tour de force start...but blows out of steam.....

Now don't get me wrong I did enjoy this book, it's brutal in its delivery and the evil prevalent through the eyes of two characters is stomach churning and not for the faint hearted but necessary as the author draws a picture of innocence and evil....evil that comes calling one day into the lives of Hank Small, his wife Bev and two lovely kids...not forgetting the dog Wylie..ah the good old American homestead :) Hanks nephew Bill (who himself has some serious sexual/psycho problems!) calls on good old uncle Hank to help him out of a spot of bother..namely two very unsavoury characters Fatboy and Snake are trying to kill him. FB and Snake are the lowest forms of evil and depravity and the scenes depicting them are brutal and at times difficult to read but they are there to show the reader that real evil exists and someday it may come calling on you...as it did on Hank and his family. The story follows a predictable line with Hank and his family barely surviving a sadistic attack by FB and Snake...and up to that point I was enjoying this page turner of a story..but then..in true John Wayne fashion Hank and his mates get all tooled up, saddle up...and go lookin for those baddies!! Baddies are blown away..Hank saves the day...end of story...good but no cigar :(

Don't take this train.....

"John continued staring until the train moved on, and her peculiar words floated back to him, resonating with threat "We'll all cook before the end" A great line in what is a cracking short horror story by a very talented author. A pulsating London, a crowded tube station, a busy rush hour and always the fear of the unknown...all these ingredients come together to make this novella an exciting albeit short read. Who is the mysterious John Rowe, where is Melody the girl he wants to marry, what is the significance of the Lady and the child and what part does the young Asian gentleman play??? All is revealed in a surprising and timely conclusion but let's leave the final word to the woman announcer "This is a Hell-bound train...to your impending demise"...read and enjoy :))

Disappointing Kindle horror read:((

Now lets get one thing straight I do love horror and I am always searching out good new unique well written horror..and what's not to like about it! You are alone at home late at night, a little spooky music in the background,low lighting (essential) hot drink, feet elevated (comfort)...lets start reading. The Haunted has a familiar theme (not necessarily bad)young family...Sarah and Cap and the unborn baby...move into an old house which they happened to buy at just the right, once in a lifetime purchase (now that would probably have made you and I suspicious...why so cheap?? what's the catch?..but not our Sarah and Cap..and not forgetting the unborn baby :) As soon as our happy couple (and unborn baby) move into the said house things not surprisingly go badly wrong...for the remainder of this book we are treated to a long list of ghostly characters who are determined that Sarah and Cap (I hate that name!) will not remain...or rather will not escape alive...and that my dear readers is the synopsis of "The Haunted". A good horror story of this type will have one main theme running throughout the read...and that is "isolation" indeed isolation and a sense of dread...with no means of escape is essential to fully portray the sense of loneliness but, in this instance, I would substitute the word isolation for "dreary" To me the only haunted house (hotel) novel that ever successfully worked was "The Shining" a truly brilliant horror story that showed one man's disappearance and downward spiral into mental illness (and an unbelievable movie..good old Jack) The Shinning give new meaning to the word isolation and was the greatest example ever written of this type of book...but back to The Haunted. I had hoped that with the introduction of a third character towards the latter part that the writing/story would improve but unfortunately the third character's role had a predictable feel and outcome (trying not to give the story away) So in conclusion I really did not enjoy this book and thought it did little to add to horror genre..it was predictable in both it's content and conclusion, and not a book I would recommend.....