The Pope's Butcher by Joseph C. Gioconda

 

Abandoned as a child and raised by the Church, young Sebastian works tirelessly in his pursuit of priesthood. But when a shadowy hooded figure passes him a scroll, his careful plans face a turning point. It appears his name has drawn the attention of the Inquisition and his attendance is commanded at once—for retribution, information, or something else, he does not know.

Father Heinrich Institoris the Grand Inquisitor is lauded as a visionary man, driven by a burning desire to cleanse the world of Eve’s original sin by eradicating witches. As Inquisition courts bloom across Europe, he vows to leave no stone unturned, no hovel unexamined, and no woman alive, in his search for justice.

As the Inquisitor’s violent mission unfolds, Sebastian embarks on a quest through dank crypts, crumbling abbeys, and the darkest depravities known to man. Torn between duty and love when he encounters the beautiful pagan Brigantia, he fights to uncover the truth: of his past abandonment, the power of the occult, and just how far he’ll go to protect the Church he loves. A Church that is harboring deadly secrets.

Inspired by true historical figures and events in the 15th Century, The Pope’s Butcher is not only a hair-raising work of suspense and espionage, but an astonishing account of religion and the occult in the Middle Ages.

With an intriguing writing tone and a talent to create suspense and mystery from true events, Joseph C. Gioconda delivers a shocking story of serial murders within the Catholic Church. In writing his latest book, he has interviewed leading scholars in the U.S. and Europe and hired professional researchers to comb through newly discovered source material from Germany and Italy.

Sebastian can barely remember his mother, though he remembers being sent away as a child. Raised by the church he feels duty bound to become a priest, and he reluctantly takes on a mission to search out and retrieve occult books to bring back to the Inquisitor and to learn how deep the "problem" of witchcraft runs. The Inquisitor wants to know what the witches believe and how they worship the devil. Sebastian is to collect and record this data which he is told will be helpful to the Pope.

In his travels he will discover what really happened to his parents and that there is more evil in the alleged men of god than in a witches coven.

With a mix of fact and fiction this historical thriller takes a brutal look at centuries past when thousands of people were tortured and killed for imaginary crimes.

3.5 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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Transmuted by Eve Harms

 

Her doctor is giving her the body of his dreams...and her nightmares.
Isa is a micro-celebrity who rarely shows her face, and can’t wait to have it expertly ripped off and rearranged to look more feminine. When a successful fundraiser makes her gender affirming surgery possible, she’s overjoyed—until she has to give up all her money to save her dying father.

Crushed by gender dysphoria and the pressure of disappointing her fans who paid for a new face, she answers a sketchy ad seeking transgender women for a free, experimental feminization treatment. The grotesquely flawless Dr. Skurm has gruesome methods, but he gets unbelievable results, and Isa is finally feeling comfortable in her skin. She even gains the courage to ask out her crush: an alluring and disfigured alchemy-obsessed artist named Rayna.

But Isa’s body won’t stop changing, and she’s going from super model to super mutant. She has to discover the secret behind her metamorphosis—before the changes are irreversible, and she’s an unwanted freak forever.

TRANSMUTED is an outrageous and unapologetically queer body horror tale that will leave you gasping, giggling, and gagging for more.

Poor Isa! somebody should have warned her that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. After giving away her plastic surgery fund to pay for an experimental treatment for her father who is in the end stages of cancer she is depressed and desperate. When she sees an ad for a free feminization treatment she decides to take the plunge. But this is no board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Skurm is more mad scientist than doctor, and his treatments are horrifying and traumatic.

Still, it appears to have worked. Isa begins to see dramatic results beyond her wildest dreams. The changes are not limited to her face or to ridding her of masculine features. She is downright beautiful! Unfortunately the changes don't stop, and Dr. Skurm has evil plans as mad scientists tend to do.

Transmuted is number 30 in the Rewind or Die series, and although it is a quick read with some bizarro body horror it may also be a clever and exaggerated look at the reality of what it may feel like for trans people who are stuck in the "wrong" body as Isa is transformed into something she does not recognize.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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About the author
Eve Harms is a writer of freaky fun dark fiction. Her work has appeared in publications such as Vastarien Literary Journal (under Rayna Waxhead), Creepy Catalog (under Kendra Temples), and her story "The Glow at Home" was featured on Ellen Datlow's recommended list in the anthology Best Horror of the Year Vol. 11. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her children's book illustrator spouse and two cats.

You can find her on the web at eveharms.com

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

Long ago, Nathan lived in a house in the country with his abusive father—and has never told his family what happened there.

Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.                                                                               

A mother's love, a father's pain, and a child who feels the suffering of everyone he sees are just three of the main elements I loved in this masterpiece of supernatural horror. I just now finished this book, and I'm trying to collect my thoughts, but I do believe my mind is literally blown away. I can think of nothing remotely adequate to express the sheer perfection of this story and the way the author kept so many plates spinning in the air at once without ever coming close to dropping even one. I don't feel like I should say anything about the plot because telling you more than what you see in the synopsis may take away the enjoyment of discovering it for yourself. I'm just going to focus a bit on the writing and say that at over 500 pages, not a single paragraph was wasted, the pace was flawless and the short chapters kept me hungry for more. Every time I would tell myself just one more chapter before I go to bed I would justify reading 3 or 4 more because like little salty snacks they were just too delicious to stop at one.

I love an old fashioned good versus evil story and Wendig delivers that in spades, but more than that he took the time to bring his characters to life, which for me is an important part of any horror novel because if I can not care about the characters I can not fear what may happen to them. 
This is my first read by this author, although he has been on my radar for about a year now.  I am sure this book is going on my best horror novels of  2021 list. 

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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I Call Upon Thee: A Novella by Ania Ahlborn

 

Maggie Olsen had a pretty ordinary childhood—swimming and sleepovers, movie nights and dad jokes. And then there were the other things…the darker things…the shadow that followed her home from the cemetery and settled into the corners of her home, refusing to let her grow up in peace.

Now, after three years away from the place she's convinced she inadvertently haunted, and after yet another family tragedy strikes, Maggie is forced to return to the sweltering heat of a Savannah summer to come to terms with her past. All along, she's been telling herself, it was just in your head, and she nearly convinces herself that she'd imagined it all. But the moment Maggie steps into the foyer of her family home, she knows. The darkness is still here. And it's been waiting for Maggie's return.

Maggie returns to her childhood home to stay with her estranged sister while they plan a funeral. The sisters are all that is left of the family now that both parents and the middle sister have passed away.

This is the second of 2 novellas included in the print version of Apart in the Dark or available by itself on kindle.

It is my 4th read by this author and so far nothing has equaled or surpassed her book "Brother" for me.

Unlike the first story, I Call Upon Thee is more of a supernatural horror which are generally my favorite, but where the first story gave away the ending too soon, this one was more vague to the point of dragging it out too long for my taste.

3 out of 5 stars

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