The Real Mrs. Price by J.D. Mason

Description
"Lucy Price is living the American dream. She has been married to her successful husband and businessman, Edward Price for a year and couldn’t be happier until she learns that Eddie is a dangerously ruthless man, heavily involved in illegal activities that threaten not only her marriage, but her life. Eddie abruptly disappears, but not before warning Lucy that if she wants to keep breathing she'd better keep her mouth shut. Six months later, word of her husband surfaces when she learns that he is presumed murdered in a small Texas town, apparently killed by his “wife”, Marlowe Price.

Marlowe is no stranger to trouble. An outcast in her own community for being one of those "hoodoo women," who can curse you or cast you under her beguiling spell, Marlowe is shunned at every turn. Six months ago, a whirlwind romance in Mexico led Marlowe to marry the man she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. For Marlowe and Eddie, there is no such thing as trouble in paradise. But late one night, when Marlowe witnesses her husband putting the body of a dead man in the trunk of his car, the illusion comes crashing down around her and she knows she has to move fast before the devil comes calling once again.

Now, Lucy and Marlowe must come together to find out where and who Eddie really is, and help each other through the threat he poses. There's nothing more dangerous than a woman scorned...except for two women scorned who are willing to put their pasts behind them and band together to take one bad man down" 


Lucy Price has reason to believe that her husband has been involved in some illegal activity and may have killed someone. In a rage he almost kills her as well, but when a neighbor intervenes Eddie runs off.
Meanwhile the "other" Mrs. Price knows more than she's telling, and has seen visions of a "devil" coming her way. She is suspected of killing her husband Eddie, but is he even really dead? More than just the two wives and the police want to know the answer. There are other far more dangerous people interested in his whereabouts.
This is a story of Sex, murder, magic, and mystery. I would rate it 4 out of 5 suspenseful stars.

I received an advance copy for review.

The Voice Of The Night - By Dean Koontz (originally under the pen name Brian Coffey)

Description
No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was nervous around girls; Roy was a ladies' man. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day Roy asked his timid friend: "You ever killed anything?" And from that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine...and too irresistible to stop.


I didn't realize that I had read this book many years ago when it was published under the name Brian Coffey. A few years ago I bought it when it was released on kindle under the name Dean Koontz. As I finally got around to reading it, bits and pieces came back to me.

Anyway, Colin is a shy and quiet, friendless, boy who loves to read and watch movies. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother who is almost never home and does not seem to have much if any time for him.

He strikes up a friendship with Roy, or more specifically Roy chooses to strike up a relationship with him. Roy is a disturbed and twisted individual who enjoys torture and killing.

I would probably have rated this 5 stars if Koontz had not made the mother such a senseless flipping moron who would rather believe outrageous stories about her son with no proof and so easily having the wool pulled over her eyes by an Eddie Haskell type fake politeness. Therefore, 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Carrion by Jonathan R. Rose

Description
Carrion is about a world consumed by chaos. But in this world, you are not a desperate survivor hoping to outlast the bedlam; instead, you are the monster that caused it. Consumed by an insatiable hunger, a malevolent need to feed, you are the one from whom the masses flee. And because of you a group of barbaric men led by a fanatic with a gleaming badge fastened to his chest have banded together with the intention of hunting you and all those like you down. Follow in the footsteps of a fiend. See what he sees. Taste the flesh. Smell the decay. Suffer the anguish. Witness a massive city crumble under the weight of fear and hate and become hell. Whether engulfed in flames, or flooded by lakes of blood, all that remains are monsters and men, and the war that wages not only between them, but within themselves.



Carrion by Jonathan R. Rose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book will not appeal to everyone. This is hard core horror. By that I mean if you only like to dip your toe in the horror pool as far as occasionally reading Stephen King this will not appeal to you and you may find it somewhat offensive. If however your tastes run more towards diving head first into the brutal and graphic horror of Edward Lee, this may be for you. If dripping entrails or chewing up the chubby little arm of an infant make you feel faint this is not for you.
“He ate ravenously, mouth frothing and slick. Drooling and snarling, his eyes rolling around like those of a shark”

Carrion is told entirely from the point of view of “The Monster” and because of that there is very little dialogue here. The monster is hungry and it wants to eat. That’s all. It has no interest in anything else. There are few human characters in this story and since the story is not really about them they remain undeveloped. Their interaction with each other is sparse and because of that you may not care much one way or the other whether they are killed and eaten.
I would have liked someone to root for, and a stronger plot line.

Jonathan Rose can write. I will definitely give him that. I can see a huge potential here.

I received a complimentary copy for review

View all my reviews

Kelpie Dreams by Steve Vernon

 

Meet Lady Macbeth - a high school librarian, ex-assassin and part-time kelpie, whose mother wanted to name her Hemorrhoid at birth. Now she has to take on a Sea Hag - eight legs of Godzilla-ugly poured into a bucket full of meanness - with the help of a one-woman army named Rhonda, a 200 year old Sea Captain and a hunky lighthouse keeper who won't admit that he's dead as well. KELPIE DREAMS is a funny, action-packed paranormal romance novel for folks who HATE to read romance novels.


This is probably one of the strangest stories I have ever read. It is weird, bizarre and utterly hilarious.

Lady Cordelia Macbeth who would rather be called Dee, is mourning the loss of her son Hamilton. Hamilton you see had gone for a joyride in a stolen/borrowed vehicle and was killed quicker than you can say gesundheit!
She is so grief stricken that she contemplates suicide and throws herself into the ocean. Of course I realize that is not hilarious at all but luckily there was a pissed off octopus woman at the bottom of the ocean who was able to give Dee the ability to breathe underwater until the mossy brown and green mud horse showed up to take her back to the surface. Not that either of these occurrences were the most shocking things she saw under the ocean but I wouldn't want to give away too much.  Now Dee was not too keen on telling anyone about these escapades, however when the mud horse showed up at her best friend Rhonda's house it kind of spilled the beans.  I will leave you here, because if I told you more you wouldn't believe me anyway. It is probably best that you discover these quirky characters for yourself. I was up all night reading this story.

I received an advance copy of this book through the kindle scout program and was under no obligation to review it.

Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet by by H.P. Wood

Description

After Kitty Hayward’s mother vanishes from their Coney Island hotel in 1904, Kitty finds herself alone, hungry, penniless, and far away from her native England. The last people she’d expect to help her are the cast of characters at Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet, a museum of oddities that is home to a handful of freaks. But even the unusual inhabitants of Magruder’s may not be a match for the insidious sickness that is plaguing Coney Island

 

 

 

I loved the cover and was intrigued by the description.

I felt so bad for Kitty being hungry and alone, and I enjoyed the setting. It reminded me somewhat of an old Alfred Hitchcock episode in which a young girl loses her mom after checking into a hotel and being sent out for medicine and then being told she has the wrong hotel when she returns. I did find it a bit difficult to keep up with so many characters.

I received an advance copy for review

All Smoke Rises Milk Blood-Redux by Mark Matthews

Description
Ten year old Lilly is the victim of a terrible house fire and a wretched family. Her father is an addict with mental illness, her mother was murdered and then buried across the street, and her uncle got her addicted to heroin.

Lilly’s tragic story has been told in the book ALL SMOKE RISES, and it may be true, for the author has broken into your house, and placed Lilly's body on your kitchen counter. He demands you read the manuscript, before cutting his own wrists and bleeding out on your floor.
Now you have decisions to make, for Lilly's body may not be dead, and her family is coming for her.


In this fast paced sequel to "Milk Blood"  we are once again immersed in the seedy underbelly of drug addiction.
Lilly is not in great shape. She can hear the voices of the dead though she herself seems neither dead nor alive. She is dumped in the home of a psychiatric nurse along with these very pages which must be read.  In these pages we learn what happened to Lilly after the fire. We also get to know Crystal, who was the mother of Oscar from Milk Blood. Crystal is still reeling from her time in jail after Oscar's death, and is desperate to keep up appearances for the sake of her parole officer, but not desperate enough to really make any genuine effort to avoid parole violations. It is difficult for me to say more without giving too much away and I pride myself on never posting spoilers. I will just say that the ending was spectacular.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Milk-Blood: A Tale of Urban Horror by Mark Matthews

 

Description
Optioned for a full-length feature film
Lilly is ten years old, born with a heart defect, and already addicted to heroin. Her mother is gone from her life, and there are rumors that she was killed by her father and buried near the abandoned house across the street. The house intrigues her, she can't stay away, and the monstrous homeless man who lives there has been trying to get Lilly to come inside.

For her mother is there, buried in the back, and this homeless man is Lilly's true father, and both want their daughter back.  




This story is unusual in that it is told from the point of view of each main character.
Zach who is taking care of his elderly mother, as best as her monthly checks allow, Latrice his girlfriend who finds herself pregnant after a strange encounter with Jervis.. the squatter in a burned out hovel, and Lilly the product born of that encounter.

This was a very unique story. A tale of poverty, child neglect, drug abuse, and sprits that do not rest in peace. The real star of this show would be Lilly, who is uncomfortable at her best and suffering pain at her worst. Often left alone and hungry and friendless. It was a dark and disturbing read.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Description
The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?
Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.
You’d like to get to know Grace better.
But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart.
Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn't work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.
Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.



Jack and Grace appear to have a perfect life. They even have the photos to prove it. After a whirlwind romance they have settled into a beautiful house, perfectly landscaped and very private. Jack has even offered to have Grace's sister come and live with them after she leaves school.

Just don't look in the basement.
From all outward appearances Grace has everything a woman could possibly want. Yet in her private thoughts Grace wonders how Jack can appear so normal and thinks "there should be something -pointed ears or a pair of horns-- to warn people of his evilness"

Only Grace knows what goes on behind closed doors, and what she will ultimately have to do to protect herself and her sister.

The thing that strikes me the most about this compelling psychological thriller is the pervasive feeling of foreboding that struck me almost immediately, and intensified through out the story. I am most impressed that the author was able to make me feel so uneasy and to keep up that intensity all the way to the end.

I received an advance copy for review

3 Gates of the Dead (The 3 Gates of the Dead #1) by Jonathan Ryan

Description

Sometimes, the most evil things come from the most holy…

Conflicted with his faith in God and the hypocrisy of the church, Aidan Schaeffer, a young assistant pastor, is in a constant state of spiritual turmoil. When Aidan learns that his ex-fiancée is the first victim in a string of ritualistic killings, he finds himself in the middle of an even deeper fight. Tormented by demonic threats and haunted by spirits, Aidan throws himself into investigating Amanda’s death; all the while supernatural forces have begun to attack the people around him. The more questions he asks, the more he is drawn into the world of a mysterious Anglican priest, a paranormal investigation group and a rogue female detective investigating the murders. As the gruesome rituals escalate, ancient hidden secrets and an evil long buried threaten to rip Aidan’s world apart.

I loved the cover and the creepy atmosphere.

Pastor Aidan Schaeffer has suffered a loss. A loss of his parents, his fiancée and his faith. Not long after his ex fiancée leaves him for another pastor she is brutally murdered in a ritualistic killing.

The killer may be someone very close to Aiden.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, when whispered disembodied voices and footprints with no visible owner appeared. Towards the middle when it got more into the investigation, theology and biblical quotes it did not hold my interest as well.

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Win a kindle copy of Brother by Ania Ahlborn

1 copy to be awarded at random on April 24 2016

Winner announced here on April 24

To enter follow this blog and comment in this post or in my review telling me why you love horror. That's all you have to do.

 open to USA

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Description
"From the bestselling horror author of Within These Walls and The Bird Eater comes a brand-new novel of terror that follows a teenager determined to break from his family’s unconventional—and deeply disturbing—traditions.

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…"


The Morrows "don't have much" according to Michael, and when asked what he does he replies that he "catches things."  Yes he sure does. He catches things for his momma. Things that cry and beg for their lives but are shown no mercy. Momma Claudine definitely wears the pants in this deranged psychotic family and if you don't want to be on the wrong end of her knife you'll do what she says.
Big brother Reb has his own ideas of who should be the boss. He also has a murderous plan for revenge that he's been plotting for years and it's all starting to come together. Part of me wished it could end differently, and yet I must acknowledge that the ending was truly perfect.
I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Liberty Street A Novel by Dianne Warren

Description

"A deeply affecting novel about the truths we avoid and the bad choices that come back to haunt us.

While gridlocked in the churchyard of a small Irish town, the traffic frozen in place for the funeral of a young mother and her infant, an unbidden thought comes to Frances Moon. “I lost a baby when I was nineteen.” She is surprised by how easily the long-suppressed memory slips into her consciousness, and by her own voice as she speaks the thought aloud to Ian, her partner of twenty years.
            The next morning, Ian is gone.
            Numbed by this abandonment, Frances sets out for the small town in western Canada where she grew up—and where she began to make so many poor choices. The novel flashes back to Frances as a curious, imaginative, and well-loved little girl who begins to lose herself once forced from her family's idyllic farm and into school. As she withdraws inward, only two people offer comfort: Dooley Sullivan, an older boy, a prankster who is always in trouble, and Silas Chance, a decorated veteran of World War Two, an Indian who works at the local lumberyard, and the Moon family's new tenant. Silas dies violently, the victim of a hit-and-run. And at the site there is evidence the driver stopped but did not help. In such a small town with the usual racial prejudices, the case is never solved. But years later, on the evening of her marriage, Frances knows who the driver was. And possibly, so does Dooley.
            There are no huge miracles in Liberty Street, only small gestures from characters alive on the page with grace and humor. Warren is a born storyteller, a magus who creates flawed but enduring characters who seek a way to redeem their lives. Written with compassion and wry humor, this is a novel to cheer for."

 

 

Out of the blue, middle aged, Frances Mary Moon lets loose a secret that she has kept from her boyfriend for the entire 20 years they have been together. She once had a baby, and that baby died. What's more she once had a husband that she never divorced, and he was not the father of her child.

Through flash backs we relive Frances's childhood with her, and follow her into young womanhood and throughout middle age. How could she just step out of her life and start a new one while pretending the old never existed? Well it may have had a lot to do with her mother, who was all for putting unsavory matters behind you and pretending they never happened.

This was a thought provoking story that often had me wondering what choices I would have made had I been in her place. I was deeply engrossed in these pages from start to finish.

 

I received an advance copy for review

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Description
"From the bestselling horror author of Within These Walls and The Bird Eater comes a brand-new novel of terror that follows a teenager determined to break from his family’s unconventional—and deeply disturbing—traditions.

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…"


The Morrows "don't have much" according to Michael, and when asked what he does he replies that he "catches things."  Yes he sure does. He catches things for his momma. Things that cry and beg for their lives but are shown no mercy. Momma Claudine definitely wears the pants in this deranged psychotic family and if you don't want to be on the wrong end of her knife you'll do what she says.
Big brother Reb has his own ideas of who should be the boss. He also has a murderous plan for revenge that he's been plotting for years and it's all starting to come together. Part of me wished it could end differently, and yet I must acknowledge that the ending was truly perfect.
I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Rivals of Dracula: Stories from the Golden Age of Gothic Horror by Nick Rennison (Editor)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, still the most famous of all vampire stories, was first published in 1897. But the bloodsucking Count was not the only member of the undead to bare his fangs in the literature of the period. Late Victorian and Edwardian fiction is full of vampires and this anthology of scary stories introduces modern readers to 15 of them. A travel writer in Sweden unleashes something awful from an ancient mausoleum. A psychic detective battles a vampire that has taken refuge in an Egyptian mummy. A nightmare becomes reality in the tower room of a gloomy country house. Including works by both well known writers of the supernatural such as M. R. James and E. F. Benson and less familiar authors like the Australian Hume Nisbet and the American F. Marion Crawford, The Rivals of Dracula is a collection of classic tales to chill the blood and tingle the spine.


15 short stories, some of which stand the test of time, others of which I can't really say that I cared for.
If you are a fan of horror from a more innocent time, if you recall with fondness watching the old Boris Karloff movies on late night TV these stories may be for you.
I did enjoy "The Sumach" about a mysterious illness and a creepy old tree. "The Vampire of Croglin Grange was also pretty good.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Forest Of Blood by Sheri Williams

Description
A beast lurks in the forest.......

While Emmaline Gillies tries to gain independence and Lord Benjamin Whitmore tries to find a companion for his lonely daughter, the beast hunts. It has no care for the people of the manor in the center of its chosen hunting grounds. Can the unlikely duo save the people, and themselves from the beast? Or will tangled feelings get in the way?  



This was a quick read, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel
It had a great old fashioned kind of innocent vibe to it.
It started off a bit slow but then  picked up after Emmaline was warned away from walking in the woods and told of the curse some of the local people believe in.
There was a little bit of romance and a lot of spooky atmosphere.
I received a complimentary copy for review.

How to Ditch Dead Guys (The Witch`s Handbook #2) by Ann M. Noser

Description
"After everyone EMMA ROBERTS raises from the dead sinks back into the river, she longs for a purpose. A schedule. Something to accomplish.
Then OFFICER WALKER leaves a message on her voice mail: "There's been another murder, and I need your help."

With a bag of witchcraft supplies slung over her shoulder, Emma performs a séance for Walker at the site of the murder. But nothing happens until Emma gets back home.
Black smoke swirls inside the bathroom. An invisible force slams her head onto the tiled floor. A golden snake slithers across her legs, then impales her wrist with its icy teeth.

As the smoke clears and the images fade, the truth becomes clear.
This time around, Emma won't just watch what happened. She'll live it.

As Emma helps Officer Walker solve murder cases, she relives the horror of each victim's last moments of life. From the edge of the river to the underground lair of the gang who murdered Steve, she endures it all.
As Emma weakens, both the victims and the murderers who killed them fight for control of her body and mind.
She's possessed, and the voices inside her head won't let her ask for help.
Even the Book of Shadows can't save her now"

In this captivating sequel to How To Date Dead Guys (The Witch's Handbook #1) we find Emma pretty much where we left her at the end of the first book. Though she is now a bit wiser and a lot stronger, which is a good thing because she is facing some much bigger challenges than she did in the first book. I don't want to spoil it for you if you have not yet read book 1 (which you really should.)  I will just say that this is the further adventures of Emma and her friends, though this book is much darker than the first. Emma is dealing with some seriously evil entities this time but her sarcastic wit still makes it a fun read.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Sister Dear by Laura McNeill

Description
All Allie Marshall wants is a fresh start. But first she has to deal with the past.

Convicted of a crime she didn't commit, Allie watched a decade of her life vanish. Now, out on parole, Allie is determined to clear her name and reconnect with the daughter she barely knows.

But Allie s return to Brunswick, Georgia, sends earthquakes through the small, coastal community. Even her daughter Caroline, now a teenager, challenges Allie s claims of innocence. Refusing defeat, a stronger, smarter Allie launches a campaign for the truth, digging deep into the past. Her investigation threatens her parole status, her own safety, and the already-fragile bond with her family. What Allie uncovers is far worse than she imagined. Her own sister has been hiding a dark secret one that holds the key to Allie s freedom.

10 years ago Allie Marshall had it all. A beautiful little girl, a plan to become a surgeon, and the love of her life by her side. Until one night when it all came crashing down and she lost everything in an instant. Allie had reason to suspect some illegal activity and ends up in prison for a murder that she did not commit. Meanwhile the real killer is still loose. The book begins when she is finally released from jail, and we are filled in on the back story through a series of flashbacks to the days before Allie was convicted.
 She is warned to let the past stay buried. Her friends want nothing to do with her, and even her own daughter who has been manipulated by her sister is upset that she is home. Allie sets out to prove her innocence and uncovers shocking secrets. This was a highly suspenseful, and thrilling read.

I received an advance copy for review

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Description
"Mine is a story of craving; an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered." So begins the story of Dolores Price, the unconventional heroine of Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. Dolores is a class-A emotional basket case, and why shouldn't she be? She's suffered almost every abuse and familial travesty that exists: Her father is a violent, philandering liar; her mother has the mental and emotional consistency of Jell-O; and the men in her life are probably the gender's most loathsome creatures. But Dolores is no quitter; she battles her woes with a sense of self-indulgence and gluttony rivaled only by Henry VIII. Hers is a dysfunctional Wonder Years, where growing up in the golden era was anything but ideal. While most kids her age were dealing with the monumental importance of the latest Beatles single and how college turned an older sibling into a long-haired hippie, Dolores was grappling with such issues as divorce, rape, and mental illness. Whether you're disgusted by her antics or moved by her pathetic ploys, you'll be drawn into Dolores's warped, hilarious, Mallomar-munching world.  


I fell in love with Dolores within the first couple of chapters. I don't think she had "come undone" as much as I think she was already broken, and being raised in an unstable home didn't help any with putting the broken bits back together, The first half of this book was spectacular, but once again as in Wally Lamb's other book "I know This Much Is True" I hated the therapist, the therapy and the time Dolores spent in it. My interest really waned from that halfway point until 3 quarters or so of the book and I was as happy as Dolores herself to be done with it. The last quarter of the book thankfully had nothing to do with the psychiatrist and pretty much went back to being a spectacular story.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

Description
From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.
The fireman is coming. Stay cool.
No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.
Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.
Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.
In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke


Harper Grayson was only trying to help others the day she became one of the infected. Now that she has the tell tale signs of contagion, her husband blames her and wants nothing to do with her. Scared and pregnant she has nobody to turn to. She considers trying to make it to her brother's house but does not want to put his family at risk. The cremation crews make it nearly impossible to leave home but when she is forced to run she meets up with a group of people who may be her salvation, or they may be too good to be true.
Joe Hill knows how to tell a story.  On par with "The Stand" and my all time favorite "Swan Song" is my new favorite The Fireman. Fast paced and heart pounding action packed.  It's the end of the world as we know it. A plague of epic proportions brings out the best in our unlikely heroes and the worst in others. This book is full of twists and turns that left me never knowing who to trust from one minute to the next and I loved every minute of it. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

I received an advance copy for review