilla Sten proves to be a masterful storyteller as she expertly weaves together two plots (designated as "Then" and "Now") in a suspenseful and foreboding tale that escalates into an unexpected denouement with multiple astonishing reveals. The "Now" timeline refers to current day events as filmmaker Alice Linsdstedt attempts to make a documentary film regarding the inexplicable disappearance of the nearly 900 hundred residents of the village of Silvertarn in the 1950's. The only survivors being Alice's grandmother, Elsa and a screaming newborn found in an abandoned building. Silvertarn was a small mining community that turned to a virtual ghost town after the mines closed. Alice grew up hearing of the mysterious events and secrets from her grandmother and her knowledge base is formed by letters written by Elsa to her sister Margaret in Stockholm.
Alice organizes an exploratory journey to the village in hopes of securing interesting photos that will pique the interest of internet followers to mount a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the documentary. Her team is composed of friends and ex-friends ( all bringing their own psychological baggage). Soon after arrival, mysterious events arise.... unexplained noises and visions, equipment disappearances , serial injuries to team members , and then the mysterious explosion of their vehicles. The spectre of "not being alone" arises as does the panic level.
In juxtaposition with the current narrative, the "Then" tale told through the eyes of Elsa weaves together the actual events that lead up to the "mysterious disappearance" that provide the motivation to the inexplicable mystery.
Camilla Sten provides a compelling and propulsive psychological thriller that maintains an all pervasive mood of dread and trepidation. One can't help but expect the "boogey man" to jump out. Not to be missed is the character of Pastor Mattias, that preaches "hell fire and brimstone". Almost all fall into his thrall. This is the first US translation of this highly acclaimed psychological thriller , first published in Sweden in 2019. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.
Anticipated publication: March 23, 2021.
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The Lost Village by Camilla Sten ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

A huge thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this early copy!!

Guys, this was my first ARC approval from Netgalley, and I squealed! The Lost Village has been on my most anticipated reads list for 2021, and you should put it on yours too! It’s coming out in March.

This book was creepy, gory, and horrifying, and the tension was clear from the very beginning. You knew something was wrong, but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

I loved the setting. An abandoned mining village where everyone disappeared except a baby. Sign me up. The author took her time to describe it, so I felt like I was there too. Also - the author’s descriptions of the abandoned building exploration was fascinating. So if you love looking at pictures of old, abandoned buildings or if you drive by an old, abandoned building and think “I’d like to go in there” READ THIS BOOK.

The plot also kept me interested. It jumps between past and present, which I thought worked really well. I was just as invested in the past as I was the present. Fair warning - many elements in the plot are intense, gory, and horrifying.

It took me a while to get the characters figured out. In the present, there are five main characters. In the past, there are about five main characters as well, but other village people get mentioned. It was a lot to juggle at first, but it was necessary to have so many players.

Overall, this book made me uncomfortable and angry, but I was so entertained. I would recommend it to anyone.

One village in a remote forest in Sweden, abandoned, empty. Where are all,the people? Only two clues remain to point searchers in the direction: a baby and a body. It’s a deliciously creepy read. A film crew camps in the ghost town, hoping to unravel its secrets. The chapters flip back to modern day and the year the town history stopped. I liked this book. I thought the reason for people’s disappearance was a little far fetched, but it is fiction. So take a trip to the little hamlet where everyone vanished and bad things continue to happen to see why.

I'm not sure why I thought I could read this in the dark... The visuals painted by the author are a bit haunting and creepy. From the beginning I wanted to know what happened to the people of the village and loved that Alice has gathered a group to discover the answers.

The beginning is definitely a bit slow, but it all picks up and is definitely the "thriller" that I was seeking. Once the character's personalities and relationships are established, the reader is truly able to "visit" this long abandoned village.

Very well done. Thank you for allowing me to read this.