Review: The Counting Game

The Counting Game by Sinéad Nolan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE COUNTING GAME by Sinéad Nolan is an outstanding, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ missing person tale set in the village of Drumsuin in southwest Ireland in 1995. The Kellough family has had a rough time of it lately and then young teenager Saoirse Kellough goes into the forest with her younger brother Jack, but only he returns. Is she just lost in the woods? A runaway? A victim of some sad accident? Or the latest in a series of girls who have gone missing in the area over the last 20 years? The Gardai (police) need Jack's help to understand what happened... but he's not talking.

Therapist Freya Hemmings is enlisted to help unlock the secrets that Jack is keeping, in hopes of providing the Gardai with the information they need to find Saoirse and bring her home safely. As Freya slowly begins to gain Jack's trust, she learns more about the family's past and their difficulties, as well as the town's widespread fear of the forest. The more she learns, the more she questions what may have really happened.

This story drew me in - Nolan's characters are compelling, intriguing and tragic - each with their own strengths, weaknesses and secrets. The rural setting is beautifully described and the nearby forest is almost a character in and of itself.

Nolan delivers captivating characters, tense situations, lots of possibilities about what happened and who might have been involved, and a surprising ending.

Recommended!

Thanks to #Netgalley and Gallery Books for the early review copy!

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Review: The Hollow Choir

The Hollow Choir by Paul Michael Kane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We all have "those bands" that stay with us. You know, the groups that deliver the memorable songs that find their way from our ears into our minds and, in rare instances, our souls. There are those groups that become part of who we are. Then there is THE HOLLOW CHOIR.

In this superb, atmospheric tale, Paul Michael Kane delivers tension, dread and hope as private investigator Vic Everstone tries to free a client's sister from the grip of a horrific cult.

Echoes of THE HOLLOW CHOIR will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

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Review: The Midnight Muse

The Midnight Muse by Jo Kaplan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With THE MIDNIGHT MUSE author Jo Kaplan delivers a unique ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ tale of possession and heavy-metal horror, weaving together the past and present to reveal the truth of what really happened to local indie-band Queen Carrion during a weekend in the woods.

A year after the disappearance and presumed death of their lead singer/songwriter Brynn Werner, the remaining members of the metal band Queen Carrion gather, somewhat reluctantly, in the Umpqua forest near where Brynn was suspected to have spent her last days before vanishing. Some have come to say goodbye, others to find a way to move on, and for Harlow Sorenson, the band's drummer who isn't willing to accept that Brynn is dead, it is a chance to search for her in the dense forest. The weekend away gets off to a rough start when the isolated cabin they've rented proves to be difficult to find, and its condition is much worse than shown on the rental listing. They soon realize that they aren't as alone as they expected, but who and/or what is out there with them ... and why?

The story is told mostly from Harlow's perspective who, in the present day, is confined to some sort of institution, and enhances the mystery through the use of news articles and log excerpts from a defunct research project, as we learn of the weekend's strange and horrific events.

THE MIDNIGHT MUSE is eerie and disturbing. Kaplan weaves a tale of tension and suspense, making the reader wonder what is real and what is delusion.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #ClashBooks for the review copy!

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