Steve Stred's Blog, page 26

Book Review: The Entangled Dragon by DS LaLonde

Title: The Entangled Dragon

Author: DS LaLonde

Release date: January 14, 2023

Huge thanks to the awesome DS for sending me a digital ARC of this one. I had tried really hard to get it read and reviewed before release date, but alas a jam packed reading schedule and personal and family colds threw that plan into the fire!

But, here I am, having devoured this in a few sittings and gleefully smiling over the contents that LaLonde has delivered this time around.

I read their prior novel, ‘A Bleak Remedy’ last year, and while this one has shades of similarities, it is its own beast, while still showcasing LaLonde’s snappy prose.

What I liked: The story begins by following middle-of-the-road, Rick. A middle manager, living a meager existence, getting by without being flashy or having too much money in the bank. Just a regular dude. That is, until he gets invited to participate in a trial. At first, he’s convinced it’s a scam. But soon enough he discovers its not – but the truth of what it is, is where we leap off.

At this trial, he discovers demons exist, that there’s more to the world than what we see on directly before us, and its this starting off point that LaLonde uses to then unleash a fantastic romp of a story.

LaLonde has really created an imaginative and very in-depth world here, one that has layers and texture and feels fully fleshed out and lets us become immersed completely in it. Rick is a solid character and the secondary characters who are introduced and play various roles in the ever growing story all feel solid as well.

The ending is both engaging, but if you look at the cover you see it says Book One, which means we get a fair number of open ended questions that will most likely contribute to wherever we end up going in the sequel.

What I didn’t like: While I did appreciate how much was thrown at us, sometimes it did feel a bit overwhelming. This could be because – in comparison to ‘A Bleak Remedy’ – it is a shorter page count/word count, but it also comes down to the large scope of the world LaLonde’s created. On the flip side, cutting some away would feel awkward, so there really isn’t a solution, just more me finding there to be a lot going on haha!

Why you should buy this: LaLonde has a really easy and engaging way of telling their stories and between the two novels I’ve read of theirs now, they definitely work hard to create sprawling set pieces that are filled with crazy corporations, secret society type aspects and compulsive plot points.

Another solid winner from LaLonde!

4/5

Book Review: Hungers as Old as This Land by Zachary Rosenberg

Title: Hungers as Old as This Land

Author: Zachary Rosenberg

Release date: May 17th, 2023

In the past, I typically passed on doing both a blurb and/or review. When someone reached out, I’d either say yes to one or the other but not both. But over the last few months, I’ve seen more and more reviewers decide to either reduce the number of books they’re taking on or stop reviewing ARC’s completely. It’s a tough spot out there right now and I see it from both sides – as a reviewer and an author. At the time of writing this, I have a novel coming out in two months and (and I completely understand life and no disrespect meant) some of the reviewers I always knew would be willing to read an ARC from me are no longer taking anything on.

So, I decided to make that switch and if someone wanted both, I’d be willing to do that. Every little bit helps.

Which, was why I was excited when Zachary reached out to see if I wanted to check out an ARC of his upcoming novella. I’ve only read a short from Zachary previously, but was really eager and keen to see what he’d created with this western/folklore horror story.

What I liked: The story follows events in Grey’s Bluff, years after the Civil War. Esther and Siobhan are secret lovers, living in Esther’s fathers home and tending to the town as needed. Part of that ‘tending’ is making sure their end of the pact that Esther’s father made with those called The Hungers who live in the mountains is maintained.

I really enjoyed the interactions between Esther and Siobhan and thought they made a really solid, thoroughly crafted couple. I would suspect that they are based on a real-life couple, the little mannerisms Rosenberg adds in suggesting that.

It sets up an exciting wild-west tale and Rosenberg holds nothing back. We get topical and timely socio-political commentary interspersed within. The meat of the story occurs when an old army friend of Esther’s dad is sent to forcefully take Grey’s Bluffs.

Rosenberg uses this as a way to pack a solid quarter of the story with an action-packed sequence. It rumbles us along until we get to the ending and we get to see what happens when those who’ve not treated The Hungers kindly step into their world uninvited.

What I didn’t like: Two things nagged at me. The first is the bigotry/anti-Semitism parts. I feel like it wasn’t expanded upon enough. This is a short, snappy novella – but I would’ve been just as happy if we had another ten pages added and Rosenberg took his time digging into that deeper and making the reader feel more for the characters and less off of historical acceptance. The rise of anti-Semitism over the last few years has been unacceptable, but unfortunately it isn’t something new. I would’ve loved Rosenberg to have these characters discuss how it had impacted them more, instead of an impassioned speech that is delivered. As well, the racism/bigotry plot line could’ve been expanded a bit more too to really work as a powerful novella showcasing this. Knowing the publishers and the publishing house, I’m certain they’d have had no qualms about that.

Secondly – NOT ENOUGH HUNGERS! AH! Zachary! You’re killing me here! They are kept in the shadows and remain there and we get hardly enough description to formulate what they might look like. And they barely get involved to any formidable degree. Definitely something I would’ve loved to see more of! Maybe a sequel or prequel will hit that aspect down the road!

Why you should buy this: This novella packs a ton of emotions and action into its short page count. Rosenberg wields his pen like a master swordsman, slashing beautiful and compulsive prose in each and every paragraph. This one really does a wonderful job of playing to the strengths of what makes westerns great, but also what makes folklore horror great.

Definitely one to snag!

4/5

3Q’s – Ezekiel Kincaid plays the long game!

Today’s 3Q’s is a fun one! I always like when people send in some fun ‘accessory’ stuff for their answers and Ezekiel did just that!

I connected with Ezekiel a while back and it’s been great watching his fans get new and saliva-creating works of dark fiction!

Please, welcome Ezekiel!

Steve: What does your process look like once you finish your first draft? Do you immediately dive back into it, or do you take some time away?

EK: Once I’m done with my first draft, I take some time away from it and work on something else. I usually work on something drastically different. For example, if I’m writing horror comedy I will switch to something intense and scary. This keeps my mind fresh and allows me to switch gears. When I go back to the first draft, it helps me look at it with fresh eyes.

Steve: Do you believe cryptozoological creatures exist? If so, which one do you think has the best chance of being proven to exist?

EK: Of course! Look at this picture I took around my property. My fiancé says it is just a puddle. But I say it is a Sasquatch footprint. This is obviously a major point of contention in the relationship.

Steve: Of the books or stories you’ve released, which is your personal favorite and why?

EK: Man, this is a tough one. I’d have to say it is my Dreadful Death series (third book in the series is forthcoming). This series is based on the ghost of a little girl that appeared to me a few years ago. There’s also a real-life haunted photo involved with the writing of the books as well as a haunted doll. This series was by far the most intense thing I have ever written and has literally given people nightmares. I had a few beta readers tap out before the end because the story got to them too deeply.

Steve: Bonus Fun Question – What was the best practical joke you’ve ever been involved in?

EK: There have been many, but my all-time favorite is the one I pulled on my oldest daughter. When she was around ten or eleven, I told her this story about some haunted VHS tapes I found in an old man’s trash can when I was around her age. I told her these tapes have real documented footage of a family being harassed and then possessed by an evil entity. I showed her my Paranormal Activity DVDs and said that I had to hide the tapes, so I got them transferred onto DVD and made them look like real movies. I told her I did all this so I could “hide them in plain sight.”

She was fascinated by the story and the movies. She asked me what happened to the VHS tapes, and I told her I had gotten frightened and threw them away. I told her the other weird thing about these tapes was the date on them. I told her I found them in 1990 but the date on the camera when recording was around 2007.

For years my daughter would ask me about the tapes and when she could watch them. I even had my brother involved in the prank, confirming my story about the footage. Finally, when my daughter turned sixteen, I let her watch the movies. She was enthralled and scared out of her mind, thinking they were real. After we watched the first Paranormal Activity movie, she was searching for it online, still convinced that what she saw was real. Even when she saw the actors and actresses names, she still couldn’t put it together. It wasn’t until she read an actual interview with the actors that it dawned on her.

She had been had! The look on her face was epic. I carried this joke on for about five or six years and the payoff was well worth it. It is still a running joke between me and my kids about how bad I got her. My patience for being able to carry this thing on for years is also praised by my friends and family. It was a fantastic prank and still brings us laughs to this day.

Steve: Hahaha! Oh man, that is great! The long game always pays off!

Thank you so much for doing this, Ezekiel! To find more of his work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ezekiel-Kincaid/author/B08GZQ55PQ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EzekielKincaid

Website: https://theparanormalpastor.square.site/

3Q’s – R.E. Sargent and the battle against fish food!

Super excited for today’s 3Q’s!

I first connected with R.E. Sargent a number of years back. R.E. is one of the driving forces behind Sinister Smile Press, which has been releasing some truly fantastic anthologies, as well as R.E.’s solo work too!

I’m super happy that he was able to stop by today!

Welcome, R.E.!

Steve: What does your process look like once you finish your first draft? Do you immediately dive back into it, or do you take some time away?

R.E.: It really depends on how close I am to deadline. If I don’t have much time, I will jump right back into the edits while everything is fresh. My preference though is to step away from the manuscript for a week and approach it with fresh eyes. I go back through every line and make edits and create notes of issues that need to be researched or resolved. Once I have fixed everything, I like to have Microsoft Word read the manuscript to me out loud—it’s amazing how many little errors your ears can catch that your eyes were not able to.

Steve: What’s the one thing you’d change now if you’d have known it when you started writing?

R.E.: The only thing I would ever change is taking back all the years I took off from writing, because I let the publishing process discourage me. Essentially, I gave up, until the fire eventually rekindled. My advice to anyone that is struggling is never give up. Keep writing. Hone your craft. And one day, you will get to where you want to be, and you will have an amazing stack of manuscripts you created in the process.

Steve: Of the books or stories you’ve released, which is your personal favorite and why?

R.E.: That’s a hard one, because as an author, and also a publisher, I have many I am fond of…however, I just released my first short story horror collection the other day titled Everything Went to Shit, and I am so proud of this collection and every aspect of it, including the title, the cover, the stories, and the endorsements from other authors.

Steve: Bonus Fun Question – Would you rather be lost at sea or in the mountains?

R.E.: I’ll take the mountains any day. You have enough resources in the mountains to build shelter and live off the land. The sea has so many dangers below its serene surface that, if they don’t come up for you, you might eventually end up heading down where they are. Either way, it’s only a matter of time before you are fish food.

Steve: Ha! Excellent choice!

Thanks so much for doing this! To find more of R.E.’s work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/R.E.-Sargent/author/B072N46VW8

Twitter: https://twitter.com/resargent22

Website: https://www.resargent.com/

3Q’s – Brian J. Smith is getting emotional!

I’m usually pretty on the ball with knowing when I’ve connected with somebody on the various social media platforms, but for some reason I actually can’t for the life of me remember when myself and Brian J. Smith connected! Either way, we’ve interacted and supported each other for some time now and it’s been great seeing him continue to release fantastic dark fiction!

Welcome Brian!

Steve: What does your process look like once you finish your first draft? Do you immediately dive back into it, or do you take some time away?

Smith: I dive back into it the very next day.

I print the first 50 pages and read them out loud and write any corrections on a wide-ruled notebook and finish them on my desktop. I continue that process until the book is done and then repeat that process again one more time to make sure everything is done right.

Steve: What’s the one thing you’d change now if you’d have known it when you started writing?

Smith: If I could change anything I’d have to say conveying more emotion. When I first began writing at the age of thirteen, I failed to convey any real emotion into my stories and into my characters and that was where I had failed as an author. Emotion creates characters that people will love and along with good storytelling you have a good book on your hands.

Steve: Of the books or stories you’ve released, which is your personal favorite and why?

Smith: When it comes to books, I’d have to say “Consuming Darkness” because I’ve always been a fan of creature features like Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Thing From Another World and The Night Stalker series w/Darren McGavin. I didn’t get to fully enjoy the latter until I was in my teens but I’d watched the former with my father every time it was on cable tv.

When it comes to stories, I’d have to say my supernatural horror novella “Dark Avenues” because I’ve always believed that our dearly departed never go away. They visit once in a while to see how we’re doing but in Kevin Perkins’ case Marilyn had visited him because of an injustice that needed to be corrected. The death of my parents had taught me how deep and cold grief can feel once it settles in on us.

These components alone make a good story because an author who has experienced such things and put them down on paper can connect with a reader who has been through the same thing as well.

Steve: Bonus Fun Question – Would you rather be lost at sea or in the mountains?

Smith: I’d have to pick getting lost in the mountains. A nice cabin with a bright crackling fireplace and a good book and a writing tablet or five would be just fine.

Steve: Great choice!

Thanks so much for doing this, Brian!

To find more of his work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brian-J.-Smith/author/B071HYLBN3

Twitter: https://twitter.com/beardedauthor9

Book Review: Playground by Aron Beauregard

Title: Playground

Author: Aron Beauregard

Release date: November 25, 2022

Over the last number of years, Aron Beauregard has emerged as one of Extreme/Splatterpunk Horror’s true Heavy Weights. His books are hotly anticipated by his ever-growing throng of fans and he has been raking up the accolades as well – becoming Splatterpunk Award nominated and Splatterpunk Award winning during that time.

A prolific author, Beauregard continues to release new and exciting slabs of decimation. But, I, being of the previously described ‘extreme-light’ crowd have yet to dive into any of his books. They sound great, but I’ve never been a hugely massive extreme-extreme horror reader. Saying that – I do my best to try and support as many as I can, and with this novel having been nominated for Best Novel for this years Splatterpunk Awards, I figured this was a perfect one to check out!

What I liked: I mean, the cover should give you some solid indication what you’re in for. If you require ANY sort of Trigger Warnings, you way want to stay away from this one. If you, however, enjoy the brand of brutality Beauregard delivers, this one will make you smile from ear to ear.

The story follows a crazy old lady, Geraldine, who gets sexual gratification from others misery. The worse that happens to them, the more turned on she gets. So, as one does, she creates this insanely intricate indoor playground and invites three low-income families with kids to test it out. They just don’t realize this is more ‘Saw’ meets ‘Hostel’ meets ’31’ than Sesame Street.

Beauregard has set this up as an escape room story for kids – with the only difference being each room is literally live or die – and the dying part is always a carnage filled paragraph of viscera. It also shows how some of the kids will band together and work to survive, while others are singularly focused on themselves and that typically doesn’t work out so well.

There is a really well-inserted redemption arc within the story, one involving the man-giant, Rock and his battle of wills versus loyalty and that worked to humanize the events to a degree.

I think the ending worked really well and followed how the reader sees the events played out. Beauregard does a great job of showcasing the hurt that was created with Geraldine’s actions as well as how this directly impacted the various characters in the novel.

What I didn’t like: You’ll need to go into this fully allowing yourself to just believe. Sure the scope/scale of these indoor rooms is insane. And so are the elaborate punishment devices that have been booby-trapped within each one to decimate the participants, but that’s part of the joy of reading something to just read and have fun. If you struggle to suspend belief for any amount of time, you’ll most likely want to stay clear of this one.

Why you should buy this: If you’re a fan of Aron’s you probably have already snagged this and most likely have read it. If you’re new to extreme horror and want to see what it’s all about, this is an excellent place to dive in and discover how these novels will contain really well done plots with fantastic writing and some of the most horrific gore-filled scenes you’ll ever read.

This was a blast.

4/5

3Q’s – Damien Casey is D E A D, ya hear?!

3Q’s today is another super fun one. I love how each author takes the fun questions as fun questions and has… fun with them! Damien and I connected some time back on Twitter and through that it’s been great watching as they’ve carved out a place for themselves in the dark fiction work AND have now started a small press with the amazing Kyra Torres!

Please welcome Damien!

Steve: What does your process look like once you finish your first draft? Do you immediately dive back into it, or do you take some time away?

DC: For me it’s so so much easier to get back in. I do a first draft on my phone, people make fun of me, but it’s easier. Then I convert it to Word and do a light edit/format in the process. I set myself a limit of three edits. I like to think my writing has a distinct voice and if I over edit, I tend to lose that; which makes me big sad.

Steve: You win a very prestigious award and are invited to receive it. The award is a bronze plated copy of the book that means the most to you in your life. What book is it and why?

DC: I don’t have one answer for this. So, I’ll do three! Just like the 3 Q’s! YAY!

The great and secret show by Clive Barker- this is the book that made me want to start writing.

The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale- I write my characters before I ever even think of a story. I attach to them so much. I learned that from The Bottoms. This is also the book that made me realize how important your own voice is.

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones by William Mabbit- This little booger eater has made me smile on days when I truly just didn’t want to. As cheesy as that is, it’s so important.

Steve: Of the books or stories you’ve released, which is your personal favorite and why?

DC: Ohhhhhhhh. That’s a two sided one too I’m afraid! The first would be Coffin Dodger, I put a lot of myself in the book and really focused on my characters. I would say Coffin Dodger is when I started coming into my own.

Hot Pink Satanism is just as important to me. Through the process of writing this I found my ~*BFF*~ Kyra R Torres, we started a pub AND a podcast because of this book. This is also the first book I’ve had picked up by a publisher. It will forever be so special to me.

Steve: Bonus Fun Question – You’re on a camping trip when suddenly a wild animal confronts you. You take off running and it follows. What animal are you confident in thinking you could outrun?

DC: As the great Baymax once said, “I am not fast.” So ya boi is probably D E A D.

Steve: Oh dear. Well, I hope you are able to outrun something!

Thanks again for doing this, Damien!

To find more of his work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Damien-Casey/author/B07B7G49HJ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dcuglybooks

Website: https://www.3-bpublishing.com/

Book Review: Illusions of Isolation by Brennan LaFaro

Title: Illusions of Isolation

Author: Brennan LaFaro

Release date: March 1, 2023

Huge thanks to Brennan for sending this e-ARC my way!

Over the last few years, I’ve really enjoyed reading Brennan’s ‘Slattery Falls,’ series, so when he reached out, I said absolutely. As you’ve heard me say a million times – I have been burned out on short-story collections for some time – BUT – I also know the difficulty it has been for many, many people to find reviewers open for reviews, so I gladly took this, wanting to do my best to support Brennan.

To be upfront – I’ve actually only read one previous short story from Brennan (which happens to be in here) and full disclosure – I also had a story in that anthology. Saying that, the story is superb and us appearing together in that book had no bearing on my thoughts towards this collection.

What I liked: This may sound weird, but while I greatly enjoyed the Slattery Falls books so far, I think I enjoyed the short stories even more and I think part of that was the new and fresh approach each story took. While the Slattery Falls stuff is really well done, if something bothers you, it’s there the entire time. Here, not so much. The story ends and you move on and it was that aspect that really elevated how these stories flowed for me. It was like an all you can eat buffet of sliders versus having one deluxe hamburger, if that makes sense?

The highlights for me – and it was tough picking only four (I like to pick four because it’s a number I think is high enough to convince folks to buy a collection or anthology), but I managed are;

Dressed for Success – this one follows a new kid at school who gets bullied. It starts small, but picks up and then all Hell breaks loose.

Piece by Piece – this one was verrrrry close to be my favorite in the collection. A young kid visits the creek by his home and begins to find pieces of a body. It was interesting to see how Brennan framed it but also how the kid responded.

Year of the Black Rainbow – a multi-layered story, this starts out with a teenager getting kicked out of their house by their overzealous, religious, whack-a-doodle parents. With no other options, they decide their only option is to find shelter in an abandoned building in town… one that is supposedly haunted.

A Shine in the Woods – my favorite story (and the story that we shared space with in the Shiver anthology) this should be no surprise to anyone who knows what I love to read and write. This one follows a kid and their parents as they head to their winter cabin over Christmas break. The caretaker warns them that some odd animals have been lurking around, rummaging for food. Brennan doesn’t hold back and we get a really great winter-survival-creature-feature short story.

Additionally, I’m a huge fan of story notes/author notes, but I prefer them directly after the story instead of compiled into one section at the very end. LaFaro gives some quick, fun insight into each story and thankfully these are slotted in directly after each piece.

What I didn’t like: Hey, it’s a collection, some will hit and some will miss. All of the stories are great in here, but there was one that was written back and forth in letter form that was just meh for me, but that’s purely because I’m not a fan of that type of storytelling. Epistolary. Not for me.

Why you should buy this: This collection flows from story to story hitting high point after high point. Each story is relatively short – I think the longest my Kindle told me was twelve minutes – excluding the last one that was a novelette. Brennan is as solid of a writer that you’ll find out there and even when he takes chances he handles it like an old pro.

If you’ve not read any of his work before, this is an excellent place to start. If you’ve already read some of his work, you’re in for a treat. Really well done.

5/5

3Q’s – Richard Clive and his flock of seagulls!

3Q’s has allowed me to connect with so many people with the dark fiction community and today’s guest is one of those who I’m so happy to have connected with! A talented author, a super supporter of so many and someone who absolutely should be on your TBR, I’m really happy to have Richard Clive stop by today!

Welcome Richard!

Steve: What does your process look like once you finish your first draft? Do you immediately dive back into it, or do you take some time away?

Richard: Once I have a first draft, I know I have a starting point. I tend to keep working on a piece until it is finished. Then I leave it for a while, edit it some more, and leave it again. And repeat!

If I get really stuck, I switch to another story and come back. But I read a quote recently. I think it was in Stephen Volk’s Coffinmaker’s Blues (highly recommended). The quote was ‘writing IS writer’s block’. So, it’s about perseverance – not giving up if you know the story is worth telling.

I see writers complaining when they’ve written just a few hundred words in a day. But three hundred words a day is equivalent to a novel in one year. So even if you write one good sentence, that’s forward progression. If I’m moving forward, I’m happy.

Steve: You win a very prestigious award and are invited to receive it. The award is a bronze plated copy of the book that means the most to you in your life. What book is it and why?

Richard: I don’t know what I’d do with a bronze-plated book!

But I’d probably go with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I read the book when I was quite young after falling in love with Hammer Horror films I watched on my grandfather’s old projector.

I was obsessed with monsters and ghosts as a child and particularly with vampires – I’ve never actually written a vampire story, though! Perhaps I should.

Steve: Of the books or stories you’ve released, which is your personal favorite and why?

Richard: It’s between Made in Hell and my novella On Air. Both can be found in my collection Strange Frequencies.

On Air has difficult themes. I was worried about the story being published. It’s about intrusive thoughts, about thinking the worst things. If you are a good person and think terrible things, does that make you a bad person? The story is about a character with a form of OCD known as pure OCD, which causes sufferers to experience terrible intrusive thoughts.

It’s almost a cliché that horror writers are often nice people. But we all think such terrible things, and we even take comfort in these stories. What does that say about all of us?

Steve: Bonus Fun Question – You’re on a camping trip when suddenly a wild animal confronts you. You take off running and it follows. What animal are you confident in thinking you could outrun?

Richard: I chased down a seagull at the supermarket car park yesterday!

So, I’ll say a seagull.

Leaving the shop, I put a packet of sweets (candy) I had just bought and a bottle of hand sanitizer on my car roof while I opened the car door. The seagull swooped down and stole the sweets! I ran after it and threw my hand sanitizer towards it – just to scare it away, not to hurt it – and got my sweets back.

In the US, you have bears, wolves, rattlesnakes, and alligators. In the UK we have seagulls…

The tourists feed them, and they turn into psychotic maniacs!

Steve: Ha! That’s amazing. We got some crazy seagulls here in Canada as well, but nowhere near as crazy as the Canada Geese!

Thank you so much for doing this, Richard!

To find more of his work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-Clive/author/B098PHRD4K

Website: https://richardclive.com/

Book Review: GRAVENFROST by Peter Hammarberg

Title: GRAVENFROST

Author: Peter Hammarberg

Release date: May 7th, 2016

If you read any of my reviews, you know I typically start off with sharing how the book came to be on my TBR. Well, this one’s a fun one (at least I think so!) and one of the stranger ones!

Recently, a movie blasted it’s way onto Netflix that had everyone watching it and loving it. That movie was TROLL. I watched it with my son, who you may already know loves creature feature/Kaiju and Kaiju-adjacent movies, and we loved it. I think we’ve watched it five or six times now and each time is just a fun time. The movie itself is really well done, as many of the foreign films are, because it takes the story seriously and isn’t all about big explosions and catchy one-liners. The movie was co-written by Espen Auken and it turned out that we followed each other on Twitter and Instagram. We have messaged a bunch over that time, Espen kindly answering some questions that my son had (yes, there is a quick moment that is an ode to Jurassic Park in the movie!) and I sent him a copy of ‘Churn the Soil.’ Well, Espen had posted about this book, ‘GRAVENFROST’ by an author I’d not heard of and after reading the synopsis and reveling in the glorious cover art, I knew I needed to read it.

I went in with great excitement and I have to say – this book pushed me in a way I wasn’t expecting – but HOLY HELL, was this a fun time.

What I liked: ‘GRAVENFROST’ follows outcast FBI Special Agent Bobby Doyle who heads to the town of Gravenfrost to investigate the deaths of a group of ghost hunters. Only one of them survived, but it was all caught on film, and it took place at a notoriously haunted house, which means Doyle aka the agent tasked with ridiculous cases involving this type of phenomenon is sent out.

I’ve said this a million times in my reviews and online – I don’t like humor in my dark fiction. I never have. It typically throws me right out of the story and makes it hard for me to stay focused and on task. But Hammarberg didn’t care what I thought when he wrote this and Bobby Doyle is not only a massive dick, but a hilarious SOB and it just worked. I raced through this. The best way I can describe his character is this – David Duchovny played Fox Mulder on The X Files. Duchovny also played Hank Moody in the fantastic Californication. Bobby Doyle is Hank Moody as Fox Mulder. Just a frat-boy, ass hat who doesn’t hold back and makes quips, snarky comments and whatever comes into his mind at that exact moment. He’s essentially me in real life and I loved it. His character worked so well, but with the secondary characters, it really had me in stitches.

The story races along as we learn what happened and what Doyle needs to do to end the horror happening at the house, known as The Devil’s Domicile. There are some really frightening moments but those are typically bookended but some really well done set up and knock down scenes, which allows the action to be nicely paced.

The ending is really well done, as well as the closing out of the characters. It definitely sets things up for more in this world. I hope we get to revisit Bobby Doyle. Even though this came out in 2016, there could still very well be another novel coming at some point.

What I didn’t like: I think I would’ve liked it if we would’ve had one more huge scare moment. We get a couple, but the ending is more bash and boom than oooh’s and aaahh’s. I gotta stay spoiler free, but I really wish we would’ve seen a big good vs evil moment.

Why you should buy this: ‘GRAVENFROST’ ticks a lot of boxes for those who like dark fiction. We get really fantastic characters, great banter, a really solid set piece with the town of Gravenfrost but also The Devil’s Domicile and we get some really amazing spooks and sequences. I’m frustrated I didn’t come across this one sooner, but hopefully more of you will get on this amazing read after seeing my review!

Now, we await a potential sequel!

5/5