When three teenage besties set out to teach someone a lesson about messing with a married man, the important thing to remember is that nobody was supposed to get hurt. Their intention was only to make the other woman go away. Sure there may have been some property damage, but mild destruction was not meant to include death. Well you know what they say about best-laid plans. Things go awry for Amelia and her friends when they discover a horrifying secret and there's no telling who will survive the night on Callaghan Drive.

"Silence. Even the crickets had stopped chirping for now. As if they too were appalled at what they had witnessed."

I loved the friendship between these three girls and the way they were portrayed as willing to do anything for each other no matter the risk. These girls were tough as nails in a day when so many female characters in horror are portrayed as catty or weak and waiting for a man to swoop in and save them. The story itself is quite unsettling. It went places I did not expect to go.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

I received a paperback ARC of Ride or Die, authored by James Newman from Silver Shamrock Publishing. What follows below is my honest review, freely given. Cover design: Kealan Patrick Burke under his company name Elderlemon Design. Interior art: Bob Veon. Ride or Die comic illustration: Alex McVey. Edit and format: Kenneth W. Cain.

I rated this novella 5 stars. Think fast! What type of characters do you think would fill the pages of a tale titled Ride or Die? First gut reaction? I was mistaken (delightfully so), were you? Now I also went in blind, not even a little peek at the back, which I suggest if you have the chance.

Now, this whole novella is an off the rails, speed ball of twisted horror. Just when I would be certain I had it all nailed down it would go screaming off in the other direction; ramping up the tension as the reader careens towards the unknowable ending.

I hate spoilers. I try my damnedest to review without posting them, and I am having the hardest time sharing anything and not feeling like it is a spoiler in some way. So if you like stories that cut quick, are violent and surprising: read Ride or Die, you will not regret it. ( )

I read Ride or Die by James Newman in one sitting because how could I not? This story starts strong and stays strong.

Newman’s characters and writing are flawless. The dark humor of the character interactions sucks you right in, and the steady progression, suspense, and build hold you there. The dialogue is clever and realistic. It and the story flow at an incredible pace. The progression into dark suspense and then to horror is seamless and downright impressive.

But a word of warning: that horror steps over into extreme horror without preamble. The subject matter is gruesome and a bit too true to life in places, and the sequences take on a startling level of brutality as the story progresses. This is not a story for the squeamish. If one is not squeamish, however, then one has gotta read this!

Ride or Die is a riveting and evocative story. It is wonderfully, wrenchingly unpredictable, and I loved it! ( )