Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk (Book Review)

 

Summary:

“You don’t read the book. It reads you.

Rumors of a deadly book have been floating around the dark corners of the deep web. A disturbing tale about a mysterious figure who preys on those who read the book and subjects them to a world of personalized terror. Jesse Wheeler–former guitarist of the heavy metal group The Rising Dead–was quick to discount the ominous folklore associated with the book. It takes more than some urban legend to frighten him. Hell, reality is scary enough. Seven years ago his greatest responsibility was the nightly guitar solo. Then one night when Jesse was blackout drunk, he accidentally injured his son, leaving him permanently disabled. Dreams of being a rock star died when he destroyed his son’s future. Now he cuts radio jingles and fights to stay clean. But Jesse is wrong.

The legend is real–and tonight he will become the protagonist in an elaborate scheme specifically tailored to prey on his fears and resurrect the ghosts from his past. Jesse is not the only one in danger, however.

By reading the book, you have volunteered to participate in the author’s deadly game, with every page drawing you closer to your own personalized nightmare.

The real horror doesn’t begin until you reach the end. That’s when the evil comes for you.”

Review:

I wanted to enjoy this book so badly. I was so excited when I got my hands on an arc copy of it because it was one of my most anticipated horror reads of the year, but alas, I don’t think this is the book for me.

I can see why some people would enjoy it. It is the sort of trippy horror that people seem to really like, but that isn’t really my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love my quirky books, I just thought this one was a bit too odd for my liking. It also wasn’t anything like what the blurb promised it to be. I like to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but I will say this, the “cursed book” that is mentioned is not featured in the novel that much. Most of it is following the main character around from dark moment to dark moment.

The book has plenty of good points though. He is brilliantly written, very creative and I really liked the characters. All of the characters felt like real people to me and I loved reading about them. You could easily picture them in real life. I thought that was great. I really cared about the main character and was interested in his struggles with his son and his alcoholism. I can get a little tired reading about addicts because it is a trope featured in so many horror novels (Looking at you King) but it is done so well here.

Overall I think the biggest issue I had with it was the pacing. It just felt too fast. I get that it is trying to make you experience the weirdness and feel as lost as the main character is but I think it could have slowed down a little bit. If I found myself zoning out for a page the characters would somehow be somewhere entirely different.

I think if you are a fan of psychological horror you would probably enjoy this book more than I did. Give it a read yourself and see what you think.

Warnings:

Adult themes,  strong language, sexual language, sexual themes, gore, violence, substance abuse.

Rating:

2 Out of 5 Skulls

Want to keep up to date with posts but don’t have WordPress? Follow along on Facebook & Twitter for your regular updates.