Review: The Man Behind the Mask

The Man Behind the Mask by Richard Chizmar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is another great story by Richard Chizmar that will horrify and enthrall readers to the very end. Chizmar does a fantastic job of building suspense, revealing horror after horror in measured doses throughout this short story in a way that causes readers to experience the terror first-hand, right through the final page.

Between the years of 1999 and 2006, The Boogeyman ... kidnapped, tortured and killed at least sixteen young women ranging from the ages of seventeen to twenty-three.
-- The Man Behind The Mask. Richard Chizmar

Jennifer Shea, the only woman to survive The Boogeyman's depravations, hopes to be able to finally put the past behind her by sharing the details of her captivity and torture with the mother of one of his other victims. Her emotions are raw, and her horrors are fresh as she recounts the details of her terrifying ordeal and eventual escape that came at a price almost too terrible to pay.

This is a story you won't soon forget


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Review: AMMIT

AMMIT by Aaron R. Tyler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

AMMIT by Aaron R. Tyler is a paranormal mystery/thriller with elements of horror that help this book shine! Given some of the content in the book I would recommend it for older teens and adults ...

The tale begins with a sea voyage to dispose of a mysterious box in the depths of the ocean off the coast of Ireland, and it would be a short story indeed if that was the last we heard of the box. But the box resurfaces many years later off the coast of Florida, to the detriment of the Stipple family: Ron and Valerie, and their 2 children Michael and Charity.

Shortly after the box is recovered and opened, strange but harmless events occur within the Stipple household, but these become more disturbing and violent and even extend to the school the children attend. Police are brought in to investigate and, as events escalate and the family gets more desperate, a team of paranormal investigators are called in.

Tyler builds suspense slowly but surely. You know bad things are going to happen... you can feel it in his writing... but you don't know just how bad they're going to get or how the family is ever going to be free of the menace that has been unleashed.

This is a great read and highly recommended.

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Review: The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Holiday Fantasy

The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Holiday Fantasy by Todd Lockwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Todd Lockwood took the very familiar, perhaps boring to some, "The 12 Days of Christmas" carol and created some stunning artwork to go with it. Each subsequent page and illustration builds on what came before and grown-ups and kids alike will love pouring over the pictures to spot all the animals... Each time you re-read it you're certain to spot something new!

 

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Review: A Blade to Silence the Screams

A Blade to Silence the Screams by Tom Deady
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Blade to Silence the Screams is a quick, fun read. I haven't read a lot of "old West horror" but Tom Deady really delivers in this ~85 page book, touching on both the horror of mental illness and more "traditional" horror elements. The town of Sundown is the perfect setting for the connected pair of novellas and showcases Deady's obvious love for westerns.

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Review: The Third Rule of Time Travel

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an early copy of The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi from #OrbitBooks through #NetGalley. I had gotten about 1/3 of the way into the story, reading briefly before bed each evening, and then I picked it up over the weekend and I could NOT put it down...This is an absolutely fantastic, mind-bending, fast-paced story. It has the feel of classic science fiction brought into the 21st century with a unique twist.
I'll be ordering a physical copy.

The Three Rules of Time Travel
First: Travel can only occur to a point within your lifetime.
Second: You can only travel for ninety seconds.
Third: You can only observe.
The rules cannot be broken.

Before his tragic death, Dr. Beth Darlow and her husband Colson achieved the impossible and found a way to make a form of time travel a reality, and managed to secure the backing of a mega-corporation to continue their research to understand and control their creation.

Beth and her daughter Isabella have mostly managed to move on with their lives in the year since Colson died, but strange events both in and out of the research lab have Beth wondering how well she really understands the machine she helped create, and whether her goals and the goals of those she works for are aligned... As pressure mounts to deliver results she wonders who she can trust, what else will be taken from her, and how much more she has to give ...

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Review: Commodore

Commodore by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sabbath is an idyllic town. The perfect place to raise a family. The perfect place for kids to grow up. Perfect. Perhaps too perfect. I recommend limiting your visits to the daytime .. and maybe avoid the local cuisine...

A group of boys heads out on an adventure to find a fabled black car rumored to be hidden somewhere within the town dump... a place that they know is off-limits. From the start you know this won't end well, but how bad could it get?

This short story by Philip Fracassi is a great way for readers new to Fracassi's work to get a taste of his story-telling talents, and a welcome addition for those who are already familiar with it.

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Review: Galaphile

Galaphile by Terry Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fans of Terry Brooks' Shannara stories are in for a treat when Galaphile: The First Druids of Shannara gets released in 2025. This long awaited tale of the origins of the Druids, and of their fortress Paranor, provides readers with the details of the early life of Galaphile Joss and the events that led him to commit his life to establishing peace in the Four Lands and to create a place where the races could work together to preserve knowledge.

Longtime readers have often wondered how the Druid order came about, and how magic became such a potent force in the Four Lands. Galaphile provides a fantastic start to filling in the gaps between the end of the Great Wars and the time of the Druid Bremen and the first King of Shannara.

As usual for a Terry Brooks' tale, this book is well written and well paced. There is more than enough danger, excitement, quests and battles, not to mention references to familiar beings, creatures and places to satisfy the Shannara faithful,. The story is complete enough to draw new readers into the Shannara universe, although these readers would be better served by starting with the original Sword of Shannara and reading the entire backlog in publication order.

#Galaphile #NetGalley

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Review: A Child Alone With Strangers

A Child Alone With Strangers by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Child Alone With Strangers by Philip Fracassi is a fantastic read. A thrilling ride that tells the tale of Henry, a young boy, who is recovering from a horrific incident that claimed the life of his father. While recovering from his physical injuries he realizes he also has gained insight into the emotions and feelings of those around him, but he soon adapts to living with his aunt and uncle, and life returns to something approaching normal. Normal, until, Henry is abducted and taken to a secluded cabin in the woods by his kidnappers to wait while their ransom demands are met. But Henry, and his captors, soon learn that something powerful doesn't want them at the cabin and will do everything it can to get them to leave.

I really enjoyed this story. It could easily have been told as "Home Alone In the Woods with Scary Monster", but that would have been mediocre at best. Instead, Fracassi provides plenty of terror and unpredictable twists, and complex, multidimensional characters I both loved and loved to hate. A Child Alone With Strangers speaks to the power of both love and hate, the need for redemption after failure and the universal desire to protect one's own.

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Review: Rose Madder

Rose Madder by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

King doing what he does best... creating characters and placing them in situations where you care about what happens to them. Rose Madder is one of a number of King's stories where domestic violence features prominently in the horror of the book...

I read this when it originally came out years ago. This time through I listened to to a recorded version from Audible. I liked the production EXCEPT for the musical interludes between chapters, which only distracted from the tale.

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Review: Dark Doors

Dark Doors by John L. Davis IV
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dark Doors, by John L Davis IV, is a collection of short stories that provides tasty, bite-size horror snacks. Most of these are set in future dystopian worlds and I'd love to see some of these story lines expanded so we can learn more about what happens to the characters before and after the events described.

Zombies are featured in several of the stories - full disclosure: I don't care for zombie stories... I loved George Romero's Night of The Living Dead when I first saw it back in the '70s, but I think there's been such a glut of zombies in movies, television & books, that they've become somewhat boring for the most part (I reserve the right to change my opinion if I become the one being pursued by zombies). All that being said, I found that I actually enjoyed Davis' take on the zombie tales he shares in this collection. Although each are just a few short pages those stories sucked me in and made me care about what might happen to the characters.

The longest story of the bunch, Searching for Stephen King, is a tale of a man who goes to great lengths to find the missing books in his collection, and will resonate with King fans and collectors alike.

Mountain Nightmare: A Christmas Tale, is my favorite of the collection. It tells the story of a man trying to protect and provide for his two young children amid the harsh and dangerous conditions of a world gone mad. It goes beyond a typical dystopian story as it tells of the father's efforts to give his children something to look forward to in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The ending leaves it up to each reader to decide how the story continues.

Recommended.

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Review: Boys in the Valley

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Philip Fracassi's Boys in the Valley may have you considering the difference between "evil" and "EVIL" as you enter the the world of Peter and his fellow orphans in a remote Pennsylvania orphanage in the early 1900s. The boys are expected to do chores as part of their daily activities under the watchful eyes of the priests and Brother Johnson, a lay person with a violent past. Fracassi doesn't pull any punches when describing the conditions, discipline and punishment that the boys live under, but he also warmly conveys the friendships and relationships developed among the boys.

Life at the orphanage is difficult, with never enough food for growing boys, but it is predictable... until the night a group of riders approach and evil is unleashed within the orphanage's walls. The boys' friendships break down as sides are chosen amid horrendous violent acts. Some within the orphanage recognize what is happening, while others seem to willfully reject the possibility that evil has taken root.

This story grabbed me at the beginning and didn't let go until after I turned the final page. It's been described elsewhere as a melding of The Exorcist and Lord of the Flies, and that certainly seems accurate. It's a well paced tale, full of twists and turns, that will break your heart and lift your soul, and leave you guessing until the end about what the outcome will be.

Highly recommended for horror fans.

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Review: Duma Key

Duma Key by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Duma Key is one of King's best! I can't help but think that King drew from his own experience recovering from the horrific injuries he endured when hit by a van in 1999 as he was writing this.

It has a slow, but fascinating build to a great ending, with lots of chills & creepy moments along the way.

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Review: The Forgiven

The Forgiven by Paul Michael Kane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Forgiven by Paul Michael Kane is a fantastic tale, told from an interesting and unusual point of view. The characters may seem familiar at first, but are surprising in unexpected ways. The accompanying illustrations are not only beautiful but they fit the story well.

If you haven't read this yet put it onto your TBR pile... near the top!

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Review: Memorials

Memorials by Richard Chizmar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Memorials may be Richard Chizmar's best, scariest book yet. It follows the journey of a trio of college students, Billy Anderson, Melody Wise and Troy Carpenter, as they embark on a trip to create a documentary telling the stories behind roadside memorials in the Appalachian region of Pennsylvania for a class project. Along the way they encounter both friendly support and encouragement, as well as antagonism from members of the communities they visit. They also begin to suspect that someone who doesn't want the documentary made is following them, and their growing sense of paranoia isn't eased when they experience disturbing dreams and odd encounters.

Fair warning: some readers may be bothered by scenes of graphic physical violence, including some that involve sexual encounters, along with brief mentions of a drug overdose, drug use and gang violence. For the most part these serve to move the story forward but may be uncomfortable for some.

Chizmar provides the necessary background about the earlier lives of the 3 unlikely college friends, each of whom has suffered a personal loss. This background helps to explain their willingness (compulsion?) to continue the trip even as they face mounting opposition to their undertaking as they find odd similarities and connections between many of the roadside memorials. The trio begin to wonder who they can and cannot trust as they go deeper into the hill country and on their return, as they try to unravel the mystery surrounding the memorials and the strange events they experience.

Written from the perspective of Billy Anderson, Chizmar builds suspense and then lets it taper off for just a bit before ratcheting up to an even higher level. The climactic scene is satisfyingly horrific and leads to further revelations that help life return to normal. Almost.

Fans of suspenseful thrillers and horror blended with a touch of the occult will enjoy this.
Highly recommended.

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Review: Other Places

Other Places by Thomas Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun read - many of the stories were "snack size" but very satisfying nonetheless. There's something for just about everyone here, several of them with a bit of a Twilight Zone vibe. As for me, I hope I'm never in A Bad Place Alone ... such a nice set up and plenty of twists along the way.

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Review: Sister of Starlit Seas

Sister of Starlit Seas by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like Terry Brooks and his writing. I enjoyed the previous 2 books in this series very much, but I had trouble connecting with this book and its main character Char. I would say it IS a good story overall that serves as a nice continuation of the series, and could stand alone reasonably well. It is definitely worth a read, especially if you've enjoyed Child of Light and Daughter of Darkness, and you may find that connection that I did not.

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