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debtat2's review against another edition
5.0
This may well be the beat horror book i have read in a long time.
The action starts straight away and doesn't let up. Maybe not one for anyone squeamish as there is a fair amount of blood and gore through out but i absolutely loved it and it will be a book i will read again.
Rafael Chandler is an author to keep an eye out for.
If you enjoy good old fashioned slasher films then this book is a million percent for you!
Highly highly recommended :-)
The action starts straight away and doesn't let up. Maybe not one for anyone squeamish as there is a fair amount of blood and gore through out but i absolutely loved it and it will be a book i will read again.
Rafael Chandler is an author to keep an eye out for.
If you enjoy good old fashioned slasher films then this book is a million percent for you!
Highly highly recommended :-)
kuroku's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
liisp_cvr2cvr's review
5.0
Revenge was a mouthful of ashes, nails driven into one’s own palms.
On the scale of innocent to holy batshit crazy, I think I tip the scales towards the ‘lock me up‘ for loving this slasher horror book so wholeheartedly. It was a non-stop thrilling read- seriously– I just couldn’t stop turning the pages! It’s a whole lot of death, yes, but it’s done packaged so that chapter to chapter I was offered more and more intrigue. The story has paranormal slashers, but they felt so real. There’s no freaking question about how bloodthirsty they were and that there was simply no stopping them. What made this book ultimately a complete joy ride were the characters and the humour. I swear to gods, I cackled like a crazy person in parts…
“I’m in town,” she said. “But way too tired to make it all the way to your place. Staying at a motel in Morrisville, near the airport.”
“Is it nice?”
She checked the nightstand drawer for a Bible, but found a pronographic magazine. Holy shit, with all the porn on the Internet, they still print magazines?
“Nice? Oh, Jesse, listen, this place is swank. Super-classy. All the rats are wearing little tuxedos.”
She flicked through the magazine. No dicks. Pass.
Mask Beneath Her Face 100% shows up to provide a full thrilling horror experience! Forget about the one slasher versus a few victims, this book delivers FOUR slashers! Holy hellfest! Imagine that! Each of those slashers is after their own… erm… specific brand of death and when I discovered one of the slasher’s own POVs included (a creepy wooden doll, no less) I squealed with delight.
Four slashers… in need of warm bodies…
Bobbi, Sam and Jesse are all survivors of past slasher attacks. We get their full stories of past and present and get to know them pretty well. I feel like I know Bobbi, Jesse, Sam on a very personal level and that is a sign of good character development. They all have their lives and issues and they are well past their teenage years. Yes, we are dealing with mature characters who have been there, done that and come away from their perspective massacres with lifelong personal issues. Bobbi loves her booze and pills, Sam has anxiety and breaks into sweats the minute he sees a doll, and Jesse hasn’t looked into a mirror for a long time. Broken and tired they have no respite until they are well and truly dead… but will that death come by the hand of a slasher or due to old age? Answer to this question in the book- I’ll be testing you on that in a few months! 😉
And then we have Cristina. A young woman who has been through a very violent and abusive childhood and is now battling through bullying in the education system. Cris is not a pretty girl but she’s smart. Very smart!
Cris, Bobbi, Sam and Jesse consider each other close family, after all, they all have something violent and horrific in common, and the atmosphere in between them all is truly heartwarming.
Mask Beneath Her Face is more than blood spatters on walls and a mindless chase through houses and woods. The plot is blown into epic proportions as a determination to deliver revenge is revealed. And when I say epic, I mean epic– you can’t even imagine! The detail and thought process that went into this book seems to be a true work of an intelligent artist.
“Fuck you, dummy,” she gasped.
“Flattery will get you nowhere. I’m impervious to that kind of–“
“Pencil dick.”
His hinged mouth gaped open. “Okay, you’re dead.”
I am fairly certain that this book won’t be for everyone, BUT if you can do horror and if you can manage thrillers with a bit of gruesome detail, don’t hesitate to pick this book up. It really is more than just non-stop cleaver-in-skull. A wholesome reading experience with fully-formed characters, secrets and deceit, hopelessness and humour and a cracking ending!
ljwrites85's review
4.0
Bobbi, Jesse and Sam all have something in common, they all survived. Back in the 80’s slashers terrorised America, no matter how many times you killed them they kept coming back again and again. Now thirty years later the slashers are coming back, even more terrifying than ever.
As the blurb says this book is not for the faint of heart! There is plenty of violence and gore but I liked the fact that it wasn’t too graphic, which is problem I’ve encountered with the horror genre before. I mean I don’t want to read a book and feel like throwing up afterwards!
It has a subtle nod to films like Halloween, Friday 13th, Chucky etc and I would recommend it if you are a fan of any of those movies. There was also an element of the supernatural in the story as it sort of explains why the killers keep coming back even though they’ve been killed a million times.
I loved the characters. Jesse is hiding from his slasher refusing to go near any reflective surface. Bobbi has turned to pills and alcohol, waiting for another fight with her slasher. And Sam who seems to have moved on the best, with a secure job, is hiding a terrible secret about his. Then there’s Cris, a misfit kid who’s been used and abused for pretty much her whole life and adopted into Bobbi, Jesse and Sam’s little family but hides a nasty secret that is going to be a shock to everyone.
I would love to read more about each character and their slasher. I would love it if they each had their own prequel story about how they survived each of their slashers in the 80’s (they are touched upon in the book but I just wanted more!).
My only issue was the fact that was a few too many different points of view. There were the main characters but there were also some of the victims and I felt like it got a bit too much at one point.
Overall a fast paced, gore laden, slasher epic that builds to an absolutely terrifying ending.
As the blurb says this book is not for the faint of heart! There is plenty of violence and gore but I liked the fact that it wasn’t too graphic, which is problem I’ve encountered with the horror genre before. I mean I don’t want to read a book and feel like throwing up afterwards!
It has a subtle nod to films like Halloween, Friday 13th, Chucky etc and I would recommend it if you are a fan of any of those movies. There was also an element of the supernatural in the story as it sort of explains why the killers keep coming back even though they’ve been killed a million times.
I loved the characters. Jesse is hiding from his slasher refusing to go near any reflective surface. Bobbi has turned to pills and alcohol, waiting for another fight with her slasher. And Sam who seems to have moved on the best, with a secure job, is hiding a terrible secret about his. Then there’s Cris, a misfit kid who’s been used and abused for pretty much her whole life and adopted into Bobbi, Jesse and Sam’s little family but hides a nasty secret that is going to be a shock to everyone.
I would love to read more about each character and their slasher. I would love it if they each had their own prequel story about how they survived each of their slashers in the 80’s (they are touched upon in the book but I just wanted more!).
My only issue was the fact that was a few too many different points of view. There were the main characters but there were also some of the victims and I felt like it got a bit too much at one point.
Overall a fast paced, gore laden, slasher epic that builds to an absolutely terrifying ending.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
This book was so awesome! I've never really read a horror book of the slasher variety, maybe Stephanie Perkins, There's Someone Inside Your House? I always get the title mixed up. But I've see the 4 Scream movies and enjoyed them, and I enjoyed this book! It was dark and supernatural, and really enjoyable! And that ending, that was totally unexpected!
ericarobyn's review
5.0
Mask Beneath Her Face by Rafael Chandler is an intense slasher novel filled with mayhem, gore, revenge, and characters straight out of nightmares!
Be warned: once you start this one, you won't want to put it down!
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Right from the acknowledgements, I knew this was going to be a great book. I mean "Now: let us travel to the 1980s and see what horrors we find there." ... YES, LET'S GO!
Sure enough, when I read the very first sentence of Chapter 1, I was hooked!
What an incredible tale! This novel included all of my favorite things when it comes to horror stories;
*An opening first sentence that shocks you
*A believable and captivating storyline
*Excellent pacing
*Wonderfully developed characters that you can root for
*Interesting side characters that play their roles wonderfully
*Character backstories that you learn more about as the plot progresses
*Great friendships
*Incredibly terrifying baddies with haunting names
*Realistic dialogue
*Twists, turns, and shocking moments
*Paranormal elements
*Traps
*Chases
*Action
*Lots and lots of gore
Many elements of this novel reminded me of other horror movies or books! Two that really stood out to me included the the slow walk of the slasher in It Follows and the terrifying ventriloquist dummy in Dead Silence. Eek, I get the shivers just thinking about them!
This novel was so wonderfully written! This was a book that I dreaded putting down; I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened next! I loved how the chapters switched between the four main characters seamlessly, really immersing the reader into the crazy web that connected the four.
Unfortunately, to avoid giving away too much, I'll have to leave it at that!
My favorite passages:
*SLIGHT SPOILERS IN THE PASSAGES BELOW*
His goddamn day off, and he had to sit here wondering if this new murderer was a garden-variety psycho, or the type that comes back from the dead and cuts you up in your dreams.
Cris shook her head. "I need to concentrate," she said. "Tomorrow, I have to be completely focused. One mistake, and a sniper puts a bullet through my skull."
"Well, we don't want that," the spider said. "Your skull is where I live."
"This isn't a life. It's an EKG with the peaks pulled down and the valleys pushed up. Every day I get closer to a flat line. You three are the only bright spots in the dark..."
Skin graft had nicked him on a backswing, slicing a grin-shaped wound in Jesse's shoulder.
He stumbled through a thick wad of stubborn kudzu. Always the same, he thought. You're fleeing on foot, not sure if you're headed away from danger or towards it, and then the slasher lunges from behind a tree. Or worse, you look around, and there he is, grinning at you. Then he comes at you with that implacable stride, blade swinging like a pendulum --
Some days, she didn't even read posts or articles; she just skimmed the comments, astonished and repulsed and delighted by the vile torrent of sewage. It was a bit like overdoing the desserts at Golden Corral; she enjoyed it mightily, but always regretted it afterwards.
More droplets beaded up around the ragged wound in Sam's chest, then drifted upwards like snowflakes in reverse.
My final thoughts:
A must-read for classic slasher fans. My goodness, what a great movie this could be! I will definitely be rereading this time and time again.
Be warned: once you start this one, you won't want to put it down!
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Right from the acknowledgements, I knew this was going to be a great book. I mean "Now: let us travel to the 1980s and see what horrors we find there." ... YES, LET'S GO!
Sure enough, when I read the very first sentence of Chapter 1, I was hooked!
What an incredible tale! This novel included all of my favorite things when it comes to horror stories;
*An opening first sentence that shocks you
*A believable and captivating storyline
*Excellent pacing
*Wonderfully developed characters that you can root for
*Interesting side characters that play their roles wonderfully
*Character backstories that you learn more about as the plot progresses
*Great friendships
*Incredibly terrifying baddies with haunting names
*Realistic dialogue
*Twists, turns, and shocking moments
*Paranormal elements
*Traps
*Chases
*Action
*Lots and lots of gore
Many elements of this novel reminded me of other horror movies or books! Two that really stood out to me included the the slow walk of the slasher in It Follows and the terrifying ventriloquist dummy in Dead Silence. Eek, I get the shivers just thinking about them!
This novel was so wonderfully written! This was a book that I dreaded putting down; I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened next! I loved how the chapters switched between the four main characters seamlessly, really immersing the reader into the crazy web that connected the four.
Unfortunately, to avoid giving away too much, I'll have to leave it at that!
My favorite passages:
*SLIGHT SPOILERS IN THE PASSAGES BELOW*
His goddamn day off, and he had to sit here wondering if this new murderer was a garden-variety psycho, or the type that comes back from the dead and cuts you up in your dreams.
Cris shook her head. "I need to concentrate," she said. "Tomorrow, I have to be completely focused. One mistake, and a sniper puts a bullet through my skull."
"Well, we don't want that," the spider said. "Your skull is where I live."
"This isn't a life. It's an EKG with the peaks pulled down and the valleys pushed up. Every day I get closer to a flat line. You three are the only bright spots in the dark..."
Skin graft had nicked him on a backswing, slicing a grin-shaped wound in Jesse's shoulder.
He stumbled through a thick wad of stubborn kudzu. Always the same, he thought. You're fleeing on foot, not sure if you're headed away from danger or towards it, and then the slasher lunges from behind a tree. Or worse, you look around, and there he is, grinning at you. Then he comes at you with that implacable stride, blade swinging like a pendulum --
Some days, she didn't even read posts or articles; she just skimmed the comments, astonished and repulsed and delighted by the vile torrent of sewage. It was a bit like overdoing the desserts at Golden Corral; she enjoyed it mightily, but always regretted it afterwards.
More droplets beaded up around the ragged wound in Sam's chest, then drifted upwards like snowflakes in reverse.
My final thoughts:
A must-read for classic slasher fans. My goodness, what a great movie this could be! I will definitely be rereading this time and time again.
booksteacupnreviews's review
5.0
*** Note: I received review copy of this book as a part of blog tour organized by R&RBookTours, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Shannon and author. ***
4.5 Stars
Mask Beneath Her Face was a story of four main characters- Sam, Bobbi, Jesse, and Chris. All had the dreadful gory bloodstained past that was told in third person narrative. It was mind blowing brilliantly written thriller horror story of revenge, survivors, and some terrifying slashers.
If you love 80’s slasher flicks like Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp, this book’s for you!
Warning: This book contains extreme gore and violence. Not for the faint of heart!
Characters-
Sam– he was nicest person who worked as counselor and coach who met other main characters through Jesse. He was cautious but not as anxious and paranoid as Jesse.
Jesse -was living in solitude, a cabin surrounded by traps. He was afraid of mirrors and so never left his house or touched any things that has reflections. He was writer, ghost writer and wrote his story and published it under the name ‘I Alone Have Escaped To Tell Thee’ (interesting, right?). Through this book he met many other survivor including main characters.
Bobbi -at first she looked like decent woman working as janitor. She too was experiencing paranoia and because of that she returns to town to meet her friends- Sam, Jesse and Chris. As story unfolded it showed how messed up she was. Though she was messed up, I liked her more than any other characters.
All these three had best interest at heart for Chris.
Chris – She was smart, intelligent with athlete body, okay face but strong personality. She was one complicated character with abusive past and she was a mystery that the story unraveled step by step.
What I liked-
Main thing I loved about this book was characters were highly unpredictable. I thought I knew these characters at certain point of the book but I was so wrong, I couldn’t guess what they were going to do and what their intentions were except Bobbi. They all had hidden side that was revealed by the end of the book.
I loved the way author told the horror story of all the characters- as part of book synopsis, interviews, and letters. That was very brilliant idea. I even loved to read the letters of all the survivors and their different stories. The scenes, murders and psychological part was depicted so vividly that it will scare the hell out of reader. There was so much blood, gore and mayhem with uncanny brilliant mind of murderer will remind reader of slasher movies and this book didn’t fail in giving that exact feeling we experience while watching those kind of movies. Most horrifying aspect was the slashers, their weird way of coming back, and their horrifying stories. Most fascinating part was revenge of murderer, the way it was planned, and the way it was executed.
First half of the book was kind of familiarizing the characters, their stories, their life after facing slashers, and how they survived till present life. I just loved this book even more in second half. There was everything that I wanted in this later half of the book and third part of the book was just awesome.
Twist and turns were unimaginable. Climax was uncertain, damn interesting with all slashers at one place, and loved the shocking end of the book.
why not 5 stars-
Nasty, dark, full of blood, gore, mayhem, slaughters and carnage. Terrifying? Definitely. Did it scare me? Nahh. As readers said not to read before going to bed, I read most of the book in night time but it didn’t affect me much. Maybe because I was watching horror series and movies since childhood and it never scared me much. If it’s made in movie it does have capacity stop my breath at certain points but not scary for me.
Overall, it was perfect thrilling story perfectly executed with smart characters, lot of slashers, and so much blood that might take out all the food in your stomach. Those who love this kind of horror story, I highly recommend this book.
4.5 Stars
Mask Beneath Her Face was a story of four main characters- Sam, Bobbi, Jesse, and Chris. All had the dreadful gory bloodstained past that was told in third person narrative. It was mind blowing brilliantly written thriller horror story of revenge, survivors, and some terrifying slashers.
If you love 80’s slasher flicks like Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp, this book’s for you!
Warning: This book contains extreme gore and violence. Not for the faint of heart!
Characters-
Sam– he was nicest person who worked as counselor and coach who met other main characters through Jesse. He was cautious but not as anxious and paranoid as Jesse.
Jesse -was living in solitude, a cabin surrounded by traps. He was afraid of mirrors and so never left his house or touched any things that has reflections. He was writer, ghost writer and wrote his story and published it under the name ‘I Alone Have Escaped To Tell Thee’ (interesting, right?). Through this book he met many other survivor including main characters.
Bobbi -at first she looked like decent woman working as janitor. She too was experiencing paranoia and because of that she returns to town to meet her friends- Sam, Jesse and Chris. As story unfolded it showed how messed up she was. Though she was messed up, I liked her more than any other characters.
All these three had best interest at heart for Chris.
Chris – She was smart, intelligent with athlete body, okay face but strong personality. She was one complicated character with abusive past and she was a mystery that the story unraveled step by step.
What I liked-
Main thing I loved about this book was characters were highly unpredictable. I thought I knew these characters at certain point of the book but I was so wrong, I couldn’t guess what they were going to do and what their intentions were except Bobbi. They all had hidden side that was revealed by the end of the book.
I loved the way author told the horror story of all the characters- as part of book synopsis, interviews, and letters. That was very brilliant idea. I even loved to read the letters of all the survivors and their different stories. The scenes, murders and psychological part was depicted so vividly that it will scare the hell out of reader. There was so much blood, gore and mayhem with uncanny brilliant mind of murderer will remind reader of slasher movies and this book didn’t fail in giving that exact feeling we experience while watching those kind of movies. Most horrifying aspect was the slashers, their weird way of coming back, and their horrifying stories. Most fascinating part was revenge of murderer, the way it was planned, and the way it was executed.
First half of the book was kind of familiarizing the characters, their stories, their life after facing slashers, and how they survived till present life. I just loved this book even more in second half. There was everything that I wanted in this later half of the book and third part of the book was just awesome.
Twist and turns were unimaginable. Climax was uncertain, damn interesting with all slashers at one place, and loved the shocking end of the book.
why not 5 stars-
Nasty, dark, full of blood, gore, mayhem, slaughters and carnage. Terrifying? Definitely. Did it scare me? Nahh. As readers said not to read before going to bed, I read most of the book in night time but it didn’t affect me much. Maybe because I was watching horror series and movies since childhood and it never scared me much. If it’s made in movie it does have capacity stop my breath at certain points but not scary for me.
Overall, it was perfect thrilling story perfectly executed with smart characters, lot of slashers, and so much blood that might take out all the food in your stomach. Those who love this kind of horror story, I highly recommend this book.
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