When horror author Philip Solomon’s wife left, she took his muse with him. Moving back to Hell, the aptly-named small town where he grew up, a series of horrific murders might provide more inspiration than he ever wanted. Or perhaps it is the other way round…

The cover got my attention instantly: two glowing eyes over text that somewhat reminded me of a cat at 2 a.m. I picked it up based on that alone and did not even read the blurb. I am glad I did. Chameleon is a gripping horror story, from the bloody and disturbing prologue, to the final climatic reveal.

Philip moves back to the town nursing his wounds and what remains of his savings after a vicious divorce, as he tries to get his writing back on track. Unfortunately he does so right as a married couple are viciously attacked, and the sheriff asks for his help investigating. The lab says animal attack, but the evidence disappears in front of the lab tech’s eyes, and then things get worse….

Aside from interludes from the victims’ points of view, the book is narrated by Philip Solomon, addressing the reader as you and describing events as if he were relating them. It is an interesting style choice and draws the reader into the book. Philip himself is a friendly, intelligent, and creative chap, and comes across as likeable. He is blunt about his family circumstances, and that his upbringing was, shall we say, not the best. It makes it very easy to care what happens to him, and to the people he cares about.

I hadn’t intended to read another book when I picked this up, but I simply could not put it down until I knew what was going on. It is a suspenseful, intriguing, mystery over the bones of a disturbing horror story, and a real page turner.

The cover’s great, the spelling and grammar weren’t anything I was paying attention to after page one, the formatting is good aside from the fact the chapters do not start on new pages, and frankly I was ignoring most of it because I was engrossed in what I was reading.

The Chameleon is definitely one for modern horror and urban paranormal or fantasy fans with a taste for the gory or macabre.

Personally, I will be looking up more by this author.