The Bone Queen by Will Shindler

 A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother's search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.

Single mother Jenna arrives on the tranquil shores of Athelsea fueled by the desperate hope to find Chloe, her teenage daughter who’s disappeared from their London home. She has no idea why–all she knows is that Chloe had changed in the previous two weeks, haunted by something, or someone, and the ferry ticket here is the only clue she has.

As she explores the village and interacts with the locals, Jenna soon realizes a macabre secret is being hidden in plain sight. A dark legend of a vengeful woman called the Bone Queen is spoken of in hushed tones amongst the villagers, some of whom are frantically trying to suppress the tale that has long terrorized their lives.

As Jenna starts to learn more about the Bone Queen and her previous victims, the village’s grip on reality begins to loosen and no one can say for sure who, or what, is responsible for the deaths and disappearances on Athelsea. Suffering from what she can no longer distinguish between paranoid hallucinations or real manifestations, Jenna must act quickly before Chloe is next…

The Bone Queen has left her mark, and one day she’ll collect.

Is The Bone Queen an urban legend or a reality? The people of  Athelsea know the answer. A brutal murder in the 1700s and the deaths and disappearances that have occurred on the island ever since might just be a story people pass around to scare each other. But if it isn't real, what is the explanation?

Jenna and her daughter Chloe have had a rocky relationship. Jenna is a recovering alcoholic holding on to past guilt. Chloe has become withdrawn and is now suffering strange maladies, which lead her to believe she has been marked by The Bone Queen. Unable to share what is happening to her she runs away from home to deal with it herself. Jenna and her sister go searching for Chloe and uncover a horrific truth and a weird plot twist from Jenna's past.

The story is told on multiple timelines that bounce from the present day, to the recent past, and to a secret held among a group of friends that stem from a happening in 2003. I don't usually mind flashbacks, but there are spots in this book that just dragged for me and made the story seem much longer than its 272 pages. I do enjoy a build-up of suspense, but there comes a time to just get on with it, or else it becomes a frustrating wait.That being said, there was a decent plot with several spooky scenes and gruesome deaths. I do think it could have benefited from being tightened up a bit. 

3.5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Minotaur Books for the e-ARC

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Breed by Owl Goingback

 The quaint Florida town of St. Augustine is a magnet for tourists. But one site is off-limits even for the locals.

Built on the site of an ancient Indian village, Tolomato Cemetery has been closed for years. But now a slaughtered Wiccan priestess has been discovered on the grounds. Human remains have been found in a nearby Dumpster. And a cryptic message is haunting a woman's sleepless nights--a warning that the doors between two worlds have been opened.

Whatever's buried in Tolomato Cemetery is more than legend.

It's alive.

A tour guide and a spirit she can hear, but not see, set out to fight an ancient shape-shifting being called a Shiru that a witch inadvertently let into our world when attempting to teach her students how to connect with their spirit guides.

With a door open between the living and the dead, the Shiru can live it up (ha ha) while munching on humans and looking to breed. (yuck!)

This was a fun and freaky read. I loved the Native American folklore, and there are some marvelously gruesome scenes. Some spots were a bit too gross even for me. I enjoyed the humorous back and forth between Ssabra, the tour guide and the spirit who communicates with her.  It's pure entertainment with a classic 80's horror feel.

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-copy.

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White Noise Press – The Chapbooks Edited by Keith Minnion

 

White Noise Press - The Chapbooks is an anthology of 21 original short stories first published by White Noise Press as limited edition, signed and numbered chapbooks. This edition is fully illustrated, with new Story Notes by the authors, written especially for this edition. Contributors include Brian Keene, Richard Chizmar, Mary SanGiovanni, Gary Braunbeck, Elizabeth Massie, Jeff Strand, Alison Littlewood, James A. Moore, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gary McMahon, and eleven others!

I missed out on these limited edition chapbooks when they were first published. Imagine my delight at being invited to read them all here, collected in a single volume, complete with author notes and illustrations.

This anthology contains 21 stories by some of my favorite authors.

There are tales of murder, compulsions, invisible monsters, werewolves, and more.

A few of my favorites were How the Wind Lies by Brian James Freeman, about a family of homesteaders who have moved west to escape the dangers in the eastern colonies. This was historical horror fiction at its finest.

I have always had a feeling that cats ruled the world, but Cozzy's Question by Matt Bechtel and Bob Booth proves that they are worthy of the honor.

Detectives find the motive for a series of brutal child murders in No Songs For The Stars by Mary SanGiovanni. 

There's a Blubird in My Heart by Gary McMahon holds the answer to whether monsters are real or merely a conspiracy theory. 

A church sponsored camping trip leaves a small group of boys and their chaperones forever changed in The Church of Dead Languages by James Newman and Jason Brannon.

Halves by Brian Keene is a chilling tale of imaginary friends who might be more than make-believe, and an outdoor cat who likes to leave gifts at the door.

There are so many great stories in here, but those are the ones that stuck in my mind.

If you like dark fiction, White Noise can be music to your ears.

My thanks to Keith Minnion for the paperback.

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The Neon Revelation by T.T. Madden

 

The town of Columbia is a place of miracles. Or so they say. The home of a secretive religious group that claims to have an angel among their ranks, to Roan, it's nothing more than a target, the place responsible for the death of her beloved Nico, a place she plans on burning down entirely. But Roan knows, as a transwoman, if she's caught within Columbia's borders, she'll surely be killed. But when Columbia's strange angel seems to choose Roan for some higher purpose, the believers have to choose a side, and prepare for a second coming none of them could have ever prophesied.

Roan has lost the love of her life, and she knows who to blame and where to find him. She does worry that it won't be easy to blend in as a transwoman approaching a religious sect to murder one of their own, but her grief and rage propel her forward. She finds more than just the object of her revenge in this cult like atmosphere. She develops a strong connection with the wife of their leader, and she sure would like to stick around to see the angel they claim to have in the barn.

I usually enjoy anything with cults, or angels and demons but there were a few off notes here that just landed wrong for me. For one thing Roan recalls a time in school before she transitioned when a boy asked why she couldn't just hold her period in. What? I had to go back and reread to make sure I hadn't misunderstood that Roan is a trans woman. Surely the author knows that transgender women do not get periods. Not even after they transition. I would have liked more info on the angel if that is what it really was, and why something that powerful would just hang around in a barn.

I think the concept of this book was clever, but it was too rushed to really come to life for me. You may enjoy it more than I did. I hate to end the reading year on a sour note, but this book was not for me, and is likely to be my last of the year, or at least until after Christmas.

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press for the e-ARC