Tag Archives: thriller

Review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

22 Friday Nov 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

This was my third Hendrix novel, following How to Sell a Haunted House last fall, and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires earlier this year. I loved the first two, and expected to enjoy this one as well. Possession horror and high school friendship over an 80s backdrop? Count me the hell in. My Best Friend’s Exorcism didn’t disappoint.

Synopsis: Childhood best friends Abby and Gretchen have everything going for them at the start of their sophomore year—they’re pretty, popular, and at the top of their class in their prestigious private high school. But when Gretchen starts to act different, Abby becomes worried. Gretchen isn’t herself anymore, and Abby decides she must be possessed by a demon. As her own life begins to crumble around her, will Abby’s love for her best friend be enough to save Gretchen from the forces of evil?

***

This was a really fun, fresh take on possession horror. I loved it for both that and its gorgeous portrayal of female friendship. It featured several great moments of visceral horror that will be plastered in my mind for the foreseeable future. I do wish we learned more about how Gretchen actually became possessed—things are implied, but I found myself craving a fuller picture of what really happened to her. Other than that, though, I fully enjoyed this book and would re-read it in the future.

❓ What’s your favorite movie or novel featuring a tale of possession?

Review: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

08 Friday Nov 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This gem, Lisa Jewell’s suspense thriller None of This is True, was recommended to me by a good friend earlier this year. I had no idea it was a Booktok trending book until after I finished it, but in this case (for me, anyway) I’d say Booktok was right on the money. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Summary:
Podcaster Alix Summers is on the lookout for a new project when she meets the odd, timid Josie Fair at a pub where they are both celebrating their birthdays. After embarking on a journey to record a podcast about Josie’s life, Alix discovers that this woman has overcome so much and is determined to change her life. But there is something…unsettling about Josie. Too intrigued to stop recording the podcast, Alix will soon learn the truth about Josie’s past—because if there’s one talent Josie has, it’s for bending the truth.

***

None of This is True has the perfect blend of character building, drama and suspense. Character POVs flip back and forth between Josie and Alix, interspersed with interviews from the podcast with people who knew Josie before…The Incident. What was The Incident, you ask? Well, you have to engage with all the lead-up in this story to find out. Jewell gives nothing away for free.

The pace of this book drew me along like a pet chasing a treat, making it impossible for me to put down. It was also just the right length—long enough for the plot to simmer and play out in a satisfying manner, but not bloated with unnecessary details or side plots. I listened to the audiobook version of this, which was brilliantly acted and worked extremely well with the podcast/interview aspect of this novel.

I loved this book, and will definitely be a return customer for Lisa Jewell in the future.

Review: Jude’s Diary by Christiane Erwin

18 Friday Oct 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Last fall I was lucky enough to win an Instagram giveaway from indie author Christiane Erwin for a copy of her YA supernatural thriller Jude’s Diary. It took me too long to get around to reading it, and even longer to post my review—but it’s never too late to get the word out. This is one author I look forward to supporting and reading more of in the future.

Summary:

It’s senior year, and Alissa is at the top of her game: she’s gotten into her dream school, is acing all her classes, and is about to graduate as valedictorian. But it seems someone is out to sabotage her. Alissa isn’t one to take that kind of insult lying down. She’ll do anything in her power—including manipulating the school outcast Jude Peary—to come out on top. Jude is always scribbling in her notebook, so Alissa plans to use whatever information she can find inside it to her advantage. But Jude isn’t quite who she seems to be, and this plan of Alissa’s may end up being more complicated than she’d anticipated. How far will Alissa go to get what she wants?

***

Jude’s Diary certainly kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Alissa is a capable schemer and it’s fun to watch her machinations succeed and fail. She’s so compelling as a flawed main character, and seems so on top of everything at the beginning. It’s interesting to see control slowly slipping from her hands even as the seemingly hapless Jude seems to be lucking out at every turn.

My only complaints about this novel were that the ending felt rushed—just a little too neatly wrapped up—and certain details (which I won’t go into to avoid spoilers) didn’t make sense to me. Still, it’s a suspenseful romp and I look forward to reading more of what I now know is a series. Yes, it turns out that Jude’s Diary is Erwin’s first installment in a series of books featuring Alissa. Can’t wait for the next one!

Review: Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

11 Friday Oct 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I’d promised myself that I was going to take a bit of a horror break…but I couldn’t resist diving back into Stephen Graham Jones’s Indian Lake Trilogy. After a slow-burning but ultimately thrilling origin story in My Heart is a Chainsaw, Jade/Jennifer Daniels is back for a frigid, bloody time in Proofrock. This sequel takes place four years after the events of the first book. After reading it, I’m even more in love with this series than before.

Summary:
The Lake Witch Slayings have made Proofrock, ID a magnet for slasher fans. But Jennifer Daniels, newly released from prison and hoping to find her feet back in her hometown, has left all that behind her. The slasher films, the trivia, the meaning she tried to find in it all — she can see now that it was a defense mechanism holding her back. So when prolific serial murderer Dark Mill South escapes into the nearby wilderness during a blizzard, Jennifer tries to ignore the slasher parallels. Even when the bodies of local high schoolers start turning up, she knows she can only provide practical help as this new massacre plays out. But a Final Girl can only play dumb for so long. If she starts paying attention, Jade may finally see that Dark Mill South isn’t the only unhinged killer stalking the young people of Proofrock.

The structure of Don’t Fear the Reaper is quite different from that of its prequel. Where My Heart is a Chainsaw alternates between Jade’s third-person perspective and excerpts from her slasher-themed extra credit essays, Don’t Fear the Reaper bounces between a wide variety of viewpoints. While we get to hear from Jade again, we’re also treated to the perspectives of familiar characters like Letha and former-Sheriff Hardy as well as a medley of new victims, opportunists and predators all trying to make it to the end of the slaughter. All of this action is framed by the words of a new essayist, a student at Henderson High who’s obviously studied the Lake Witch Slayings extensively.

I had a great time trying to suss out the motivations of the different players in this plot. Naturally one can’t help but zero in on Dark Mill South as the sure threat — he’s introduced right away as a creative killer with a passion for his chosen sport (murder). But beyond him there’s a whole cast of questionable characters whose potential motives muddy the waters: the new history teacher harboring an unhealthy obsession with Lake Witch Slayings; the twins who seem to be at the center of these new killings; the mysterious new essayist who knows so much about not just the murders but also about Jade’s life; the resurrected spirit of Stacey Graves, the Lake Witch herself.

Now the audiobook version of this novel is a special treat. It features a full cast of voice actors, with each of the fourteen POV characters having a unique narrator. Headliners include Indigenous actress Isabella Star LaBlanc as Jade, and Evil Dead (2013) star Jane Levy as Letha. Every performance was high-quality, and they add so much to the tense pace that Jones establishes for this novel.

The Jade in Don’t Fear the Reaper is more mature and self-aware. It’s clear that she’s experienced a lot of growth since the events of the first book, but still has plenty of demons to work out. But if the heart and cunning it takes to make it to the end of a slasher cycle could be characterized as a superpower, then Jade Daniels only gets more powerful in this second volume. I love her stubbornness and her…not fearlessness, but more like her determination to follow through in spite of fear.

I also want to call out one of my favorite scenes, the one where Jade and Letha are having a sort of bonding moment in the Terra Nova house. I love their friendship, and really look forward to whatever kind of -ship it might evolve into in the future.

I still don’t totally understand how everything shook out. There were so many motives, moving parts and cinematic moments. I’ll have to do a thorough reread in order to make sense of all the chaos and carnage. But this book is thrilling and jaw-dropping enough that I’m looking forward to going through it again — and maybe even brushing up on some classic slasher films while I’m at it.

This was a great continuation of Jade’s story, and I loved seeing her character adapt and grow over the events of this second installment. I’ve already read the third book, Angel of Indian Lake, which was released in March of this year. Keep out an eye for my review of that, which should be posted soon!

Review: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

21 Wednesday Feb 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫/5

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas burst onto the popular book scene last summer with an eye-catching cover and the tantalizing promise of a vampire thriller-romance (thrillmance? can that be the new romantasy?). It’s Cañas’s second novel (following her bestselling 2022 debut The Hacienda), and I was able to squeeze it in as my very last read of 2023. It managed to be a charming and gripping tale I bet many romance fans would enjoy — but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Summary:

Nena and Nestor were inseparable as children — until one night when the two 13 year-olds snuck out to search for buried silver, and Nena was attacked by some sort of savage, spider-limbed creature. Certain that Nena was dead, Nestor fled in fear, staying far away from Nena’s family’s land for over a decade. When he finally returns, ready to fight the looming threat of Anglo invaders, he’s shocked to see Nena alive, warm and…hostile. Seeing Nestor for the first time in ten years, Nena can’t help but be furious. After all, he’d promised never to leave her, and had promptly done just that. But now, with battle looming, they’ll have to deal with what it means to be in each other’s lives again as they work together to survive. It’s not just the horror of war that threatens their future — there is something else, something that sticks to the shadows and nurses a wicked thirst for blood.

***

The shining beacon within Vampires of El Norte is the romance plot, which is very sweet. Nena is the center of Nestor’s life — until he believes her dead. And Nestor is the one person Nena knows she can trust — until he runs away. The tension of their unexpected reunion and gradual reconciliation draws the reader constantly forward. I kept turning the pages because I had to know, do these two ever really talk about their feelings? Cañas has a gift for suspense and natural-sounding dialogue, so every scene between Nena and Nestor feels like you’re a fly on the wall listening in, and you can’t stop vibrating your little cellophane wings in anticipation of the impending juicy confrontation.

My personal tastes, however, skew more toward the horror side of things. The romantic aspect of Vampires of El Norte may be well-paced and compelling (if a little predictable), but I was disappointed by how little the vampires mattered to the plot. They only appear a handful of times, and could easily be replaced with something like werewolves, zombies or rabid raccoons with very little change to the story. The only reason vampires make a little more textual sense is because they’re an apt metaphor for the land-hungry American invaders, who represent the ultimate evil in the story.

Even this question of “who are the real vampires?” doesn’t matter much in the end. Ninety percent of this book is simply Nena and Nestor pining after each other, then pulling back just before they can talk about their feelings because their traumatic history and nineteenth-century Catholic propriety just keep getting in the way. The rest — the time period, the war, and the vampires — are just backdrop elements.

I don’t think that makes Vampires of El Norte a bad book. There’s so much it does incredibly well. Cañas masterfully paints a portrait of a place in time (1840s Mexico) and splashes it with a love story that even the most stone-hearted reader can’t help rooting for. Sex is never more than implied, but boy is it implied. The scene in particular where Nestor teaches Nena how to shoot a pistol is deliciously tense and unbelievably steamy for a scene where everyone remains fully clothed. So yeah, you could say that it left an impression on me. That impression just could have been a little more vampire-y.

The romance within of Vampires of El Norte is well-crafted and compelling enough to draw most readers through to the end. For vampire fans, though, there isn’t much of substance to latch onto. In the end, this wasn’t really my sort of book, but I think I would reach for it again if I’m in the mood for a nice love story. I certainly recommend it for anyone who loves a good romance with just a dash of supernatural-thriller for color.

Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

15 Friday Dec 2023

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Since making the decision to ramp up my book reviewing earlier this year, I have had one goal in the back of my mind: Read more Stephen Graham Jones. I got a hold of his novel The Only Good Indians over Covid lockdown, and it was some of the best horror I’d read in years. I enthusiastically rated it 5 stars on Goodreads.

So I was incredibly excited to get an ebook copy of his 2021 novel My Heart is a Chainsaw on loan from the Libby app. While it’s certainly not the most polished novel, it does manage to be a bloody, fun and triumphant interpretation of the slasher genre with a main character that I’m ready to follow to hell and back.

A slasher is coming to terrorize the small lakeside town of Proofrock, Idaho. Jade knows it. She’s and expert on slasher films, and she’s familiar with all the signs. The mysterious tourist deaths at Indian Lake are the blood sacrifice that will kick off the cycle. And more bodies will start piling up as the main event nears: the town’s annual 4th of July celebration on the lake. Jade has even met the Final Girl. Letha, the new student at her school, is so beautiful and pure that it’s clear she’s destined to survive the coming massacre. Will she be ready? As Jade uses all her hard-won slasher expertise to try to prepare Letha to ride out the slaughter, she tries not to be disappointed that she’ll only be watching from the sidelines. Sure, Jade’s the one who’s been dreaming of this kind of scenario for years. But she’s just not Final Girl material.

I’m not sure if it’s better to know nothing or everything about slasher films before going to this book, but one thing is for sure: My Heart is a Chainsaw will school you on the genre. References to slasher films are embedded all throughout the plot and in Jade’s dialogue. Between the chapters, snippets of Jade’s own writing show her explaining the elements and nuances of slasher films to her favorite teacher, Mr. Holmes. This gives the reader an idea of just how obsessed Jade is with this sub-genre, and sows a bit of doubt in the reader: is Jade right about what’s happening in Proofrock, or is she just a traumatized kid using movie violence to cope with her lot in life?

However, the story did drag a little bit toward the middle. I found myself skimming through some bits—particularly Jade’s extra credit slasher essays. They weren’t bad, and they gave good insight into the character, but I felt at times like they were something I had to slog through to get to the good, meaty plot parts. Until about 2/3 of the way through the book, it feels like you’re just waiting for the good stuff to start happening. And though the climactic scenes of the book are action-packed, with a resolution that’s technically satisfying, I was a little confused about what was going on. I’m still not entirely sure I understand the who and why of the slasher themselves.

Normally I would give a lower rating to a slow-burn novel with a muddy conclusion, but there’s something about My Heart is a Chainsaw that makes me want to forgive its shortcomings and love it anyway. Like its main character, this book is rough around the edges, but at the same time so unapologetically itself that I can’t help rooting for it. Jade is a survivor, not just of the slasher cycle, but also of the fate that befalls a disproportionate number of mixed-race indigenous kids who fall through the cracks (in the acknowledgments, Jones notes that he was inspired to create Jade after reading of a Native American teenage girl who took her own life after being sexually assaulted). Jade is a messy, weird, stubborn person, and I’m so happy I got to spend a few hundred pages with her.

This is the first book in Jones’s Indian Lake Trilogy, and since I absolutely must know what happens to Jade next, I will be picking up the sequel, Don’t Fear the Reaper, very soon.

Are you a Stephen Graham Jones fan? What’s your favorite SGJ novel? Let’s chat about it, hit me up in the comments or on Instagram.