At Daddy's Hands by Jacob Paul Patchen

In public, Jim Handler is a well-respected, small-town hero, and homicide detective who solved the case of the Will’s Creek Massacre. But at home, in the shadows, Jim’s childhood demons come alive to feast upon his family in the form of sexual, physical, and mental abuse.

But his three teenage children have had enough. They have devised a plan for redemption.

Empowered by the legal system’s lack of accountability, a judge who offers a quiet and meager plea deal to save face, Jim feels enabled to do whatever he wants to his family. With no one to keep Jim in check, this cycle of sexual and physical abuse is rampant. It is up to Nikki, Tyler, and Ally to end the evil that is devouring the Handler family.



After years of abuse, and being failed by the system, one family takes matters into their own hands.
I want to say this book was unbelievable, but sadly, living in a time when just a month ago, a judge  admonished lawyers for not telling a rape victim she might ruin her rapists life by pressing charges and suggesting that since the rapist comes from a "good family" he should not have to face consequences makes this story feel all too real. Jim Handler, husband, father, hero, pedophile can do no wrong. The town loves him, his fellow cops love him, even his victims love him and hope that one day he will change.
Although a work of fiction I have no doubt that somewhere this story happens every day.


I received an advance copy for review.

About the author
Jacob Graham, writing as Jacob Paul Patchen, was born and raised outside of Byesville, Ohio where he spent his youth tormenting babysitters and hiding in trees. Jacob earns his inspiration through experience. Using a unique voice of wit, grit, and raw, untamed honesty, he writes about social issues, such as, family, love, humor, learning, and war. Jacob is a 5-star author, award winning poet, inspiring blogger, and combat veteran.

Jacob considers his time as a United States Marine as a major turning point in his life. Deployed to Iraq as a Rifleman in 2005, Jacob learned quickly to appreciate and love the little things that life has to offer. With a deep understanding and admiration for having a purpose in life, Jacob decided to live his life in honor of those that never made it back home by following his dreams, getting the most out of life, and encouraging good intentions.

Patchen took his pen name from his grandfather, who was blessed with four amazing daughters but no son Jacob wanted to carry on the family name and honor his grandparents who were such a prominent pillar of love, support, and knowledge. Readers will see that the importance of this foundation is at the heart of Patchen’s writing. Jacob’s roots are buried is rural poetry, where he started writing, at the age of 12, about nature, love, and his own experiences using a confessional tone.

Jacob believes that his writing career began on the day that he decided to quit an oil and gas job in order to finish his first book, Life Lessons from Grandpa and His Chicken Coop. Jacob has worked in several job fields, including: excavating for his father’s company, evening manager at a bowling alley, bartender, youth case manager at a behavioral health facility, marketing, and has even started his own handyman business. But none has given him purpose and satisfaction quite like writing has.

He has been published in several literary journals, including New Millennium Writings, Into the Void Magazine, The Deadly Writers Patrol, and Lost Lake Folk Opera Magazine. He has also been selected as a finalist in many poetry competitions.

Books by Jacob Paul Patchen:

Poetry
Of Love and War (Adelaide Books, 2018)

Fiction
At Daddy’s Hands (YA Thriller/Suspense – Black Rose Writing, September 2019)
Sheltered: When a Boy Becomes a Legend (Middle Grade Action/Adventure, 2020)

Children’s
Words That Matter (10 book series, TouchPoint Press, 2019)

Creative Nonfiction
Life Lessons from Grandpa and His Chicken Coop (CreateSpace, 2015)
Talking S. H. I. T. (Social, Humorous and Inspirational Thoughts) (CreateSpace, 2017)

He also writes a social and humor blog at Jacobpaulpatchen.com, and is active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Corporate Wolf by Stuart R. West

If you can't run with the big dogs…rip 'em to shreds.

It was supposed to be a corporate retreat and a series of morale-boosting exercises. It was a weekend Shawn Biltmore nearly didn't survive.
There was something else playing in the woods that night, something other than a bunch of corporate drones with paintball guns.

And it had chosen Shawn as its new chew toy.

The local authorities chalked it up to a bear attack.
So did the doctors.

Shawn knew the truth, however, as much as he wanted to deny it.
But when one of his coworkers is viciously killed, Shawn must face the truth…
He's a killer who needs to be put down.

Or is he?  

 Shawn Biltmore, junior executive at the Lerner Corporation spends his days working his boring job and most nights getting drunk at the bar with his only friend Redmond, a rather repulsive character who is also a junior executive at the same company. It is in this usual state of drunkenness that Shawn becomes separated from Redmond on a team building exercise in the woods. The next thing he knows, he is waking up in a hospital, being told that he has been in a coma after a bear attack. Shawn knows it was nothing so ordinary that attacked him in those woods and not long after he begins to feel the changes in himself one of his annoying coworkers is found dead.
I didn't really feel connected to or invested in any of these characters. I'm not sure if Shawn's clumsy attempts to date his nurse and a coworker were meant to be endearing or humorous. The only enjoyment I got from this story came from the werewolf attacks which were suspenseful, vivid, and frightening. Also, it taught me that goat yoga is an actual thing.

I received a complimentary copy for review.



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About the author
Stuart R. West is a lifelong resident of Kansas, which he considers both a curse and a blessing. It's a curse because...well, it's Kansas. But it's great because…well, it’s Kansas. Lots of cool, strange and creepy things happen in the Midwest, and Stuart takes advantage of them in his books. Call it “Kansas Noir.” Stuart writes thrillers, horror and mysteries usually tinged with humor, both for adult and young adult audiences.

Stuart spent 25 years in the corporate sector and now writes full time. He’s married to a professor of pharmacy (who greatly appreciates the fact he cooks dinner for her every night) and has a 25 year old daughter who’s dabbling in the nefarious world of banking.

To be one of the cool kids on the block, subscribe to the Stuart R. West-Worlds newsletter for upcoming book info, free stuff, and absolutely no recipes: http://eepurl.com/c34zpv.

If you're still reading this, you may as well head on over to Stuart's blog at: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/  

Silence in the Woods by J P Choquette

What Castle Rock does for Maine, Monsters in the Green Mountains does for Vermont.In 1917, four friends and photojournalists set out in the woods looking for answers. Why have so many hikers and hunters gone missing in the area of Shiny Creek Trail?

The two couples anticipate a great adventure, one they'll tell their kids about someday. No one imagines the evil lurking in a remote cave. A horrifying discovery leaves one person dead and two others missing.

Two months later, Paul, one of the four, returns to the forest to find his wife. But will he find her before someone-or something-finds him?

Silence in the Woods is the long-awaited prequel to Shadow in the Woods, and delves into the frightening territory of the supernatural and the human mind.

Readers of books by authors like H.P. Lovecraft and John Saul will enjoy this twisty-turning, supernatural survival story set in the remote wilderness. Occult horror fans looking for an edge-of-your-seat suspense minus most of the gore will find a perfect fit with the first book in the "Monsters in the Green Mountains," series.

What is real and what is folklore? Are monsters like Bigfoot still alive in the deepest areas of Vermont's Green Mountains, or just characters in stories told around the campfire? Folk legends come to life in this heart rate-accelerating suspense mystery novel by J.P. Choquette.  


Two married couples who are also best friends venture deep into the woods in hopes of discovering why so many hikers have gone missing in this area. Not all of them will live to share the answer. There is a deliciously creepy atmosphere that hangs over this quartet almost immediately. Although they are all the best of friends Paul's wife Jane sometimes feels that she is an outsider since the trio of pals share a profession and were already friends before she and Paul became a couple. What none of them know is that there is more to fear than just the possibility of running into a legendary beast in the wilderness. There is something evil that whispers in the caves. Something that can infect the mind and twist petty resentments into madness. This was an eerie and suspenseful read.

5 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

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The Shapes Of Midnight by Joseph Payne Brennan

Description

"Joseph Payne Brennan is one of the most effective writers in the horror genre, and he is certainly one of the writers I have patterned my own career upon," declared Stephen King. "In fact," he added, "The Shapes of Midnight could serve as an exercise-book for the young writer who aspires to pen and publish his or her own weird tales."
A poet as well as a writer of horror fiction, Brennan worked at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library as an acquisitions assistant for over 40 years. He wrote hundreds of stories for Weird Tales and other pulp magazines. This new edition of his increasingly rare compilation, The Shapes of Midnight, presents 10 of his best stories.
Selections include "Diary of a Werewolf," a first-person account of bloody sprees; "The Corpse of Charlie Rull," recounting the rampage of a radioactive zombie; "The Pavilion," which unfolds at an abandoned seaside haunt with something ghastly beneath its pilings; "House of Memory," a wistful look at the past's imaginative grip; "The Willow Platform," featuring the machinations of a self-styled warlock; and other chillingly memorable tales.

This was a short but fun anthology featuring stories of madness, sorrowful memories, and murder.
My favorites were Diary of a Werewolf in which a recovering drug addict begins to feel a strong compulsion to run wild in the woods, and Pavilion in which a murderer returns to the scene of his crime. The rest were just ok reads for me, though others may enjoy them more than I did. If you are into short horror stories give this one a read.

I received a complimentary copy for review.



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About the author
Joseph Payne Brennan was an American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, and also a poet. Brennan's first professional sale came in December 1940 with the publication of the poem, "When Snow Is Hung", which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor Home Forum, and he continued writing poetry up until the time of his death.

He is the father of Noel-Anne Brennan who has published several fantasy novels.