CRONE.....DEEP IN THE DARKEST HEARTS OF DARKNESS....(*****)....

Crone by Keith Rosson  (2026)

     All lovers of Take-No-Prisoners, Leave-Nobody-Unscathed blood dripping, gore drenched horror.......... fasten your seatbelts and try to keep your stomachs in the upright position. Because what goes on in author Keith Rosson's Pacific Northwest little town is more than equal to any of the monstrosities lurking in Stephen King's New England burgs.

     It seems to start out like a grungy, gritty crime noir, filled with psychotic low level drug lords and their pathetic hopelessly addicted customers. Trapped amid them is disgraced ex-cop and ex-addict Eli Lamp, with a backstory riddled with gut-wrenching tragedy, a life strewn with all the wrong roads taken. Eli, when still on the skids of addiction, was utterly destroyed by the disappearance of his nearly blind teenage daughter Hannah, who foolishly accepted a van ride in the middle of a dark rainy night. His further descent into violence left him in a vise-like obligation to drug kingpin Dave and reduced to eking out a dissolute existence as an enforcer and delivery boy of Dave's graft payouts to the town Chief of Police.

     And now Eli's bedeviled life takes an even darker stranger turn. Anton, one of Dave's two thuggish sons has been found mutilated beyond all rational description.......and Dave's offered Eli a way out of his eternal servitude as a gang minion - to use his rusty skills as a detective to hunt down and deliver up Anton's killer to a revenge frenzied Dave.

     To Eli's growing dread and Dave's stunned amazement, more mutilations and impossible happenings unfold before their disbelieving eyes. And the very last thing victims see is something humanoid, something female, something with enormous jet black wings that block out all light. This escalating carnage appears to coincide with the return of Hannah's best friend Avery,, who's lived with the guilt of doing nothing to stop Hannah from getting into that van. Avery's been drawn back to town by nightmare visions of Hannah and she brings her own set of troubles with her, feeding her powerful drug addiction with money belonging to one of Dave's rival drug lords.....a certain death sentence.

     Beyond the endless, graphic horrors that erupt every few pages or so, I felt equally gripped by the overwhelming sadness and inescapable tragedy in the beleaguered lives of Eli, Avery and Hannah. Even in the constant churn of the cruelty and grotesque supernatural events on display, the book still manages to make you ache and worry for these poor accursed characters. To me, that's what lifted this book into the level of Stephen King excellence and why I'm giving out 5 stars. "The Crone" packs in more fast moving thrills and scares than any multi-episode streaming horror series I've seen in the last few years.

        Anyone fearlessly devoted to seeking out the darkest reads of the spooky season.(or any other time), your search ends here. 5 stars (*****).

IN THE WOODS THEY WAIT......AND YOU WON'T FIND THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC IN THERE......(****)

 In the Woods They Wait by Carrie Lee South (2026)

     This 'something-awful-in-the-woods' thriller takes a good amount of pages (and two separate timelines) to reach its nightmarish finale, but when it finally does......a properly gruesome good time is guaranteed for all.

     Readers should keep in mind that use of 'unnatural' in the book's description.......so we're not talking about a big old bear here, or even Bigfoot. We're dealing with all-out monstrous horror, something apt to give you the willies for nights to come.

     Audrey Figg's career as an Ozark National Park ranger had its haunting, tragic origin in her adolescence. Back then, annoyed with her 13 year old brother Benny as they went hiking through the park trails, Audrey teased and frightened the boy until he lost his way......and then disappeared forever despite exhaustive searches. Telling no one about what led Benny into who knows what fate, for fifteen years Audrey's lived with the deepest guilt and shame, It's this tormenting burden on her mind that led her to stay in the Ozarks, devoting her life to never stop looking for Benny and keep other park visitors safe.......... hence her job as the Park's most skilled Ranger who knows those forests and trails all too well.

     And now another child, a young girl named Ivy has gone missing in the park. As Audrey and her boss Scott organize another massive search, all the terrible memories of Benny's disappearance come flooding back to her. And in Scott's brief sudden expressions of absolute terror, Audrey begins to suspect he knows more than he's ever let on about what Benny and ivy might have encountered. on those remote trails.......and what those cairns, those strange piles of stones left along the way really mean.

     Now that was more than enough to get my heart racing to stay with this book until its final terrors come out in full force. Yes, it makes for a slow burn and there's a point where the chapters flashing back to Benny's story only serve to make you want to get them over with and move on to the good scary stuff. But I do appreciate the time author Carrie Lee South takes to deepen the bonds Audrey has made with her two allies in the search for Ivy, her lifelong friend Corbin (and maybe something more) and her quirky knowledgeable new trainee Porter.

     There's a mixture of hair raising thrills and heartbreak as the book barrels toward Audrey's grandly horrific showdown with whatever's out there and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. And neither should anyone else who can never resist this kind of a shiver-worthy read.

     4 stars (****).

FALLOW......A CORPORATE BABYMAKER'S LIFE GONE AWRY.....PROVOCATIVE AND SUPERB......UNTIL A WRONG LEFT TURN.....(***).

 Fallow by Sarah Anderson (2026)

     Through two thirds of this book, I felt fully prepared to give it 4.5 stars. It boasts a provocative premise bound to stir up plenty of spirited book club discussions. it's engagingly written with dry deadpan humor that doesn't shy away from taking an acidic eye at its lead character and her rather incredible decade long journey. .And yet there's also a sense of genuine empathy and heart in its depiction of what she considers her triumphs and reversals of fortune.

     But then a sudden twist of the plot sends the book spiraling into an altogether different story and literally all new territory. And last third of the book was nowhere near as immediate and compelling as what came before it. To make matters worse, its resolution seemed abrupt and unsatisfying enough to make me wonder if reading it was worth the effort.

     We follow the fortunes of 20-something slacker Natalie, who dearly loves her creature comforts but lacks the drive and ambition to work hard enough to ever pay for them. But her dreams of a work-free comfortable life come true courtesy of a groundbreaking program offered by 'The Company'. Seeking to free their top women execs from profit-draining maternity leave, they recruit Natalie to serve as a corporate surrogate mother. This involves seven IVF pregnancies spread out over 10 years, with huge cash payouts for Natalie on each baby signed sealed and delivered.......not to mention full medical, dental and obstetric care. Natalie, lured by the money, benefits and company perks, dutifully complies as a corporate babymaker..........until her own emotional attachments (or detachments) and a startling turn of events send her birthing career into a wild tailspin.

     And here's where 'Fallow' transforms itself into another kind of book with bizarre circumstances and a whole new set of characters to deal with. The book continues to raise its political, social and hot button gender oriented issues, but it somehow reads like the story's lost its power, its edge and much of the cutting, understated wit that made it such a pleasure to read in the first place. .

     I don't regret getting into it, because at least 60 percent of "Fallow" fires on all cylinders but that problematic 3rd act knocked it down to 3 stars for me. (***).

      (But I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall for the book club meetings on this one.....)

I AM THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED..... A WHOLE MESS 'O MONSTERS IN ONE KOOKY, OOKY 'N SPOOKY TOWN.....(****)

 I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas (2026)

     Can't get enough ghosts, monsters and assorted Things That Go Thunk! in the night? Can't get enough stories of luckless teens who went into the eerie woods and never came out again? Can't get enough dark, dark whatevers who lived under your bed when you were a child?

     Your search is over and your nightmares have all come true. Because author Emily Zinnikas has populated her book with a veritable rush hour traffic jam of supernatural entities........so many that you'd need a 4-way Stop Sign to keep them from crashing into each other.

     Even better news......the story behind this creepy paranormal zoo is a grabber, too. Prolific, gifted and reclusive artist Willa hides away from her adolescent notoriety as the lone survivor of that horrific teens-in-the-woods massacre in her small town of Rapture. (Ironically named, since you can bet that nobody's headed for heaven in this disturbing burg....)

     Even though that entire town reviles her as the true killer who escaped justice, Willa feels compelled to return to Rapture. She's gone back to mourn and to attend the funeral of her high school art teacher, always a beloved mentor and friend to her.. Back living in her old home, Willa's still a loathed pariah in town and she's also besieged and threatened by an unseen stalker, whose identity she thinks she well knows....... and whom she plans to turn the tables on.

     But there's more than just bad memories and simmering hatreds coming to a boil in Rapture. There's Willa's so-called imaginary under-the-bed friend who might make a comeback......not to mention the horrifying unknowable things in the basement and whatever's lurking in those woods that needs to be fed on a regular basis.. And this spooky showdown promises more scary craziness than an up-all-night horror movie festival.....

     My only quibble here comes from the book's last third, which drags out the story's Grand Finale through what feels like chapter after endless chapter. It runs the risk of becoming such an exhaustive marathon to endure that it borders on the ridiculous.. But then again, with all the monsters and who-knows-what coming out to play, there's plenty of undeniable tension, twists, suspense and the stuff of many future bad dreams.

     You can snuggle up with this one, keep just the reading light on and have yourself one chilling private Halloween party.....or do that any dark stormy night of the year.......happy hauntings.....

     4 stars (****).

DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS.....AT THIS SCHOOL, THEY EITHER GRADUATE YOU.....OR TERMINATE YOU.....(****)

Deadly Little Lessons by Danielle Valentine (2026)

     I would think by now that we all know what lies in store for a wayward, delinquent teen girl when she enters a top-of-the-line, handsomely appointed Prep school featuring the highest of academic standards and a lush campus that looks like a slightly scaled down Ivy League university.

     Those ominous three soundtrack notes should pound in our ears.....Dum Dum DUMMMMM!!! Or to put it mildly....This. Does. Not. Bode. Well.

     Lia MIchaels, skilled lock-picker, computer hacker, and veteran of many foster homes and juvie lockups, is as stunned as anyone when she's accepted, along with her beloved foster sis Scarlett to Luminary Prep. An all new experiment in secondary education, Luminary has thrown away standard classroom procedures and now accentuates actual hands-on practical experiences and events for every subject taught. Their students are forced to either learn by doing.......or done in. Possibly so permanent, they'll miss prom.

     It doesn't take long for Lia and her incoming class to gape in alarm at what this means for their high school careers. At Luminary, you either graduate.......or you evaporate. In the course of their courses, the student body (or bodies) start severely shrinking. Sometimes their 'lessons' leave them maimed, or presumably dead......or erased altogether from the school role call. This place makes The Hunger Games look like Sesame Street. And only one lucky, plucky student gets to move on to college......the last one left alive in time for the graduation ceremony. (We can only assume they'd also have to serve as their one and only Valedictorian. And certainly cuts down on the number of parents in attendance..)

     Amid all these catastrophic classroom disasters, the school's instructors merely repeat a pre-written blather that always ends with..."work the curriculum"........which really doesn't sit well with the students still breathing when the the end-of-class bell rings.

     But toughened streetwise Lia isn't one to go down without a fight and she and a small band of remaining survivors try to uncover the secrets and motives of Luminary as they prepare to execute a daring escape from the place....... before the school starts executing......well, them.

     Similar to dystopian YA, "Deadly Little Lessons" once again proves that no depths exist that adults won't sink to in their efforts to control, dominate and abuse teenagers, thinking they know what's best for them. And to swallow the premise here, you'll really need to park all sense of reality and disbelief deep in the closet somewhere.

     Having said that, though, "Deadly Little Lessons" does in fact make for a fun, fast and enormously entertaining entry in that ever popular genre of 'Shady-Prep-School-Is-Even-Shadier-Than-We-Thought'...with even a little bit 'o budding romance thrown in.

      At least the poor kids didn't have to put up with witches, vampires or slobbering zombies... .....although those ' work the curriculum' jerks really need a stern talking to.....or a stake through their hearts. 

     4 stars (****).

 

LAWS OF SOLOMON.....A KILLER REGAINING HUMANITY.....WHILE HE'S DRAGGED BACK INTO CARNAGE.....(*****).

 Laws of Solomon by Eriq La Salle (2026)

     A triple whammy, this one. An incredibly fast read.....a gut punching, blood soaked action thriller......and most importantly, a penetrating, impassioned examination of redemption, soul crushing loss and a life lived steeped in the brutality that human beings upon one another.

     All of this packed into one swiftly paced book that flies by while it pumps up your adrenalin and breaks your heart at the same time.

     Solomon's early life in mad dictator Idi Amin's Uganda has been forever altered by atrocities beyond all rational description. His family wiped out before his eyes, he's forced into servitude as a merciless child soldier, Soloman, as an adolescent and adult, forges himself into one of the most fearsome (and feared) professional slaughterers on earth. But his life as a mercenary for hire and enforcer for gangsters has left his soul barren, with only little traces of humanity left.

     His attempt to retreat into a monastic solitary life as a gardener on a vast estate comes to an abrupt end. Again, a twist of cruel fate puts him in the path of barbarous evil. Solomon finds himself the defender and protector of an angelic child pursued by a vicious drug lord capable of bottomless carnage...........and whose intent to capture the boy proves relentless and strewn with the bodies of innocent victims in his way.

     Solomon's skills as a bringer of death and vengeance are pushed to the very limit of what he can endure. And the gentle good heart of the boy, Gaby, has started to chip away at his battle hardened nature. We're given illuminating painful looks into Solomon's past filled with the tragedies he lives with daily. By the time I'd reached the last page, I realized the book kept me in its grip for the entire day. from start to finish. And that I knew I couldn't give this book any less than 5 stars. (*****).

      I think I've made my point here........drop everything and read it.

THE MYSTIC AND THE MISSING GIRL.....A CHARMING, OCCULT-ISH COZY....AND JUST PLAIN FUN TO READ....(****).

The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (2026) 

     This book's inescapable charm and lead character won me over from the start. When you add on that picturesque small town cozy flavor, the mystical powers of Tarot cards, a 20 year old unsolved mystery, and two totally unalike men for our main girl to spar with (and maybe a little more).......well, that's an unbeatable recipe for a fun read. And that's exactly what author Vikki VanSickle delivers.

     Drew Benson's inherited two things from her late Aunt Hannah, who was disgraced and reviled for using her psychic powers to help discover the mystery of what became of a beloved, missing teen girl. Drew possesses her aunt's unique gifts of Tarot readings and receiving visions from the feel and touch of inanimate objects. And also from her aunt, she's inherited Hannah's metaphysical store of otherworldly products.

     But like Hannah herself, who was accused of misguiding and confusing the missing girl investigation, the store's been shunned and avoided by the town, often a prime target for vandals. So Drew finds herself now burdened with a failing business, a disapproving mother and a town that unfairly links her to Hannah's notoriety. If that isn't enough she's been badgered by old high school nemesis Nick. now a reporter hoping to write a story to uncover that missing girl's ultimate fate. . While she reluctantly teams up with NIck, using her powers to elicit confounding clues, Drew's also trading quips with and fending off advances from the dashing town lothario Foster Banks.

     The mystery finally revealed isn't that much a of a knock-your-socks-off surprise, but by that time, I was completely captivated by Drew, Nick, the store, the town, the array of suspects, the friends and frenemies surrounding Drew, her paranormal visions and Tarot cards......and even the impish kitten who's takes up residence in the store whether anyone likes it or not. Delightful stuff, all the way and full of heart and humor too in the the wrap-up chapters that bring Drew and the whole cast together.

     And best news in that regard is a finish that implies a potential series in the making. I say bring 'em on. I can't wait.

     4 stars (****).