This was a creepy little horror anthology! Worth picking up for anyone who enjoys extreme and/or short horror stories. Sometimes I think short horror is the best, although it is difficult not to love it all. 

Storyslave is 3 short stories and an autobiographical short story. In one, a serial killer at large uses the blood of children that he will imminently kill to create paintings. Our protagonist forms a bond, if you will, with one of these paintings and uses it to locate the killer, and ultimately, her own artistic inspiration. In another, a meth-fueled family feud turns into something even more intense, if you can believe it. In the third, a little girl and her mother go to great lengths to hide from the police after our young protagonist takes out her real-life boogeyman. The kindness of a stranger, and strange he is indeed, helps her to move on. In the final story, we get a glimpse into the youth of author Brian Bowyer's own life, and it informs the stories that came before.

Honestly, on reading the first 3 stories, I had a hard time following the motivations of the main characters. At times their actions, and reactions seemed extreme, or permissive, or unusual. That was the biggest hang up for me here. I still think that my opinion holds, although I do believe that Brian's own experience sheds light on a very different upbringing and background, one in which people are subjected to circumstances in which they might act in extreme ways, from an outsider's perspective. 

These stories stuck with me. It's been 10 days and one will surface in my mind from time to time. Thank you for sharing a little bit of your world with us Brian. It was very cool to put together that you grew up not too far from where I'm living now, in Huntington. I'm glad to read that you found a place that you like much better and that you are creating these stories to share with us.

Thank you to Brian, NetGalley, and RDS Publishing for the eARC! 

Beatrice is simultaneously detached and profoundly present. Her internal dialogue is irreverent and comically specific. I LOVE this sort of narrator. I also enjoy coming of age stories, and here we get multiple. I recommend to anyone who enjoys the same. 

I loved the premise: in an ecologically bankrupt US in the near future (real), a young woman, Beatrice, who works at a home for girls is tasked with moving them cross-state as the largest environmental crisis yet rages. Also, the girls are going through withdrawal from their pre-FDA approval psych meds. 😅

This story alternates between the world and family of Beatrice’s youth, and those she’s found herself a part of in the present. I think there are some incredibly sad and touching moments tempered by humor. 

My chief issues were pacing in the second half, which seemed to start to limp towards the end, and the way that the humor sort of drained away. I could see that being intentional, it just didn’t feel that way to me. I also felt that the book ended abruptly. 

I still really enjoyed this and am happy I got a chance to read it. The references to Eastern North Carolina really tugged at my heartstrings since that’s where I spent my childhood. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the eARC. 

I was locked in. I was glued to the Kindle. I started reading and didn't stop until I finished the book at 3am. I was scared to go to the bathroom in the dark. lol An EXCELLENT supernatural thriller.

After Anita loses her husband, Dan, she is devastated. Then Dan starts appearing to her. But it isn't the Dan that she knew in life. He is taunting, cruel, and seems bent on destroying her. The weird thing is, this is happening to people all over the world. News of these "ghosts", called Negative Images, or NIs, is all over television and the internet. Why should anyone who doesn't have one care? Because they can see their friends and family's Negative Images, although what they see and hear is distorted. People with NIs are ostracized as their NIs break them down emotionally and make work and community life impossible. 

Anita teams up with Joshua, whose late fiancée passed about the same time as her husband, to try to determine why this is happening and if there is any way to rid themselves of their NIs. As their NIs become more and more aggressive, a charismatic man rallies the scared masses against people who have Negative Images. You know, to protect our children and communities.

There is definitely some heavy allegory here that was not lost on me. The story had me thinking about the pandemic and about groups in America that have been and/or are being "othered" by our government. It is timely and thought provoking.

My interpretations aside, this suspenseful ghost story is great at face value. It had me hooked from page one. I was emotionally connected to the characters and felt their grief, frustration, anger, outrage, sadness, and in happier moments, their hope. I needed to know why they had these Negative Images and what would ultimately happen to them.

I can confidently recommend this one. Do consider your emotional state, given that the book deals heavily with loss and grief.

Thank you Rising Action Publishing Co. and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review.