.jpg)
Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me. Maybe this is a ghost story…
Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.
Coming home means returning to his late father’s house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town’s deputy sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol.
Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them.
Because Andrew and his friends have a secret. A thing they have kept to themselves for twenty years. Something no one else should know. But the past is not dead, and Kingsport is a town with secrets of its own.
One dark secret... One small-town horror...
Andrew has already been troubled by a constant pervasive worry over his wife and their unborn child. A phone call from a former friend summoning him back to his hometown only increases his anxiety. Feeling as if he has no choice, he lies to his wife and heads to his childhood home. Is it karma or witchcraft that reunites these former best friends? Are they haunted by a ghost or is it their guilt?
Secrets are revealed slowly at first but just as I thought I knew everything there was to know I could almost hear the author say BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! as the final bombshells nearly had my heart in my throat.
Small Town Horror was everything I could possibly want in a chilling, spooky read. Told on two timelines it is both a coming-of-age tale of five childhood friends and a story of the consequences that plague them as adults who have kept a shocking secret for longer than anyone could hope to get away with.
In my humble opinion, it is Ronald Malfi's best work to date.
5 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Titan Books.
Have you read Malfi's "Black Mouth"? Because this sounds VERY similar to that novel.
ReplyDeleteYes I sure did. My review of Black Mouth is posted here https://wellwortharead.blogspot.com/2022/06/black-mouth-by-ronald-malfi.html
DeleteI didn't find them that similar other than both being 5 star reads. There should be a small search bar at the top of the page if you ever want to type in a book title it will come up if I have posted it on the suite before :)