Arina Zimmering’s "How to Catch a Monster:
The First Circle," a summary Automatic translate

An urban fantasy about agents of the Emergency Response Team, set in 2024, the book immerses readers in a bleak Irish setting, where ghost hunters encounter an inexplicable and terrifying evil in a remote forest village. This book is a tightly woven blend of detective thriller and mystical horror.

This novel opens a series called "How to Catch a Monster," published in the "Red Violet: Dark Worlds" series. The series also includes "The Second Circle" and "The Third Circle."

A team of operatives from the American Emergency Response Team arrives in the Irish town of Cairnsnor. The group consists of four qualified specialists. Gemma Rogen is a sharp and uncompromising liquidator. Cal Mahelona is her partner, a calm Hawaiian. Norman Ashley is a cowardly but erudite analyst. Silas Dow is a caustic Goetic specialist. Their main task is to find missing East Office agents. Analyst Brian Sweeney arrived in Ireland on vacation and disappeared without a trace. His partner, liquidator Theodore Cooper, went after him alone and also vanished.

Analyst Norman meticulously studies Sweeney’s notes. It turns out that Sweeney was investigating old rumors of disappearances in County Kerry. The trail of the missing leads to Killarney National Park. Hunters examine the body of local resident Henry Phelan, recovered from the Orwater River. Goetic specialist Silas Dow finds no magical signatures on the body. The man died of a heart attack on Halloween night, which greatly alarms the agents.

Meeting with Lennan-shi

While scouting Cairnnor, Gemma and Cal meet a quiet waiter, Ciaran Blythe, at a bakery. Later that evening, Gemma finds him on an empty street. Ciaran uses a psycho-empathic charm, attempting to drug and subdue Gemma. Silas Dow stops the attack just in time, pointing a gun at the boy. Gemma splashes holy water laced with silver in his face. The weapon and holy water work flawlessly.

During the interrogation in the hotel room, a deeply disturbing detail comes to light. Ciaran Blythe is a Lennan-shi, an energy vampire. He feeds on the strong emotions of others. Blythe admits that he unwittingly imprinted on Cal. The imprint creates an unbreakable bond. If Cal dies, the vampire will also die of exhaustion. Blythe reveals that he saw Sweeney before he disappeared: he walked toward the forested valley of Glead with local gamekeeper Dave Griffin. The team decides to take the vampire with them.

Critical anomaly zone

As they approach the Glead forests, the situation spirals out of control. The car suddenly stalls. The electronics fail completely, but the paranormal scanners remain silent. The group is forced to proceed on foot. The forest greets them with thick fog and oppressive silence. Doe notes high signal suppression, obscuring any signals.

Gemma begins to be plagued by vivid nightmares. In her dreams, she finds herself in the burned-out Fogarty Manor or in terrifying hospital corridors. In these dreams, Theodore Cooper appears to her. He orders her not to remove the golden amulet found among his abandoned belongings. Cooper repeatedly commands her to go "downstairs" and warns her of a certain door that must never be opened. A terrifying entity lurks behind the door. Gemma realizes their consciousnesses are resonating. In her visions, she sees Cooper’s past: the death of his parents and his long friendship with Brian Sweeney.

The hunters stumble upon an empty campsite. The tents are abandoned, valuables are still lying around, but the people are gone. While searching the camp, Norman Ashley vanishes without a trace. Cal and Doe set off to search for him, while Gemma remains with the captive Blythe. Suddenly, Blythe vanishes into thin air. Gemma hears her sister Macy’s voice and a distorted song from a broken radio. The forest fills her with a primal terror. Gemma takes off running, imagining a creepy silhouette in the darkness.

Finds in the night thicket

In the morning, Norman returns in a state of severe shock and accidentally hits Gemma in the face with a poker. He claims he’s been sitting in the car for almost a day, though for everyone else, it’s only been a few hours. Norman explains that something invisible forced him to hide in the woods. Blythe is also there. He’s barely alive from sheer exhaustion and says he was running from an invisible monster.

In a deep ravine, Cal and Doe discover two mangled human bodies. The bodies bear Celtic protective tattoos — they are agents of the local Irish Directorate. Cal concludes that the agents were torn to pieces by creatures with human teeth. There is no scent of decomposition. Doe still detects no magic. The surrounding forest seems dead: no insects, no animals, no birds.

Later, Cal talks with Blythe. Cal explains to the vampire that Silas Doe is a half-breed, the son of a monstrous nalusa falaya, and therefore has an incredibly hard time with the cold. Cal remains completely calm, refusing to panic or show aggression toward Blythe. Blythe is surprised by his composure. Doe openly hates Blythe and constantly provokes Norman, reminding him of his sister, whose body was once possessed by an evil spirit.

The village of Slecht

Emerging from the thicket, the group discovers the village of Slecht, hidden in the lowlands. The locals wear old-fashioned clothing and avoid outsiders. The village headman refuses to allow them to use the transport, citing breakdowns. Moira, a stern, one-eyed old woman, gives the team shelter for the night. She tells Norman that she once taught cultural studies at the capital’s university.

Moira explains the historical significance of Samhain. She explains that it’s a timeless period when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead are blurred. The world of the dead is called the Sidh in Ireland. The Sidh is hidden within the hills. The spirals in the strange drawings of Cooper and the local girl Emer symbolize the closed cycle of time.

Gemma insists on investigating the local gold mines. Village foreman Ian categorically forbids the agents from approaching the workings. Norman and Cal analyze the facts: signal distortion, lack of animals, time distortion, inexplicable horror. They conclude that Slecht and the surrounding forest are the site of a critical anomaly. The anomaly has its own evil will. Winter here can last an eternity.

Descent into the dark depths

In the morning, Gemma, Cal, Doe, and Blythe make their way to the mine. Norman remains in the village with a pistol in his pocket. A local youth, Bradan, in a strange trance, shows them the way to the mine. He speaks of an ancient Pictish passageway that the miners stumbled upon by chance. Norman recalls that the Picts are the pre-Celtic people of the islands.

Inside the adit, it’s icy cold and pitch-black. Deep underground, the tunnel widens. Gemma constantly bickers with Doe, irritated by his caustic pessimism. Suddenly, the floor beneath her feet collapses. Gemma plummets down a rock slide about five meters deep, falling into a hidden level of the cave. Rocks block the passage, cutting her off from the other agents.

The light from her broken lantern reveals a man sitting on the ground. It’s Theodore Cooper. He’s wounded, exhausted, and deeply disoriented. The liquidator looks at Gemma in confusion. Cooper asks hoarsely, "Who are you?" The book ends there.