Coming of age stories are always going to grab my attention.  And then throw in some elements of horror and then you definitely have a reader out of me!  In SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED, Mike Thorn's debut, we have a great mix of both.  We also get a little more inside the main character's head as he struggles with feeling outcast, like he doesn't belong, a wife range of emotions and frustrations, as well as this descent into... well... finding THAT out will require you to read this book!

The story follows Mark and his friends as they are discovering a shack out in the middle of nowhere.  They think it will be a good place to cut loose, relax, and smoke some cigarettes.  After the first visit, something about the shack seems to grab hold of Mark.  Mark, who is a known troublemaker already, begins to display even more violence and ends up getting suspended.  His parents are trying to make heads or tails of what is happening, even though his dad is one of the most awful characters.  I hope he was intended to be worse than the dad/sheriff from the film Pet Sematary 2 before AND after he gets killed and turns evil...

During his suspension he goes back to the shack.  The shack is always calling to him.  He sneaks out of his house and notices it is no longer standing.  It is not there period.  He gathers his friends to go check it out and it is surprisingly right where they all left it.  At this point you are starting to wonder what is in Mark's head vs. what is really happening.  Things just get worse and worse for Mark and his friends as he gets closer and more connected to the shack.

One of my only grievances reading this book is the repetitive use of any iteration of 'f*ck.'  It felt like I was reading a Scorcese script at times and it got distracting to me.   I could have read longer and not seen it on the page nearly as often and might have even had a better impact.  That's just my 2 cents on that.

Fans of Christine by Stephen King and cosmic horror will eat this one right up!  There are some great elements of both to be had in this stunning debut from Mike Thorn.  He is a voice to look out for in the future!  Be on the lookout for this to release around Feb 26th from JournalStone!

I keep telling myself I love or want to love cosmic horror, but maybe that sub-genre just is not my thing. But here is an element of cosmic horror that I DO love:  I love creepy tentacle horror.  But that is not what defines cosmic horror in totality.  That might have been the reason I did, for the most part, enjoy THE BLACKENING by Seán O'Connor.  Tentacles just get me.  Maybe I need to focus on the tentacles and not the word/description "cosmic" anymore?

THE BLACKENING is the story of an Icelandic village that is about to have a Northern Lights Festival.  Tourists start to go missing.  There is an angry and hot-tempered cop who ultimately wants to do the right thing, a power hungry and greedy police commissioner, and a quirky and curious scientist and her research assistant.  I wanted more from these characters than some of the same tropes and repetitive dialogue.  I could not connect to any of them and was already fairly annoyed by our lead protagonist, police inspector John Ward, from the first few pages of his entrance.

I did really enjoy the Icelandic scenic descriptions of black sand beaches, underground caves, and when the overall mood would be detailed.  I thought the action that picks up heavily in the last 1/3 of the book was written well and turned this book into something more fast-paced.  And I think descriptions of some of the deaths, the corpses in the aftermath, the combination of Nordic noir with cultish monster mayhem, and the monster itself were quite intriguing.  So I think my biggest issue with the book is the character development or somewhat lack thereof.

(Special thanks to Night Worms and author Seán O’Connor for this #NightWormsBookParty review copy)!

With a title like MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER I am unsure of how I put reading this on the backburner for so long!  The synopsis is great and the book is even better.  Two sisters.  One a killer of boyfriends.  And the killer has her eyes set on sister's love interest.  What could go wrong?

The novel is fast-paced and has extremely short chapters that promote quickly devouring the story of Ayoola and Korede.  At times I felt sorry for Korede for her part in taking responsibility for the messes her sister would get in (like murdering people) but then there were times I felt she enabled that behavior.  I think, murder aside, a lot of people out there have sibling relationships and connections that mirror the one between Ayoola and Korede.  So in that regard I think a lot of readers with siblings will connect to this on a deeper level and also question themselves: what lengths would I go to if my sister/brother got into some trouble or did something so terrible?

MSTSK has comedic horror elements along with those of dark fiction and thriller books.  Satire and social commentary are definitely planted throughout the book - they are not always in your face, but I bet that most readers will see some of these subtle bombs that Braithwaite drops.

So while this book was not quiiiiiiiiiiiite a retelling of the Hayne's sisters' relationship from White Christmas, I will leave you with this quote from their famous song titled "Sisters" that I actually think fits a bit!

"Lord help the mister
Who comes between me and my sister
And lord help the sister who comes between me and my man."

Holy chalupas! I finished my first book of the year and its 5 stars and MORE!  I am definitely addicted to Lisa Jewell after just this one book.  The plot was wild and addicting, the characters each had quirks and histories to unravel, the twists were jaw dropping, it kept my heart racing to know more, and I may or may not have cried more than once in those final few chapters.  A few times I just felt sick... sick of the situation, sick for the mother, sick for everyone and everything.  I just... felt everything while reading it!  Seriously,  THIS BOOK! I can't! I CANNOT! Sooo.... obviously I'm recommending it