It’s a new year and with some helpful suggestions, thanks ya’ll, The Sorrows won out as the first book I will review in 2019.
This is Jonathan Janz’s debut novel and I had a scary good read.
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The Sorrows
by Jonathan Janz
My Review
I grew up with a love of horror. Especially hauntings. Having read and enjoyed other books by Jonathan Janz, I was curious to go back and read his debut book. It’s fun to find new authors who give you terrific scary stories and then go back to see what their first books were like. I’m happy to say Jonathan’s writing was just as strong, just as creepy then, as it is now.
What did I get? Two guys are scrambling to meet a looming deadline to produce a score for a horror movie. Lack of inspiration leads to desperate measures and they, along with a few others, head off to an isolated island for motivation. Castle Black, also known as The Sorrows because of its sordid history, seems like the perfect place to find some. Until it isn’t.
This book had me coming and going. You learn about the terrible and mysterious history of what happened long ago on the island. And what happened to others later on who got too curious.
Let’s talk about this latest group of visitors to the cursed island. I didn’t like any of them. I tried to find something to redeem them, but never did. That’s okay. Now and then I like to be on team evil. And I don’t always have to bond with the character’s to enjoy a good story. Especially with horror genres. I can have fun discovering how they meet their maker or pay the price for being so stupid to go there in the first place. Not saying I believe in the supernatural. But, I’ve seen a lot of movies. read a lot of books, and I have a healthy dose of what if. No way would I have went there.
Strange occurrences and plenty of spooky vibes kept this story moving at a steady pace as the island worked its evil intentions, and the author took me to some weird places. Glad I read this. It shows that from the very beginning Janz knew his horror.
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Synopsis
Ben Shadeland and Eddie Blaze are the hottest young music composers in Hollywood. Fresh off an Oscar nomination, they’ve just been chosen to score a big-budget horror movie by Lee Stanley, the most demanding director in film. But Ben, the creative half of the duo, hasn’t written a note since his wife divorced him and got custody of their three-year-old son.
Chris Blackwood is the gambling-addicted heir to the Blackwood fortune, which includes the Sorrows, an island off the coast of northern California. The island and its castle have been uninhabited since a series of gruesome, unexplained murders in 1925, but Chris needs money, and to get it he allows Ben, Eddie, Claire Harden (an aspiring composer), and Eva Rosales (Lee Stanley’s gorgeous assistant) to stay a month in Castle Blackwood.
Eddie is certain an eerie, isolated setting is just what Ben needs to find musical inspiration for a horror film. But what they find is more horrific than any movie.
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You can find a list of my reviews HERE.