Jonathan JanzBesprekingen

I can't wait for sequels. One of the best horror novels I've ever read. From beginning to end it was a non-stop scarefest. Jonathan Janz knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat!

Two quick comments that I want to make on this book. It turns out that it is actually more a short story than a book. Not a bad surprise or anything. Just something that I guess happens when I buy a book, throw it on my to be read pile and then pick it up way later. It was still a good story. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. The other thing that I wanted to mention was the afterword was awesome! Janz mentioned that he received (still does?) lots of emails and comments because people buy the book thinking it is Amish porn! The book is not. I have no idea why people would think it but his comments about people's thoughts on the alleged subject are great!

A cast of complex characters in a wonderfully haunting setting, atmospheric and completely engrossing.

Ben and Eddie are young music composers. They have been chosen to write the score for a big horror movie. Unfortunately, Ben is the real songwriter and doesn't have anything even started. Eddie then suggests that they go to The Sorrows, an island that had some gruesome murders back in 1925, to maybe get a feel for some horrific songs.
They get to the island and have two other people with them. Claire is a composer trying to make a name for herself and Eva is unknown to any of the others.
Mysterious things start to happen on this island and you will have to read to find out what.

Very engaging read. There are A LOT of characters but you are introduced to them gradually. They are fleshed out and distinct so I never felt confused about who was who. I'm pretty sure one of the influences for this book was In the Mouth of Madness (which is one of my favorite movies BTW), and Janz runs with that idea and makes it his own. Very enjoyable to read and Janz is now one of my favorite authors.

A quick and compelling read. Janz pulls no punches and this book, which contains a prequel novella as well, is definitely not for people just dipping their toes into the horror genre. There is language and gore and not many characters to root for, just like in real life.

I just don't think that I'm into books about cults. I've read a few now and each one has just felt alright to me. Towards the end there was too much action -pages and pages of it- so much action that I ended up skimming a bit at that part. I probably would have liked it more if there was more investigative work, but there was pretty much none. The writing was engaging though.

I’m not super into creature features, but I did enjoy the small town with a dark secret vibe.

A fun & creepy fight for survival novella that takes place in a locked movie theater. I would have liked if who/what the killers were was explained, but overall enjoyable.

DNF at 129 pages. Just not for me. It's well written. I've LOVED other books by this author. I just need a little intrigue or mystery to keep me interested. This is quite literally just cowboys vs vampires, and there's no depth beyond that. Which is fine if you want an action packed shoot/bite 'em up, but it just didn't do anything for me.

Wow, this is only my second favorite book by Janz and I can already tell he’s going to be one of my favorites. He has such a clear, vivid, and easy writing style. Plenty of tension, scares, gruesome violence, and humor. If there were any deficits I blew right past them because I was having so much fun!!

The story immediately throws you immediately into the inciting incident and the craziness just continues to build from there. Basically our protagonist Joe stops a lady from beating her small child at a gas station. Said lady stalks him and eventually commits an act of self-immolation. Unfortunately for Joe she was tied up in a deadly fire cult, and now they have their sights on Joe and his family for their next “ceremony”.

The story is perfectly paced, with plenty of tense and creepy moments. The scene in the Black Chapel had me biting my nails. And it all leads up to an explosively violent and terrifying climax. Like seriously violent. Dismembering, maiming, bloody mayhem. Does it fit the tone of the rest of the book? I don’t really care, because it’s AWESOME.

Also the characters are fabulous. Joe is the father and husband I aspire to be, and his playful banter/budding friendship with the police chief is great. His wife Michelle is pretty awesome as well. And the rest of the cast sucks because pretty much everyone is a part of this freaky cult

Basically the earth is overrun by creatures from myth and folklore after that a group of scientists thought it would be a good idea to trigger dormant monster DNA in humans. In this post apocalyptic hellscape humans are in the minority, and Dez McClane is one of the few left trying to survive in a world of werewolves, vampires, cannibals, and other monstrosities. Dez is facing all odds to find his wife, and along the way he comes across many colorful characters, even teaming up with a few by the end.

So I’m COMPLETELY onboard just from the premise (the whole post-apocalyptic monster world thing), but then Janz goes in with the quality writing, interesting well-developed characters, and top notch action/suspense and this became a book I read voraciously. Like I was on vacation and I just wanted to ignore everyone and read. It didn’t take but till page 40 that I knew I had something special in my hands. So many memorable characters and scenes, and so many cool ideas!

Apart from the obvious monsters, I love the idea that Latents are still out there, meaning anyone could at any moment turn into something crazy (which does indeed happen in the balls-to-the-wall insane climax of the book). There’s also plenty of suspense, brutal violence, and well-balanced humor throughout. I’m seriously trying to avoid writing this like a gushing fanboy, and likely failing. I just enjoyed this book so much!! It’s also set up perfectly for a sequel, so I’m gonna need @jonathan.janz to hurry up with that

What an atmospheric, gory, scary......love story. I can't believe Jonathan Janz was able to fit this whole story within 81 pages! I even found myself yelling at Larry at few points in the story LOL
This was my first book by this author and now I'm on a mission to read all his other books. I think he is way better than Stephen King...but don't tell him. He might make get cocky and make his books 1000 pages. :)

It seemed like a while since I'd read the first book, but I soon remembered the relevant parts. That said, I'm confident you could read and enjoy this book without reading the The Raven first.
Lots of gripping action scenes set around a solid core story, with ethical dilemmas, warring emotions, loyalty and family all being key components. Post-apocalyptic horror with heart.

Creepy, creepy, creepy! Just my kind of story. I did find that Mr. Janz, while writing a goosebump producing story seems to more than once to set up scenario's that seem to be so impossible to escape that any way the characters find to solve a problem is equally impossible to believe. I didn't find that that took any enjoyment away from the story...just made me have to reassess my way of thinking. If you are a reader that just reads and doesn't try too hard to solve things...that won't bother, you at all. I had read that the author grew up between a very dark woods and a graveyard...so he certainly uses his past experiences when creating these stories that suck you in and keeps you wanting and coming back for more. This is the third book by Joanathan Janz that I have read. One moment he has you seeing a beautiful expanse of forest, and a future for this young couple, and the next...every living thing that is seen or unseen becomes an awaking of the most sinister and malevolent forces you can imagine. In the turn of a page the safe harbor has becomes a prison. You'll love the two main characters that now own the house that was inherited from Chris's aunt, but it isn't very far into the story that you will discover that the house has other plans...it may now "own" them.

A few years ago I may have said Jonathan who? These days I need only see the name Jonathan Janz to know that I need to grab the book without even reading the description. Jonathan Janz knows horror, More than that he is an amazing story teller who doesn't need to go for the cheap scares or the gore only route. Every character has a purpose and I am not going to go into the plot much except to say each character has their own twisted little back story and the way in which it all played out was deliciously creepy. I also loved the way it mentioned The Siren and The Spector, which is another book by this author that you really need to read if you haven't yet.

I received an advance copy for review.

Paul Carver never knew his uncle Myles or anything about him other than the fact that his family disliked him. He was never spoken of and never to be asked about. Still, that seems no reason to refuse a free mansion and a large sum of cash. Paul packs up, leaves his old life and former girlfriend behind and drives all night to claim his inheritance. When Paul arrives he finds that his family are not the only ones who hated Myles Carver. The local sheriff seems to bear a grudge as well. Strange changes begin to over take Paul as he settles in to Watermere. Has he taken possession of the house or has it taken possession of him?
This was a masterful story of evil that never dies.

I received an advance copy for review.

When David Caine accepts an offer to stay in a supposedly haunted house for a month, to prove or disprove whether it has earned it's title of most haunted house in Virginia, he is unaware of many details about the area. He is not expecting sexual deviants for neighbors. He is not expecting the house to hold ties to his own past, and he is not aware that the Alexander house holds horrors of epic proportions.
This is more than a haunted house tale. The horror is not only in the supernatural aspects but in the evil that mere mortals commit. It got under my skin, not just with delicious spine tingling fear that all horror lovers crave, but with sadness, and disgust, and sometimes rage. The test of any good book (for me) is whether it can make me feel something. The Siren And The Specter is a masterpiece of horror.
5 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review.

The premise sounded simple enough as I settled in to read what I expected to be a spooky but not unusual tale of a haunted castle. I should have known after my last foray into horror with Jonathan Janz (The Siren and The Specter) that this is not an author who does "simple." While this book is heavy with supernatural horror, it also showcases the fact that sometimes the worst monsters are of the human variety. It frazzled my nerves and had me terrified over whether or not the characters I cared about would survive, while simultaneously wishing a horrific death to those who deserved one.
5 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

Wild West Vampire Reading Rumble!

A small backstory:

Cody Wilson is on the hunt for traveling stage actors after they abducted his wife. While on the hunt for the actors Cody comes across Willett Black who also has lost family members to the stage actors.

Cody and Willett track down the actors to a town, but they soon find out that the actors are not human, but are something far much worse than anything they could have ever imagined. Revenge will be sweet but they will have to go to hell and back to take out the actors as they are really on the hunt for vampires and they will need to keep their wits if they want to achieve that goal.

Thoughts:

I was pulled in quickly to the story and transported back in time to the old west. The story is centered around vampires that are traveling actors that go from town to town.

There is lots of action in the beginning of the book and there is lots of graphic sexual content as well throughout most of the book. The last 30% of the book is non-stop action with lots of blood and gore splashed across the pages! Giving this one four "Wild West Vampire" stars.

For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/2021/08/dust-devils-by-jonathan-janz.html

Unfortunately I am not finishing this book - the first part of the book was great which was the story of Exorcist Road and with that part I will leave a small review, but the story of Exorcist Falls just went off the rails and it became very strange. I have been struggling with that part of the story and I will put my thoughts about it in here on a spoiler so that readers can read the spoiler if needed to make a decision of how they want to proceed on reading the book.

So the review for Exorcist Road is as follows:

Women are being murdered across Chicago by a serial killer dubbed the "Sweet Sixteen Killer". While that is happening within the city something else begins to happen in the home of the Hartmans as their son Casey begins to attack his family. The parents called the police, but what they find is beyond their control and priests are called in to help Casey as it seems that he has become possessed by a demonic entity.

Priests Sutherland and Crowder try to assist the family with their son, but when Casey starts revealing things about the serial killer murders is when things go into overdrive in this story as the police along with the priests need to find out if Casey is behind the killings or is it all lies told by the demon.

Thoughts on Exorcist Road:

This story is saturated in demonic themes that I could feel it radiating off the pages along with very graphic descriptions of things that happen to the character Casey as the demon possesses his body. This first story is very fast paced and moves along at a high rate of speed to the very end of the story keeping the tension and suspense high with what was going to happen next.

Thoughts on Exorcist Falls which is contained within a spoiler:

The demon that had resided in the son Casey in the first story is now being harbored within Priest Crowder and this is where the book gets strange as within the story the Priest and the demon chat with each other in the mind of the priest as the priest lets the demon take over in situations that get out of control and brute force is needed for those situations then it flips back to the priest when he is in calm mode. It is an interesting concept but not one that I really care for as it is almost like a split personality with one personality taking over and it goes back and forth like that through the story. Now just because I didn't like the way the story played out doesn't mean that no one else will like it. If you think you would like to take a chance on it then go for it, but it was just not for me. Giving this book two stars for both stories.

What a creepy atmospheric book this turned out to be as author, Jonathan Janz normally has me creeped out whenever I read one of his books and this one did not disappoint!

There is an island called The Sorrows that is located not too far from the coastline of California which has a castle that has been abandoned for a very long time. There were murders that happened in the castle back in the 1920's along with something happening to a research team in the 1970's and the castle was shut down to avoid anything bad happening to anyone else.

When two film composers Eddie and Ben are offered a chance to stay in the castle for a month from the owner, they jump at the chance to go as they are wanting to film a horror movie and what better place to get inspiration than to stay in a supposedly haunted castle.

Eddie and Ben decide to take along two female companions, Eva and Claire, so that they can all take advantage of the opportunity to be in the castle. The only way to get to the island is by helicopter so there is a little trepidation among Eva and Claire as they worry if something should happen then a rescue is impossible as there is no phone and internet communications available on the island.

The castle has new visitors and it has been a very long time since fresh meat walked through its doors. Something has been dormant for a long time, but it has now woken up when it realizes that tenants have arrived.

What is laying in wait at The Sorrows? What have Eddie and Ben walked into? Does anyone survive The Sorrows? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Very atmospheric haunting book and some chapters have a journal that was written describing the history of the island from the past which gives more insight of how the castle came to be haunted.

Mysterious, suspenseful, fast paced and the last half of the book was action packed which drove up the fear rating for me keeping me glued to my kindle as I wanted to see what would happen next!

Giving this one four stars for keeping me creeped out through most of the book!

This was a very haunting read and I was just swept away into the atmospheric setting of the Alexander House.

A little backstory for you readers:

David Caine, a renowned debunker of paranormal activity, is invited to come to the Alexander House on the request of his friend, Chris. The Alexander House has laid claims to being the most haunted house in Virginia. David decides that he will stay in the house for a month to see if he can capture any kind footage of a haunting.

David delves deep into the history of the house and finds that the Alexander house is named after Judson Alexander who did unspeakable things in the house. David has some past personal issues that he has to overcome as he tries to debunk what is happening around him, but as time goes on, he finds out that some houses are just down right bad.

There is an island that sits out in a lake across from the house which is also haunted. David catches a glimpse of a ghostly figure that seems to float on the lake. David decides to investigate the island to check out what is really going on out there and what he finds turns his world completely upside down.

There are other characters involved in the book besides David and his friend, Chris, as the neighbors that surround that area take part in the story too. All the characters in the book are very believable and the story just meshes together bringing all the characters to the Alexander House.

It was slow at first with a little world building, but once I became involved in the story it picked up the pace and the last half of the book I was staying up late nights wanting to see how it all ended! Five stars for this one.

I can say that I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It captures the essence of young people trying to grow up through some hardships. The story revolves around Will Burgess and his friends as they try to cope with life in general, plus deal with other things stirring in the town. They seem to have plenty of worries especially when legends become all too real for their town of Shadeland as creatures that live in the caverns surrounding the town start making their presence known. On top of that, a serial killer has escaped and he is also making his way toward the town.

This book was an intense, horror, and gory ride through the town of Shadeland and the deeper I delved into the story, the harder it was to put the book down. Giving it five stars.

This was a raving bloody romp through apocalypse proportions!

A little backstory for you readers:

An event known as the Four Winds decimated life and created new life in forms of creatures that roam the earth. Dez McClane survived the Four Winds but has to endure the inhabitants around him which include monsters from every form of life. Everything is in this book including Minotaurs that have free rein throughout the world. Dez is not one of these creatures as he is human which in this world is known as Latent and he is has no superhuman abilities either.

Dez has to travel through the terrain in search of his partner Susan but by searching for her, Dez will have to fight and survive the creatures roaming this world.

Thoughts:

This was a whole different concept for author, Jonathan Janz as he moved into horror apocalyptic, but with this book he stepped out into what I would call a cross between urban fantasy, modern day western, and science fiction horror.

I can say it was different but there are horror elements integrated within the story with the creatures which include vampires, werewolves, cannibals, etc. just to name a few and there is tons of extreme gore interlaced through the story as well which takes the storyline into extreme splatterpunk.

Lots of twists, turns, edge of the seat pacing and descriptive blood/gore scenes that kept my attention throughout the story!

Giving this one five stars for creative imagination and graphic horror scenes that will make horror readers scream for more!

My thanks to Netgally and Flame Tree Press for letting me review this ARC.