The Institute, by Stephen King ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Conspiracy Thriller, Contemporary Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction

Thanks to Scribner for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 10th, 2019

576 Pages

Synopsis: In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in the middle of suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.” 

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machine. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

I may have mentioned that I love Stephen King a few times, but I want you to know that I don’t let my hero worship put blinders on me. There have been some of his books that have disappointed me over the decades Dreamcatcher and Lisey’s Story to name two. However, I’m thrilled to say that The Institute is not one of them. Actually, in my opinion it’s one of his best novels to date and is joining my favorites alongside Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, Misery, It, Hearts in Atlantis, On Writing and 11/22/63. 

This is going to be a fairly short review because I’m determined not to let any spoilers slip, but there are a few things I’d like to share about why I loved this story so much. Part of why I love Mr. King’s writing so much is his characters. Some of his biggest monsters have been all too human ones: Annie Wilkes from Misery, Henry Bowers from It and Big Jim Rennie from Under the Dome. These are all “regular” people who wind up being just as terrifying as King’s supernatural creations like Pennywise and Randall Flagg. This is the case with Mrs. Sigsby and the other evil masterminds running the Institute. They may try to tell themselves that what they’re doing to the children they kidnap is for the greater good, but make no mistake, they’re sadistic, evil bastards. (Sorry for the language!) While I was reading all I wanted was for them to die in the slowest, most painful way possible. In stark contrast are Luke and the other children. King does an absolute brilliant job capturing their minds and voices. Each personality fairly leaps off the page fully formed which makes what is done to them even more horrifying. Avery, at ten-years-old, yet the most powerful with his gift, just about broke my heart. The other main character is Tim Jamieson, an amicable everyman who finds himself in a small southern town filled with some interesting people. Seeing how Luke, who is trapped in Maine (It’s Stephen King. Where else would a sinister shadow government be kidnapping and torturing kids?) and Tim are ultimately brought together is captivating, and I literally could not tear myself away. The only reason why it took me five days to read this is that I found myself having to take breaks because I became too emotionally involved in what was happening to the kids. It was either that or I was going to throw the book across the room because I kept getting so angry.

The Institute is the perfect example of how, over the years, Stephen King has gone from a horror writer to a genre-defying one. While clocking in at almost 600 pages long, not one single word is wasted in what amounts to in my mind, a perfectly crafted novel. The mystery behind what the Institute’s true motivations, is drawn out through the course of the story and further adds to the pulse-pounding suspense. I guarantee that Constant Readers are going to be thrilled with The Institute, particularly if you love some of King’s other adolescent heroes from previous books like Firestarter, The Body, and It. And if you’re new to Stephen King, or even have mixed feelings about his writing, but you enjoy horror, science-fiction and conspiracy thrillers, I highly recommend you give this a try!

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Dead Voices (Small Spaces #2), by Katherine Arden ~ 4.5 Stars ~ Blog Tour

Tags

Death of a parent, Horror, Juvenile Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

256 Pages

Synopsis: Bestselling author Katherine Arden returns with another creepy, spine-tingling adventure in this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Small Spaces.

Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire.

Ollie, Coco and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie’s watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE.

 With Mr. Voland’s help, Ollie, Coco and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help—or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted.

Dead Voices is a terrifying follow-up to Small Spaces with thrills and chills galore and the captive foreboding of a classic ghost story.

Review:

Back in June I reviewed the previous book, Small Spaces, which I absolutely loved and thought it was perfect for middle-schoolers. While there are a couple of things about Dead Voices that I didn’t like quite as much, for the most part I think it’s a solid follow-up.

I’m going to get my two small issues out of the way. First, Brian was missing for a good chunk of the story, and I really found myself missing him. While I’m not psychic, the way this series is being written I think he’ll play a larger role in the third book though, which kept my disappointment down to a minimum. This intrepid trio are stronger when there’s imput from all of them going into solving a problem. Granted, for most of the second half they’re separated, but Ollie and Coco still manage to work together in a fashion. The big takeaway is that this is a team and they’re stronger for it. Also, there are a couple of loose ends that left me a little frustrated, but honestly, neither of these two issues spoiled my enjoyment of the story.

So, on to the good stuff! The setting of an isolated, haunted ski resort whose lobby is filled with taxidermy is awesome! Any adult reading this who’s a Stephen King fan will of course be reminded of the Overlook Hotel, from The Shining. As for the kids, it’s just a perfectly eerie and creepy setting which is bound to give them goosebumps! This time Coco takes the lead for part of the story and it’s pure joy watching her gain more confidence in herself. There are plenty of familiar horror tropes sprinkled into the original plot and I think this will delight budding horror fans. 

Overall, Dead Voices is a wonderful second installment in this middle grade horror series that successfully combines genuine scares with themes of love and friendship. I love for the most part how the characters have further developed and how Ollie, Coco and Brian each get to tell parts of the plot in their POV. They’re extremely likable and easy to relate to. There’s an interesting dynamic developing between Ollie’s father and Coco’s mother, which has me intrigued as to where that leads and how it will effect the relationship between the girls in the next two books. I HIGHLY recommend this series to horror fans 4th grade and up, particularly readers who enjoy authors like John Bellairs, Joan Aiken, Neil Gaiman, and Mary Downing Hahn.

Purchase Info:

Penguin Random House Website @ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Amazon @ https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Voices-Katherine-Arden/dp/0525515054/

Barnes and Noble @ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-voices-katherine-arden/1129963492#/

Books-A-Million @ https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525515050

Target @ https://www.target.com/p/dead-voices-by-katherine-arden-hardcover/-/A-76423200

Author Bio:

Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden spent a year of high school in Rennes, France. Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, she deferred enrollment for a year, in order to live and study in Moscow. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature. After receiving her BA, she moved to Maui, Hawaii, working every kind of odd job imaginable, from grant writing and making crepes to guiding horse trips. Currently, she lives in Vermont, but really, you never know. Please visit her at: https://mobile.twitter.com/arden_katherine and http://www.katherinearden.com

Blog Tour Schedule

Week 1:

August 19 – The Midnight Society @ https://midnightsocietytales.com ~ Inspiration Collage

August 20 – Fangirl Fury @ https://fangirlfury.com ~ Review + Inspired by the Book: Baking Recipe

August 21 – Teachers Who Read @ https://teacherswhoread.com ~ Review + Author Guest Post: Why spooky for middle grade readers?

August 22 – Bookishgals @ https://instagram.com/bookishgals_/ ~ Creative Instagram Picture

August 23 – Liezel and Angie’s Book Blog @ https://liezelsbookblog.net ~ Review

Week 2:

August 26 – Word Spelunking @ https://wordspelunking.blogspot.com ~ Inspired by the Book: Baking Project

August 27 – By Hook Or By Book @ https://cadburypom.wordpress.com ~ Review

August 28 – Vicariously & Voraciously @ https:// http://www.vicariouslyvoraciously.com 

August 29 – The Book Deviant @ https://bookdeviant.wordpress.com ~ Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Throttle, by Joe Hill ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Anthologies, Horror

Thanks to Edelweiss and William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: October 1st, 2019

496 Pages

Synopsis: In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in thirteen relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including “In the Tall Grass,” one of two stories co-written with Stephen King, basis for the terrifying feature film on Netflix.

A little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders, becomes the blood-drenched stomping grounds for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns.” In “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain,” two young friends stumble upon the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water’s edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality…and other horrors that lurk in the water’s shivery depths.  And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of outlaw motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” co-written with Stephen King.

Featuring two previously unpublished stories, and a brace of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best.

A book of stories isn’t a novel and can’t have the simple narrative drive of a novel. I think it still should have a feeling of progression, of connectedness. It’s like a road trip. You’re staying in a different inn every night: One night it’s a romantic Victorian B&B with a supposedly haunted gazebo out back, the next it’s a cruddy Motel 6 with what looks like old bloodstains on the ceiling. The places where you stop to rest and dream are unique—but the road is the same, always waiting to carry you on to whatever’s next. And when it’s over, you’ve arrived someplace new, someplace (you hope) with a good view. A place to breathe deep and take it all in.

~ Joe Hill, Full Throttle ~

You know it’s a good sign when an author’s Foward is as entertaining as the actual fictional content. In his introduction to his upcoming anthology, Full Throttle, Joe Hill gives readers a glimpse of his writing journey as the son of two bestselling authors, Tabitha and Stephen King. While I know it’s easy to skip these, in this case I recommend you read it because it’s as fascinating as what comes next. As far as the actual anthology goes, I’m not going to review all thirteen tales in this creepy collection, but I’ll let you know which ones were standouts for me, for one reason or another.

I have to begin with Throttle because it’s the first of two stories Hill has co-written with his dad. I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the right mood, but I didn’t care for it. Written in honor of horror writer Richard Matheson, I thought it was too derivative of Duel, only this time a murderous big rig is mowing down outlaw bikers. My biggest problem came with the characters though. I disliked the drug/biker gang so much that I vacillated between not caring what happened to them, to cheering for the anonymous truck driver. I had mostly guessed his motivation for the gory mayhem well before the ending so when the big reveal came, it sort of fizzled.

Dark Carousel is supernatural horror at its best and had me biting my nails from beginning to end. Here, Hill channels his father at his scariest. Despite it being a short story, I got a real sense of the characters and was terrified for them. It also gives a nod to Charlie Manx from Hill’s NOS4A2 which will delight fans. I do not recommend reading this right before bedtime!

Late Returns is another favorite of mind as it’s centered around a grief-stricken son who takes on a part-time job of driving an antique library bookmobile that, well let’s just say there are ghosts and time travel involved. It’s surprisingly sentimental and it had me tearing up a couple of times. It’s a perfect example of Hill’s versatility as a writer. 

By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain is a beautiful tribute to Ray Bradbury and Hill takes that and channels his own memory of the disappointment of a failed childhood trip to Loch Ness, into pure literary gold. It’s a simply told, poignant story of two childhood friends who stumble across the corpse of a plesiosaur. As they debate over what to do, they’re unexpectedly forced to confront their own mortality. Hill does a masterful job capturing the voices of the children. The streaming horror network Shudder has picked this up as part of its upcoming Creepshow remake. 

Faun which is Hill’s tribute to C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, Ray Bradbury’s Sound of Thunder and Lawrence Block is hands down my favorite story in this collection. Have you ever wondered what would happen if adults stumbled across a magical doorway to an enchanted land like Narnia? Well, given the arrogance, selfishness and avarice of the human race, it goes pretty much as expected until the inhabitants decide to fight back. This story has me wanting to hunt Joe Hill down to plead with him to turn it into a full length novel. I guess I’ll have to be content though with the news that Netflix has won the bidding war to adapt this into a movie.

And speaking of Netflix, In the Tall Grass is the second story father and son write together, and the movie is due to drop on the streaming network in October. I loved this horror tale of a brother and sister who try to be good samaritans only to find themselves trapped in gruesomely horrific circumstances. After reading this you’ll forget about avoiding creepy cornfields when you’re going on your next road trip, and instead start growing anxious when spotting large fields of tall grass! This deeply disturbing, twisted tale really shows off both writers horror chops and I can’t wait for the movie!

While not every story was my cup of tea, overall I think Full Throttle is an enjoyable anthology that I will not only please longtime fans, but also attract new ones. All of the stories except for two, Mums and Late Returns, have appeared in previous anthologies so as you read this you get an intriguing look at how Joe Hill’s writing has developed through the years. Oh! And you know how I recommended you read the Forward? Likewise, I suggest the Storynotes are worth reading as well. And if you stick around for the acknowledgments, there’s a delectable little treat at the end called A Little Sorrow.

 

 

 

 

Imaginary Friend, by Stephen Chbosky ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Non-Fiction, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Horror, Mystery, Substance Abuse, Suicide, Suspense, Torture

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: October 1st, 2019

720 Pages

Synopsis: Christopher is seven years old. Christopher is the new kid in town. Christopher has an imaginary friend. The epic work of literary horror from the #1 bestselling author of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.

We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with Christopher at her side. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It’s as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.

At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six awful days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed, but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a tree house in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone else in the town will never be the same again.

Soon, Kate and Christopher will find themselves in the fight for their lives, caught in the middle of a war between good and evil, with their small town as the battleground.

Imaginary Friend is probably one of the most anticipated books of 2019, as it’s the first book written by The Perks of Being a Wallflower author, Stephen Chbosky, in twenty years. Given how much I loved POBAW and the film adaptation, as soon as I found out about it I contacted the publisher and begged for an eARC. Grand Central Publishing was already one of my favorite publishing houses, but now they’ve gone to the top of my list thanks to their generosity.

Chbosky’s first book as well as its film adaptation has an enormous cult following, so his second twenty years later, is a dream come true, particularly as it’s so different. If you look on Goodreads you’ll see a lot of mixed reactions to it. After spending the last four nights reading, I can say that while I did have a couple of issues, for the most part I really enjoyed it. 

One of the chief complaints seems to be the length. Yes,720 pages makes for a long story, but this didn’t bother me until the last 200 pages. At that point I think the battle between good and evil goes on a little too long and could have been pared down some. One saving grace is that Chbosky and his editor were smart when they decided to make the chapters short because this helps keep the pace going even during the slower sections. The actual horror portion doesn’t truly kick in until a little past the first quarter. Instead, this first part is spent introducing the characters which I didn’t mind at all because I loved them, especially Christopher, a seven-year-old boy who literally winds up having the fate of the world resting on his tiny shoulders. Having a small child be the main character in an adult novel carries quite a bit of risk, but Stephen Chbosky successfully pulls it off. He perfectly captures Christopher’s feelings of confusion, frustration, and fright, as well as his love for his mother and friends. The bond between Christopher and his mom, Kate, is beautiful and one of my favorite parts of the story. 

The story itself is a creative spin on the familiar good vs evil theme. There’s a ton of religious symbolism which may not appeal to every reader, but I thought was entirely in keeping with the storyline. There’s some awkward and repetitive phrasing scattered throughout which was occasionally distracting, but it didn’t substantially detract from my enjoyment. In addition to the main story with Christopher and his family and friends, there are others centered around secondary characters which blend intriguing layers into the larger picture. There are quite a lot of twists, and one in particular that I thought particularly brilliant. The ending perfectly wraps all the plot lines up yet leaves the door open a crack for a possible sequel.

Imaginary Friend may not be the same generation-defining literary achievement as its predecessor was, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable horror story that’s perfect for fans of books like The Stand, by Stephen King. One word of caution. There are quite a few themes here that may be triggers for some people. These include: child abuse, domestic violence, suicide, torture, substance abuse, and extreme violence and gore. Also, I am now terrified of deer! 

His Hideous Heart, edited by Dahlia Adler ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Anthologies, Diversity, Horror, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 10th, 2019

480 Pages

Synopsis: Thirteen of YA’s most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allen Poe’s most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.

Edgar Allen Poe may be one hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allen Poe’s classic tales and how they’ve been brought to life in thirteen unique and unforgettable ways.

Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining Metzengerstein), Rin Chupeco (The Murders in the Rue Morgue), Lamar Giles (The Oval Portrait), Tess Gratton (Annabel Lee), Tiffany D. Jackson (The Cask of Amontillado), Stephanie Kuehn (The Tell-Tale Heart), Emily Lloyd-Jones (The Purloined Letter), Amanda Lovelace (The Raven), Hillary Monahan (The Masque of the Red Death), Marieke Nijkamp (Hop-Frog), Caleb Roehrig (The Pit and the Pendulum), and Fran Wilde (The Fall of the House of Usher).

Once upon a time when I was just a tyke (8 or 9-years-old), I snuck a collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories home from the library and with great delight proceeded to terrify myself reading them by flashlight under my covers. So, when I saw His Hideous Heart on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it, especially as some of my favorite YA authors are part of this. While anthologies can be tricky, and whereas I personally have a mixed history with them, I was still a little nervous about the reworking of one of my favorite author’s stories, but I’m happy to say that this is one of the best anthologies I’ve read. Except for a couple that I thought were “meh” I enjoyed all these retellings but my favorites (in order) are:

1. The Glittering Death (The Pit and the Pendulum), by Caleb Roehrig

2. Happy Days, Sweetheart (The Tell-Tale Heart), by Stephanie Kuehn

3. She Rode a Horse of Fire (Metzengerstein), by Kendare Blake

4. It’s Carnival! (The Cask of Amontillado), by Tiffany D. Jackson

5. Red (The Masque of the Red Death), by Hillary Monahan 

In addition to these creative and diverse retellings, is the caring way editor and author Dahlia Adler has put them together. The first half of the book are the new stories, and the second half are the originals. This makes it easy to go back and forth to compare them. If I were a high school literature teacher, I’d be using His Hideous Heart to not only introduce my students to Poe, but also to share with them some terrific short stories by authors they may be more familiar with. I HIGHLY recommend this anthology to both Poe fans as well as readers just looking for some wonderful storytelling.

 

 

#MurderFunding (#MurderTrending #2), by Gretchen McNeil ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Horror, Humor, LGBT, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Freeform for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 6th, 2019

336 Pages

Synopsis: WELCOME TO WHO WANTS TO BE A PAINIAC? the latest reality TV show on the hunt for the next big-hit serial killer. But don’t worry—no one is actually going to murder anyone, as real as the fake gore and pretend murder may appear…uh right?

Seventeen-year-old Becca Martinello is about to find out. When her perfectly normal soccer mom dies in a car crash, a strange girl named Stef appears to let Becca know that her Mom was none other than one of Alcatraz 2.0’s most popular serial killers—Molly Mauler. Soon, Becca ends up on Who Wants To Be a Painiac? to learn the truth about her mom’s connection to Molly, but things turn sinister when people are murdered IRL. Will Becca uncover dark secrets and make it out of the deadly reality game alive? Or will she get cut?

While I didn’t review last year’s #MurderTrending I really enjoyed the completely over-the-top storyline mixed with spot-on biting social commentary. The premise of the first book is that in the not too distant future, convicted murderers are sent to an island called Alcatraz 2.0 to be hunted down and killed gruesomely by costumed government sanctioned serial killers. And this is all broadcast for the masses as a bloody reality show. There’s even an app where the show’s legions of fans can comment and place bets. Of course, just as in real life, some of those convicted are actually innocent. Sound familiar? I’ve been looking forward to seeing where Gretchen McNeil was going to go with the sequel.

My biggest issue in this book is with the pacing. While there’ a lot of build up, the action frustratingly doesn’t start until the second half of the book. Because of that, the action does kick in, everything seems extremely rushed. I also didn’t connect with the new characters as much as I did with the original “Death Breakfast Club.” Becca’s being an LGBT character is welcome, but without going into spoilers, her overall attitude about Alcatraz 2.0 really got on my nerves. The relationship between her and Steph also didn’t click with me. Steph remained a standoffish mystery until the last couple of chapters and because of this I never connected with her. I actually liked the secondary characters more, especially Coop and Fiona. The survivors from Alcatraz 2.0 also make some brief appearances which I was happy to see. There are a couple of welcome twists that caught me by surprise, and while everything for the most part is wrapped up at the end, the last sentence has me wondering if there will be a third book.

Although I don’t think #MurderFunding is quite as good as it’s predecessor, overall I still enjoyed it. Questions left at the end of #MurderTrending are answered and while there are a couple of loose ends left, they could be due to the rumored third book. Because of some pretty gory scenes in the second half of the book, I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone younger than high school age. That said, I think both these books could be used to introduce some interesting discussions about our increasing reliance of social media, our fascination with realty shows, and most importantly the negatives surrounding the death penalty.

Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1), by Katherine Arden ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Death of a parent, Greek Mythology, Horror, Juvenile Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers, for providing an eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

218 Pages

Synopsis: Bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale, makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic. 

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think—-she just acts, stealing the books and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivating by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending, when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio heads out into the woods—-bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—-the bus driver has one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

I loved Katherine Arden’s YA/Adult Winternight Trilogy, but somehow I missed her middle-grade debut last year. I’m so glad I stumbled across Small Spaces on NetGalley, because it’s just as good as her fiction for older readers.

Both upper elementary-school age readers and adults will fall in love with Ollie, a young girl who a year after her mom’s death, is still trying to come to terms with it, mainly with the support of her dad and by escaping into books. Even though she’s withdrawn into herself, it’s obvious from the beginning that she’s a natural born leader. Brian and Coco, are also relatable, with Brian developing into so much more than the stereotypical bullying jock, and Coco displaying her own hidden strength under her outwardly fragile physical appearance. They wind up making quite the formidable team by the end of the book.

The story itself a wonderful blend of horror, Greek mythology, and coming-of-age. Although only 218 pages, it surprisingly manages to pack in quite a bit of material. It’s quick moving and I finished it in a bit over an hour. The ending was satisfying but it’s most likely this is going to be at the very least, a trilogy. The second book, Dead Voices, is coming out on August 27th, so lovers of horror and mythology have plenty of time to catch up!

 

Containment (Sanctuary #2), by Caryn Lix ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Horror, Science Fiction, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 6th, 2019

496 Pages

Synopsis: They may have escaped Sanctuary, but Kenzie and her friends are far from safe.

Ex-Omnistellar prison guard Kenzie and her superpowered friends barely made it off Sanctuary alive. Now they’re stuck in a stolen alien ship with nowhere to go and no one to help them. Kenzie is desperate for a plan, but she doesn’t know who to trust anymore. Everyone has their own dark secrets: Omnistellar, her parents, even Cage. Worse still, she’s haunted by memories of the aliens who nearly tore her to shreds—-and forced her to accidentally kill one of the Sanctuary prisoners, Matt.

When Kenzie intercepts a radio communication suggesting more aliens are on the way, she knows there’s only one choice: They must turn themselves in to Omnistellar and destroy the ship before the aliens follow the signal straight to them. Because if the monstrous creatures who attacked Sanctuary reach Earth, then it’s game over for humanity.

What Kenzie doesn’t know is that the aliens aren’t the only ones on the hunt. Omnistellar has put a bounty on Kenzie’s head—-and the question is whether Omnistellar or the aliens get to her first.

Last year’s Sanctuary ended with a huge cliffhanger so I’ve been dying to get my hands on this sequel. After staying up until almost 2:00 in the morning reading Containment, I can honestly say that it’s even better than the previous book. 

While I enjoyed Sanctuary and thought it was action-packed, I did feel that character development was lacking. Well, Caryn Lix has certainly addressed that here. Not only does she fill in more details of Kenzie’s background, but she also fleshes out the backstories of some of the more involved secondary characters. The cast has also developed into a true United Nations of diversity, which I love. China, Egypt, Native American, Irish, and Russian cultures are represented here. And while those cultural differences are part of who the characters are, they don’t define them.

The plot itself picks up exactly where the previous book ended. The survivors who managed to scape the carnage on Sanctuary have been left utterly demoralized and traumatized. And now they’re being hunted by not only the monstrous aliens they barely managed to escape from, but also the sinister company known as Omnistellar who apparently has its own agenda for the survivors and the alien ship they’re flying. For a story where the actual monsters don’t appear until the last half of the book, the pace never slowed down one iota. Once I started this, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in less than 4 hours. The ending unfortunately is another cliffhanger, so I’m praying that the third book is no more than a year away because I’ve really become emotionally attached to Kenzie and her friends.

I highly recommend both Sanctuary and Containment for older teens and adults who love science fiction/horror along the line of the Alien movies. These pulse-pounding books are definitely not for the faint-hearted. Between the blood and gore, and the non-stop suspense, they are nightmare-inducing and will undoubtedly cause many a reader a sleepless night!

 

 

Slash, by Hunter Shea ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: October 10th, 2019

288 Pages

Synopsis: Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that might reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith.

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskill Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.

For the last couple of years I’ve come to rely on Hunter Shea for good, old-fashioned, fun, gory, horror and with Slash I was not disappointed. Shea put his expected unique twist on the familiar slasher trope and turned it into a one-sitting page-turner. Despite the book being under 300 pages, the characters are pretty well-developed, as is the plot. And there’s a fantastic twist regarding The Wraith in the last third of the book which I didn’t see coming at all. As with all his books, Slash doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending, but with this being my third book by him, I wasn’t expecting one.

If you’re a horror fan and haven’t tried Hunter Shea, I highly recommend him. His books don’t require any deep thinking, they’re just pure entertainment. As for Slash, its publishing date of October 10th makes it a perfect Halloween read.

The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk #4), by Dean Koontz ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

480 Pages

Synopsis: “We’re rewriting the play, and the play is this country, the world, the future. We break Jane’s heart, we’ll also break her will.”

She was one of the FBI’s top agents, until she became the nation’s most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that’s left between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society’s terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn’t save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills—and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice—Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal.

But Jane’s enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can’t outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait. Jane knows there’s no underestimating their capabilities, but she must battle her way back across the country to the remote shelter where her boy is safely hidden…for now.

 As she moves resolutely forward, new threats begin to emerge: a growing number of brain-altered victims driven hopelessly, violently insane. With the madness spreading like a virus, the war between Jane and her enemies will become a fight for all their lives—against  the lethal terror unleashed from behind the forbidden door.

The Forbidden Door is Dean Koontz’s 4th Jane Hawk book and is another perfect addition to this exciting series that shows no sign of slowing down. I think I’ve mentioned this in my reviews of the first three books that one of the biggest strengths of this series is the characters. I have become so invested in what happens to Jane, her precocious son, and the others on her team, that I find myself holding my breath as they face danger after danger. And the villains are so despicable and evil, that I want them to all die as slowly and painfully as possible.

There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t already said in my other reviews except that in my opinion the Jane Hawk series is some of Dean Koontz’s best work in years! The Forbidden Door ends in another nail biting cliffhanger, so I’m eagerly anticipating The Night Window which is coming out in May.