A spirited cast of heroes elevates this gore-soaked, monster-laden tale.
Estranged brothers reunite to battle sadistic otherworldly creatures invading their hometown in Chamberlin’s debut horror novel.
At first glance, Haven Shire seems like a harmless, secluded community. But local police officer George Thatch has seen his share of violence, and the “tingle” he feels when imminent danger nears is abuzz. Horrifying beings from a parallel world have been creeping into the humans’ realm; one Haven Shire family may be ushering the monsters in. George’s younger brother, Phineas, is in Kansas City, offering his spiritual and psychic abilities with such services as exorcising apparitions. When he gets a vision telling him to come home, he and his colleagues, armed with guns and relics, make tracks for Haven Shire, the town Phineas left years ago. They join forces with George and his fellow cops in combating the relentless “Formoria.” These creatures, which steal human bodies, eat brains, and often come in the form of colossal insects, are merciless—though certain sinister humans may be even more of a threat. Chamberlin outfits this story with a dynamic cast. The brothers have an intriguing backstory; their late mother’s psychic visions were diagnosed as schizophrenic delusions. The female characters are also strong, including the half-Cherokee cop Sicily Manns and Mata, Phineas’ nonverbal deaf best friend and work partner, who communicates via sign language. The novel teems with violent imagery—brutal, gory deaths coupled with all manners of cruelty. While the story opens with a spine-chilling, nightmare-inducing sequence, the latter half favors action over suspense as the heroes fight monsters with bullets and homemade bombs. (The supernatural elements remain strong as magic and evoked curses prove to be equally formidable weapons.) The author deftly turns familiar sights into memorable ghastly ones, taking cues from religion, mythology, and Lovecraft to depict masses of tentacles, giant spidery legs, and “shark-like teeth.”
A spirited cast of heroes elevates this gore-soaked, monster-laden tale.Pub Date: July 17, 2023
ISBN: 9798852659309
Page Count: 401
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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