Welcome to Freakin Fridays, where I share my reviews of books that scare you, thrill you, and get those endorphins pumping.
Today’s book just released today and you’ll want to check it out!
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Beyond Night
by Eric S. Brown and Steven L. Shrewsbury
Genre: Epic Fantasy / Horror
My Review
Bigfoot, a Roman legion, Picts, wizards and bloody carnage. I knew I had to read this book. I’ve enjoyed Eric’s Bigfoot War Series and this is my first time reading something by Steven. I was curious how this author team would handle the disappearance of a Roman legion consisting of 5000 battle seasoned men.
They did an outstanding job, giving a fascinating historical account of the Roman invasion into Pict lands, spicing it up with some magic in the form of wizards, a weaver and a long dead Pict queen.
And let’s not forget Bigfoot. They are huge, mad with a lust for carnage and damn near unstoppable. When the slew of creatures attack the Roman’s its absolute chaos and this horror fan loved it.
There was a hitch in my reading pleasure though. It was hard going at the beginning. The sentences were oddly written. I’m guessing its written as the character’s would speak in their time. And commas often felt like they were in the wrong place, breaking the flow of the story for me. Once I got the hang of it, I was able to concentrate more on the story. My copy is an ARC so I have no idea if the published book has these same occurrences.
There’s so many agendas in play. Each side believes theirs is the right one and use any means necessary to win. Subterfuge, strategy, magic and blunt force all come into play as all move toward an epic battle.
Egad, this was one dark, vicious read, filled with heavy atmosphere. The writing was powerful and I easily visualized many scenes, my imagination fueled by movies like The 13th Warrior and The Centurian.
If you’re a fan of Bigfoot, Lovecraftian and historical horror, you’ll want to read this one.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
A tale of action, adventure, heroism, horror and sorcery…
BEYOND NIGHT pulls back the veil of nearly two thousand years of jaded history. Come trod in the bloody footprints left by monsters, soldiers and wizards and behold what lies hidden BEYOND NIGHT itself.
It’s Bigfoot War mixed with Lovecraftian horror on the edge of the Roman Empire.
How could Rome lose a Legion? What could’ve happened to blot out the existence of over five thousand men not only form history but the Earth itself?
As the Legion moves north to engage the forces of Pictdom, a dark horror emerges from the bowels of the Earth. Thought to be random attacks by hulking monsters, Decurion August soon learns a dire truth, that these bloody events are directed by opposing the wizards of the Picts. While one side assembles all tribes in a confederated army to battle the Legion, the other pulls these Greyman beasts from the depths of the Earth.
August fights not only these creatures and workers of magicks, but internal passions in the Legion itself.
Can he discover a way to survive the enormous bloodletting about to take place that will only serve to satisfy the wizards of Pictdom?
“Bloody battles, Roman legions, Pictish armies, supernatural entities and the mist covered hills of my homeland… how could I fail to be charmed? Fans of David Gemmell will lap up this earthy, brutal fantasy.” – William Meikle
“Vivid Lovecraftian horror set on the northern fringe of the Roman Empire. A powerful book with very real soldiers—and definitely not for the squeamish.” – David Drake, Hammer’s Slammers
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About The Authors
Eric S Brown is the author of numerous book series including the Bigfoot War series, the Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova), the Crypto-Squad series (with Jason Brannon), the Homeworld series (with Tony Faville and Jason Cordova), the Jack Bunny Bam series, and the A Pack of Wolves series. Some of his stand alone books include War of the Worlds plus Blood Guts and Zombies, World War of the Dead, Last Stand in a Dead Land, Sasquatch Lake, Kaiju Armageddon, Megalodon, Megalodon Apocalypse, Kraken, Alien Battalion, The Last Fleet, and From the Snow They Came to name only a few. His short fiction has been published hundreds of times in the small press in beyond including markets like the Onward Drake and Black Tide Rising anthologies from Baen Books, the Grantville Gazette, the SNAFU Military horror anthology series, and Walmart World magazine. He has done the novelizations for such films as Boggy Creek: The Legend is True (Studio 3 Entertainment) and The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot (Great Lake films). The first book of his Bigfoot War series was adapted into a feature film by Origin releasing in 2014. Werewolf Massacre at Hell’s Gate was the second of his books to be adapted into film in 2015. Major Japanese publisher, Takeshobo, recently bought the reprint rights to his Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova) and it is slated for 2018 release in Japan. Ring of Fire Press will be releasing a collected edition of his Monster Society stories (set in the New York Times Best-selling world of Eric Flint’s 1632) later this year. In addition to his fiction, Eric also writes an award-winning comic book news column entitled “Comics in a Flash.” Eric lives in North Carolina with his wife and two children where he continues to write tales of the hungry dead, blazing guns, and the things that lurk in the woods.
Award winning author Steven L. Shrewsbury lives and works in Central Illinois. He writes hardcore sword & sorcery and horror novels. Twenty of his novels have been published, including Born of Swords, Within, Overkill, Philistine, Hell Billy, Thrall, Blood & Cell, Stronger Than Death, Hawg, Tormentor and Godforsaken. His horror/western series includes Bad Magick, Last Man Screaming and the forthcoming Mojo Hand. He has collaborated with Brian Keene on the two works King of the Bastards and Throne of the Bastards and Peter Welmerink on the Viking saga Bedlam Unleashed. A big fan of books, history, guns, the occult, religion and sports, he tries to seek out brightness in the world, wherever it may hide.
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You can find a list of my reviews HERE.