Horror writing at its best - 5 star

Ronald Malfi is a superb writer and this is one truly brilliant spooky horror novel. Small town America, events that happened in the past coming back to haunt you, have always been a lucrative ground for creating atmosphere and don’t turn the lights off tension! Andrew Larimer, a successful New York lawyer, has left his past behind him, and the small town of Kingsport where he grew up, long forgotten. However when he receives a somewhat distressing phone call from a childhood friend, he decides to return one last time to Kingsport, leaving a pregnant wife confused and alone in the big apple…….Five friends; Andrew, Dale, Eric, Tig and the sad somewhat pathetic figure of Meach are being called to account over an incident and a secret that they have managed to hide for 20 years. Robert Graves now holds the key, or not, to their future wellbeing, and it would seem that revenge and retribution know no boundaries….This is a first class horror novel, with some wonderful twists that kept coming until the final page, an ending whilst not expected, was perfect to the conclusion of my favourite horror read this year. Highly recommended.

Little sympathy form me on this one - 2 star

Lydia Walker, forensic photographer, is assigned to work with the local police department. A deranged serial killer is present and active and it is her job to photograph and interpret the killer’s bloody crime scene. Lydia had a tumultuous childhood, badly abused when in the care of foster parents. As the case progresses, and the body count mounts, Lydia finds to her surprise that she may have more in common with the perpetrator than she hoped, indeed he may be the only person that truly understands her. There is not a lot of depth to this short book, and trying to put a positive spin on the mounting atrocities, and the growing sympathy of Lydia with the killer, was not to my liking. 

The tension and fear is on every page - 3 star

A lone gunman stalks the corridors of Stonesmere, randomly killing those before him. Marty Ward is a pupil at the school and witnesses her mother being gunned down before she is able to escape the wrath of the shooter: Rowan Sullivan. There is a media frenzy, and a group of outsiders known as The Truthers, or conspiracy theorists, have the audacity to claim that the event never actually happened. In the midst of all this there is doubt as to the authenticity of Marty’s recollection of the events, and questions about the shooter and his association or not with the school and its pupils. At the heart of this book is a community in mourning, a community that must accept this dreadful happening before it can heal, and learn to live again.

What I did enjoy about “One Day” was the feeling of fear and sadness, the tension, even suspicion that permeated each chapter…who could be believed? The author explores the various accounts in an attempt to establish the truth, and to try to understand why a lone individual would choose to act in such a manner. What I did not enjoy was the fractured storytelling, the constant movement of events before, during and after the incident, and the rather abrupt conclusion. However, having said that, I applaud the directness of the language, and the use of different narrators to tell the story. Thank you to the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.