Lee Allen's Blog, page 13

Peter James' Dead Man's Grip - Review

Dead Man's Grip by Peter James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another thrilling chapter from the case files of Roy Grace.

Tragedy rips apart multiple lives when a cyclist is killed in a road accident involving three other road users.

As police investigate what caused the accident, the case takes a sinister turn when a killer seeks to avenge the young man's death.

Caught in a race against time, Grace and the team find themselves pitted against a dangerous and resourceful criminal, intent on completing his sadistic mission.

'Dead Man's Grip' is the seventh book in Peter James' Roy Grace series, presenting another challenging case for the Detective Superintendent and his team. Featuring a self-contained inquiry, we are launched immediately into the midst of a fatal road traffic collision, triggering the escalating events to come and taking an unexpected turn into the world of organised crime.

One of the things I love about this series and most enjoyed in this novel is its serialised nature, with references to past cases, ongoing subplots and the evolving story of the characters' personal lives. Grace and Cleo are expecting their first baby, fraught with anxiety in the early chapters as Cleo is rushed into hospital. Meanwhile, the mystery of Sandy's disappearance continues to bubble away, unbeknownst to Grace, who is determined to finally and fully move on from the past.

Peter James once again delivers a gripping police procedural, featuring intricate attention to detail, thrilling twists and turns, and multiple character perspectives driving the fast-paced and multi-layered plot, coming to an intense, action-packed conclusion - along with a final unexpected revelation, leaving us in eager anticipation of the next in the series, 'Not Dead Yet'.



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November Story Spotlight - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

"She would always remember the first night he visited, on a cold and treacherous Christmas Eve so many years before."

With winter stealthily taking hold and the festive season on the horizon, this month's spotlight is on short story "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", a twisted gothic tale of Yuletide horror.

Behind the Story

There's just something about horror, crime and mystery at Christmas, that juxtaposition against the joy and colour of festivities, whilst set in the heart of winter in the traditional Northern Hemisphere imagery of the season. Ultimately, it's perhaps the most perfect time for a classic good vs. evil story.

For some time, I'd had a lingering idea about a Christmas story inspired by a folkloric combination of Krampus and Rumplestiltskin. When it came to plotting the short story for the collection, I knew I wanted to fully submerge into gothic atmosphere and to go back in time to the Victorian and Edwardian era.

Also taking inspiration from work of Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens and Dennis Wheatley, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" was the second story I wrote for "Whispers from the Dead of Night". Ellie is perhaps one of my favourite characters across the collection, while the story still retains a sprinkling of the magic of its fairytale inspiration amongst its dark shadows.

Snow is falling and dusk closes in. Lock out the storm and light your flames against the darkness, and prepare for a visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions...

"Satan’s power seemed particularly potent at that moment, with a man led astray somewhere out there in the wilderness."

A visitation on Christmas Eve with diabolical intentions…

Ellie and her family are preparing for their annual festivities, while the weather begins to deteriorate and threatens to cut them off from the outside world.

A man arrives out of the snowstorm, stranded and in need of their help, so they invite him to join them for the evening.

But as the snow continues to fall, Ellie discovers that behind a façade of innocence may hide the face of evil.

"You presume the benevolence and forgiveness of your God to not be equalled by the malevolence and vengefulness of mine?"

Read the opening scene.

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas" is available as a standalone ebook or as part of the original "Whispers from the Dead of Night" short story collection in ebook and paperback and the deluxe collection in ebook, paperback and hardcover.

Order "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night - The Deluxe Collection"

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Christian Klaver's Sherlock Holmes & Count Dracula - Review

The Classified Dossier: Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula by Christian Klaver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Two titans of Victorian literature collide in a series of supernatural adventures.

Holmes' attention has been drawn to multiple unexplained events, discerning connections between them that only serve to be more perplexing and lead to one inescapable conclusion - the existence of vampires.

Count Dracula enlists Holmes' help to find his missing wife, Mina, kidnapped by an enemy who Holmes fears may present a greater threat than Dracula himself.

So begins a series of perplexing new cases for Holmes and Watson, descending into new realms of terror unlike any they've faced before.

'Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula' is the first in 'The Classified Dossier' series; Dr Watson chronicling Holmes' investigations into the supernatural that were previously locked away, never to be published. This volume contains four stories - each a novella with its own defined narrative, with an ongoing story arc throughout that culminates in the final novella. The original versions of the first three were first published as 'The Supernatural Case Files of Sherlock Holmes'; indeed, the new title is a little misleading, with Dracula only featuring in two of the stories and in more of a supporting role as opposed to co-lead protagonist or chief antagonist.

I must admit I was dubious about this book, having loved both distinctly separate characters and original stories from a young age. Of course, there have been many adaptations and interpretations of both characters in the last century, and it isn't the first time they've been combined either, so I decided to give it a try. Personally, I found changes to the literary canon of both unnecessary and struggled to embrace one major twist in particular, which didn't seem to contribute much to the overarching narrative. Purists of either or both should proceed with caution.

Despite my misgivings over certain plot elements, this was nevertheless an enjoyable read, with the original stories' shared elements of mystery, action and adventure threaded throughout, and the intrigue of detective fiction moulded well with the atmosphere of gothic horror and graphic imagery of vampire fiction. Holmes' scientific approach to the phenomenon of vampirism is detailed well, with some interesting exploration of the concept. Klaver has crafted a well-written collection, demonstrating a detailed knowledge of Conan-Doyle's tales and believably capturing Watson’s narrative voice. The third and fourth stories were my favourites, bringing the emotional turmoil to the forefront and delivering a thrilling climax and satisfying overall conclusion to the story arc of the enemy lurking in the shadows.

A second volume, 'Sherlock Holmes and Mr Hyde', continues the series, exploring another icon of Victorian gothic horror literature and furthering Holmes’ supernatural cases.



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Stephen King's Firestarter - Review

Firestarter by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A searing and captivating sci-fi horror thriller.

Andy is on the run from the authorities with his daughter, Charlie. He'd thought her secret would be safe. But, horrifyingly, he has realised, she will always be in danger.

For Charlie possesses a gift - the psychic ability to conjure fire, one she cannot yet control. A gift that may be a curse.

People learn to fear Charlie - and wish to weaponise her ability. At all costs, Andy must protect her, though he fears they are on an inevitable collision course into an inferno.

'Firestarter' is Stephen King's sixth novel, a thriller fused with elements of both sci-fi and horror, the relationship between a father and daughter at its heart. There is a classic, cinematic feel to the theme of the secret government programme and the pursuit of a child with mutant abilities. Like its predecessor, 'The Dead Zone', and King's first novel, 'Carrie', 'Firestarter' explores psychic phenomena, in this story specifically pyrokinesis and telepathy.

Stephen King has a particular knack for writing children leading as protagonists in adult novels. Charlie is a shining example of this; we witness the innocent little girl mature and become battle-scarred through the ordeals she suffers. Her father, Andy, strives to protect her, prepared to sacrifice himself if necessary, while fearing for her if he were no longer there to protect her. There are hidden depths to this story, with many universal concepts drawing on our empathy for such extraordinary circumstances.

The novel smoulders with suspense, both slow-burning and in sudden flashovers, with dramatic action sequences, emotional moments, supernatural and sci-fi themes, and moral and political philosophy. The villainy portrayed is chilling - both in the demonstration of power we can recognise around us every day on a close or widespread scale, and in the more acute and insidious evil of Rainbird. With a large cast of friends and foes, the characters’ interweaving and overlapping story arcs form a riveting and immersive narrative; this is undoubtedly a classic Stephen King novel. I would love to read a sequel, in the same way we got 'Doctor Sleep' so many years after 'The Shining'.

There have been several screen adaptations, first with a film version of the novel in 1984. A belated TV sequel to the film followed in 2002, featuring a grown-up Charlie in 'Firestarter: Rekindled’. A remake of the original film was released in 2022, with whispers that this may develop into a franchise.

Gripping and emotive, 'Firestarter' is an intense and provocative thriller that you won’t want to end.



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Tim Waggoner's Halloween Kills - Review

Halloween Kills: The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Waggoner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Michael Myers wreaks havoc on Haddonfield once more.

Michael has finally been trapped and left to burn; the horror is finally over. But he rises from his fiery grave to relentlessly continue his massacre.

The town of Haddonfield remains scarred by Myers' brutal murders forty years before, those he came into contact with still haunted by his legacy. They are shocked to discover he has once again escaped and left a trail of corpses in his wake.

Meanwhile, Laurie Strode, believing her plan to have worked, soon realises that Michael still stalks amongst them and that the streets will run with more blood before Hallowe'en night ends.

'Halloween Kills' is Tim Waggoner's novelisation of the second film in the legacy sequel trilogy, that follows only the original film and none of the intervening sequels, based on the screenplay by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green.

Picking up directly after the events of 'Halloween' (2018), Michael is trapped in the basement as the inferno rages throughout Laurie’s house, while Laurie, Karen and Allyson are journeying to the hospital, having left Michael for dead. But the Shape isn't so easy to kill, his escape from the flames as thrilling on the page as it is on the screen. Including flashbacks to 1978, we also discover what happened in the aftermath to Michael’s attack on Laurie and her rescue by Dr. Loomis, with Michael’s recapture before he is returned to Smith’s Grove.

Not only does the story of Laurie’s family and her trauma continue and the novel detail the ensuing bloodshed of Michael's massacre - this is also a story about Haddonfield itself, and the effect Michael’s dark legacy has had on the town and other survivors. Other characters make a return, including Tommy and Lindsey. The trauma of the town and its reaction to Michael’s evil escalates into a volatile cocktail of fear and vengeance, a tale of mob violence and the darkness of humanity, as dangerous as the almost supernatural essence that Michael embodies beneath the mask.

Tim Waggoner has done a marvellous job of translating screen to page; 'Halloween Kills', as both a companion to the film and a novel in its own right, is a delight for Michael Myers fans, lovers of Hallowe'en itself, and readers of slasher horror and dark thrillers. A highly recommended novel.



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L.B. Stimson's As the Moon Fell Down - Review

As the Moon Fell Down by L.B. Stimson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A gothic ghost story exploring what lurks behind the lens.

Ellie Spaulding has found the perfect property to be the subject of her next photography project. She takes an opportunity to stay at the abandoned house, on agreement to some bizarre rules she thinks little of initially.

But after only a short time at the house, Ellie finds herself experiencing strange phenomena, while drawn to the locked door she has been forbidden to pass through. While she sleeps, someone or something watches her.

As Ellie comes to accept she may not be alone in the house, she is determined to uncover its secrets. Obsession flares and threatens to engulf her, something she may be unable to come back from.

'As the Moon Fell Down' is the fifth of L.B. Stimson’s books I’ve read and it’s my favourite so far. It has everything that I love about the best types of ghost stories – gothic atmosphere, haunting prose, mystery and paranormal activities; seeped in secrets with the implication of possible moral and/or legal crimes, featuring suspicious characters and a heroine at its heart with her own troubles and struggles, one with a strength and determination.

Ellie is a fantastic central character – a photographer who finds herself drawn to isolated locations with a history, which she weaves into a visual narrative for her exhibitions. In classic gothic style, the huge house itself almost takes on a character of its own, what lurks within it a threat Ellie’s sanity and ultimately her life.

The story begins as a slow burn, introducing us to Ellie and the house, drawing us in to the unsettling experiences that begin to haunt her the longer she remains confined within. As the creepy escalates to the dangerous, the pace ramps up and hurtles into the dramatic final chapters, the revelations unspooling and long years of silence unearthed.

Oozing atmosphere and foreboding, ‘As the Moon Fell Down’ is a superb gothic horror ghost story and a satisfying read for these autumnal nights.



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Harbinger - Preview

Read a preview of "Harbinger - A Jack O'Lantern Tale":

Friday, 27th October 1961
It is with absolute certainty I inform you I am going to kill.
You may wonder who I am, but that should not be your first question. You should ask yourself whom I am going to kill. You should ask yourself: “Is it going to be me?”
Please. Make it stop! So many thoughts thunder against the inside of my skull. I hear them all. As if there are hundreds of them in there.
You go about your daily lives, oblivious to the torment of others. The torment I have endured, just to show you truth. Yet you spit it back in my faces with ingracious ingratitude. I am beyond you. You ought to worship at my feet. My only crime was to show you all there is to see, all there is to experience.
I hear the screams. My head pounds with them, like my skull will burst and my brains will spill out into this void of a world, the screams in their wake.
Oh, how sweet your blood will taste, licked from the blade that has violated you, entered your body and stolen from you like a thief in the night.
Hear my words. I am waiting for you.
For I am the harbinger of justice.
 
Monday, 30th October 1961
The time is almost upon us. I can feel it, trilling in the air – as if it be a sound, or something that can be touched, or tasted on your tongue; almost, but not quite, instead sensory at one remove. It renders all of those sensations so superficial. This speaks to a deeper sense. The druids knew it well, the power of the season. They knew to respect it. They knew to fear it.
I am amongst you all, and you shall repay me in blood. For that is the only way you can renew yourselves.
You did not heed my warning. So be it. Your mistake will be apparent when the streets run with blood.
I fear I cannot control what is coming…
Harbinger of Justice
 
Tuesday, 31st October 1961
Yet, I am not the raving lunatic you will imagine me to be.
I once thought in very much the same way as you. That to commit heinous crimes and cause harm to others, one must suffer a great calamity of mind, to be quite mad or lacking in something so as to make them less than human. Somehow monstrous. We are safe then, as normal people. Yet what if such acts are committed by neither animal nor monster? What if evil is simply banal, altogether human?
What if we are all murderers?
The greatest achievement of the Devil is to have convinced us he does not exist. Thus he operates in the shadows, pulling the levers on humanity’s compulsions. He is inside us all. The war is never over. But it is already lost.
The wind blows a gale, trees shaking loose the dead shells of their leaves with violence, shedding them as a snake does its skin, allowing death to reign triumphant. The scent of damp is on the air, cold fingers caressing your flesh, stinging your eyes, slipping beneath your clothes, beneath your skin. Tonight, we go hunting. For tonight is Hallowe’en.
Harbinger of Justice
___

Pre-order now on Amazon for Kindle.

Don't miss the previous two stories in the series, available now:
✒ Will o' the Wisp
✒ The Jack O'Lantern Men

The Ghost Train - Preview

A Gothic Fairy Tale of the horror of evil and the power of love…

Read on to preview the opening chapter of The Ghost Train:

Chapter I
A Visit on Halloween

Sometimes, people wear the patterns of their lives on their faces, like a mask that reveals rather than hides who you are. Behind every one of those masks is a story. Often, there is far more behind that mask than you ever imagine, more to their story than you can see on the surface, much like the mysteries and enchantments that hide within the depths of the forest.

On the edge of such a vast and mysterious forest, an old man lived alone in a small cottage. On his face, he wore loneliness.
The old man’s granddaughter worried about him. Each time she spoke to him, he seemed to have become a little sadder. Having her two children in her life had helped her through many hard times, so she suggested to her granddad they stay with him for the school holiday, hoping they would help him, too.

They arrived on Halloween. The sun was shining, low in the sky, as they bounded off the train and ran to their Great Grandpa. His granddaughter watched him smile and knew she’d made the right decision. She unloaded their luggage and hugged all three of them goodbye, then left on the train. Through the window, she watched as Great Grandpa took Chloe and Lewis by the hands to take them home to his little cottage, both pulling a small suitcase behind them.

Once they had unpacked, they wrapped up in coats to keep out the autumn chill and went for a walk. Chloe and Lewis sprinted through the orange and brown leaves that covered the woodland paths, whooping with joy, kicking the leaves high in the air and watching them float to the ground like confetti.

They visited the nearby pumpkin patch and picked the biggest pumpkins they could find. Returning home, Great Grandpa helped them carve their jack o’lanterns, first scooping out their insides and then cutting spooky faces through their orange skin. When it got dark, they lit candles inside them and placed them on the windowsills to watch the fields that stretched for miles under the starry sky.

Great Grandpa cooked them tea and they played games in front of the fire. Though it was already past their bedtime, he agreed to read to them on the promise they would get ready for bed first. They excitedly changed into their pyjamas – covered in ghosts and skeletons and Frankenstein’s monsters – and settled at the foot of his armchair, clutching mugs of hot chocolate that overflowed with cream and marshmallows. As Great Grandpa read them stories of witches and ghouls and headless horsemen, he realised he felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long long time. He felt happy. Chloe and Lewis were thawing the pain that had frozen around his heart.

“Great Grandpa?” Lewis suddenly asked. “Who is the pretty lady in the photo on the fireplace?”

“That’s your Great Grandma, Lewis.”

“Why isn’t she old like you, Great Grandpa?”

He was quiet for a moment.

“She disappeared before she could get old,” Great Grandpa finally said.

“What happened?” Chloe butted in, as she crawled up and put her arm around the old man, seeing the sadness deepen in his eyes.

Great Grandpa patted the other arm of the chair for Lewis to sit beside him. He began to tell his story, remembering it like it was only yesterday,

“The last time I saw your Great Grandma, it was fifty years ago. Fifty years ago this very day. Halloween…”
___

Pre-order the Kindle edition from Amazon now, ready for release next Monday!

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October Blood: A Book of Hallowe'en Horror - Review

October Blood: A Book of Halloween Horror by Hawke Haus Books

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An anthology of Hallowe'en-themed horror stories by a variety of indie authors.

'October Blood' is a showcase of talent from the indie horror writer community, featuring work centred around Hallowe'en. With an opening poem by Bee Davis and thirteen short stories across the spectrum of horror themes and tropes, including gothic, supernatural, psychological and slasher, with chills, folklore, superstition, urban legends and violence entwined amongst the prose.

These are not the first stories I've read by several of the featured authors, while I also discovered some great new writers I'll be looking out for again, and hope to read many more from them all in the future! Not only is this a great compendium of work, but the profits go to Calgary Food Bank, a charity working to fight hunger and help those in need.

It's always difficult to pick favourites amongst anthologies with so much variety; personally, I most enjoyed:
"Blood of the Moon" by Sabrina Voerman, a dark fable, about a man who comes to the aid of a lost woman in the woods, with a superb twist;
"The Cameraman" by Michael R. Goodwin, an atmospheric tale of a teenager who spends Hallowe'en night alone and dares to watch a mysterious videotape;
"The Bitter Man" by Marcus Hawke, exploring the truth behind an urban legend surrounding a murderous dentist.

Overall, 'October Blood' is a fabulous collection celebrating our favourite dark holiday; a collection of tricks and treats for both the seasoned horror fan and those who wish to test the waters during the season. Happy Hallowe'en!



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October Story Spotlight - The Jack O'Lantern Men

"They were not words that met my ears, more drifting thoughts that met my mind."

As Samhain creeps up on us, the Jack O'Lantern Men claim the spotlight once again...

Behind the Story

After finishing my Christmas novella “Alone”, my attention turned to writing one for Hallowe’en. Once again taking inspiration from gothic fiction, I placed a family at the heart of this horror, a story told from two perspectives, a father and daughter who each possess different pieces of the puzzle, both telling their tales from their perspective of what led to a brutal murder on Hallowe’en.

The eponymous entities, the Jack O’Lantern Men, were at the core of the mysteries, their manipulation and influence spreading throughout generations. Who or what are they? In fiction, we often portray evil in the form of demons, monsters, serial killers – yet, no matter the forms in which evil may or may not manifest itself, it is too often present in our everyday lives and in people all around us. That theme runs beneath the supernatural themes of the novella and, indeed, continues in the later stories it spawned.

After being made redundant, I finished writing the book in only a few months. I still remember the moment I finished writing those final words and how much it had kept me going through those months. Much like writing itself, Hallowe’en was one of my early loves and I wanted to craft a tale that captured the spirit of the season, across its many guises; a story as much about Hallowe’en itself as it is one that takes place on and around Hallowe’en.

That time is almost upon us once again. The veil is thinning. Who knows what may creep through and whisper into your ears?

Hear their words. Say your prayers.

"My life is already over, I am already a dead man; the next few weeks are simply...to allow my body to catch up with my mind."

Hear our words. Say your prayers.

Late on Hallowe’en night, Frank is delivered to the Jailer, standing accused of a crime for which he will hang. He has a tale to tell, and begs the Jailer to speak to his daughter.

His daughter, Laura, has her own tale to tell. Through their words, the Jailer hears of the events that will lead him to his last execution.

All the while, the Jack O’Lantern Men wait in the wings for the last act to play out and the curtain to fall.

Read the opening scene.

"The Jack O'Lantern Men" is available standalone in ebook and paperback, or as part of the omnibus in ebook, paperback and hardcover. Grab your copy now!

Order "The Jack O'Lantern Men"
Order "Whispers from the Dead of Night - The Deluxe Collection"

Don't miss the two linked short stories - "Will o' the Wisp" and brand-new "Harbinger".

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