Scanlines Review

Scanlines by Todd Keisling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Scanlines is the latest by Todd Keisling, and I have to start off by saying. Buy this book, read the review after, but buy this book.

With that out of the way, Scanlines is the story of Robby and his friends who brave the sloth like speeds of the early internet days in hopes of watching some porn. What they didn’t expect was to run into a tape that made “faces of death” look like a children’s show. The video has stuck with the boys, and now the question must be asked, is there any escape?

This is such a dark, bleak book. From the very beginning of the story, Keisling pulls you in and never lets you up for air. The writing here posses a wonderful quality that has you just turning the pages until you’ve finished. The atmosphere of the entire story was just dark, ominous and sad. You could just tell that things were going to keep getting worse. It’s hard to describe but something about this book just stuck with me, it didn’t feel like fiction. It felt like an urban legend you heard about, and wonder if it could be true.

I recommend scanlines to anyone looking for a dark read. To talk about this book too much is to ruin it, I’ll just reiterate...I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. It just sticks with you.

Consequences Review

Consequences by John Quick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Did you miss John Quicks debut, Consequences? Fear not, the wonderful people at Poltergeist press have got you covered.

Teenage friends decide to throw a little party in a secluded cabin to celebrate graduation, one last hurrah before they go their separate ways. Things don’t go as planned, an accident happens and one of them ends up dead. Someone is out to make sure they suffer the consequences of their mistake.

The book opens fantastically. We start off with a bit of history of where the local “crazy Freddy” legend comes from, and then from there on out the book moves at a break neck pace, it doesn’t feel like 300+ pages.

Quick elected to make a slasher without supernatural elements, and I believe it was the right choice here. The killer is brutal, but he’s not invincible and it makes the tension thick, but you feel as if the kids might have a chance.

I also enjoyed the characters here, they’re typical slasher fare, but Quick developed them well enough that when bodies start dropping you worry for them.

I enjoyed my time with Consequences. This is an excellent homage to slashers. I know people will think of 70’s and 80’s slashers but to me, this felt like a written version of something like I know what you did last summer. It’s an absolute blast and I highly recommend

4.5 stars

We Are Monsters

We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We are Monsters, by Brian Kirk is the latest flametree release. This one a reprint of Debut previously published through the now defunct Samhain. If you haven’t read it, it’s time to fix that.

The Apocalypse Killer, recently deemed unfit to stand trial by way of insanity has been sent to Sugar Hill Psychiatric hospital for treatment. Dr. Alan Drexler is developing a cutting edge drug that help cure schizophrenia. Things look to be going Drexler’s way, but there are unforeseen side effects.

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed We are Monsters. I mentioned this to people while I was reading it, and I’ll say it here in this review. This book doesn’t read like an authors debut. It’s well thought out. Kirk spends a good portion of the book building his characters and the world they live in. This causes to make the first half read a bit slow, but I’m ok with that. You can’t complain about books with under-developed characters but complain when an author takes the time to actually develop his book.

As I said before, the characters are well done. As for the rest of the book? Once the ball gets rolling it really picks up steam. It would have been very easy for this book to go off the rails, and it does but just enough to make it a good kind of crazy. Kirk never loses control of his story, he gives it room to go nuts without ruining what he built in the first half.

I’m being a bit vague here, and that’s by design. I want to stay as spoiler free as possible. Fans of psychological horror MUST read this book.

The whole time I was reading this I would think to myself, this is what a horror movie written by Christopher Nolan would be like. I mean that in the best way possible. BUY THIS BOOK.

4.5 stars

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.

Isolation Review

Isolation by Michelle Garza

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


October was a busy month for Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, the writing duo known as the sisters of slaughter. The first of two releases, Isolation is a historical horror novella rife with bloodline curses and ghosts.

A widow named Amelia inherits a house on literally on a rock in the ocean. Strapped with no way to pay for the debts her husband left behind, she is forced to leave her home and take residence on the piece of land left to her.

Amelia is no perfect heroine. She suffers from a few crippling phobias and an addiction to Laudanum. Amelia makes her way to her new home, only to find that it’s seemingly inhabited by the dead. Amelia must figure out a way to survive a curse upon the family in order to save the lives of herself and those around her.

I enjoyed Isolation quite a bit. Garza and Lason do an excellent job setting the scenes and the tone within the book. It’s dreary, and like it’s namesake, leaves the reader feeling isolated on the rock with Amelia. The writing is nicely done, the story unfolds quickly and keeps you turning the pages. My only complaint was how often the Laudanum was mentioned. I understand that she faces an addiction, but it seemed like it was being mentioned every other page. In the end, it was a minor annoyance, not really a big deal, you may not even notice it.

This novella is different from other offerings by the sisters, and so far this one has been my favorite piece of work they’ve done.