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errantdreams's review
4.0
This time we get to see Joe and his family work more-or-less as a team to stop an evil that threatens to spread well past Pitchfork’s borders. I loved getting to watch all of them. Al is getting better at harnessing his inner demon. Elsa is holding her own against some of the spirits that caused her problems in the past. Stevie’s getting her Bog Witch on, and Joe is still a bit uncertain as to whether he should continue his ‘kill ’em all’ policy on creatures, especially now that his family is full-on supernatural and not in a happy-shiny white hat kind of way. He also stops to realize that if he just mows over the fracking facility he’d wreck one of the only sources of jobs in the county, and that would not be good for it. He’s finally trying to think about things like collateral damage and the well-being of other people, which I loved watching.
The amount of damage the characters could take added up awfully high. I know they’ve got abilities that help to heal them, but they keep using those abilities long after they’ve supposedly strained them to their limits. If they’d been stronger at first it would have been easier to buy into their continual use.
Witt is fantastic at making random weird things that sound unimpressive into fights that make your heart pound. Fighting with a parasite sounds, well, difficult to picture as a battle, and yet he makes it work. Stevie’s big battle is awesome to behold. The climax involves an incredibly extensive fight scene that I found simultaneously over-the-top and totally engrossing.
This installment in the Pitchfork County series isn’t quite as top-notch as what came before, but it’s a lot of fun! I certainly plan to continue reading the series.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/12/review-night-blooded-boys-sam-witt/
The amount of damage the characters could take added up awfully high. I know they’ve got abilities that help to heal them, but they keep using those abilities long after they’ve supposedly strained them to their limits. If they’d been stronger at first it would have been easier to buy into their continual use.
Witt is fantastic at making random weird things that sound unimpressive into fights that make your heart pound. Fighting with a parasite sounds, well, difficult to picture as a battle, and yet he makes it work. Stevie’s big battle is awesome to behold. The climax involves an incredibly extensive fight scene that I found simultaneously over-the-top and totally engrossing.
This installment in the Pitchfork County series isn’t quite as top-notch as what came before, but it’s a lot of fun! I certainly plan to continue reading the series.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/12/review-night-blooded-boys-sam-witt/
deearr's review
4.0
The third installment of the Pitchfork County novels picks up the tale of Night Marshal Joe Hark and his family. Although author Sam Witt includes references to the back-story, this novel may be read independently from the rest of the series.
Hark is once again challenged by the monsters of the night, straining his talents and efforts and requiring the help of his family to even have a chance of winning. This is classic horror meshed with the modern-day procedures of fracking. More than crude oil is being brought to the surface, and evil threatens to make Pitchfork County its base and expand from there.
The pace is steady through the first half of the book before taking off like a rocket at the end. Pacing in the beginning is acceptable as a new character is introduced and Hark’s family allows us access to their thoughts, thus clearing the way for the action to take center stage. As usual, Mr. Witt offers pulse-pounding scene after scene, delivering what his readers have come to expect: a ton of descriptive action and visceral passages that cling to you long after you stop reading.
This book is not for everyone. If you are not a fan of horror and do not like novels filled with violence, Pitchfork County is not the place you want to visit. The author writes with a heaping helping of grit, and vulgarities abound. While I would expect his characters to speak in the manner they do, if language offends you, be warned.
Although this book did not grab me the same way as “Half-Made Girls” and the scare-a-minute “Ghost Hunters,” this is a solid effort and worth your time. There is a teaser at the end inviting readers to Joe Hark’s next challenge, but “Night-Blooded Boys” does not contain a cliffhanger and has af definite ending. Also included is a link to a free copy of the fourth Pitchfork County installment (a novella), “Witch Hunt.” Anyway you slice it, horror fans can’t go wrong with this book. Four stars.
Hark is once again challenged by the monsters of the night, straining his talents and efforts and requiring the help of his family to even have a chance of winning. This is classic horror meshed with the modern-day procedures of fracking. More than crude oil is being brought to the surface, and evil threatens to make Pitchfork County its base and expand from there.
The pace is steady through the first half of the book before taking off like a rocket at the end. Pacing in the beginning is acceptable as a new character is introduced and Hark’s family allows us access to their thoughts, thus clearing the way for the action to take center stage. As usual, Mr. Witt offers pulse-pounding scene after scene, delivering what his readers have come to expect: a ton of descriptive action and visceral passages that cling to you long after you stop reading.
This book is not for everyone. If you are not a fan of horror and do not like novels filled with violence, Pitchfork County is not the place you want to visit. The author writes with a heaping helping of grit, and vulgarities abound. While I would expect his characters to speak in the manner they do, if language offends you, be warned.
Although this book did not grab me the same way as “Half-Made Girls” and the scare-a-minute “Ghost Hunters,” this is a solid effort and worth your time. There is a teaser at the end inviting readers to Joe Hark’s next challenge, but “Night-Blooded Boys” does not contain a cliffhanger and has af definite ending. Also included is a link to a free copy of the fourth Pitchfork County installment (a novella), “Witch Hunt.” Anyway you slice it, horror fans can’t go wrong with this book. Four stars.
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