This was not at all what I was expecting. And yes this is exactly what you want to hear. This is a story of James, AKA Jimmy’s, downward spiral into madness after a tragic accident. His family has a history of mental illness and he has just hit the point where either he is going crazy or something else is actually happening.
The author is obviously very selective of the words she uses and her prose are quite elaborate that they can be distracting from the overall story. She puts a lot of effort into each individual line of the story such that I often got lost in the words and descriptions she was using versus what was actually happening. Something really neat and not something I come across a lot in a horror story. I fully understood the story I was listening to but I found myself following how things were said versus what was said. I greatly enjoyed this writing and think this made me realize this difference of professional versus amateur writing. This style caused the book to be longer then needed but I felt this was meant for the journey and not the destination.
The story itself is quite neat. I really liked the basic plot line coupled with the mental illness that was maybe real or maybe prophetic dreams that become self-fulfilling. The paranormal aspects take a basic love triangle story to a whole new level. The way everything unraveled was perfect. Everyone had their own viewpoint and their own agenda. A really twisted couple of friends. I wasn’t sure who was the good guy through all of this and I find that quite satisfying. Even in the end I wasn’t quite sure who actually deserved sympathy.
Again I loved the words used to tell the story and I felt like the narrator told the story quite melodic. If anyone can read a story as if it were a poem, Gary did it well. His whispery tone told the story like it was a secret. I really liked how he approached this and even though his tone didn’t change much for the characters he provided everything I wanted to hear in an audiobook. The author’s story and narrator’s telling of it were perfectly matched.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
Review from Crescendo: Welcome home. Death awaits. →