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Old Soul: A Haunting Literary Horror Experience

by Stefani

Old Soul by Susan Barker

Published: January 28, 2025 by G.P Putnam’s Sons

Buy this book at: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Synopsis:

In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they’ve both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since.

Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades—a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone—and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is.

Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.

Rating:

Review: **Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. Thank you G.P Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley!**

I had some reservations about this book when I saw it being described a literary fiction and horror. I had a hard time seeing how those two genres meshed together and it made me nervous about the book. But, in the end I loved the book and I completely agree that it is a combination of horror and literary fiction.

This book wasn’t your typical scary horror book. It was haunting. Unsettling. Uneasy. It makes you read with a pit in your stomach that you can’t quite explain. And as the pieces get put together you find yourself reflecting on the book long after you’ve put it down. That was my experience. I was haunted by thoughts on this book long after I put it away and moved on to my next book.

But apart from the horror aspects of this mysterious woman this story is a character study. Each of the main characters are people that are explored in depth by the author. I found this part fascinating. I loved learning more about these people. It also made the horror aspects even more horrifying because I grew to care about them and knew what was likely going to happen to them.

When we got to the ending, I honestly felt like I wanted to scream helplessly into the void. It wasn’t the ending I expected. But, truthfully, it was the correct ending for this book. The ending makes the book even more unsettling than it was before. This was a great book, I highly recommend it.

Advancer Reader Copies (ARC) Approved – June 13, 2024

by Stefani

Run by Blake Crouch

Expected publication: October 22, 2024 Ballantine Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

No time to think. No time to ask why. Only time to run.

Five days ago, the epidemic of rage began.

Four days ago, the rash of senseless murders swept the nation.

Three days ago, the president addressed the country and begged for peace—even as the murders increased tenfold.

Two days ago, the killers began to mobilize.

One day ago, the power went out.

And tonight, the killers are reading the names of those to be killed over the Emergency Broadcast System.

Jack Colclough is listening over the battery-powered radio on his kitchen table in Albuquerque, and he just heard his name. People are coming to his house to kill him, his wife, his daughter, and his son.

He has no idea what’s happening, or why, but the time for questions is long past. 

His only chance is to run.

Following an ordinary family on a desperate race through an America that’s destroying itself, Run is a terrifying, brutally stripped-down thriller from master storyteller Blake Crouch.

Why I requested it:

A few years ago I read another book by Blake Crouch. Recursion. You can find my review here. I enjoyed that book, even though I felt the ending was a bit disappointing. I really enjoyed the way Crouch writes. So when I saw this available for review I knew I needed to try it. The plot sounds exciting and horrifying, and Blake Crouch writes in a very compelling way. This should be a fun ride.

The Bitter Truth by Shanora Williams

Expected publication: June 25, 2024 by Dafina

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

An upstanding political candidate. A determined stalker. A shattering lost weekend. Now, when his worst secret comes calling, how far will one man’s elegant, all-too-devoted wife go to uncover the truth . . . or bury it?

For Jolene “Jo” Baker, the least she can do for her adoring husband, Dominic, is give unwavering support for his North Carolina gubernatorial run. He is not only the love of her life, he’s also helping her prove that she’s far more than just a pampered trophy wife. With huge crowds showing up at Dominic’s speeches and the polls consistently in his favor, she’s never been happier to stand proudly by his side . . .

Until she and Dominic start seeing the same, strangely ominous woman turning up all along the campaign trail. Until their tour starts becoming a nightmare of botched events, crucial missed information, and increasingly dangerous “accidents.” Suddenly Jo can’t get any answers from Dominic—or understand why he is acting so paranoid and terrified . . .

What Jo can do is start digging into his past—one she’s never really questioned beyond his perfect image and dazzling accomplishments. What results is an alarming series of events that leave her Good friends turn into enemies, truths are revealed to be lies, and all clues lead back to one secret, shattering weekend that changes Jo’s entire life. With her world splintering into pieces, can Jo risk trying to set things right? Or will hiding the bitter truth by any means necessary destroy her as well?

Why I requested it:

This sounds like a typical thriller plot. The politician and his adoring wife who have secrets. And those secrets are about to be exposed. But that’s a good thing. It’s an exciting premise. And there is nothing that a reader loves more than seeing the bad guy get what’s coming to them. I hope that happens in this one.

Thyme Travellers edited by Sonia Sulaiman

Expected publication: September 5, 2024 by Roseway Publishing

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Thyme Travellers collects fourteen of the Palestinian diaspora’s best voices in speculative fiction. Speculative fiction as a genre invites a reconfiguring of reality, and here each story is a portal into realms of history, folklore and futures.

A man stands on the shore waiting to commune with those who live in the ocean. Pilgrims stretch into the distance, passing a stone cairn with a mysterious light streaming from it. Two Australian women fervently dig a tunnel to Jerusalem. Men from Gaza swim in the sea until they drown, still unconcerned. A father and son struggle to connect over the AI scripts prompting their conversation.

Building on the work of trailblazing anthologies such as Reworlding Ramallah and Palestine +100, this volume is the first of its kind in Canada. Editor Sonia Sulaiman brings together stories by speculative fiction veterans and emerging writers from Australia to Egypt, Lebanon to Canada.

Why I requested it:

I really love speculative fiction. I really love short story anthologies. And I also love new and interesting voices in fiction. This one is a win, win, win. Plus the one liners about some of the included stories sound fantastic.

Review: Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

by Stefani

Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

Published: August 4, 2020 by Atria Books

Buy this book at: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / AbeBooks

Synopsis:

When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping—and equally famous return—twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory.

Back home in New Hampshire, Fern purchases a copy of Astrid’s recently published memoir—which may have provoked her original kidnapper to abduct her again—and as she reads through its chapters and visits the people and places within it, she discovers more evidence that she has an unsettling connection to the missing woman. As Fern’s search becomes increasingly desperate, she hopes to remember her past so she can save Astrid in the present…before it’s too late.

Rating:

Review:

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books!**

This book was epically good! The premise of it drew me in immediately. We have all had recurring nightmares before. We have all had dreams that we are terrified of. But, what if you later found out that those recurring nightmares might actually be memories? Memories of a woman who was abducted for a second time and might be in peril from the same perpetrator all over again?

Fern is an anxious and fearful individual. Which makes complete sense given her history. Her mother is an artist who never really wanted to be a mother. As her mother puts it, she got pregnant and they decided to keep the baby and that was good enough. She was disinterested and detached. Fern’s father is a professor. He studies the psychology of fear. He viewed Fern’s childhood as the perfect vehicle for his “research”. For example, leaving her alone in a town that she isn’t familiar with and then waiting until she’s crying and terrified before coming back for her. The more I read about Fern’s family the more I understood her. Of course she’s an anxiety ridden, fearful individual. How could she end up any other way given the parenting she received?

As Fern searches for answers we meet more people from her past who all seemed to prey on her fearful nature. Like her best friend’s older brother. Who bullied them as kids and can’t seem to resist doing it, even as a middle aged adult man. I became rather convinced that Fern didn’t know anyone who wasn’t a completely twisted person, except perhaps her husband. He seemed to be a good quality individual that Fern could rely on. The book quickly turns to Fern’s search for answers about her dreams, and her conviction that they are actually memories. As we went along I developed a theory about who the kidnapper was. I was pleasantly surprised that my theory was correct. It was the right choice. Sometimes a predictable conclusion is the right one. This one was the choice that made the most sense considering everything we learned about the world and these characters.

Even though I guessed who the kidnapper was, the book still had a surprise for me at the end. I didn’t see it coming a mile away. But, it was also perfectly lined up with who these characters are. I always enjoy a story that can surprise me. This book was riveting from cover to cover. I read the last 60 pages in one sitting after spending 12 hours at a theme park. I just couldn’t put it down. So I sat in a dark hotel room and read to the end. It was worth it.

Review: Blood of the Fae by Tom Mohan

by Stefani

41813744Blood of the Fae by Tom Mohan

Published: November 15, 2018 by BHC Press/Open Window

Buy this book at: Amazon| B&N

Synopsis: Liza McCarthy has never known the love she so desperately craves. The illegitimate child of a broken marriage, the identity of her father and her heritage are a well-kept secret. When she receives a call from a mysterious woman claiming her life is in danger, she manages to flee just before two men break into her home.

She soon finds herself in the tiny midwestern town of Halden’s Mill. There she is taken in by the Finns, a mysterious family who claim to guard the entrance to the fabled land of the faerie.

Liza is slowly drawn into a world of monsters, dark magic and a host of peculiar townsfolk. Now she must rethink everything she’s ever known and seek her destiny before two worlds collide with a force that could mean the end of the human race.

Rating: 3 star

Review: ***Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!***

This book is proving to be a difficult one to review and decide on an appropriate rating. I finished it over 24 hours ago and am still trying to put my thoughts together. On the whole, it was an alright story. There was absolutely nothing revolutionary about it, but it’s a solid story.

Let’s start with Liza. I did not really like her as a character. I found her to be annoying for the most part. She starts off fine, a bit histrionic but who wouldn’t be freaked out by the things she is discovering about the world? After awhile she seemed far stupider than I felt she should be. The pieces were there but she just refused to put them together and instead continued with her internal narrative that “there’s no way that any of this involves me”. Literally everyone in the book is telling you that it does. Hell, your dreams are telling you that it does! The strange happenings are telling you that it does! EVERYTHING IS SCREAMING AT YOU THAT YOU ARE INVOLVED!! So while there was nothing actually wrong with the character, she grew to be infuriating. And then when we got to the end of the book, it turned out she was pretty useless and unnecessary to the plot. More on that in a minute.

The characterization of the fae was fabulous. I enjoyed seeing a more horrifying aspect of the land of fae instead of the pretty, sparkling faeries that are so common in literature. I can’t say that the book was overly scary, but the horror aspects of it were very well written and interesting.

I can’t say that I can conjure up too much emotion about the other characters since I did not feel that I got to know them at all. They were a flat and lacked qualities that would have made them more relatable and realistic characters. They were fine, but one dimensional. They also seemed to be a bit stupid at times, similar to Liza’s stupid. They acknowledge that everything happening is telling them that the old rules don’t apply. But then they run around screaming, “Oh My God! Why are the old rules not working!?”  Well, duh, you just said why just a few pages ago.

A lot of this book was difficult to read. I found myself reading the same page a few times in order to understand what was going on. I am not entirely sure what made it difficult but I had a very hard time.

On to my last point for this: The ending. Warning!!!! Spoilers:

So, the whole point of the book is that Liza is a fae princess and has to choose between two princes. One prince wants the fae to rule the world and exterminate humans. One prince wants the fae to live in a dimension completely separate from humans and allow the peaceful existence of both. In the end, Liza will choose her prince and that will decide the fate of the world. But then we get to the end and she doesn’t choose! She chooses to stab herself instead in order to not have to make a choice. And somehow this meant that her choice was for peaceful co-existence of humans and fae? I have no idea where that ending came from but I didn’t like it. Making a choice by not making a choice and then somehow that means that everything is fine. So dumb and kind of made me feel the book was pointless in the end.

At the end of the day this book was decently written with passable characters and the fae are good enough to make this book a decent read.

Review: Rain Will Come by Thomas Holgate

by Stefani

rain will comeRain Will Come by Thomas Holgate

Expected Publication: March 10, 2020 by Thomas & Mercer

Pre-order this title: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: A thrilling, page-turning debut about a twisted killer and a broken cop—both with nothing to lose.

Paul Czarcik, the longest-tenured detective in the Illinois Bureau of Judicial Enforcement, puts the rest of the team to shame. Ruthless and riddled with vices, Czarcik always gets his man. And fast. Until now…

A double slaying isn’t the open-and-shut case of urban crime he’s used to. Connecting it to a high-profile Texas judge, Czarcik realizes something bigger is going on. It’s the work of a serial killer for whom Chicago is just the beginning. Now he’s inviting Czarcik to play catch-me-if-you-can on a cross-country murder spree.

Going rogue, Czarcik accepts the challenge. But as the bodies pile up, he must come to grips with the fact that nothing—not the killer, the victims, or the rules—is what it seems in this bloody game of cat and mouse.

Rating: 3 star out of 5 stars

Review:  **Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Please note, changes to the manuscript may take place after publishing. Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer!**

I love a good cat & mouse story. A jaded, surly detective pursuing a psychopath story. In some ways this was a good fit, in other ways it didn’t live up to expectations. I feel it’s important for me to note right up front that this book is not breaking any new ground in the genre. Czarcik is like so many other surly over-the-hill detectives in detective novels. He likes booze, cocaine and hookers and doesn’t like following the rules. Nothing new to see here. The killer styles himself an avenging angel, a vigilante bringing justice to the helpless victims. Again there is nothing new here. So, if you aren’t bringing anything new to the table, you really need to give me a good chase.

Ultimately that is where this book failed for me, the chase. We find out who the killer is in the 3rd chapter and find out his whole plan about 40 pages after that. Once we know those two things, there’s not much left to do except chase him down and stop him, right? That was a very slow process, it seemed to take a long, long time. We spend about 275 pages on the first 3 victims, then rush through the entire last 2 victims and finally stopping the killer in less than 75 pages. We spent way too much time on the first half, not early enough time on the second half.

Another odd point for me was the writing itself. Technically, there is nothing wrong with the writing. The grammar and spelling are solid. The narrative is enjoyable. But the author seemed to occasionally throw things in that were just strange. And because they didn’t make sense, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what he meant rather than enjoying the narrative. For example, in a single paragraph the author managed to change a single character’s eye color 3 separate times. First her eyes were described as deep blue, got it. A sentence later they were “more like opal than ice”. Um, okay, opal is generally iridescent though. I have seen blue opals, but they aren’t deep blue but then neither is ice. So is it deep blue? Or blue opal? Then two sentences later they were sapphire. Which again, is a totally different color than either deep blue or blue opal. So I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what color her eyes were instead of continuing to read. I think the author tried to get too fancy.

Two more minor gripes. First, can we stop giving people psychic powers but insisting they aren’t psychic? The not-psychic-but-kind-of-psychic “rush” that Czarcik gets was strange, never explained and didn’t make a lick of sense. At one point he is tipped off by someone mentioning how they wouldn’t want to be the insurance adjuster who has to come out to the murder scene. Although I have no idea why an insurance adjuster would be necessary at a murder scene but somehow this leads Czarcik on a long, winding path from insurance adjuster to….AH HA! Someone is keeping a secret from me….about insurance….sort of, but in the end not really. Very weird.

So, I know this sounds like a book I didn’t really like, and on the whole it was disappointing. But it did keep my interest. I did want to find out how it ended. I enjoyed Czarcik as a character. I enjoyed the writing. So overall, it was not a great book but it was entertaining and worth the read.

Review: The Gatherer by Colleen Winter

by Stefani

gathererThe Gatherer by Colleen Winter

Expected Publication: November 26, 2019 by Rebel Base Books

Buy this book at: Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Synopsis: Storm Freeman gave the world a miracle. She designed The Gatherer to draw electromagnetic energy from the air and disperse free and infinite electricity to rural and underprivileged communities. Her invention helped people but devalued power industries. Some revered Storm as a deity. Others saw her as an eco-terrorist.

Then the miracle became a curse. The Gatherer unleashed a plague that damaged the human electrical system, bringing pain, suffering–and eventual death–to anyone continually exposed to the technology. Stricken herself, Storm goes into exile, desperate to find a cure–and destroy her invention.

But there are people in the government and in the corporation that funded The Gatherer who refuse to publicly acknowledge the connection between the device and the spreading plague. And they will stop at nothing to find Storm and use her genius for military applications . . .

Rating: 4 star out of 5 stars

Review: 

***Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book for free on NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!***

This book was a nice surprise for me. I read the synopsis and thought to myself, “Well, that sounds like just about every dystopian young adult book I’ve ever read.” But it wasn’t and that surprised me a lot. I found the plot intriguing and the characters were crisp and refreshing. I didn’t really mean to make them sound like apples, but there we are.

Really only to things got on my nerves and I hope they are rectified before publishing. 1. The plot moves back and forth in time quite a bit, and there is no indication in the text about when we’re in a particular time period. I found it rather confusing with no idea what time period we were in until I had read a page or two. Even a “X year” at the beginning of the chapters from the past would help. 2. Sometimes the text seemed a bit disjointed. For example, I would read something and then all of a sudden they’d be talking about a dead body and I’m thinking “wait, when did someone die? what happened?” So I went back and read those passages again and still can’t figure out what happened. This didn’t occur a lot, but it happened a few times.

Storm was a good character, though I found her assumed helplessness a bit annoying sometimes. This book was the time for her to harness the power she still has and step forward into action. I saw that a little bit at the end, but it was quite literally only in the last 2 chapters. Prior to that she was a passenger to the plot and I wanted more from her.

Maria is a great character, a real kick butt strong woman with a purpose. The only drawback to her character is that I felt she was a vehicle to the next book. She seemed a little irrelevant to this particular plot but she was the method of getting our characters to the next book.

The plot moved at a good pace and the writing is exciting. I really enjoyed the journey this book took me on as a reader and I look forward to the revelations we get in the next book. I wish I could come up with more great things to say about this book, but anything else will spoil the plot and I endeavor to keep this review spoiler free. But it is a good, fun read that you should check out.