Tag: Horror Book Review

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: The Beast of Barcroft by Bill Schweigart

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*No Major Spoilers*

Ben McKelvie believes he’s moving up in the world when he and his fiancée buy a house in the cushy Washington, D.C., suburb of Barcroft. Instead, he’s moving down—way down—thanks to Madeleine Roux, the crazy neighbor whose vermin-infested property is a permanent eyesore and looming hazard to public health.

First, Ben’s fiancée leaves him; then, his dog dies, apparently killed by a predator drawn into Barcroft by Madeleine’s noxious menagerie. But the worst is yet to come for Ben, for he’s not dealing with any ordinary wild animal. This killer is something much, much worse. Something that couldn’t possibly exist—in this world.

Now, as a devilish creature stalks the locals, Ben resolves to take action. With some grudging assistance from a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the crackpot theories of a self-styled cryptozoologist, he discovers the sinister truth behind the attacks, but knowing the Beast of Barcroft and stopping it are two different animals.

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while, then you’ll know I seem to have a tendency to read the monster subgenre of horror. In most of these novels I read, I felt like the monster was uncreative, and just a personal take on a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise. However, this novel is not one of those.

I liked how this monster only affected a small neighborhood and its residents. It made the stakes feel so much higher. Instead of the monster affecting a large area such as a large town or a whole state, it’s a couple of blocks of cookie-cutter houses, To me, that’s more terrifying than anything.

I won’t spoil what the monster is, but I will say that it’s one I am not familiar with and had to do some light research on it. This author gets bonus points for making me learn! I will give this hint: for something so prominent in Alaskan folklore, how it traveled to Washington D.C. is anybody’s guess.

If you are a fan of Stephen King but want a cohesive story, then this novel is definitely for you! This novel will have you looking in the bushes at night.

My favorite part is how Ben overcomes the depression brought on by his father’s death and his fiance abandoning him. The loss of his dog forces him to pull himself up and get revenge for his furry best friend’s passing. By hunting this monster, he not only defeats the monster itself but also defeats the demons inside himself.

I would highly recommend this novel for lovers of horror, monsters, folklore, and all things that go bump in the night. I felt this was a breath of fresh air for me, no xenomorphs, no predictable endings, just a good scary story.

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Shark Island by Chris Jameson

Posted on by elishasbookreview
Shark Island

*NO SPOILERS*

Naomi Cardiff is not one to give up without a fight and now, after learning about a series of shark attacks in Cape Cod, she s joined a team of scientists to put a stop to the terror. The plan: to lure the sharks to a remote island far from the populated coastline. Meanwhile, a fierce Nor Easter is underway. . .

In the midst of the storm, an alarming number of Great Whites have come to slaughter the seals in a vicious feeding frenzy. When sharks ram and breach the hull, Naomi and her team must jump ship and swim desperately through a sea of circling fins and gaping jaws to the tiny island. But as the swells from the storm begin to swallow their rocky refuge, how will they manage to make it out alive?

Rating: 5 out of 5.

When I was at the library this book caught my eye. The stormy skies and the shark fins the dark waters reminded me of when the Discovery Channel runs Shark Week. The impending fear of there being a predator bigger than humans is terrifying in and of itself. This book has this in spades.

The story begins with Naomi who gets attacked by a shark while she was attempting to photograph a herd of seals that were living on the beach. A summer later, she will be traveling with a group of scientists to try and move the seal herd away from the mainland and onto a small island closer to Maine. Armed with her camera and her prosthetic leg, she makes this trek to prove to herself that she is no longer terrified of the ocean.

However, things go terribly wrong when a nor’easter threatens to postpone their trek. Not only are there troubles in the skies, but even more trouble in the waters as not only the seals follow the signal the scientist’s experiment is emitting, but the sharks are following the herds.

Now they have to survive on a rapidly flooding island when their boat crashes, and until help arrives. In the meantime,  can they survive the rabid sharks? Read this book to find out!

I enjoyed this epic, thrilling novel. The characters were fully fleshed out and when one of them died I felt sad along with the other characters. In Hollywood, you knew who was going to be monster food based on the fact they were cardboard stereotypes of people. At first, I was worried about how many characters were being introduced in the beginning, I was worried I was going to lose track of “who’s who”. I had no problems keeping up with the characters because they felt like real human beings being trapped in this horrible situation with death surrounding them on all sides.

Even though, I didn’t like the way the book ended (I predicted everyone was going to die or that it was all just a dream) I still loved how my favorite characters survived such a horrific event.

This is one of the more memorable books that I’ve read in a long time, so that’s why I’m giving this my Choice Award. The characters felt real and I could sense the tension and felt the fear that was written on each page.

Check out some other horror books I’ve reviewed!