Nightmare by Chad Nicholas

 

Had it come back? No, it couldn't have. He had buried it for good. Or at least that's what Scott told himself. But what if it had? Was that why the scarecrow now watched him?

But the more Scott tries to ignore it, the more the evidence begins to pile up. So do the bodies. Because sometimes, the dead don't stay buried. Sometimes the monster survives.

As the bodies mount, and the secrets of his past grow more haunting, Scott must do whatever it takes to save his family. But what if by doing so, they find out what happened all those years ago? What if they realize what he did?

Scott learns that there is no escape from his own past, or the crows that have crawled out of it. He can only watch, as his life is turned into a living nightmare.

When I was asked to read this book I was not sure from the description whether  it was some sort of supernatural horror or psychological. I'm game for either one, and always happy to hear from new authors so here we are.

I did enjoy much of this dark and chilling tale and as a life long horror fan I am willing to engage in a suspension of disbelief. However I prefer to limit that to ghosts and ghouls and all manner of otherworldly beings. If a story includes legal or hospital procedure I prefer it to be accurate. I will give a made up example which is similar to something in the book but not an actual happening so as not to spoil anything.

Suppose someone stole your jewelry and you describe the thief to the police. Suppose from your description they know who this thief is, and they get a warrant and go their home where they find your jewelry and arrest the thief. Then they find out that you had some sort of previous mental problem. The thief does not get to walk free because of your past, but in a similar scene they do in this book. Yes I know criminals get off on all sorts of technicalities but this is not one of them and a little research should have been done.

It also bothered me that there was more than one mention of "doing the psychological procedure"  but not what this procedure supposedly was. Again if you are bringing what is meant to be a realistic subject matter into the plot research it a bit. These were not the only instances but I don't intend to pick it all apart and certainly do not want to discourage a new author.  

This was, at it's heart the story of a man who would do anything to protect his family even if it cost him his own life. It was quite original and very creative. Within the first few pages there is a horrific occurrence that hooked me immediately so I would say the author recognizes the importance of grabbing a reader's attention.

I'm going to give this a 3 out of 5 stars because I did like it even if I didn't love it.

I received an advance copy for review.

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About the author

Chad Nicholas is an author who enjoys writing mysteries and thrillers. He also has a love for writing horror novels, despite the fact that he has to watch horror movies in the daytime, like a coward, or else he gets nightmares.

Speaking of Nightmares…

https://www.thechadnicholas.com/