peter telemark books
The Berserkr of Borealea Series
The Valley of the Night
Far to the north of the world of AEthergone is a barren tundra and the Ghost Mountains. There, at the rim of the world is said to lie the mysterious Valley of the Night, where rumors have hinted that eternal life might be had for the taking. Many have traveled there, but no immortalized human has ever returned. The rumors have long since taken on a darker tone. Is there something horrible there – or perhaps horrifying would be a more accurate word?
Wulfsdgerd
South of the vast and menacing Forest Borealea, in the dark fantasy world of Lost AEthergone lies the civilized trading settlement of Driphorios. One day, a hunting party from there departed for the forest, led reluctantly by Thrar, the infamous Berserkr of Borealea. They were unaware that hostile eyes were fixed upon them – the eyes of savage warriors of the tribal land of Wulfsdgerd. Now Thrar and the hated leader of the hunting party must escape – but only if they can reach the edge of the forest. But can they reach it, before the Wulfsman chieftain runs them to ground? And are the Wulfsmen the only ones hunting them?
Seth Athenor series
The House of Dust
Between 1738-1740, in the town of Droitwijk in Upstate New York, several elderly bachelors went missing under mysterious circumstances. The malignant entity implicated also vanished afterward. Now, eight years later in the nearby village of Dereham, it seems to have resurfaced, in the form of a winged female demon. A demon who is hiding in a human – a “house of flesh” – unmasking when it preys upon its victims. But who can it be? Can Seth Athenor, Dereham apothecary and former forest scout, untangle all the clues and unmask the demon before it is too late?
The Witch of Death Swamp
Long devoid of any life, the gray and still waters of Death Swamp brood silently beneath a sun dimmed by greenish fogs, and shadowed by tall, dead pitch-pines and oaks. No birds, fishes, frogs, or insects remain. And no foot of man has trod there for many years. It is the year 1750 in Upstate New York, and from that swamp has emerged a monstrous evil. How many will die before it is finally stopped?
The Cellar in Ghost Hill
Two prominent citizens have gone missing in the vicinity of an ancient hill, rumored to be Chibaiswajo, the “Hill of Ghosts” of Abenaki legend. In that hill is a root cellar belonging to the missing people. But if it is merely a root cellar, why did early Dutch settlers erect a stone cross above the entrance? And why did they brick it up and fix a sturdy door there with a locking bar on the outside? It all seemed more of a prison than a root cellar. But a prison for who? Or – what?
The Eighth otter
Seth is in his home town of Dereham in 1754 in New York Province, he must face a new menace and solve a new dilemma: How do you kill a ghost? And not just any ghost, but the ghost of a monster otter from 50 years ago. Now, in the moonlit streets and lanes, one by one, certain townsfolk are vanishing. Vanishing? Or – consumed? And not at random, but seemingly part of a murder-list. But why? Could it be vengeance for some forgotten wrong? If so, whose vengeance? And for what wrong? Seth Athenor must find the answer. Not merely to prevent more murders, but because he has realized that his name is on the murder-list too…
Kirkus Reviews
The Eighth Otter
An 18th century apothecary investigates strange deaths and disappearances seemingly connected to an old Irish legend about supernatural otters in Telemark’s historical mystery.
In Dereham, New York, in the year 1754, when a woman is attacked and killed by a white otter with a strange marking resembling a cross on its back, local apothecary Seth Athenor investigates what he suspects is a supernatural occurrence. Athenor observes the behavior of the townspeople and begins to make connections as more people are found dead or missing. When Athenor eventually uncovers the relationship between the victims, he realizes that he too may be in danger from a vengeful otter spirit of Irish legend. The author’s descriptions of the 18th- century village make for a fascinating backdrop to the mystery. The townspeople, many with names reminiscent of characters from Charles Dickens novels, are especially amusing as Athenor observes their drama. The town council is composed of especially unpleasant folks, including the mayor, Ulysse von Mardure; magistrate Benedict Fletcher, an amusing caricature of a corrupt lawman; and the hypocritical pastors David Cranford and Jacob Osterhout. Most of the characters involved in the mystery of the otters are delightfully unlikeable; this makes for satisfying murder scenes, often from the killer’s point of view. This is the fourth book in Telemark’s series featuring Athenor, but readers are not required to have read the previous installments to enjoy this one, as Telemark recaps important events and characters at length. Occasionally heavy on exposition, the mystery still progresses at a thrilling clip. While the language has been updated from 18th-century locutions to contemporary English (“I’m a soldier, Mr. Athenor…You’re not the first man I’ve sewn up. Just relax and let me be the doctor for a change”), Telemark’s descriptive abilities and researching of the milieu lend ample verisimilitude.
Unique characters inhabiting an interesting setting make for an engaging mystery.
The Footprints in the Winter Woods
It is 1742 in French Canada and Ensign Sacha Athenois has been assigned the grisly task of murdering an entire British garrison nearby.While he wrestles with his conscience, another task is underway, sponsored by the devious commander of that garrison – to find the secret of immortality rumored to lie deep within the mountains. There, it is said, are the enigmatic ruins of an ancient Mahican village and just over the next hill waits the slumbering and evil Red Cottage. But, legend also says, the secret is guarded by something unthinkably old and malevolent, said to tower above the tallest pine – a creature of living ice, who only waits to be awakened once again.
The Timber-Witch of the Mountain Forest
Asher Mourne, formerly one of the witch-finders tasked by the special court in Salem in 1692 to apprehend suspected witches is recalled from retirement for one final hunt. But unlike the innocent victims in Salem, it is a genuine witch this time. In the White Mountains of His Majesty’s Province of New Hampshire, an isolated Abenaki village has reached out to him for help. Something is prowling the mountain forest, murdering the villagers one by one. Something that bites out their hearts and leaves the wounds filled with splinters…as if by a mouth filled with sharp wooden teeth. Mourne has vowed to kill the witch and grudgingly agrees to take Sacha along with him. But what possible help could a stripling be?
The Habitants of Murdering-Town
It is winter 1754 in His Majesty’s Province of New York, and an urgent summons has come to Mayor Ulysse von Mardure of Dereham Town from the German settlement of Leichtenberg that there have been an alarming number of deaths he has tried to keep quiet – none of them natural. Ulysse agrees to come, but asks Dereham apothecary and former frontier scout, Seth Athenor, to accompany him, knowing that if a supernatural menace involved, there is no better man to confront it. The ordinary townsfolk suspect nothing, and the Christmas Garden is bright with festivities as they stroll and sing, dance and eat. Not realizing that something else is hungry, too.
The Werewolf of Deadham
Dereham is a bucolic little hamlet, scarcely deserving the mocking nickname of “Deadham” that the children sing of in their rhymes. But Athenor is not the only one to arrive there. A creature has emerged from the western edge of the Great Dereham Swamp and is making its furtive way to the village, devouring all who cross its path. Some victims lived long enough to describe it as a werewolf. But no werewolf ever had eight legs or a human-like face with multiple eyes – eyes neither animal, reptile, nor insect, but human.
The WHITE LODGE
In Loreley Town in His Majesty’s Province of Pennsylvania, they speak in whispers about a menace that has existed even before the town’s founding in 1700, when it preyed upon the local Lenape. “Do not travel alone in the winter months,” they said, “lest you meet the Winter Ghosts.” The local authorities are predictively dismissive, but others take it more seriously and have sent for Seth Athenor – physician, apothecary, and former frontier scout, and by this time recognized for his willingness to challenge supernatural menaces. When he arrives, he tries to uncover the secret of the Ghosts and their White Lodge – a secret revealing something even more monstrously ancient and evil.
The CHESSMEN OF DIOMEDES
It is September 1743 in the upcountry of New York Province, and in the sleepy village of Dereham, something has appeared on the long road leading north that edges the Great Dereham Swamp. A phantom coach, drawn by four gigantic black mares, whipped on by an enigmatic coachman swaddled in a cloak and a face-shadowing slouch hat. Those who have glimpsed it breathe a sigh of relief as it careens down the cypress-fringed road. Because whenever it reins to a halt, someone dies. Fresh from his battle against The Werewolf of Deadham, Seth Athenor – former French Colonial Marine and physician – has been asked to investigate and intercede.
The Lamia of Paris
The ancient texts reveal that she existed before ever the Phoenicians visited North Africa, before the Romans conquered Tripolitanium. For the past eighteen centuries, she has been seen at widely-spaced intervals – in Spain, in Germany, and in France. But now, sixty years later, she seems to have reappeared in that same building, now a hospital for the poor that is close to shuttering its doors. Now, one by one, patients and workers are vanishing with little trace. The hospital administrators dismiss the disappearances and Sacha realizes he cannot convince them of the ghastly truth. Who would believe him? He can scarcely believe it himself. But even as he follows the clues and winnows down the suspects, he gradually realizes she has become just as aware of him as he is of her…
Haunters of the Black Forest
In the enlightened year of 1730 in Germany, many such have vanished into legend, but some have survived – the water-sprites of Dark Whisper Lake, trees that bleed when cut, and the Lost Souls of the Black Forest. But it is to that lake and its adjoining swamp that Sacha Athenois must travel. On holiday from his medical studies in Paris, he has been persuaded by his apothecarial mentor to join in a search for the vital ingredient of Theriac – that legendary panacea sought by apothecaries and alchemists for centuries. The ingredient is rumored to be only found near that lake. But at the bottom, there is a vast cavern in which underwater trees claw up, their dead branches festooned with drifting weeds. And, somewhere in the shadowy recess of that lake, there waits something terrible.
