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A review by freezing_moon
Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard
4.0
CRUEL SUMMER is a book about the unwavering love of a parent for a child. It is also a book about the evil within humans and a much older darker evil that hides in the depths of the ocean. In lesser hands the balance between moments of familial love and extreme terror could come off as forced or fake. Thankfully, Wesley Southard is one of the better horror writers in the game. In this novel he is able to make the quiet and reflective moments breath like a calm ocean early in the morning and then turn on a dime and serve up some extremely suspenseful and harrowing passages like being stuck out at sea in the middle of a hurricane.
Melissa Braun and her son Patrick are taking a much need vacation to Florida with Melissa’s no-good boyfriend Hoyt. There have been plenty of great evil humans (NOT possessed by a spirit just genuinely bad people) in horror fiction over the years. Hoyt fits in with the likes of Henry Bowers in Stephen King’s IT, but even more vicious. In time Melissa and Patrick fight back against Hoyt, but in the process unleashes a darker and older evil. Southard then leads us through a mother’s struggle to continue to protect herself and her son from a suspicious detective, unusual aquatic creature behavior, a monster from the darker depths, and it all culminates with some of my favorite chapters in recent memory. I don’t want to give too much away, but you won’t find me anywhere near the ocean for a good long time.
I didn’t find the book lagged or got bogged down even when it turn to the personal relationship between Melissa and Patrick, or when Melissa reconnects with an old friend who she turns to for help later in the book. This is due in large part to Southard’s ability create characters that feel real — Patrick is perfect representation of a pre-teen and Melissa is a single parent who tends to second guess herself. The bond between mother and child, even when it is strained, is woven into the fabric of this book. All this makes the more horrific moments even more impactful.
Speaking of those horrific moments, Southard slowly builds the horror over the course of the book. You can feel the slow escalation and menace that follows Melissa and Patrick after the evil is unleashed. There is one section of the book that I thought couldn’t creep me out, but it did and now I can’t go anywhere near one of my favorite water-based creatures! The encounters with the evil element culminate in some very unique scenes of violence and gore which are described in stomach churning detail. Needless to say I loved every moment of it.
Wesley Southard has taken us down to the water in CRUEL SUMMER. That water might be calm at times, but when it turns dark and ominous there is no telling what might happen next. If you are a fan of horror fiction that blends the best of creepiness and gore with a tale about family then reel this one in right now.
A big thanks to Deaths Head Press and Sadie at Night Worms for the review copy of this book.
Melissa Braun and her son Patrick are taking a much need vacation to Florida with Melissa’s no-good boyfriend Hoyt. There have been plenty of great evil humans (NOT possessed by a spirit just genuinely bad people) in horror fiction over the years. Hoyt fits in with the likes of Henry Bowers in Stephen King’s IT, but even more vicious. In time Melissa and Patrick fight back against Hoyt, but in the process unleashes a darker and older evil. Southard then leads us through a mother’s struggle to continue to protect herself and her son from a suspicious detective, unusual aquatic creature behavior, a monster from the darker depths, and it all culminates with some of my favorite chapters in recent memory. I don’t want to give too much away, but you won’t find me anywhere near the ocean for a good long time.
I didn’t find the book lagged or got bogged down even when it turn to the personal relationship between Melissa and Patrick, or when Melissa reconnects with an old friend who she turns to for help later in the book. This is due in large part to Southard’s ability create characters that feel real — Patrick is perfect representation of a pre-teen and Melissa is a single parent who tends to second guess herself. The bond between mother and child, even when it is strained, is woven into the fabric of this book. All this makes the more horrific moments even more impactful.
Speaking of those horrific moments, Southard slowly builds the horror over the course of the book. You can feel the slow escalation and menace that follows Melissa and Patrick after the evil is unleashed. There is one section of the book that I thought couldn’t creep me out, but it did and now I can’t go anywhere near one of my favorite water-based creatures! The encounters with the evil element culminate in some very unique scenes of violence and gore which are described in stomach churning detail. Needless to say I loved every moment of it.
Wesley Southard has taken us down to the water in CRUEL SUMMER. That water might be calm at times, but when it turns dark and ominous there is no telling what might happen next. If you are a fan of horror fiction that blends the best of creepiness and gore with a tale about family then reel this one in right now.
A big thanks to Deaths Head Press and Sadie at Night Worms for the review copy of this book.