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A review by ctgt
The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz
4.0
I bought this book shortly after joining the HA group here on GR. The author is a member and guess what? He's not just there pimpin' his stuff! He's an active participant in many threads, not just the author promotion pages.
A little background, I'm not the splatter/gore/blood and guts type horror reader, that's disgusting but not really scary, at least not to me. I prefer the psychological, anticipatory dread that creeps up on you. This book was a very good mix of both types.
The story centers around a family curse that extends back several generations from the current time frame. Our main characters get caught up in the curse in a somewhat unique way. Ben and Eddie write and compose music for movies and decide to inspire Ben by paying for the right to use Castle Blackwood which sits on an private island off the coast of California. The castle has plenty of stories that swirl around the Blackwood family and several unexplained incidences. The history of the castle and Robert Blackwood are told through journal entries made by Calvin Shepherd from the early 1900's. I thought the background of the main characters was well done and added a nice depth to the story. There are some of the "what the hell are you thinking/don't go down there" moments but the author pokes at those tropes a bit by having his characters say the same things to themselves.
There were some gross out moments but not enough to make me put the book down(which I have done on occasion). The balance between gore and creepy was spot on for me. A very entertaining read.
A little background, I'm not the splatter/gore/blood and guts type horror reader, that's disgusting but not really scary, at least not to me. I prefer the psychological, anticipatory dread that creeps up on you. This book was a very good mix of both types.
The story centers around a family curse that extends back several generations from the current time frame. Our main characters get caught up in the curse in a somewhat unique way. Ben and Eddie write and compose music for movies and decide to inspire Ben by paying for the right to use Castle Blackwood which sits on an private island off the coast of California. The castle has plenty of stories that swirl around the Blackwood family and several unexplained incidences. The history of the castle and Robert Blackwood are told through journal entries made by Calvin Shepherd from the early 1900's. I thought the background of the main characters was well done and added a nice depth to the story. There are some of the "what the hell are you thinking/don't go down there" moments but the author pokes at those tropes a bit by having his characters say the same things to themselves.
There were some gross out moments but not enough to make me put the book down(which I have done on occasion). The balance between gore and creepy was spot on for me. A very entertaining read.