Genre: supernatural, mystery, thriller YA

Publisher: David C. Cook                 

Publication Dates: April 1, 2012

 Reviewed by Lori Twitchell

I’m going to start this review with a very clear warning. If you haven’t read either of the first books in the Solitary Tales series by Travis Thrasher (Solitary and Gravestone) just stop right here and go purchase the other books first. I hate to spoil a brilliant read for anyone and Thrasher’s series is exactly that. So if you’re not acquainted with the series, go get it now. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. And do not hesitate. When you’ve finished the first two books, then come back to find the review of this one.

Okay with public service announcements of the way, let’s get to the review!

Chris Buckley has problems. His parents are divorced and his mother moved him to Solitary, a small out of the way town where nothing has gone right for him. It sounds like a typical teenage story, but the reality is more like something out of a classic horror film. His girlfriend died in a very nasty manner and the people who killed her are stalking him. And then anyone who has ever known about his difficulties has died. Or disappeared. Or disappeared and then died. It’s a pretty nasty situation.

Chris understands very little about what is going on around town. He used to want to know but now so many people have died and so much horror has happened, he’s almost beyond caring. Note I said almost. With a year of school behind him and summer school just beginning, he’s ready to try and call it a fresh start. No bully in the halls every day. No beautiful girl haunting his waking and sleeping hours.. He does his best despite the crazy pastor who seems to be everywhere and the fact that his mom is drinking more than ever.

Now I’ve got to admit that lately, my reading has taken a back seat to a lot of other things going on in my life. I’ve been behind on both reading and reviewing, but when I was asked if I’d cover this one, I jumped at the chance. Both Solitary and Gravestone kept me on the edge of my seat and I’m thrilled to say that Temptation was no different. In fact as I was reading I would have to stop, close my eyes and absorb what I’d just read because I couldn’t imagine Travis had gone there. But he did. And I loved it. Every. Single. Second.

Tightly paced with a plot that will keep you reeling, Temptation does come with a warning. Anyone around you might be drawn into the action as you gasp, laugh out loud and maybe even shout a little. I read this while sitting in a hospital waiting room and still couldn’t stop myself from outbursts of “What? Seriously?” There were moments so stunning I wanted to call Travis on the phone and ask what he was thinking. And when I turned the last page? I wanted to call him and beg for whatever he has ready of the next release. I admit it. Temptation has turned me into an official Travis Thrasher geek.

The characters in this book are realistic and relatable. In fact I think that if anyone wants to attempt writing YA Fiction from a first person perspective, Travis Thrasher is the author to read. Buckley’s voice is brilliant. His inner monologues give you a glimpse into the thoughts of a teenage boy without slowing the pace of the plot.

If you love the multilayered storytelling of Lost or you enjoy a deep rich story that will grab you by the throat, this series is for you. Perfect for reading groups (this series begs discussion – trust me. You’ll want to talk about it.) or if you just like to revel in a good solid mystery with a supernatural flair, you’ll love it.

Hurt , the next book, is slated for a 2012 release. Until then, I’ll be stalking, er… *cough*…following Travis via social media to anxiously await any juicy tidbits he might share. Or maybe even accidentally let slip. Yes, it’s that bad – and Temptation is just that good.

*Review Copy provided by David C. Cook

*PG/PG-13 Some serious storylines in this one with some really creepy stuff. It’s a hard PG-13 – recommended for 15-17 year age group.

Review by Josh Olds

Chris Buckley needs answers but he also needs his sanity. Given the events of Solitary and Gravestone, those two things just might be mutually exclusive. Ever since Chris and his mom moved to the supposedly sleepy town of Solitary, strange things have been happening. Well, that’s an understatement. More like Chris finds himself caught up in a town that acts like nothing is wrong while covering up blatant murder, occult activity, a beyond weird pastor, a mysterious past, and something to do with mannequins. Something demonic is going down in Solitary and somehow Chris is tied to it.

In Temptation, Chris decides he simply cannot take the fight anymore and gives up. Let evil continue. He can’t stop it. He should be able to enjoy his last year in high school as much as possible and then just get out, leave, call it quits. Never speak of Solitary again. Or Jocelyn. Or Poe. Or Kelsey. If he can’t uncover the truth, he’ll run from the carnage it brings. Only he’s running the wrong direction.

But it’s in running that Chris begins to find some answers—maybe. The pastor, Jeremiah Marsh, seems intent on revealing more of his secrets to Chris. Solitary’s tie to Chris’s ancestry is revealed. Questions Chris longed to have answered now seem to find him. Running away turns out to be not an option, because whatever evil there is in the town needs him. He can fight or give up but he can’t not play the game. Temptation is a battle for Chris Buckley’s soul. And by the time he realizes it, it just might be too late.

After two novels of many questions and few answers, Thrasher pulls back the veil to give readers just enough answers to keep us guessing and begging for more. Chris’s desire to just be normal (and not like some character in a YA novel, he comments wryly at one point) is one of the cardinal desires of young adults—or anyone—trying to find their place in the world. Travis does a great job of diving into Chris’s character and making readers empathize with his plight. Not the plight of death and horror in Solitary, but the plight of death and horror in Chris Buckley’s soul.

Temptation is about a kid who reaches the end of himself—and rightfully so, given what we know of his story—and finds that it’s only then that can he make the decision of who he is going to be. Thrasher writes in such a way that Chris’s journey becomes our own and we find ourselves sucked into the story and unable to escape. And just like its predecessors, Temptation left me wanting so much more all while feeling satisfied at what had been revealed. With one book remaining to put the pieces together, Thrasher is settling in to close out what has been an awesome series. I wouldn’t want to actually be in Chris Buckley’s shoes, but being able to step into them through Thrasher’s art of story has been an entertaining and thought-provoking experience I won’t soon forget.

Genre: Horror, Suspense

Publisher: Quirk Publishing

Publication Date: September 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Roman

New York City residents Susan Wendt and her growing family need to find a bigger home. When Susan sees an ad for a walk-up brownstone in a good neighborhood at a steal, she can’t believe her luck. She and her husband Alex fall in love with the home and rent it immediately from an elderly and eccentric landlady. Almost immediately, Susan hears noises and learns of the horrible fate of the previous tenants. Susan starts to see bedbugs in her bed and on her body, but nobody else can see them. She even sees bedbug bites on a person in a portrait she has painted. It’s only after she almost loses her sanity that her family believes her, but by then things have turned for the worse.

It’s been a long while since a book has been able to capture this reader’s attention by being scary. Most scary books really aren’t, but this one is an exception. Maybe it’s because it is a psychological thriller and the story affects the mind. Maybe it’s because the story deals with creepy-crawlies, and one can just feel them on the skin while reading. Many times this reader has stopped and looked at her arm to check for bugs or bug bites. In short, Winters is able to scare the reader because he grabs the imagination’s attention and sends it to wild places. Not many people can tolerate bug infestation stories, and that is part of the fun. Truly, the reader will get the willies.

Bedbugs gets at that niggling little feeling that, even though the reader knows the story is fiction, it COULD happen, and that makes things all the scarier. While it doesn’t come at the reader with blood and gore and tons of suspense, it makes up for it by planting that seed of fear in the brain. From there, the reader takes over and helps to create a wonderfully fun and creepy story. Readers who want to be given a good scare won’t be disappointed. Because of the subject content, it is suggested for mature readers only.

Review copy provided by publisher. 

Genre: Legal / Horror

Publisher: Pinnacle

Publication Date: August 2011

Reviewed by Tim George

Mallory Caine is a lawyer with a taste for intelligence in her men.  She goes for the brainy college types- especially the brain portion.  Being a zombie will do that to you.  But Ms. Caine isn’t your average, stiff-armed, head-cocked, moaning zombie.  No, a healthy dose of night cream applied liberally every morning helps keep the decomposing flesh at bay.

Mallory is not a zombie without a conscience, either.  Every life, every meal haunts her.  But she must feed in order to keep the fraction of life she has.  Otherwise, she would die without her soul, and she can’t do that.  No, Mallory must stay alive in order to find out who murdered her, who turned her into the monster she is now, and why.  Is there any cure for being a zombie?  Pay Me In Flesh puts a whole new spin on leading a double life, with its main character trying to make her living by defending in the court of law and getting her meals by picking up men on the street.

It’s tough to catch a break in a city like L.A., especially when Mallory is hearing voices and constantly getting dive-bombed by birds.  Things get complicated when her vampire friend Traci Ann is framed for murder- a murder that Mallory knows her client didn’t commit.  How does she know this?  Because Mallory herself was responsible for the policeman’s death.  When Mallory decides to defend the shape-shifting supernatural, she must go head to head with her ex-boyfriend and prosecutor, Aaron Argula, in a battle of wits and desire.  Whether the desire stems from hunger or passion, Mallory couldn’t say.

As she progresses, Mallory must deal with a corrupt system of police, lawyers, and judges who thwart her at every turn.  At night, the battle rages on to a fight for her undead life against a sword-swinging, head-slicing zealot with a vendetta against zombies.  Will Mallory be able to defend her friend without revealing her own secrets? A wry read, the story dips and twists at every turn, keeping the elusive conclusion just out of sight.  The gore is kept at minimum, with our heroine using her trusty hook-nosed pick instead of the traditional zombie method of biting.

The book promises more to come, as Mallory Caine’s story is far from over at the end.  She has yet to solve her own murder, or come to any sort of resolution with her ex or the green-eyed detective that she quarrels regularly with.  Pay Me In Flesh will keep you intrigued until the end, with its wit and unpredictable plot.

K. Bennett displays a broad knowledge of his home city, Los Angeles, as well as the law profession he once worked in.  This is his first zombie book, following his bestsellers Deadlock and Try Fear, published under a name familiar to many, James Scott Bell.

Publisher: Little, Brown, and Co.

Publication Date: October 2011

Reviewed by Melody Ballard

The Outlaw Album is classic noir with rural flavor.  This anthology of twelve stories is filled with the same twists and turns as an Ozark river.  Without exception, as we journey through the minds of madness, eerie and unsettling footprints mark our journey.

In “Uncle”, we feel the terror of a young girl faced with a nightmare existence as her uncle continues his rampage of rape, murder and unimaginable terror.  We look through her eyes as she journeys to her breaking point, and the inevitable conclusion of her nightmare.

In “Returning the River” we are able to relish the sweet taste of vengeance and   savor every moment of pursuit as our victim Harky desperately tries to avoid his inevitable fate.  We thrill at the chase but are left with an almost disappointing resolution upon its completion.

“The Horse in our History” leaves us curiously unsettled as calliopes of recollections converge to paint a picture that captures the disjointed events of a specific period of time.  Or do they?  The uncanny nature of this story leaves our mind churning to find semblance where none is to be found.

Perhaps the most disturbing story of all is the one presented at the beginning of The Outlaw Album. “The Echo of Neighborly Bones” is filled with a curiously calm but vengeful rage that mingles with tenderness as a husband avenges the death of his wife’s dog. The first two sentences set the tone for not only this story, but all the others.  “Once Boshell finally killed his neighbor he couldn’t seem to quit killing him. He killed him again whenever he felt unloved or blue or simply had empty hours facing him.”

Throughout these twelve tales (The Echo of Neighborly Bones; Uncle; Twin Forks; Florianne: Black Step; Night Stand; Two Things; The Horse in Our History; Woe to Live On; Dream Spot; One United; and Returning the River) runs a curious logic intermingled with desperation and violence. Somehow the dark, twisted, chilling events and the extraordinary actions of ordinary people seem curiously plausible.  The Outlaw Album is an amazing collection of eerie stories that is sure to not disappoint fans with an appetite for unnerving suspense.

Genre: Romance, Horror, Suspense

Publisher: Atria

Publication Date: April 2011

Jake Chism’s Review:

R is a zombie, but R is so much more. He certainly looks the part with his trademark gait and rotting flesh.  Sure he loves to munch on human brains as much as the next dead guy, but something is changing inside. He just met this human girl named Julie on a hunting raid and instead of eating her, he’s decided to save her life and hide her from his friends. In this post apocalyptic world where zombies prey on human survivors, this is certainly a no-no. But R can’t help himself. Julie is causing him to do something he didn’t know he was capable of doing: to feel.   For the first time in his death R has found a reason to live.

The plot summary above does no justice to Isaac Marion’s breathtaking debut. Neither do the “zombie love story” nor “zombie Romeo and Juliet” monikers others have given it. Like its main character, R, Warm Bodies is so much more than what we see on the surface.

The story is told in the first person from R’s POV and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) I’d place this first person narration on the level of Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas. Marion writes like a seasoned pro, making this the kind of story that will send aspiring novelists and veterans alike into fits of jealous rage. Not only is this Isaac Marion’s debut, but he sold the movie rights before the book was even written, much less published. Yeah, the kind of stuff that only happens in publishing fantasy land, but nevertheless the final product is more than worthy of the hype.

Marion infuses the well balanced plot with beautiful themes of compassion, creativity, and humility. R’s “courting” of Julie is beautiful to behold, leaving us with countless scenes that will sear in your mind long after reading. For example, I will never forget R’s Frank Sinatra record skipping serenade that is nothing short of literary genius.

Fans of the zombie mythology will find plenty here to satisfy, but Marion deftly avoids the pitfalls of gratuitousness and overindulgence that one might expect in a zombie tale. There’s more than enough gore, violence, adult content, and language here to warn sensitive readers, but the journey is more than worth it for readers who long to be moved by their fiction.

To say much more would run the risk of spoiling a truly phenomenal reading experience. Suffice it to say that this “Romeo and Juliet Zombie Love Story” that you may or may not have heard so much about is definitely worthy of the buzz. Isaac Marion is a name to watch and one I hope we have not heard the last of.

Lori Twichell’s Review:

Hold on to your socks here folks. This is a different kind of review for a very different kind of book. (Yes it has a cover, title, pages with words strung together into sentences…like most other books. And it even has an amazing romantic love story in it. But that’s where everything that you might recognize in a book stops.) This book is about dead people. Fleshies. That’s a zombie that you can’t really tell is dead because they still have flesh on their bones. And yes, if you connect those sentences that makes this a zombie love story. No, really.

BUT BEFORE YOU LAUGH AND MOVE ON…WAIT. This is one of the most amazing, beautiful and gorgeously written stories that I have ever read.  I do not say that lightly. I was immediately drawn into this story and couldn’t stop myself from reading even though it took me into very late night hours.

Let me fill you in briefly on the story itself. The main character, R, is a zombie. The book is written from his perspective and even though we know a lot about his daily life and we can guess some things about what life was like ‘before’ we still don’t know much. What we do know is that he knows he’s dead but he doesn’t know how he became a zombie. He’s well dressed and well preserved. We also know that he longs for more. He wants more than to just eat brains every now and then to live again. (Brains cause a reaction in zombies that allow them to re-live the lives of the owner.) He understands the dilemma of killing people to survive. He wants more. And then he eats the brain of Perry and it changes everything for him.

This book was not a book I wanted to read. When we got the standard email with the trailer, I saw zombie love story and blinked out. (Probably like a lot of people reading this review have.) I sent it off to Jake and asked if he was interested and I was shocked when he wrote back an enthusiastic YES! I thought he was kidding but then I went and watched the book’s trailer.  Here. Check it out for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBv7cC_qU30 I was immediately interested. Some of my favorite authors were endorsers of this book.

And then I got the book in the mail and found it to be so much more than what ‘zombie love story’ would make you think. With entire passages devoted to what existence is supposed to mean versus what it actually does mean – all from the mind of a zombie, it’s more difficult to dismiss this book.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the zombie genre, this book will engage you in ways you never imagined. It’s sharp and witty with syllable counting dialogue that will stick with you long after you’ve read it. It’s revolutionary, beautiful and engaging in brilliantly imagined ways. This book has settled firmly onto my favorites of 2011 and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Do not miss this book. You’ll be glad you took the time for it.

Don’t miss our interview with Isaac Marion. 

Review copies provided by publisher. 

Genre: Mystery, Horror, Psychological Thriller

Publisher: Kensington

Publication Date:  February 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer S. Roman

This book has been sitting on my pile of books to review for a while, and since I have already read Funaro’s The Sculptor, I was getting antsy to get to The Impaler.  It was definitely worth the wait.  It’s not written in the typical murder mystery style; rather, there are three parts to the story.  In the first part, Detective Markham and the reader are introduced to the gruesome murders that start appearing in rural North Carolina.  People are impaled with large stakes through their rectums and out through their upper torsos.  At first glance, all the victims appear to be gang members, but some sleuthing turns up another connection.  In part two, the reader is introduced to The General, who is the Impaler.  He refers to himself as the General because he is the leader of the army meant to take out certain people in order to reconnect with loved ones on “the other side.”  Obviously, this person has severe mental issues and a lack of connection to reality.  This portion focuses on his history and how he became the General/Impaler.  Finally, in the third part, the reader is treated to the General’s final plans and Markham’s tracking down of this killer.  Where a usual murder mystery would leave the reader guessing until the end to find out who the killer is, Funaro uses a different tactic and decides to let the reader know by the second part.  A great deal of story is written from the General/Impaler’s perspective, which really lends a shot of creepiness to the whole thing.

I have been a fan of some other psychological thriller writers for some time, but they have become old hat compared to Gregory Funaro.  They may sometimes put some more surprises out there, but Funaro manages to get into the sickness, the madness, of what is going on in these killers’ heads.  He terrorizes us readers by showing us what motivates those killers.  I am not an expert on psychopaths, and I don’t know how accurate this rendition of one is, but if a real psychopath is anything like what Funaro depicts, I don’t ever want to meet one in person.  The General/Impaler scared me out of my wits.  I like being scared in books, so this was an amazing experience.  However, this book is not for everyone.  There is a great deal of gore, angry violence, including violence against children and animals.  There are a couple of scenes in which sodomy is described.  There is a great deal of profanity, and there is a suicide.  Readers who can’t tolerate such scenarios should be warned.  I am still reeling from some of the scenes.

A reader who can tolerate a lot of violence and who enjoys psychological thrillers should be very happy with Funaro’s latest installment.  He’s got a great imagination and manages to relate even the most mundane activity to a crime.  He’s writes cleanly and doesn’t include unnecessary details, but does include details that are creepy and that make the story.  He shows that he has done a lot of research to get details just right.  I also like that while Markham is important to the story, the reader doesn’t get a lot of details about his life.  Some people want the hero to be developed, but in this case, all eyes should be on the villain.  I can’t wait to read Funaro’s next book.

Review copy provided by author.

Genre: Thriller, Horror, Suspense, Speculative

Publisher: Marcher Lord Press

Publication Date: October 2010

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Sascha Konig has just been assigned to a mysterious Nazi torture center buried deep in a Romanian forest. Konig is a man of science possessing the skill sets needed to master the furnace used to snuff out Nazi dissenters. Indeed, he is soon dubbed “Nebuchadnezzar” for his uncanny ability to maximize the heat. As Konig tries to feel at home in this chamber of death he makes friends and enemies amongst the soldiers assigned. Despite differences they must learn to band together against the supernatural monsters that threaten to break through their defenses and tear them to pieces.

The threats from outside are nothing compared to the fears and struggles Konig faces within. Despite his faithful service to Hitler, Konig has secretly despised the infamous Führer, always struggling with how to remain faithful to Christ. As Konig bands together with his new found friends he discovers that they too are Christians, fighting the same inward battle that ensnares him. As dangers escalate this remnant of believers must find a way to survive the onslaught of supernatural terror while trying to save those they have been charged to kill.

Told in the gripping first person narrative of Sascha Konig, this novel leaps out of the gates in a rapid pace that is intoxicating to say the least. With every turn of the page I was giddy with excitement while I wondered what Schooley could possibly throw at me next. Creepy plant men, gory man VS monster battles, otherworldly characters that both haunted and enthralled…every surprise was fresh and every plot twist executed masterfully.

Marc Schooley uses his skillful pen to easily transport readers into the madness his characters are drowning in. Just when you think the story is smothered in darkness, we quickly realize that true evil is deeper than we can imagine. Fortunately, Schooley doesn’t leave us wandering around blindly in despair. In the end the light shines through in a way I never saw coming, lifting this story from great to superb.

If you long for fiction that will move you and linger long after reading, then give Konig’s Fire a try. Marc Schooley is a new name to me, but one I will follow with eager anticipation.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Realms

Publication Date: Feb 2011

Reviewed by Tim George

The Strange Man halted across the street ..watching with power as he imagined how effortlessly he could snatch them all away from the living world with one fell swoop … But why rush things? He stood in a dying town that begged him to lead it to its final demise. The highway had moved; the days of prosperity were gone. No one knew the town existed anymore. The outside world would do nothing to save Greensboro … He might as well have some fun. (The Strange Man, p. 38)

Dras (pronounced Droz) Weldon is a twenty-something loser content to die by inches in a town long since consigned to the scrapheap of little towns passed over by the modern world. Though Dras father is the former pastor of the local church and his brother now holds the same position, little brother is content to spend his days unemployed and nights with his best friend, Rosalyn, at the local hangout, The Rave Scene. Nothing paints the picture of Dras’ pitiful existence better than a scene in which he rides his bike to meet someone he considers akin to a comic book and action figure Mafia Don. And who is the fearsome thug in question? An eight year old kid.

Every Sunday Dras forces himself to endure another sermon by his brother out of duty and because he constantly turns to their mother and ill father for money. Money to spend on collector action figures, old horror movies, and enough liquid relief in which to temporarily drown his pathetic self. But in many ways he is no better than his town which has lived for generations with rumors of strange happenings at Grover’s Pond and an evil storm that once nearly wiped it off the map. And so it is that what begins as a ghost story told by a vagrant to scare little children all too quickly becomes reality as The Strange Man comes knocking at this sleepy town’s door.

Greg Mitchell makes a great debut in this first book of what will eventually be The Coming Evil Trilogy. While written in simple, straight forward prose that makes it a great candidate for young adults this story works on many levels: horror tale, cautionary parable, unapologetic presentation of the Gospel. Though it may at first seem simplistic, there are a number of layers to the story. Dras father has fought the good fight but is as broken down as the town in which he ministered. Jeff, the older brother faithfully warns all who will listen about the dangers of evil and their need for God but secretly harbors childhood terrors of all that goes bump in the night. And Dras’ best friend who has stood beside him since childhood through all of his failures will need him in ways she never imagined.

Though the conclusion at first seems abrupt, a second look reaffirms Mitchell’s decision to end things where he does. This is one creepy story that left me remembering how I felt after watching Night Gallery as a kid. The only difference here – while the names have been changed, there is nothing made-up about the very real evil pictured. Greg Mitchell did such a masterful job of immersing me into his surreal world of monsters and impending calamity that it was only after the imaginative fog cleared I realized the monsters and his hero’s ultimate decision were made of the stuff that transcends a mere story.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Mystery

Publication Date: August 2010

Publisher: David C. Cook

Jake Chism’s Review:

Chris Buckley never thought he’d end up in a place like Solitary, North Carolina. After his parents divorce he reluctantly moves with his Mom back to the strange little town she grew up in. Everything about Solitary feels off to Chris. The way the kids in his new high school look at him, the way everyone seems to know a secret except for him, even the feel of the town itself. Everything feels wrong, except for the way he feels about Jocelyn Evans. He finds himself hopelessly drawn to her, despite her efforts to push him away. As Chris falls deeper for the girl he has to have, he approaches a darkness that will shake him to his core.

Bold. Edgy. Beautiful. Terrifying. These are the words that ran through my mind after I closed the last page of Travis Thrasher’s latest. Solitary is Thrasher’s first attempt at a series and his first foray into the YA market. If you are going to make an entrance, why not stand up and demand some attention? That’s exactly what Thrasher and David C. Cook Publishers have done with this outstanding story that is as haunting as it is addicting.

The first person narrative of Chris Buckley is the shining element here. I loved being immersed into Chris’s world as he juggled the struggles of a new town, a mysterious love, and a broken home. Everything Chris feels and experiences masterfully flows off the page allowing the reader to dive in and look around this strange and scary place he finds himself in. The relationship of Chris and Jocelyn is especially handled well as Thrasher explores the emotional and physical struggles teens face in everyday life.

Solitary has such a creepy feel to it throughout, and I found myself flying through the pages desperately trying to make sense of the bizarre elements we are introduced to at just the right places. I was surprised at just how edgy this story was, and it was a pleasant discovery indeed. David C. Cook is known as a Sunday school curriculum publisher, so I expected something much lighter and well…”churchy”. Rest assured…”churchy” this is not, however Chris’s spiritual and family struggles make Solitary more relevant to so many teens who face similar circumstances in our culture.

Solitary is the kind of novel the Twilight (don’t worry..no vampires here) crowd will enjoy, and dare I say contains the depth and level of creativity that could have made Twilight a great series instead of a good one.   In the end, Thrasher leaves us with a twist that will have everyone talking and will no doubt be divisive amongst some readers. I’m blown away by what Thrasher and David C. Cook have just brought to us and I can’t wait to read more.

James Andrew Wilson’s Review:

Strange men wearing trench coats are staring at you, everyone in the school warns you to stay away from the girl you can’t help but be drawn to, you find a creepy, abandoned cabin out in the woods, and you can’t shake the sense that somebody or something is watching you, following you, staring in your window at night and probing your very thoughts.

Welcome to Solitary.

Travis Thrasher has already proven himself capable of writing page turners about things that go bump in the night, but with Solitary, he ups the ante. You get the sense very early on that something is not right about this town. There are deadly secrets, questions that nobody seems to want to answer. Thrasher does an admirable job of dropping in new mysteries all through out the book, so that by the time you finish, your mind is buzzing with theories and you are frantic for book two.

Thrasher is no stranger to first person narrative, and here he squeezes out all of its potential, thrusting us into the head of sixteen-year-old Chris Buckley. Chris is about as likeable a character as they come. He’s no wimp; we see him spouting off smart remarks to the face of the school bully, going out in the dead of night to explore the eerie woods alone, and expressing a general lack of disregard toward the threats to mind his own business and to just blend in like everyone else.

Chris isn’t the only character to like here. His attraction, Jocelyn Evans, is complex and elusive, and like Chris, we as readers are dying to know what she is hiding. Chris’s other friends, Poe, Rachel, Newt and Ray are all well drawn out characters that are each unique and enjoyable to read.

It is obvious that Thrasher is a fan of such TV shows as Lost and Twin Peaks, and that they played a role in the inspiration for this series. Fans of those types of stories will find plenty here to love.

People who don’t generally pick up young adult fiction shouldn’t shy away from Solitary. Not for one moment did I feel like this was any less engaging than Thrasher’s adult fiction. In fact, I’d rank it right up there with Ghostwriter as my favorite Thrasher novel to date. (Psst, fans of Ghostwriter, be on the lookout for the Dennis Shore reference.)

Solitary is creepy, fun, and impossible to put down. I can’t imagine a much better beginning to what is sure to be a mind-bending, stellar series. Put this one at the top of your list, and don’t be surprised if you’re picking it up a month later to read it again.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication date: June 2010

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

Dog Blood, the highly anticipated sequel to Hater (first self-published in 2006), continues the fast-paced, thrilling story of the mysterious and violent condition affecting a third of the world’s population. In Hater, Danny McCoyne was bewildered and overwhelmed by the horrific changes “the Hate” brought to his city and his home. In Dog Blood, reality sets in deeper as Danny must battle not only those around him but his own impulses as well.

Danny McCoyne is a Hater. He has come to understand that anyone who is not like him, who is Unchanged, must be killed. The urge to kill is a physical need, and it can’t be controlled. But as time passes, Danny and others like him realize that if they are to be successful, they have to reign in their bloodlust, at least to some extent. The Unchanged have superior weapons and greater numbers and have sealed themselves inside well-defended cities. The Haters are left to roam the countryside in search of whatever food they can find. The situation is unsustainable, and for Danny, it’s even worse, because he knows that his daughter, who is like him, is out there somewhere. And he’s determined to find her.

Meanwhile, Mark Tillotsen, one of the Unchanged, lives in a city high-rise apartment, crammed in with his pregnant girlfriend, her parents, and another family. He’s a member of a search crew that forages outside the city, looking for food, supplies, and survivors in exchange for slightly higher rations. After a particularly close call with a band of Haters, Mark realizes something has to change. But what?

The story of the hero’s journey is nothing new. From John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, literature is filled with stories of a lone journeyman making his way through a world of obstacles and disappointments. Dog Blood, narrated in first-person present tense, is a new twist on an old genre, as the “hero” is a maniacal killer who manages to restrain his instinct for causing violent death only with a tremendous act of will-power. The reader is torn between wanting to root for Danny’s success while simultaneously identifying with Mark’s plight. In the end, only one of them can triumph.

Like Hater, this book is filled with gruesome descriptions of gory apocalyptic violence, but it has many tender moments as well, particularly as both main characters struggle with their family relationships. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, Dog Blood is a fast, interesting read and will appeal to zombie lovers and those who just like a good adventure story with a novel approach built on a tried-and-true formula.

Review copy provided by St. Martin’s Press.

Genre: Science Fiction, Horror

Publisher:  Scribner

Publication Date:  January 2008

Reviewed by Jennifer S. Roman

As the result of a debilitating accident at work, Edgar Freemantle loses his arm and has significant damage to his hip and leg.  His brain also undergoes a transformation, as he loses some memory and language abilities.  Unfortunately, his wife is not able to deal with his new condition, and she divorces him.  To try to put his life back together, Edgar decides to spend some time away from Minnesota and chooses an island called Duma Key.  He rents a home and puts his old life in the past.  He makes an effort to exercise and to rehabilitate his body, and one of his goals is to wean himself from his strong painkillers before he becomes addicted.  He starts taking daily walks on the beach and each day goes farther and farther down the beach.  Once he finally gets to the next house on the beach, he meets a man named Jerome Wireman, the caretaker of the elderly and wealthy patron of the local art scene.  They become fast friends and share their difficult pasts.  Edgar eventually meets, and befriends the lady, Elizabeth, as well.

While on Duma, Edgar decides to take up painting again, which he dabbled in years before.  This time, however, he shows a talent he never knew he had.  He paints very odd, yet striking, paintings that seem to predict the future.  He learns that he is both receiving and sending messages to his new friends.  These messages tie him to both Wireman and Elizabeth in ways that they never would have imagined, and almost don’t want to know.  There is an evil lurking behind the painting talent, and it takes Edgar and his friends all they have within themselves to try to destroy that evil.

Stephen King seems to have two different styles: the truly horrific stories of ghosts and goblins, and the science fiction, otherworldly kind.  This one seems to fall under the latter.  The storyline focuses on real people with real issues, but at the same time, there is an evil force and an unknown power directing them.  Compared to others in this genre (The Tommyknockers, Desperation, Hearts in Atlantis), this one does better.  The characters are very likeable and the reader finds himself rooting for the characters.  Much of the information is mundane, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem as the reader absorbs everything happening all at once.  The evil is not so “out there” that it’s just too unbelievable, so it works.  True to form, however, King is wordy.  This book is big and long, and it does take a while to get through it.  For those looking for a light, quick read, this is not it.  For those looking for a serious book that will scare them, this is the right one.

As is Stephen King’s nature, he refers to pop culture from the 60s and 70s, so some of the references may not be acceptable in today’s more PC culture.  He uses profanity and violence, although they are not as common as they are in some of his other novels.  There is a bit of discussion about sex, but not much of it happens in this book.  King instead relies on just plain scaring the wits out of the reader to make the book entertaining.  He describes Edgar being alone in his house, at night, during a thunderstorm, and when he turns around, he is face-to-face with ghosts of children who died almost a century ago.  Those elements definitely cause the reader to jump, but not because of “blood and guts” gore.

All in all, Duma Key is a good story.  It doesn’t compare to some of King’s previous works, but it has the characters, the storyline, and the bump in the middle of the night to make it scary and entertaining.  King fans should be happy with the results.

Genre: Horror

Publication Date: May 2010

Publisher: Realms

Jake Chism’s Review:

Rob Shields is lost. After the tragic death of his wife and son, he seemingly has no direction and no desire to move forward. Reluctantly, he travels to a small town in Maryland to see the house that was left to him by his great aunt. While there Rob begins to find strange connections to his son, Jimmy, and becomes more and more convinced that he is alive. With far and trepidation in his heart, Rob travels to Darlington Woods, a mysterious place shrouded in secret and darkness that might just hold the answers he is seeking.

Mike Dellosso has become one of my favorite writers over the last couple of years with his terror filled stories that are bursting at the seams with spiritual light. In Darlington Woods, we find these same elements on full display, but couched in a whirlwind cat and mouse game between man and freaky beast. Dellosso’s “darklings” are a fun and creepy creation that give this particular story even more of a freak out factor than his previous works. Add to the mix an ever increasing sense of dread and madness, and you’ve got a gripping tale that demands to be devoured.

It should come as no surprise to Dellosso fans that this is a very theme driven novel, and specifically we get some great illustrations of light overcoming darkness. That’s not to say that character development and plot are lacking, but Dellosso sticks to what he does best: exploring spiritual themes in the midst of human tragedy. Readers who purely want to escape in their fiction might be turned off by such an approach, but for those who love to be challenged and stretched while being entertained, Dellosso is right up your alley.

With each installment Mike Dellosso seems to only get better, and I can easily see how Darlington Woods could become a fan favorite.  With the recent news of a multi-book contract extension, we can be sure that Dellosso will continue to scare the light into us in fun and unique ways.

Tim George’s Review:

What do Joe Saunders, Mark Stone, Rob Shields and Mike Dellosso all have in common? They are nice guys who have encountered monsters the rest of us hope to never have to face. And the first three would not exist were it not for the tangible monsters author Mike Dellosso has battled in the real world. Dellosso’s newest thriller, Darlington Woods, returns to some of the themes the author explored in his debut novel, The Hunted. Once again we have an isolated little town with dark secrets and an everyman hero desperately searching for a family member. And, as in Scream, we are given a villain to be remembered.  But Darlington Woods takes things up a notch with its sheer fear factor and for lack of better words – sanctified creepiness.

When Rob Shields shows up to claim a house left to him by an aunt he never met he finds her home town of Mayfield a bit odd. But when he begins to have dreams that his supposedly dead son is still alive and a local waitress tells him about a place in the woods called Darlington, Rob’s journey escalates from strange to bizarre. The single narrow road that leads to the dead end village of Darlington should be clue enough; this is not the kind of place one picks for a Sunday afternoon ride. To reveal any more would only spoil the fun and the impact of one fine thriller.

Everyone has monsters of the soul: things they fear, people they cannot face, situations beyond their control. And like the people of Darlington many spend their life just trying to keep those “Darklings” at bay. But in this story, one man learns the power of light over fear and what it means to face his monsters in spite of the terror they bring to the soul. Over the last couple of years, Dellosso has helped to shape what to some seems a contradiction – Christian horror. As with his other novels, Darlington Woods is powered by its strong themes of light and darkness, hope and fear, good and evil. All explored by an increasingly powerful voice.

Once again Mike Dellosso has managed to shine the light of God’s grace into the darkest crevices of the human condition with amazing clarity.

Check out our interview with Mike Dellosso here.

Review copy provided by Realms.

Genre: Classic s Revisited

Publisher:  Quirk Classics

Publication Date:  March 2010

Reviewed by Jennifer Roman

In a take on the classic Pride and Prejudice, Hockensmith takes a leap from the original Bennet saga and turns the privileged family into zombie-killing warriors.  While the proper Mrs. Bennet fusses and frets, Mr. Bennet transforms his five daughters from silly, socialite girls into nunchuk-wielding, sword-bearing, killing machines.

At a local man’s funeral, the girls notice that the “deceased” is actually coming back to life as a zombie.  Their father rushes to the front of the church and cuts off the “dreadful’s” head before he can do more harm, but this change from dead to undead announces the coming of many more undead.  Knowing what the future holds, Oscar Bennet enlists the help of his five daughters: Elizabeth, Jane, Kitty, Mary, and Lydia.  He also summons help from the King’s Army, which arrives just in time to train for the battle of its life.  The ensuing training and killing are actually quite hilarious.  In one scene, the girls awaken in the middle of the night because they hear a noise.  Thinking it is a zombie, they rush down the hall just in time to catch their mother trying to enter their father’s bedchamber for a romantic interlude.  After realizing what they interrupted, they are more mortified than if they HAD seen a zombie.

There are some parallels to the original Pride and Prejudice, but the changes turn the once-classic into a campy romp of fun and hilarity.  While keeping some of the same style of language, Hockensmith manages to update the text and make it a pleasant, quick read.  The reader gets to see the English propriety as somewhat silly and frivolous: Mrs. Bennet and her “high society” friends get into a disagreement over the girls’ training.  There is to be a ball, and it is Elizabeth’s début.  Because of her “scandalous” training, however, the hostess of the ball refuses to invite her.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is innocuous for just about any reader.  Keeping with English propriety, there is no foul language.  In fact, the girls are not allowed to say the word “zombie” because it is improper.  Instead they call them “the Zed word.”  There are allusions to sex, but only in the vaguest form.  There are descriptions of beheading and the cutting off of limbs, but not in a grisly, raw manner.  Even those with the weakest of stomachs should be able to handle that.

Hockensmith manages to combine the old with the new in PP&Z with wit and humor.  He makes fun of late 1800s English propriety and throws in some political satire as well.  The story is quirky and fun, and most of all, an easy read.  Those looking for some fun and humor should enjoy this off-the-wall tale.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication date: February 2009

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

Without warning, ordinary people suddenly turn into violent lunatics, attacking strangers, friends, and even family members. No one knows the cause, and no one can predict who will be afflicted next. A major city is effectively shut down as people cower behind locked doors, fearful of their spouses and children. Finally the government steps in, rounding up the “Haters” and carting them off somewhere to be dealt with. It seems humanity’s only hope is to eradicate the horrific violence, and the only way to do that is to get rid of the offenders. The only problem is, it’s impossible to determine who will turn next—or when.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Zombie stories have made an astonishing comeback in popular culture, and while Hater isn’t exactly a zombie book (the Haters aren’t zombies, they just act like them), it certainly resembles one. Regular people turning on their friends and neighbors? Check. A viral spread of violence through the population? Check. Plenty of blood, guts, and gore? Check, check, check.

These days, a zombie story (or even a zombie-like story) needs to have something that makes it stand out from the crowd. Seth Grahame-Smith’s books have the connection with classic literature and historic figures. Max Brooks has the nonfiction feel. Stephen King’s Cell had the author’s name. So what does Hater have that makes it worth reading?

Actually it has two things. One is the brilliantly realistic picture of everyday life David Moody paints before the violence begins. Readers will readily identify with the snapshots of the hero’s everyman existence: the unreasonable boss, the boring job, the loving but needy family, the stress of providing for three kids, the understated but very real desire to somehow find something better. The contrast between this utterly recognizable tableau and the brief interjections showing the violence beginning to take place around the city is stark and sets up the primary conflict nicely.

The second thing that makes Hater worth reading is an interesting point-of-view shift toward the end of the book. The first-person narrative, formerly describing the efforts of the “Unchanged” to avoid the violent Haters, becomes a description of a new world from the point of view of someone who has become a Hater himself. This provides for an interesting question: who are the real haters—those committing violence for reasons they themselves don’t fully understand, or the Unchanged, doing everything they can to wipe out those they fear and loath?

Fast-paced, interesting, and well-written, Hater is worth a look for zombie fans eager for a new twist on a familiar genre.

Review copy provided by St. Martin’s Press.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: October 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Scott Mast has returned to his New Hampshire home to bury his father. Scott’s family has always been anything but functional, and it’s hard for him to be back. Granted, all that is waiting in Seattle is a going nowhere writing career, but nevertheless home is as un-sweet as he remembers.

Before leaving town, Scott happens upon an old manuscript that his father had started. Scott never knew his father wrote anything, much less an odd ghost story that has a familiar feel to it. Soon Scott is led to an old abandoned house outside of town, where he comes face to face with a terrifying past that reveals secrets about his family and his hometown. Unable to will himself to leave, Scott moves into the old house and sets out to finish the manuscript his father began. The story has become his obsession, and his obsession might just kill him.

Joe Schreiber recently made a huge splash in the Star Wars universe with the first SW horror novel, Death Troopers. With No Doors, No Windows he goes back to his roots with a more traditional horror tale that is absolutely impossible to put down.

Schreiber’s prose leaps off the page as he paints intoxicating word pictures throughout, dropping us right into the story as if it were happening all around us. Horror, drama, suspense, and mystery are effectively melded together to keep the pages flying and the reader guessing. Each character is fleshed out perfectly as secrets are exposed and fears realized. If you love scary, then there is plenty here to satisfy even the most hardcore horror fan. At the same time, amidst all of the darkness and turmoil there is a sliver of light that comes shining through offering hope when all seems lost.

Fair warning here: this is a dark, disturbing read. The story is laced with strong language and sexual content, but Schreiber somehow manages to keep the mature themes relevant to the plot without going overboard. If you like your stories light and fluffy, by no means is the book for you. But if you are on the prowl for a horror story with depth, then No Doors, No Windows is right up your alley.

Review copy provided by Del Rey Books.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Dutton

Released: October 2009

Reviewed by Jonathan Schindler

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897, is a staple in the horror genre. It shows surprising restraint for a horror novel, with the bulk of the action and violence taking place “off-stage” and with letters, telegrams, journal entries, and public documents mitigating the gore and narrating the action. Dracula: The Un-Dead, the authorized sequel by Bram’s great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and screenwriter Ian Holt, deviates from Bram’s novel, chronicling in gory detail the trail of violence that naturally follows in the wake of a vampire. Unfortunately, it breaks from Bram’s novel in more than just storytelling method and provides a revisionist account that falls far short of what it seeks to revise.

Dracula: The Un-Dead takes place twenty-five years after Bram Stoker’s Dracula ended. When we last saw the “band of heroes,” they watched as Dracula went up in smoke, thus ending their adventure together. When we find them at the start of Dracula: The Un-Dead, they all in some way bear the mark of their encounter with the enemy, and doubt is cast on their status as heroes. Dr. Seward is dismissed as a madman and a morphine addict. Jonathan Harker is an alcoholic. Arthur Holmwood has withdrawn into his persona as Lord Godalming. Dr. Van Helsing is pursued as a possible Jack the Ripper. Mina Harker, affected by Dracula’s bite, hasn’t aged a day since his death.

Things don’t look good in the heroes’ personal lives, but something far worse begins to happen. One by one, they are hunted down in a manner befitting Dracula. Has their old foe returned for revenge? Or is there a new evil bent on their destruction? And this isn’t their only worry. Young Quincey Harker, Jonathan and Mina’s son, has run away from home to pursue his dream as an actor, under the tutelage of the mysterious Romanian actor Basarab, and he finds himself entangled in a production that hits a little close to home—Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The plot of Dracula: The Un-Dead seems to be interesting and clever enough. It seeks to be historical, drawing in details from Bram Stoker’s life (Bram appears as a character in the book), the Jack the Ripper murders, the sailing of the Titanic, and other timely events. But while its setting may be historical, imported into this gothic environment are all kinds of modern ideas and sensibilities. It’s like the Jonas Brothers showing up in a period piece. Even if they’re wearing period garb, you know they don’t belong.

Most egregious of these snuck-in modern sensibilities is the antagonistic stance the novel takes toward Christianity (and not just the evil character at the center of the book). Each character who claims Christian status, no matter how minor, is deconstructed and cast aside. While such deconstruction may be merited if the stereotype is further explored, Stoker and Holt seem content using stock characters and images. In Bram’s original story, the only symbols able to overcome Dracula were those of Christianity. In Dracula: The Un-Dead, Christian symbols are no longer effective and Jack Seward even dangles the symbols of every religion known to man to try to ward off his foe, which seems to reflect a modern pluralism rather than Bram’s original Gothic setting. The dialogue in many places also seems anachronistic, including bits recorded almost verbatim from soap operas and Star Wars.

In addition to the wrong “feel” of the book, I was also almost offended on behalf of Bram Stoker. That this sequel was given the Stoker family’s imprimatur is baffling, considering how far it goes to reject Bram’s original vision and the unflattering picture it paints of Bram himself. Bram is a cowardly, bitter hack, who copies down what he overhears at a pub. He is sniveling and controlling, and one is almost glad when he is removed from the book. The revisions made for this sequel are justified on the basis of the “inconsistencies” in Bram’s original account. However, the revisions completely set aside the original book, not just those sections deemed inconsistent. It’s as if the sequel guts Bram’s book, taking only what it likes (vampires, gore, and Freudian innuendo) and casts everything else off as worthless. The new picture of Dracula painted by this sequel is nowhere near Bram’s Dracula. Instead of being an evil force that deserves to be hunted and killed, the perpetual damned incapable of good, Dracula is recast as a brooding lover—the Heathcliff/Mr. Darcy/Edward Cullen type—who pines for his lost Mina and is practically sainted by book’s end. (This, however, fails to take into account Jonathan Harker’s terror-stricken journal that begins Dracula, unless this, too, is to be attributed to Bram’s incoherent ravings.) Dracula: The Un-Dead is also far more graphic than the original, both sexually and violently. That Bram achieved an atmosphere of terror with far less of this is to his credit.

Dracula: The Un-Dead is billed as a sequel but is more of an entirely new account. While the premise and the way the accounts are woven together are novel and clever, fans of the original are better served by rereading Bram’s version. It’s shorter, better, and far scarier.

Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Publication date: October 2009

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

This well-written werewolf novel from horror writer David Wellington delivers a welcome twist on an increasingly familiar genre. In a market seemingly saturated with vampires and lycanthropes, Wellington, rather than sticking with a formulaic approach, presents an engrossing story about the life of a recently “turned” werewolf—from the werewolf’s perspective.

Cheyenne Clark is on her own in the frozen wilderness of the Canadian Northwest Territories when a flash flood sweeps away most of her gear. With no human settlements for dozens of miles in any direction, her situation is desperate, and it becomes more so when she is chased up a tree by a strangely aggressive wolf with icy green eyes. Though she escapes with her life, her leg is badly gouged by the wolf’s claws. In the morning, the wolf is gone.

The rest of the story is an interesting blend of standard werewolf lore and less conventional story elements. Naturally, the wolf that chased and injured Cheyenne was a werewolf, so naturally, she becomes one too. Pretty basic. What’s not so basic is the love/hate relationship Cheyenne develops with her wolf side as well as with the werewolf who turned her. As Cheyenne learns to live with her curse and the unexpected abilities that come with it, she must face the demons of her past as well as the uncertainty of her future.

As a werewolf tale, the book’s intrigue is marred by the fact that it simply isn’t very scary. It focuses on the relationship between the werewolf and herself rather than on the traditional horror-movie conflict between werewolves and people. While this provides some interest and depth, it ultimately limits the book’s appeal. There’s little in the story that compels the reader to find out what happens next.

Surprising (and not unwelcome) for a book in this genre is the scarcity of gratuitous violence and gore. If the author had managed to utilize effective storytelling to add tension to the story without resorting to the blood-and-guts imagery so prevalent in similar books, Frostbite could have been a terrific addition to the ever-growing library of werewolf stories.

Even with its weaknesses, the book is entertaining and downright thought-provoking at times. Lycanthropy aficionados will appreciate the relational elements of the story. But horror fans looking for a leave-the-lights-on-after-dark werewolf thrill-fest may be disappointed.

Genre: Science Fiction, Horror

Publisher: Scribner

Publication Date: November 10th, 2009

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

Stephen King, no novice at penning lengthy tomes, turns in another 1,000-plus-page behemoth with Under the Dome, a book he started writing in 1976 but abandoned for more than three decades. More than 30 years later, with one of the most remarkable literary careers in history under his belt, he tackled the project again, this time completing a story that plumbs the depths of human wickedness.

The town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, is a pretty typical-seeming smallish New England community. It has a diner, a used car dealership, a couple of churches, a supermarket, a newspaper, and a religious radio station. Most of its 2,000 or so residents are good, honest people who genuinely care for each other and for their town.

The scene changes abruptly when a mysterious and invisible barrier materializes out of nowhere, completely cutting the town off from the rest of the world. Within minutes, the death toll begins to rise. A plane smashes into the barrier followed by a number of cars. As scientists and government and military officials scramble to find a way to break through the barrier, those inside the dome have to quickly adjust to their new reality. And with Stephen King manning the controls, it’s just a matter of time before that reality turns sinister.

Within days, Chester’s Mill turns into a depressing cauldron of murder, corruption, conspiracy, and increasing fear. The town’s police fall under the control of a vicious town selectman with dictatorial ambitions. Resources are seized. Vocal dissenters are jailed—or worse. Soon the air quality inside the dome begins to change. Illnesses increase. Children begin to have seizures and frightening visions. Fear leads to anger, and people start to do things they wouldn’t have dreamed of just days earlier. As tension mounts, the stage is set for a final cataclysmic showdown between those who will stop at nothing to enforce their agenda for the town and those who believe the town’s increasingly dangerous leaders must be stopped at any cost.

On some levels, Under the Dome is almost allegorical. The town’s blossoming dictatorship is reminiscent of Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, with a charismatic leader ruling by force, police who operate outside the law, and “police solidarity” armbands for citizens. The worsening environment inside the dome could be a picture of climate change. The fact that the villains are all right-wing fundamentalist Christians (extremely hypocritical Christians at that) is probably a statement of some sort, and there are a few references to Fallujah that some might see as antimilitary. In any case, whether or not the author intended to send a message through the story, the book absolutely illustrates the tendency of power to corrupt and the inherent wickedness of the human heart.

Under the Dome is not an easy book to read, and not only because of its size. Readers familiar with King’s work will be unsurprised to find foul language and sexual content, some of it disturbing (most notably a gang rape scene and hints of necrophilia). There’s plenty of violence, quite a bit of drug use, and lots of examples (very nearly too many, in fact) of people treating each other in all kinds of horrible ways. Though the dome is the reason the townspeople are in their predicament, the real conflict in the book is not people vs. the dome but people vs. each other. This book could just as easily have been titled The Worst-Case Scenario because on page after page, just when it seems the forces of good might be about to catch a break, King pulls the rug out from under them yet again. There’s very little in the way of a redemptive message.

Yet all this is offset by King’s trademark brilliance in character development and plot pacing, and much of the prose is beautifully crafted. King utilizes an antiquated but effective technique in his narration, slipping into present tense and addressing the reader directly at times to draw attention to a particular item of interest in a scene or to explicitly foreshadow some coming tragedy. Careful readers will find a few references to other Stephen King books peppered throughout.

When he wants to, Stephen King is capable of writing stunningly beautiful stories championing the human spirit in the face of extreme adversity (Duma Key is an example). Under the Dome is not such a book. This is a story about human ugliness, and it’s all the more uncomfortable because it rings true. Even so, the brilliance of King’s writing is evident on every one of the 1,074 pages. Fair warning: don’t start this book unless you have some time on your hands. Uncomfortable though the book may be, it’s compelling and suspenseful, and once you start reading, it quickly becomes very difficult to put down.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: September 2009

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

Mix Children of the Corn with The Sixth Sense and Monsters, Inc., and you’ll encounter a brew that remotely resembles John Dies at the End by David Wong (or Jason Pargin, as he goes by in our particular dimension).

David and his phallic-obsessed buddy, John, are bumming their way through life, working meaningless jobs and screwing around. Until they encounter “The Soy Sauce.” The Sauce, a supernatural drug, opens their eyes to other worlds that are infiltrating our own. But the stranger their lives become, the greater the danger David and John face. Soon, they encounter a much larger problem than mere meat monsters and skin-burrowing flies.

Wong blends horror and suspense with comedy—a tricky combination—and pulls it off effortlessly. The book is a long one, with a challenging plot line that requires patience. But the unique characterizations and plot twists reward that patience. Wong uses a fascinating voice: part manic, part stream of consciousness, with a hint of Salinger and a touch of smart-ass. The result? The reader feels like he’s entered a world of madness along with the characters and must fight through this world with them.

While I didn’t always fully understand what was happening or why, Wong kept me engaged; I kept turning pages to find the answers. However, the book deserved a more succinct ending a few pages sooner. Vulgarity and graphic images—which I would have preferred in less abundance—pepper the book, but stylistically, they fit with the slacker characterizations Wong has created, as well as the horror genre.

John Dies at the End is an unusual read that spawned a cult following in its early, online days. More recently, fans can look forward to a film coming in 2010.

Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: October 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

The Imperial prison barge Purge is home to the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals and wayward vagabonds. When the ship breaks down their only choice is to board a Star Destroyer in search of help. At first glance it seems the massive ship is completely deserted, but soon the crew from the Purge discovers a nightmare on board that is far more dangerous than the inmates in their charge. Death is coming and it will leave no prisoners.

Joe Schreiber storms onto the Star Wars scene with a welcome breath of fresh air. The idea of a Star Wars horror novel seems incredibly gimmicky upon first consideration, but I was blown away by the story telling prowess of Schreiber. On the sci-fi side of things fans will be more than satisfied with the familiar SW feel, including an awesome cameo that will have die hard fans foaming at the mouth. Not a Star Wars fan? Never fear. This novel can be enjoyed by anyone, even if you’ve never seen the films.

Schreiber is known as a horror writer and he holds nothing back as he effortlessly brings “scary” to the Expanded Universe. The fast paced plot is full of tension, action, suspense, and gory scene after gory scene. With such chapter titles as “Lung Windows” and “Skin Hill”, you know you are in for quite a disturbing, yet thrilling ride.

Horror and gore aside, what really makes this story work are the characters. There was much more “heart” in these characters than I expected and I found myself rooting for them all along the way. Finally…another Star Wars novel that delivers like the Original Trilogy, giving us a reason to love our heroes.

I am now officially a Joe Schreiber fan and I look forward to devouring his previous novels. Schreiber is slated for another Star Wars horror novel next year and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table again. I sure hope the rest of the EU is paying attention because this is Star Wars storytelling at its highest level.

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication date: June 2, 2009

Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor

A plane touches down at JFK International Airport in New York, taxis for a few hundred yards, and then inexplicably comes to a halt and shuts down. All attempts to communicate with the pilots or anyone else on board fail. Finally a security agent enters the plane, only to find it full of corpses. The cause of death is a mystery; no trace of poisonous gas, toxins, or biological agents of any kind can be found on the plane. The only similarity between the victims is the tiny puncture in each of their necks.

The mystery deepens as the investigation continues. Strangely, none of the corpses seem to be decomposing. A mortician working late hears a loud noise from inside the cooler where the bodies have been stored. The next morning all the bodies are gone. The mortician is nowhere to be found.

This is the chilling scenario created by award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and veteran author Chuck Hogan in their first joint effort, The Strain, the first of a three-book series about a horrible vampire-creating virus unleashed upon New York City. The authors paint a gritty, realistic picture of an outbreak of vampirism, including a fascinating look at the biological changes occurring within those who have been “turned” as well as governmental response and public reaction to the crisis. The cast of characters includes the CDC agent tasked with investigating the mysterious plane deaths, an old Romanian who has been waiting in fear for this moment for decades, and a shadowy billionaire who seems intent on ensuring that the evil unfolding in the darkness of the New York night will prevail.

As vampire stories go, The Strain is excellent. Thrilling, frightening, and well-written with great character depth, a familiar setting, and realistic plot lines, the book succeeds wonderfully in doing exactly what stories like this are meant to do—remind us that no matter how civilized and sophisticated we are, there’s still something deep inside us that’s scared of the dark. A word of caution—these are not the romanticized, young-adult vampires of the Twilight series, and they’re not the smooth-talking vampires of Bram Stoker or Anne Rice. Hogan and del Toro’s creatures are an altogether different breed. The book contains lots of violence, some language, and some genuinely frightening scenes. This book is by no means for everyone. But fans of the horror genre will appreciate the realism and suspense the authors inject into the plot.

If the idea of watching movies like I Am Legend and Dawn of the Dead makes you cringe or turn away in disdain or disgust, you’d better leave this book on the shelf. But readers who enjoy good old-fashioned vampire fiction will love this book.

Genre: Suspense, Horror

Publisher: Realms

Publication Date: March 2009

Tim George’s Review:

Mike Dellosso stretches his writing wings in his sophomore tale of suspense, Scream. Offering the same intensity and smart pacing as his debut novel, The Hunted, Mike offers even better character studies in both his hero, Mark Stone and Stone’s protagonist, aptly named Judge.

Mark Stone is a hero with problems. His marriage is on the rocks and it’s his fault. What went wrong is doled out in little slices along the way but the hope of seeing things made right seems futile almost from the beginning. As though that isn’t enough to distract a man, Stone has even bigger problems. On several occasions he is talking to various people on the phone only to have the conversation interrupted by unworldly, you guessed it, screams. When he finds those he was talking with dead, our hero knows he is being plunged into a world he had believed to be behind him.

In spite of his disillusionment with the church, Mark Stone is left with nowhere to turn for answers for the hellish screams and resulting deaths except ministers. His conversations with these “men of God” reveal how little some who claim to believe in the spiritual actually do. While Stone is tempted to discount one minister’s explanation, the stakes are raised when a conversation with his estranged wife is interrupted by similar nightmarish sounds. This sets the stage for his ultimate confrontation with the reality of evil and grace.

Dellosso does an excellent job of painting the portrait of the man we know as Judge. This is no two-dimensional villain but rather a complicated man that has experienced deep tragedy in his own life. His misdirected thirst for justice has prompted him to open the door of his heart to a darkness that offers only one horrible option to satisfy that thirst. Time is taken to thoroughly develop the nature of Judge before he and Mark Stone are brought together.

In typical Dellosso style, the story begins fast and races toward its dramatic conclusion from one chapter to the next. In spite of its weighty subject matter it does it with style and suspense. It’s one scream of a ride.

Jake Chism’s Review:

Mark Stone never thought one phone call would turn his world upside down. While driving home one night he receives a call from his friend that is interrupted by a series of horrendous and piercing screams. Immediately after the screams his friend dies in a horrible car accident. As Mark searches for answers, he unwittingly finds himself involved in more similar incidents that lead to more horrible deaths. Things become even more personal when his wife is kidnapped by a madman and the same eerie screams are heard over her desperate phone call for help. Now Mark is in a race against time and evil as he desperately tries to find his wife before he loses her once and for all.

Mike Dellosso has once again brought us an engaging thriller full of gut-wrenching suspense and strong spiritual truth. In his impressive debut, The Hunted, Dellosso stormed onto the scene proving he has what it takes to scare the wits out of his audience while at the same time delivering a challenging and relevant message. Scream ups the ante on all levels bringing us even more terror, more suspense, and ultimately more heart.

Mark Stone is a fallible, yet endearing character that you can’t help but pull for from the opening chapter. His resilient search for truth and meaning provides the perfect backdrop for this incredibly creepy premise. Mark’s struggles as a husband are also effectively explored throughout and help to bring more depth to this intense thrill ride.

There is much controversy surrounding the mix of the horror genre with inspirational fiction. I’m thrilled to see that authors like Mike Dellosso are consistently churning out novels that prove how powerful this type of storytelling can be. Indeed, Scream will have you breathlessly flying through the pages and closely examining your heart at the same time. Mike Dellosso is a bright new talent that demands to be noticed.

Genre: Suspense

Publisher: Realms

Publication Date: June 2008

Reviewed by Tim George

The Hunted has everything needed for a good suspense novel. A hero that has to learn how to be heroic, a small town (Dark Valley) with a mix bagged of characters for residents, a demented villain driven by forces beyond his control, unseen monsters that lurk in the darkness, and a twist ending that hits you out of right field just when you thought all the loose ends had been tied up.

When Joe Saunders’ nephew turns up missing Joe is drawn back to a place he would just as soon forget. Called by his sister-in-law, Joe returns to the site of a personal failure that has haunted him for years and the love he walked away from without looking back. To complicate matters, that love is now the Chief of Police. Whether Maggie Gill is friend or foe is a large part of the story. She is fourth generation law enforcement and part of a family that has carried a burden for nearly a hundred years known only as “the Secret.”

Something is prowling the woods and back roads of Dark Valley leaving a path of death in its wake. Something that will force Joe Saunders to use every bit of strength and courage he has and then appeal to God for what he does not have. That too is a challenge since Joe hasn’t exactly been on speaking terms with God for some time.

Mike Dellosso breaks all the rules in current Christian fiction: his stories are classic horror, he ignores the current rule of intricate pre-plotting before writing, and he is unapologetic is his direct presentation of overt spiritual themes. I can only hope others will follow his example.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Faith Words

Publication Date: September 2008

Most novels are written for the purpose of providing entertainment for the reader. That’s fine, of course, we like to be entertained.  We want to escape into the universe the author has created for us, to remove our cognitive self from its daily toil with life and allow our imagination to be immersed in the story. Some novels also contain solid themes or good morals, but the endgame is still about entertaining.

Every once in a while a novel comes along that has both a riveting story and also a powerful message to share. I am thankful to state ISOLATION is such a novel.

“A family on the edge… A house with too many secrets… A relentless killer…” The Miller family is taking time off after being missionaries to a small village in New Guinea. The village is struggling against an intense demonic presence and incidents that occurred before the Millers left are presented to us as the narrative unfolds.

The Millers move into an enormous, 40,000 square-foot lodge in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, a dream home provided for missionaries on furlough. Their excitement soon begins to ebb as baleful discoveries are made, and a foreboding, dark presence bears down on them.

The Millers are thrown into a warzone involving the mind and spirit. This spiritual warfare challenges the existence of the core of their faith as they struggle to deal with what is real, what is imagined, and what they should and shouldn’t believe in. It is also a wonderful depiction of human nature, even missionaries struggle with faith.

I respect Thrasher for not attempting to answer our questions about faith. Faith by its very definition means to believe in something we cannot understand. Why isn’t God listening to me? Why isn’t He dealing in my time zone instead of some infinite, ethereal semblance of time? There are no sermons on the existence of God. Nor does Thrasher try to answer the age-old question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people.

The characters are well-developed and I quickly discovered I empathized with each one of them and their specific fears. I liked the way Thrasher bounced in and out of narration and character thought, at times even narrating in third person and interjecting a thought from the character’s perspective in midsentence. The dialog was easy and flowed well. The creepy house is a character in itself, creating a perfect setting for the novel.

Elements of the story may seem familiar to readers of Stephen King’s THE SHINING. Thrasher even jabs at the resemblance by referencing THE SHINING in the story. But ISOLATION is a much deeper and even more frightening story. If you’ve based your whole life on believing in God, then come face to face with demons whose powers claim victory on your lack of faith—that’s scary.

The horror elements in the novel are not solely faith-based fears. There is murder, gore, evidence of ritualistic sacrifice and torture… None of which is excessive, but Thrasher does a commendable job of staying true to the horror genre. The demons are terrifying and the house is disturbing. But the story is good.

Genre: Horror, Suspense

Publisher: Faithwords

Publication Date: May 28th, 2009

Frank Redman’s Review:

Dennis Shore is a successful horror novelist but has suffered one of life’s greatest tragedies in the past year, the death of his wife. “When stricken by a paralyzing case of writer’s block and a looming deadline, Dennis becomes desperate.” He plagiarizes an unstable fan’s manuscript, setting off a chain of events and the pursuit of violent revenge that threatens his sanity and the lives of his daughter and friends.

This was a difficult review for me to write. I’m a fan of the horror genre, but loathe the excessive profanity, sexual content, and gratuitous gore that so many writers in the genre depend on to make an impact with the reader. I had not previously read a Travis Thrasher novel, so I was excited to see what he had to offer.

It would be an injustice to the readers of this review, to myself, and ultimately to the author if I merely stated “This book is great—read it,” and was negligent in revealing some disappointment. The fan in me loved this story. The critic in me found some minor negatives.

I was concerned a few pages in whether I would truly enjoy it. The story took a while to develop and incidents occurred that seemed disjointed from the plot. The dialog felt forced. There are some editing errors, for example, the wrong pronoun used (p.17 “Did you threaten you?” The first “you” should be “she.”). To the author’s defense, it is tricky starting a novel, establishing the plot and characters, and simultaneously hooking the reader. If you stop reading this book because of these flaws, you’ll miss out on what simply can be defined as an extraordinarily good story. I’m incredibly grateful I stuck with it.

Yet there was still one more thing that frustrated me—I couldn’t wait to see what happened next! This… was a good feeling. For thrill-seekers, GHOSTWRITER is very much like the beginning of a monster rollercoaster. After climbing that first big hill (having time to look around, check your watch, shift around in your seat…), the rest flies at you in an eye-watering rush and your focus is dominated by what’s coming in the next stage of the ride. Kudos, Mr. Thrasher.

When you read a scary story and you’re not really sure what’s going on, but just when you think you’ve nailed it, something unexpected happens and your perception is shattered, that is the outline of a great horror story. That’s a great story, period. That is what GHOSTWRITER is.

It’s easy to develop compassion for Dennis Shore and identify with his grief, lack of faith, and his struggles with what’s real and what’s not. While it’s a remarkably frightening story, it is also an emotional love story. The reader feels Shore’s nightmarish fears and also his gut-wrenching sorrow.

Shore bounces in and out of lucidity so the reader cannot always discern what is real and what is the product of his poor mental health. This element can be difficult to pull off while mitigating reader confusion, but Thrasher makes good use of the technique, effectively keeping the reader guessing.

While this may sound like just a scary love story, do not be deceived. It is a full-on horror novel. Unspeakable supernatural evil tries to destroy the very essence of Shore’s life with an unhealthy serving of shocking violence.

GHOSTWRITER is an emotionally intricate masterwork of how evil can destroy us and love can redeem us.  Thrasher has proved to me to be an exceptional storyteller.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Jake Chism’s Review:

Dennis Shore has made quite a name for himself as a bestselling horror novelist. Every year his rabid fans anxiously anticipate the release of his new and terrifying creation. What his fans don’t know is that this year things aren’t what they seem with his new book. Sure it’s scary and addicting, some would even say his best work yet. Although his name may be on the cover, Dennis Shore didn’t write this book. Unfortunately for Dennis, the man who did write it is out to get him. And Dennis Shore will pay.

Like the fictional Dennis Shore, Travis Thrasher himself has begun to make quite a name for himself in the horror genre. Isolation proved that Thrasher has what it takes to scare the wits out of his audience while challenging them at the same time. Ghostwriter takes Thrasher’s writing to a whole new level of terror and heart.

From the opening lines we are effortlessly drawn in with Thrasher’s delectable prose and revealing insight into the mind of a novelist. Dennis Shore is an endearing character that demands our compassion because of the struggles life has thrown him. Yet on the other hand the more we get to know Dennis our compassion only grows as we realize how fallible he is.

The horror elements are very strong throughout as Dennis goes head to head with a madman that will stop at nothing to see him suffer. Ghostwriter truly offers some of Thrasher’s most disturbing scenes to date. Time after time I wanted to look away, but the quality of Thrasher’s writing made it impossible to do so. As the story progresses and truth is brought to life we are treated with a wondrous display of light in the midst of the deepest darkness.

Travis Thrasher only continues to astonish me with not only the quality of his writing, but his ability to tell powerful stories. It’s rare to find an author who can take us to places we don’t want to go in order to bring us to a place we long to be. Ghostwriter is the kind of gem that comes along far too seldom; displaying the kind of writing that deserves to be devoured by the masses.