Afbeelding auteur

Ross Jeffery

Auteur van Beautiful Atrocities

8+ Werken 46 Leden 2 Besprekingen

Werken van Ross Jeffery

Beautiful Atrocities (2022) 12 exemplaren
The Devil's Pocketbook (2023) 11 exemplaren
Juniper (2020) 8 exemplaren
Only The Stains Remain (2021) 5 exemplaren
Tome (2020) 2 exemplaren
Lemmings 1 exemplaar

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Far From Home: an Anthology of Adventure Horror (2021) — Medewerker — 4 exemplaren

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Henry is an ass. I know, some book review sites will get their panties in a bunch (looking at you, Amazon) because I used a swear word, but Henry IS an ass, and every single character that inhabits Ross Jeffery’s story here would agree. Fuck, Henry would even agree. He is a seriously flawed MC; a misogynist, a homophobe and a past-his-prime ex-husband with some serious anger issues. So, if you don’t like seriously flawed main characters like Henry, this book won’t be for you.

I love seriously flawed main characters—I mean, I wouldn’t make the time to hang out with ones as belligerent as Henry, but I love to read about them with the hope that they will grow. There are other reasons to give Henry a chance. He's grieving over the loss of his daughter. Twelve years have passed since her disappearance, and the case is essentially closed. But Henry is still grieving, and the process involves burying pieces of her on the anniversary of that disappearance. Well, not pieces of her, per say, but pieces of his memories of her. Because Henry is guilt ridden. For whatever reason, he blames himself for what he has come to accept as her death. He is also coping with the help of a therapy group whose members are equally—and inadequately grieving over the deaths of loved ones. So, Henry is in good company. And his best friend Josh, also grieving over the loss of his wife, is a standup guy. His compassion and tolerance helps make up for Henry's lack of it.

Henry's daughter Elsie comes back to haunt him in terrifying ways with the help of one new member of the grievance club, and he's not a friend but most certainly may be a foe preying on Henry’s guilt. Josh is the one who tries to save Henry from traveling deeper down the road of despair as he tries to justify the strange happenings that he too has witnessed.

I’m liking a lot of elements of this story. Jeffery brings the horror to the table. He manages grief like a grief ninja, and there are moments when I found myself truly invested in what happens next. But the storytelling pace did feel uneven at times. There are moments that dragged for me, like the three pages of trepidation that it took for Josh to open a letter. Once we get there, Jeffery delivers, but those three page beforehand…like pulling a loose thread that has no end. It gets aggravating. And speaking of Josh, I felt like the storyline involving his grief was left incomplete. But Henry’s story is the main story, and it comes to a heartbreaking end.

I have to admit that I was not as surprised by the ending as I hoped I would be. But it’s a logical ending, an appropriately tragic ending, and it affords the opportunity for a grieving character to grow where he needs to grow. Another strong point, the characters rang true to those above mentioned flaws. Jeffery knows how to create solid characters whose actions and words ring true.

Anyway, I'm rating this one a 3.75, which bumps it to a 4 here. I’m holding back from a higher rating mostly because of those drawn out passages that delayed getting to the literal punch of the horror. But the horror bits, once we got there, were worth it. Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC.

Also, my Amazon review will be revised enough to hopefully not get rejected because of “swearing." But swearing here is appropriate, because Henry is an ass.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
CaseyAdamsStark | Nov 11, 2023 |
Perfection! A couple have recently suffered the stillborn birth of their baby, Annie. They've come to this tiny seaside town off-season to try and come to terms with it and rescue their marriage. Soon after arriving, they find a young girl birthed from a devil's pocketbook and the woman bonds with her.

This is a strange, creepy story. A devil's pocketbook is an egg sack from a shark or other similar sea animal. The book is just dripping with grief horror. The book captures one as you become intensely involved in this couple's profound story. I've never experienced the couple's tragedy but found the woman's emotions so authentically portrayed by a male author. While this does involve cryptozoology and terrible danger it is not a typical horror and I think those who can suspend disbelief will enjoy it too. The climax is thrilling and had my heart pumping until the end. Then I just didn't know what to do with myself so I ordered another of the author's books. A beautiful, haunting story.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
ElizaJane | Jul 31, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
8
Ook door
1
Leden
46
Populariteit
#335,831
Waardering
4.0
Besprekingen
2
ISBNs
8
Talen
2