Horror Review: The String Diaries

I've finished "The String Diaries" by Stephen Lloyd Jones.

Product Description

A family is hunted by a centuries-old monster: a man with a relentless obsession who can take on any identity.

The String Diaries opens with Hannah frantically driving through the night -- her daughter asleep in the back, her husband bleeding out in the seat beside her. In the trunk of the car rests a cache of diaries dating back 200 years, tied and retied with strings through generations. The diaries carry the rules for survival that have been handed down from mother to daughter since the 19th century. But how can Hannah escape an enemy with the ability to look and sound like the people she loves?

Stephen Lloyd Jones's debut novel is a sweeping thriller that extends from the present day, to Oxford in the 1970s, to Hungary at the turn of the 19th century, all tracing back to a man from an ancient royal family with a consuming passion -- a boy who can change his shape, insert himself into the intimate lives of his victims, and destroy them.

If Hannah fails to end the chase now, her daughter is next in line. Only Hannah can decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to finally put a centuries-old curse to rest.

Product Details
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Mulholland Books (January 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316254452
ISBN-13: 978-0316254458

My Review:

This book deals with three timelines the first in the present with Hannah and her husband Nate and her daughter Leah fleeing, the second starring Hannah's parents in the past and the third in Hungary 1970's starring a boy named Lukács who later becomes Jakab.

I recommend this book if you enjoy suspenseful and scary reads with well written characters and a truly evil and sick monster.

4/5

Thanks St. Martin's Press for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Horror Review: Brood (Hardcover)

I've finished "Brood" by Chase Novak.

Two teenagers struggle with a horrific family legacy in the sequel to Chase Novak's novel, Breed.

Thirteen years ago, a radical fertility doctor helped bring Adam and Alice Twisden into the world.

The treatment came at a great cost: it turned the twins' parents into barbarous animals and threatens to transform the children, too. As Adam and Alice find themselves on the brink of maturity, they starve themselves in a desperate attempt to stop their bodies from changing. Will they succumb to the same bodily horrors that destroyed their parents?

Their aunt, Cynthia, who has always wanted to be a mother, oversees renovations to the Twisden family's Upper East Side residence-violently torn apart by the children's parents -- and struggles to give her niece and nephew the unconditional love and stable home life they never had. Meanwhile, in the world outside, the forces of good and evil collide as a troop of wild teenagers, growing steadily in number, threatens to invade the calm refuge Cynthia is so determined to construct behind the safety of the Twisdens' walls.

As New York City transforms into a battleground, Adam and Alice will have to decide where their loyalties lie. They are determined to lead normal lives -- and yet their unnatural urges, which grow ever stronger by the day, can only be stifled for so long.

About the Author

Chase Novak is the pseudonym for Scott Spencer. Spencer is the author of eleven novels, including Endless Love, which has sold over two million copies to date, and the National Book Award finalist A Ship Made of Paper. He has written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, and Harper's. Mulholland Books published his first horror novel Breed in September 2012.

Product Details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Mulholland Books (October 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316228001
ISBN-13: 978-0316228008

My Review:

Cynthia Cramer is happy she has finally gotten custody of her nephew and niece Adam and Alice.  They move into their former home where there were horrific chaos and destruction.  The twins are about 13 yrs. old and on the brink of puberty and they are afraid they might hurt their aunt so they flee to Central Park where evil awaits them.

I highly recommend this book if you like creepy, scary and very gory descriptive scenes especially near the end.  I'm glad Cynthia really wanted to take care of the twins and try to give them a real normal life.

The twins are really creepy especially Alice who sneaks up very quietly and I'm glad they both have strong personalities.  Good they have street smarts and Alice is responsible around Rodolfo the Central Park boy king.

4/5

Thanks St. Martin's Press for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!