Review coming soon!

As far as presentation goes, this is a sexy book! Gorgeous cover, super cool black-dusted pages, and a load of awesome promotional/concept art (seriously, check out the author’s website to see some of it)!

That being said, as far as the story goes it’s a bit of mixed bag for me.

On one hand I found the premise super intriguing, loved the monster design, and enjoyed the fast-paced action scenes. As a white male who greatly enjoys violent sci-fi/action films (and video games like Doom, Gears of War, etc) this book appealed to me on a base level.

However, I can see how someone not like me wouldn’t enjoy it as much, considering the lack of diversity and strong female leads (something I believe this debut author is already working to correct in the future - so good on him!). Indeed I even found many of the characters to be mere enablers of the action instead of well-rounded individuals (except Trace, I ended up liking him).

Overall there was enjoy here to like that it kept me reading, and as this is volume 1 of a two-parter I’m interested to see where it goes. I also think this author is one to keep an eye on the future, and I could totally see this being turned into a pretty great movie (with a few character tweaks).

To see my full review, check out my blog at readingvicariously.net (link also in bio).

Wow, what a story! Beautifully written with disturbing imagery and a protagonist I really sympathized with. It has tropes of body horror, guilt, and trauma but they are presented in a very interesting and unique way. Like I can’t stop thinking about this girl whose sentient slivers of skin are constantly trying to escape off her body. It’s horrifying yet captivating at the same time.

Our protagonist Teddy is dealing with a lot. Her father is dead, her mother is neurotic, and she has a guilty secret that is literally causing her body to unravel. Oh and she has a parasitic condition where she feeds off the emotions of others (also literally).

It’s such an engaging premise, but beyond that it’s also interesting story of identity, secrecy, and human connection with twists and turns I did not expect. My only real complaint is that I wanted more! More about these characters, more insight into Teddy’s condition, and more about what’s going on with her mother. But at 86 pages it’s a debut that is certainly worth your time, and I’m very excited to see what comes next from this author!

Thank you to author @ejlarocca for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get into this book. I love the splatter western series and have no problem with vulgarity, but there has to be some kind of point to it and it has to be done well. This one, for me, was pointless. We're stuck in the head of the narrator and we can't get out. He's incredibly misogynistic, sexist, a little racist, and just all around awful. I don't know if we ever escape his disgusting mind-prison because I DNF'd the book around 30% in. Like I said there's a right way to do crude and a wrong way. For me this one was way wrong.

In this quaint little town everything is fake and perfectly manufactured bliss, but nothing is as it seems. And deputy Hardy, who is dealing with his own demons, begins to see the cracks pretty quickly. Sure this has all the requisite pieces: perversion of the “American dream”, fake plastic veneer of society, rampant hypocrisy, shocking revelations and twisted horror, etc. But it also has a protagonist who is coming in with baggage of his own, and that adds another dimension.

I did find myself frustrated with Hardy, who seems to have no agency of his own and merely lets the story carry him along. I found myself wanting to yell at him to DO SOMETHING. There’s also a climactic scene near the end that was, in my opinion, entirely too graphic in an unnecessary way. I had to put the book down and to be honest I didn’t even want to finish it. I had to reflect for a day before giving my rating.

Overall the book is a lot of fun. The pacing is great, slowly building the dread with long moments of unease punctuated by instanced of shocking vulgarity. While reading I found myself thinking about the best parts of Hot Fuzz, Bioshock Infinite, mother!, Black Mirror, and basically any good cult film. It’s quite a trip, and for the most part it’s worth the ride

Lots of atmosphere, imagery, and terror in such a short amount of pages! I really liked how the ghosts would just pop up out of nowhere and instantly turn any scene into a fright-filled nightmare, keeping me on my toes as I read. The character Helena is also a relatable and engaging protagonist, with a lot of mystery around her that was fun to try and figure out

I did feel a little lost with some of the other characters, and it took me about halfway through to get a handle on who everyone is. Some scenes and pacing seem choppy, and sometimes there are just too many descriptive phrases and strange word choices. But all of these qualms vanished, or moved to the background, in the second half of the book where things really picked up for me. Overall it’s an interesting (if occasionally confusing) story with some truly creepy scenes! Would be interested in seeing what this author comes out with next!

Wow, I had SO much fun with this book! It reads like a typical YA book, so I was actually caught off guard (in the best way) by the brutality and pulse-pounding suspense of the first major paranormal encounter. It’s violent, memorable, and instantly hooked me into the book. Comparisons to the Supernatural and Evil Dead franchises are very apt, with dashes of Haunting of Hill House and Ninth House thrown in. Just replace the Winchester’s with a pair of sisters and the Deadites with...well actually those can stay (they’re just joined by a host of other supernatural entities and occurrences)

Strong leads, queer representation, twists and turns, almost non-stop action, some gore, and lots of creepy creepers...I’ll say it again, this book is a blast. Great for teens and adults alike! I only wish the next installment was out already so I could continue the adventure!

Human beings are wired for relationship. Technology allows us to be closer than ever in many ways, but it also makes it easy for people to hide their true selves from us (and vice versa). But what if there was a way to be even closer? What if two separate beings could be hardwired together, syncing memory, emotion, and experience? These questions form the premise for the graphic novel Come Into Me, and the answers are more harrowing then you could imagine.

The story opens on a failed demonstration of InBeing, the process by which ropy entrails connect two different people by ports in the back of their heads and allows their minds to form a "synaptic connection". Sebastian, the creator and scientist behind the technology, is quickly running out of money and desperate to find an investor so he can make his dream a reality. Enter Becky, a mysterious and seemingly desperate young lady who convinces Sebastian to bond their minds with InBeing, using his body as host. It's strange for Becky, seeing the world through someone else's body and forming a telepathic-like connection with another. If only she had been upfront with Sebastian about her past. As their their minds are conjoined and their memories/experiences blend together, the host realizes he failed to anticipate just exactly what could go wrong...and that, like in our online lives, shared data is open to manipulation and exploitation.

I really enjoyed reading this intriguing blend of philosophy and body horror, even if I had a hard time fully wrapping my head around all of the ideas presented. It's like a crazy mingling of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Thing, Black Mirror, and Annihilation - and I am here for it!

I had lots more thoughts, so please check those out on my blog readingvicariously.net (link in bio)! Thank you so much to @lonnienadler for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What do I not see enough of in books? Horror stories full of scares and violence set in the old American West featuring spooky abandoned (or not) gold mines and a climactic fight of Biblical proportions. How do I know I need more of this? Because I just finished Hunter Shea's Ghost Mine and loved every second of it!

The tale is about two immediately likable rough-and-tough leads, Nat and Teta, who team up to explore a mysteriously abandoned mining town in Wyoming at the behest of President Roosevelt. Nat is an aging ex-soldier/ex-cop, and Teta is his Dominican sidekick who has been with him through thick and thin. Together they have survived insurmountable odds, but this latest assignment is beyond anything they've ever seen.

I absolutely love these two characters, and I was onboard from their very first wisecrack and background story. Their violent tendencies and slight insanity would seem a little much in a normal story, but these are exactly the characteristics that may help them survive the horrors in the mines. Nat in particular is given a lot of depth and complexity in his character, and I found it quite easy to sympathize with him along the way. Teta is very much the sidekick painted in broader strokes, but he's still an integral part of the story and is given moments to shine. Nat needs him, and so do we.

I also love the pacing in the story. Shea does an amazing job of building suspense; slowly peeling back layers of the mystery while also peppering the story with moments of dread or outright fear. It really kept me on my toes trying to guess what would happen next, and I love all of the twists and elements that I did NOT expect (unfortunately I can't discuss them here because they're spoilers, but also because this book works best going in with no expectations). Is the story about ghosts, monsters, creatures, demons, or something else? The answer is yes, and that's all I'll say.

More things I liked? Okay! How about the two characters that were introduced halfway through that made for an intriguing dynamic to the cast, or literally any creepy part set down in the mine shafts (seriously, I'm afraid of the dark and claustrophobic, and Shea's brilliant writing made these scenes all too visceral and terrifying)? How about the blend of mythology, folklore, and the supernatural? Or the way almost every chapter ends in a cliffhanger (I've never seen so many ways to say "and suddenly things got a whole lot worse")? I could go on, but I won't. And things I didn't like? Ummmm I'm going to have to get back to you.

If you wanted to make comparisons you could use The Descent, Bone Tomahawk, Constantine, The Lone Ranger, Scooby Doo, and Indiana Jones - but then throw them away because none of them do this story justice. Instead you need to stop everything, go get this book, and then buckle up because it's a hell of a ride. This is my first time reading Hunter Shea and I'm hooked! Excuse me while I go get everything else he has ever written!