J. F. Gonzalez (1964–2014)

This novel was a pleasant surprise on multiple fronts. It did not end up going where I thought it would. And rather than being a straight forward single topic horror story, it was a very well executed blend of multiple horror genres into a single solid novel.

Tim Gaines is a social outcast at his school. His love of horror novels and movies has gotten him labeled as a devil worshiper; in the ultra-conservative town where he is living, this guarantees his outcast status and very few friends. He's finally turned the corner and starting to get a social life. At the same time, the school bullies have been upping their violent streak outside of school, a streak that has reached a point where someone has died. Tim is viewed as their solution since as a devil worshiper, he can bring the dead back to life. A ridiculous idea, until it happens.

As I mentioned before, the blend of genres is worked into the story beautifully. It is part revenge on school bullies, part evil from the past coming back to be righted, part zombie. The story veers in directions that are unexpected but very enjoyable. There are a few points where credibility is extra stretched but nothing crazy. Any story that brings someone back from the dead will do that. It all worked together very nicely and resulted in a novel that I would happily recommend.… (plus d'informations)

*sigh*

A good editor is worth every penny. Lack of one makes this book worth so much less than it could have been. Every problem I had with it could have been fixed. It's hard to be disturbed and terrorized by the story when I kept getting pulled out by repetition, inconsistencies and other assorted issues.

So that was (some of) the bad. The good? Well, the author handles the material well. There are some extreme things going on in this book, but the author knew when to pull back, when to cut scene. The story was there, and that kept me reading, and that's why it got two stars instead of one.
… (plus d'informations)