THE CLOUD IS ARMAGEDDON, STEAMROLLING THE WORLD AT A WALKING PACE.
Day 0. From the wreckage of a research facility in Switzerland, a plume of toxic smoke and ash pours into the sky, forming an impenetrable cloud that is slowly smothering the world in darkness. As Europe disappears beneath the Cloud, a squad of United States marines are sent on a desperate mission to find out what went wrong, and how to undo it before it’s too late. Venturing into a cold, dark world, the marines must travel deep under the Cloud, with no comms, no backup, and no idea of what they will face.
Day 89. Half a world away, the Cloud has reached the East Coast of the US. With nowhere to run and no hope of survival, the American people have descended into madness, turning on themselves and each other. From the sidelines, an old Tennessee sheriff watches as his country unravels. But he can’t bring himself to take the easy way out. Quitting isn’t in his DNA. So when one of his deputies asks him to help protect her family, he leads them west, chasing a miracle—a rumor of an old nuclear bunker that just may be their only hope for survival. Because if the Cloud doesn’t kill them, what’s hiding in the dark will.
In his thrilling debut novel MONSTRE, author Duncan Swan crafts a relentless, terrifying, genre-bending tale of courage, desperation, and redemption that shows just how fragile our civilization is, and how far we will go to survive.
***Synopsis copied from amazon. ca
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THE CLOUD IS ARMAGEDDON, STEAMROLLING THE WORLD AT A WALKING PACE.
Day 0. From the wreckage of a research facility in Switzerland, a plume of toxic smoke and ash pours into the sky, forming an impenetrable cloud that is slowly smothering the world in darkness. As Europe disappears beneath the Cloud, a squad of United States marines are sent on a desperate mission to find out what went wrong, and how to undo it before it’s too late. Venturing into a cold, dark world, the marines must travel deep under the Cloud, with no comms, no backup, and no idea of what they will face.
Day 89. Half a world away, the Cloud has reached the East Coast of the US. With nowhere to run and no hope of survival, the American people have descended into madness, turning on themselves and each other. From the sidelines, an old Tennessee sheriff watches as his country unravels. But he can’t bring himself to take the easy way out. Quitting isn’t in his DNA. So when one of his deputies asks him to help protect her family, he leads them west, chasing a miracle—a rumor of an old nuclear bunker that just may be their only hope for survival. Because if the Cloud doesn’t kill them, what’s hiding in the dark will.
In his thrilling debut novel MONSTRE, author Duncan Swan crafts a relentless, terrifying, genre-bending tale of courage, desperation, and redemption that shows just how fragile our civilization is, and how far we will go to survive.
Let’s start right off and talk about this cover! It is absolutely incredible!
Now I know the skin of a book isn’t the star of the show, the true treasure lies in the guts of the read but you can’t deny that a masterpiece on the outside isn’t the perfect eye candy every book worm adores.
When I opened the pages of Hunger Pangs I had no idea that this was Scott’s debut collection. I really should have done my research better, but honestly for this to be his first collection out into the world I am very impressed.
Scott’s stories are unique and raw. His writing is smooth and consumable. Usually when I read a collection there are a couple that really, really stand out or that you may enjoy more than others. This collection I had a hard time pin pointing my favorite. I enjoyed them all for different reasons! I use the saying “like children, you love them all just as much, only in different ways.” You can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Hunger Pangs is a collection worth getting lost in, transporting out of reality into these dark, bizarre, frightening worlds…. that is if you think you can handle it of course.
I can’t thank Scott enough for sending me an e-copy to read and review, obviously I will need to pick up a physical copy as soon as I can to add to my collection…..I mean….that COVER! But when I saw that Hunger Pangs was on audible I downloaded it right away knowing it would help me get to this review so much sooner, so I can also say the audiobook was done very well, worth checking out.
Hunger Pangs will leave a lasting, haunting effect!
Tom is struggling to keep his head above water! He’s on the verge of losing everything, his wife, his home, his whole life but Tom’s passion and love won’t let him give up just yet, he’s taking on a huge opportunity career wise.
This journey along one of the most secluded highways may be out of his comfort zone, he may not be prepared for what he’s about to face but it’s make or break for Tom! After a crazy accident, Tom finds himself roaming the terrifying Alaskan wilderness looking for his best friend, Presley, a five year old German Shepherd.
I love psychological horrors, they are some of my all time favourite reads and diving into Dalton Highway I had no idea what to expect, but I was in for a real treat!
Freddie has created this mind bending masterpiece! The characters are so relatable, his writing is smooth and descriptive yet the twists and turns create for an exciting, disorientated read.
From the very first sentence I was absolutely committed, better yet obsessed with finding out how the story ends. I don’t know if I have ever read a book that had so many potential outcomes.
I recently heard a friend of mine use the term “an unreliable narrator” this term explains Tom’s character perfectly and not in a bad way by any means. This character will leave you constantly thinking, doubting your own thoughts and conclusions.
Tom has taken the leap, was not prepared for what was to come, is now faced with some of the most terrifying moments of his life. Is there truly something aside from the Alaskan wildlife ready to attack or is Tom fighting his own inner demons.
Definitely one to pick up! I highly recommend!
Thank you so much Freddie for sending me a copy to read and review! I am officially a fan of your work and look forward to more from you in the future.
Genre: Adult | Fiction | Dark | Horror | Short Stories |Poetry
3 out of 5 stars!
Halloween Season contains 13 short stories and a couple dark poetry pieces.
The cover is so awesome but don’t be fooled! This cover screams Halloween but as the synopsis suggests there are a couple stories wrapped around a specific winter Holiday that comes in close behind Halloween.
Although this collection reads true to form on what the synopsis suggests. Sadly I personally didn’t enjoy this as much as I had wanted.
Some of the stories were a bit mind bending or tricky at times but none of them were overly chilling. However there were a couple stories that stood out for me more than others; In The Family, The House That Couldn’t Clean Itself and Toy Makers Joy.
A warning poetry piece comes in before the last two stories in this collection and this is where I thought here we go! this is it! Lucy has been holding back on us, it’s all going to go down now.. but it didn’t. I was missing the wow factor.
I guess what I am trying to say is although Lucy’s writing is good, the stories were interesting and it was a decent collection in a whole, it was missing something for me and I wasn’t feeling the Halloween goodness throughout.
Thank you so much Raw Dog Screaming Press, Lucy A. Snyder and Erin Al-Mehairi for making sure I received a review copy.
Perfect blend of eerie and emotional…disturbing yet poetic!
An absolute beautiful piece!
Eric shows his raw talents within these pages. Each and every one of your senses will be at an all time high with his impeccable writing. I thoroughly enjoy a read where it’s almost as if I can smell, touch, feel everything around me but I have never come across something quite like this.
The whole concept of this novella is insane, unlike anything I have read before. You can feel Eric’s emotions seeping through the pages!
Teddy is such an adored and powerful character! Mourning the passing of her father, suffering with her unique ability and fighting her own inner demons. Yet no matter how scarred her life is or how traumatized her family is nothing can alter her unconditional love for her Mother and her Mother’s love for her.
In comes Kiiara to stir up the story, honestly Eric went a complete different direction with this character than I expected. Keeping me completely obsessed!
It has taken me days to mull over this read and yet I still don’t know if I have all my thoughts together. I am wowed yet confused all at the same time, in the best way possible. I want more!…I need more!
I can’t believe Starving Ghosts in Every Thread is Eric’s debut novel.
Thank you so much Eric for sending me a copy to read and review. I am absolutely a dedicated fan and can’t wait to read more of your spellbinding work.
It’s hard to review a collection of short stories without giving to many details away but man this collection by Syon was great!
Each and every one of these 5 stories were so different from the next and well written! Syon’s writing was detailed, smooth and had the perfect balance between storyline and character details.
Buried with the Night are those fast paced, mind bending, tricky stories that end off with a huge cliff hanger. Leaving you wanting more not only from those stories themselves but from Syon in general.
Although I can’t go into to much detail for each individual story. I can say I do believe my favorite was Curtis, which also happened to be the very first story in this collection. It was my perfect kind of messed up minds! (to read anyhow). I was instantly consumed after reading Curtis and looked forward to the rest!
I would highly recommend this collection and I can’t thank Syon enough for sending me a copy to read and review. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future!
First and foremost Todd’s writing is impeccable, truly a talented writer. Not only does Devil’s Creek story run smoothly but it is incredible detailed. I’m talking about the type of detail you can smell, taste and touch with your own mind. Now, that may not always be the best when reading a horror novel since some scenes can get a bit gory but when an author can be so descriptive that it pulls me in and completely immersing me into the story, that’s when they have my attention! This being said as much as I was living for Todd’s writing style there was some things about the story I didn’t enjoy as much. Let’s start off with my pros and I will move into my cons while doing my best to hold off from any spoilers.
The story started off with an exciting, fast pace scene immersing you into Jacob, all of his evil and the torcher he was putting his 6 children through. Right than I thought I am in for a total treat! This lasted a chapter or two and the story there after slowed right down while jumping ahead in time where the “Stauford Six” are now adults. I didn’t mind this at first I thought this was the perfect time to really dive into the characters, get to know the history of what happened and to see the trauma affect the past had on each of the six children individually. I also enjoyed getting to see the family dynamics, how a couple of them had moved on to bigger better things while some of them were holding onto the past really not making anything of themselves and surprisingly a couple of them even stood out as outcasts from their very own brothers and sisters. This showed so true to life how each personal will be affected so extremely different after a life altering event.
This is where the story started to let me down. I don’t mind a slow burn read, especially when it is packed full of so much detailed goodness like this but I do enjoy some good pick up scenes to help break up the slower parts. This was not the case for Devil’s Creek, the slow pacing kept on and just when it felt like it was going to pick up, it slowed right back down. Of course I was willing to push on because Devil’s Creek has been so raved about in the community I follow through all bookish platforms. I felt there was definitely going to be a huge wow factor coming. In the end the wow factor didn’t hit for me. What I’m trying to say is you have a good idea based on the synopsis alone that the “Stauford Six” (all children of Jacob Masters) went through a lot of agony and torture with their father, coming out of it truly damaged. As a reader you are prepared for what you may hear from that side of the story based on the synopsis alone. What I was not prepared for when the evil returned to the story was it honestly was not going to be scary at all and more sexually suggestive, gross with all ages and not just subject to the main characters or a handful of people but the whole town was effected by this possession. Although to be honest, I think it was more the age thing that got me. I just wanted more scary and gruesome from the read, not as much gross.
Although there are parts of this story I didn’t enjoy as much. It was written really well and I know a lot of people loved every corner of this read. Of course I would say if the synopsis intrigues you and you have seen all of the other amazing, raving reviews out there that it is definitely worth picking up. As mentioned above, Todd’s writing is freaking amazing and I will be looking into more of his work and keeping an eye out for what he releases in the future.
nichi.i_readpastmybedtime 