My second and just as terrifying Ronald Malfi book. The first one, a short story collection ‘They Lurk’, still gives me shudders to think about. All I can say is Good God this guy is good. Sheer straight in the gut horror. There’s some queasy parts in here but that’s not what makes him so good. It’s the sheer hopeless mounting and suffocating dread which oozes from each chapter without respite. Without giving anything away, it’s a story about a small dying Maryland town stalked by a monster. A monster which can shred your body or your mind. I can feel the exhaustion of the poor town sheriff as he tries to cope and the damp from the apparently never ending rain. I can only say this about precious few authors but so help me I turned this book on with trepidation when I listen at night. Every sound I can’t account for as the absolutely amazing narrator David Stifel tells the story. I’ve heard Stifel read some Bentley Little books. His voice seems too sweet and kind for horror but maybe that and his pitch perfect inflections make him so frightening as well. At the risk of offending Marylanders who may read this, I’ve also read a lot of Edward Lee who also sets his savage horror novels in Maryland. Neither Lee nor Malfi should be on the state tourist board. Each town they describe is wretched and rotting and poor, filled with perverts and brutes and all other manner of corrupt human being. I feel coated in slime just getting to know the inhabitants to say nothing of the monsters who hunt them. If it’s all the same to you good people, if their portrayal of your state is even ten percent accurate I do believe I’ll steer clear. And I come from the heart of Lovecraft country for God’s sake ! The part which is uncomfortably close to Innsmouth anyway. What else can I say ? Two books in and Malfi is up there with the best horror novelists I know. I thought I was tough as rawhide chew when it comes to fear but Malfi has me on the ropes. I had to pause the book both to write this and because I don’t like the cold sweat on my body or the dark silence of the house. Bravo Mr Malfi. Long may you write.