Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

 

For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He's haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother's life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together.

Nor can they deny the memories of that summer, so long ago – the strange magic taught to them by an even stranger man, and the terrible act that has followed them all into adulthood. In the light of new danger, they must confront their past by facing their futures, and hunting down a man who may very well be a monster. 

I have been a Ronald Malfi fan for several years. In fact, his previous book "Come With Me" is on my best horror of the year list for 2021

With half the year left to go, I can safely say that Black Mouth will be on my best horror of the year list for 2022.

Even though I had already pre-ordered this book I jumped at the chance to read it early when review copies became available.

The story follows four friends who suffered a traumatic experience while coming of age in a small town in West Virginia. What used to be a mining town is now a ghost of its former self after a horrific collapse that left miners trapped and left to die. It's said that you can still hear the ghosts that haunt what's left of the caves. Of these four friends the majority of the story surrounds Jamie, an abused and neglected boy who grew up to be an alcoholic, and his brother Dennis, a boy with special needs who grew up to be a gentle giant of a man with more wisdom than he is able to express.

Jamie is the first to discover the magic man but it's not long before he and his friends Clay and Mia are spending far too much time with this charming but devious stranger who dresses in a shabby, dirty, magician's costume and promises to teach them real magic and not just tricks...for a price.

Told on two timelines, the present day in which some strange goings-on have reunited these four, and the past in which we learn of the events that separated them, it brings about the creeping dread that somehow, just maybe this magician from twenty years ago has not aged a day and is still manipulating children to do his evil bidding.

I loved these characters, and the depth of their friendship, but Dennis was my favorite. I am a huge fan of small-town horror with unlikely heroes and the author has masterfully crafted these, with vivid descriptions that conjure up such striking imagery that I could almost smell the forest and feel the children's desperate need to believe in magic.

Black Mouth will be published on July 19, 2022 

5 out of 5 stars

I received a digital copy from Titan books under no obligation to write a review.

Available for pre-order

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