The Offspring by Bill Pinnell

Terrifying family secrets have plagued Hughie Decker for as long as he can remember. Now, just as his life and career have finally begun to make strides, a seemingly innocent story from his hometown newspaper leaves Decker with no choice. He must return to his boyhood home to confront the horrid truth that destroyed so many lives.


I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. It was the cover that caught my eye first, looking like it leans towards horror, before I noticed it was sitting there in the general fiction section. A glance at the author's name told me nothing, it was not a name I recognized. The short synopsis didn't give away much either, but I picked it up anyway and began to read. Within the first few pages when I met a character by the name of Irene who was Hughie's mom that had run off years ago with a book salesman... there was no turning back for me.

I think I would put this more in the historical fiction category than general fiction. It spans several decades as Hughie Decker, now a grown man, stands on the spot he hasn't visited since childhood and sees clear as day the events of the past. As Hughie travels back to his childhood home and contemplates events of long ago days we are introduced to several more characters from the past Including his best friend Kenny, Hughie's father Lem who never did get along with the cowardly sheriff and his brother Tom who never could win his parent's love.  I'm not going to go into details about the plot because I enjoyed discovering it for myself and will leave it for you to do the same.
4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

The Outsider by Stephen King

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.


The police and DA's office think they have an easy open and shut case guaranteed to lock Terry Maitland away, but for every bit of proof they have, there is mounting evidence that he could not possibly be the killer. This turns into a whodunit of epic proportions but with a deeply disturbing supernatural element to spice things up even further. For me personally, the last decade or so of Stephen King books have been pretty hit or miss. This one is a hit and I mean right out of the ballpark. There were literally no points in the story that dragged. If anything it barreled along at a break neck speed leaving me barely able to catch my breath from one shocking development to the next.
5 stars

Gothic Horror Stories : The Best Horror Classics

Gothic Horror Stories: The Best Horror Classics is a selection of the finest short fiction by the all-time horror masters. Featuring short stories from the best writers of the horror genre, including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander Pushkin, W. W. Jacobs, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Every horror story is a visit to a nightmare world. What's interesting is that these are nightmares we enter by our own will. Mountain City Books is a publisher specialized in anthologies of the best short stories throughout history. Our mission is to offer hard-to-find titles at affordable prices.


This anthology contains 5 classic horror stories.
The first is "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was easily my favorite in the bunch and is about a woman who seems to be unraveling on a forced "vacation" for the good of her health by her doctor husband.
Next is "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, a classic which has evolved into many incarnations in  books, TV, and movies. You have probably read it or seen it in some form or another. It is a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for, as we have always been told you just might get it!
The third story is "The Squaw" by Bram Stoker. I confess to never having read any of Stoker's works beyond Dracula, and while this story pales in comparison it was an ok read. To sum it up I would say it was to due with vengeance. The fourth story is "The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin and I will admit to skipping through bits of this one because I just couldn't get interested in it. Last but not least is "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe in which a man attempts to come to the aid of his childhood friend who has told him he is feeling quite ill and uneasy in his gloomy and mysterious home.
4 out of 5 stars.
I received a complimentary copy for review

The Moor by Sam Haysom

It begins with a ghost story around a campfire. Teenagers out on a walking trip, trying to act brave in front of each other.

But as the walk gets underway and the boys begin to fall out, odd things start to happen.

Noises in the night. A severed rabbit’s foot outside someone’s tent.

Soon, the boys begin to disappear.

As panic sets in and a storm approaches, the remaining boys must band together to face a darkness not even the local ghost stories could help them predict.


The book begins with newspaper clippings spanning several years that show why Rutmoor National Park may well be a place to avoid. Over the decades there have been quite a few deaths and disappearances. Sometimes bodies are found.. sometimes people just vanish without a trace.
The story moves back and forth between the present day, when someone (I was not sure who at first) recollects a camping trip in Rutmoor over a decade ago and the events of that trip when he, along with a small group of 13 year old boys and one of their dads were spending a weekend walking through Rutmoor and camping there. The story is occasionally interrupted by further news clippings concerning mutilated pets. This all added to my confusion a bit and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep bouncing back and forth between the present day and that long ago weekend. It wasn't until I was over 20% through the book that it began to pique my interest, and what had begun as a slower build up than I normally enjoy held me captivated. I'm glad I stuck with it. I think you will be too.
4 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review.