Adam Sellars is about to discover there are real monsters in the world…. Life hasn’t been kind to Adam lately.In the past year he has broken up with his fiancee, barely survived a terrible car wreck, and had his brother’s family vanish while he lay unconscious in the hospital. The only thing he has left of them is a frantic call in his cell phone’s voice messages, along with the blurry photo of a spider. Since then he has been a crippled shell going through the motions of life with nothing but the search for his brother to keep him going.But Adam is about to find out that things can still take a turn for the worse. Much worse.His quest for his brother has brushed up against a very dark corner of the world and something has come out of that darkness with an unholy vengeance. Something unbelievable. He can’t fight it, he can’t hide from it, and not even the police can protect him as his world descends into chaos. His only hope lies in a mysterious pair of strangers who have appeared out of nowhere with an offer of aid. But they have their own agenda, and his survival may not be their top priority. Now Adam must keep his wits about him and learn to believe in himself again as events send him on a collision course with a monster more horrific than he ever dreamed possible.
"...a genuinely chilling, tightly-plotted, horror story with lots of twists, touches of gore, psychological terror and excellent writing. I read it in the morning. That night I slept with the lights on. Horror fans? Get this book!"
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
I was expecting a shlocky horror novel in the vein of Guy N. Masters. I got a genuinely chilling, tightly-plotted, horror story with lots of twists, touches of gore, psychological terror and excellent writing.
I read a lot of horror and the prologue with the traditional first victims seemed depressingly formulaic, including "Let's split the party" and two sections where most people call 999, not their spouse. However it improved sharply after that. The only thing I will take issue with is the description of one character as arachnophobic. If she's arachnophobic she's not going into a graveyard full of three-inch plus wide spiders. She'd be finding somewhere else.
The plot is tight and moves nicely, no character is exactly what you'd expect, and the high body count of the early chapters move quickly into taut suspense, psychological shocks, and some outright horrific scenes once the book reveals what is really going on. For a horror writer, D. Nathan Hillard can really write endings, and even the final twist on the final page is chilling. The author is exceptional at foreshadowing and set-up, to the point where one mundane sentence a few chapters on can be terrifying because you suddenly know what it means.
I can't say much without really ruining this, as the plot twists very early on. The characters have depth and nuance, conflicting and believable drives, every page keeps you reading, and some sections are really horrifying, especially when as the reader, you know what is really going on and can only watch helplessly as a character makes a completely logical and intelligent decision, that you already know is going to get them killed or worse.
I was torn between four and five stars for this, but one thing tipped it over. I read it in the morning. That night I slept with the lights on. Horror fans? Get this book!
(Also I was tempted to re-read it, even though I really don't like spiders. It's that good.)
I think that the title alone is something enough to give me a little creepy feeling, which is a good thing though. I have always hated spiders, so the fact that it is chilling is not surprise, but I like the twists and psychological aspects here. Very intrigued on this one.
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