True Crime Review

True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I first became aware of Samantha Kolesnik’s True Crime on Twitter. I’d seen a couple tweets of the excellent cover and was further drawn in by the blurb from Brian Keene. I reached out to the author in hopes of being able to get my hands on a review copy. Shortly thereafter, the copy came in, along with a note from the author, part of which stated she hopes the book leaves and impression. After finishing the book, it’s safe to say it did a lot more than leave an impression.

True Crime is the story a girl named Suzy. Suzy lives at home with her brother Lim, and their mother, who is abusive to both of the siblings. The two flee home and embark on an adventure filled with murder and mayhem.

I had a blast reading True Crime, but at the same time I’ve got to mention this book was truly disturbing. There is a lot of mental and sexual abuse within this book. I’m not the type of reader to be disturbed by much of anything, but what’s in these pages really made a mark on me. On more than one occasion I put the book down to take a breather before continuing on. That being said, this book was well written and fascinating to read. As the blood spills within these pages, I was intrigued to see what was going to happen to Suzy. Did her upbringing make her a monster? In time, could she be healed? Suzy isn’t sure of this herself and as the story continues she becomes more detached and cold. From the get go, Lim strikes me as empty, likely because of the abuse suffered, but we don’t get to see what’s in Lim’s head because the narrative is in first person and Suzy isn’t exactly sure of what’s going on in Lim's mind.

True Crime is an exceptional book. It’s filled with abuse, brutality, murder, and psychosis. This is the type of book that sits with you long after you finish. If reading about sexual abuse isn’t something that you can stomach, this may not be for you, otherwise I’d highly recommend True Crime.

5/5

Paradise, Maine Review

Paradise, Maine by Jackson R. Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Paradise, Maine is the first title by author Jackson R. Thomas that I’ve read, and I can tell you that it certainly won’t be the last. This is actually the 2nd novel by Thomas, the first being The Beast of Brenton Woods.

Paradise, Maine tell the tale of a married couple who’ve been going through troubles. In an attempt to smooth things over, Darren secures a trip to a secluded cabin in the beautiful town the book takes its name from. As we all know, nothing good in life is free, and there is something quite sinister going on behind the scenes. Can they escape Paradise, or will this be a trip straight to hell?

If this setup sounds like something you might read in a Ketchum or Laymon work, then you’ve hit the nail on the head here. It channels works like that in the best way possible. I don’t want to give anything away, but The Watcher isn’t your average psycho in the woods, and I enjoyed the story behind him.

Our Main players in this story, Darren and Vanis are developed better than I’d expect in a novel like this. There’s enough time exploring their marriage and feelings about where it’s been and their future to make them feel like a real couple trying to fix their marriage.

Again, I don’t want to go into spoilers, but Paradise isn’t exactly what it seems, and there’s real potential here for further exploration. I wish it could have happened in this story, but that may have brought the book to a length undesirable for the story being told. That being said, I’m hopeful that we get more in this universe.

Gore hounds will find plenty to be satisfied about here. The Watcher is a brutal antagonist. He has an insatiable bloodlust and he likes to play with his prey, making for some scenes that will surely make you rethink staying in the woods. He’s got some backstory and he’s got history in the story, much of it left open.

When I finished reading Paradise, Maine I found myself pleasantly surprised. I do enjoy novels like this, although they aren’t my favorite type of horror novel. I found myself enjoying this title much more than I anticipated. Jackson R. Thomas has a sequel to The Beast of Brenton woods coming in 2020 and I’m hoping that with plenty of room for more books in this universe on either side of the timeline, that Thomas will be willing to revisit Paradise.

Becoming Review

Becoming by Glenn Rolfe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Becoming is the third title I’ve read by Glenn Rolfe, and as I’ve come to expect, it’s very good. One thing I love about Rolfe is that it seems the entire genre is his comfort zone. Although I’m sure that it isn’t easy, Rolfe is certainly making it appear simple for him to write in all the different horror sub genres.

In Becoming, Rolfe tries his hand at small town invasion horror. He plays this hand well and walks away with a win. Set in the small town of Avalon, Maine, there’s something in the water. Literally. People are going missing, and eventually return...different.

The lakeside setting of Avalon works very well for this book. It’s easy to picture this small town quickly becoming overrun by whats plaguing the lake. It reminds me a lot of Salem’s Lot in that respect. Rolfe writes his characters well in this book. I’m a sucker for horror centered on children and coming of age tales, so I did enjoy following Michelle’s POV throughout the book. Clint Truman has a good character arc, and one of the worst father son relationships I’ve read in a long time. There was some truly disturbing stuff going on with the elder Truman.

My only complaint about the book is the resolution, I wasn’t a big fan of the ending, I thought it came on a bit abrupt and wrapped things up too cleanly, but that doesn’t detract from absolutely loving the rest of this book.

If you’re looking for some good old fashioned throwback horror you should definitely pick this one up. It goes without saying I’m becoming a huge Glenn Rolfe fan, and this is another hit for him.