This unique tale crosses the genres of Historical Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, with the latter most prevalent. If you love a good gas lamp story filled with darkness and gore, then Above the Circle of the Moon will be a page-turning, riveting read from beginning to end. Personally, I wasn't prepared for quite the amount of horror this tale puts forth, but that being said, the plot was well-delivered; it set my spine tingling with that sensation that makes you turn around repeatedly even though you know nothing is there, creating a unique fable from the more traditional lycanthropy.

Set in 18th century Jamaica and England, the story follows a young man of mixed nationality. Son of a plantation overseer and a black slave, Cyrus quickly captures your heart. Forced by his own father into servitude, he brings the ageless story of yearning for freedom into a new light, which becomes even more shocking when he discovers his mixed heritage isn't exactly what he thought. Freedom takes on an entirely different ring as we learn his father's terrifying secret.

To make matters even more complicated, a British scientist, incongruously named Melchoir, has designs on studying them in a quest to unravel the mysteries of immortality. Gruesome experiments that made me turn a few pages unread, blend with Cyrus' well-characterized turmoil as he is forced into a ghastly 'kill or be killed' - so to speak - decision.

With its underlying themes of the nightmares of slavery and the, often, unattainable treasure of true change, author T. M. Tucker has penned a haunting tale brimming with the expected as well as the unexpected.