SOMETHING IN THE WALLS.....A GENUINE HAUNTING OR A CHILD'S DELIRIUM? WITCH IS WHICH? (****)

 Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (2025)

     True admission - halfway through this book, I experienced a genuine jolt-you-awake nightmare, a rare occurrence for someone who's consumed untold quantities of horror movies, books and TV shows. So how's that for a glowing recommendation for a scary read to keep you up nights?

     Author Daisy Pearce envelops you in an atmosphere of dread that maintains the sense of unease and impending doom right to the very end.......all leading up to final pages that spring even a few more dark, ironic twists.

     The ink has barely dried on Mina's psychology degree when she's recruited by journalist Sam Hunter to help him either confirm or debunk a so-called paranormal haunting possession. In Banathel, an economically crumbling little remote village, a 12 year old girl shows signs of possession by a witch. Or does she? Do the strange, disturbing events surrounding the child signify a supernatural entity or just the grounded in reality symptoms of mental dysfunction? Or even nothing more than an elaborate hoax designed to generate publicity?

     Mina and Sam's attempts to probe these terrifying mysteries quickly spiral out of control, traumatizing them both....... because whatever torments young Alice, it knows THEIR most agonizing guilty secrets as well.

     Everything a horror aficionado craves in a page turning frightfest is all here. My only quibble - it dawdles a bit before finally arriving full force to its gruesome conclusion, a grand mixture of 'The Exorcist', 'The Wicker Man' and every book and film you've ever read or seen about awful weird doings in sleepy English villages.

     Have a horrific good time with this one......keep all the lights on and avoid any fireplaces.

      4 spooky stars. (****)

I AM THE CAGE......A CHILDHOOD OF PAIN ISOLATES A YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE WORLD....(*****)

I Am the Cage by  Allison Sweet Grant (2025))

     Such an intimate powerful story of one terribly hurt young woman. I don't know how any readers could experience this book without becoming invested in and deeply moved by the gut wrenching isolation of 19 year old Elizabeth. 

     After finishing high school, she's dropped out of the world, living a solitary hermit's life in a remote Wisconsin cabin. Elizabeth survived a childhood of almost indescribable medical torture. She suffered for years with a metal leg brace pinned to her bones in order to adjust their growth.

     Through all the years of torment, her sense of self worth has been chipped away by the excruciating agonies of the procedure along with the apparent lack of empathy from her mother. Healed only physically, she seeks total solitude as the only way to protect herself from a world of hurt.

     But then a winter blizzard leaves her stranded and forced to rely on the help of her nearest neighbor Noah, the small town's young Sheriff. In gradual increments, Noah's concern and genuine friendship bring out glimmers of humanity and new perceptions in this bedeviled young soul. After years in the dark, sunlight's peeking through for her.

     For a heart touching experience, I can't praise this book highly enough. There's a kind of ethereal, haunting poetry to it, as well as some actual, beautifully crafted poetry in Elizabeth's deepest thoughts.

     For anyone who wants to experience the highs and lows of a character's life-affirming journey out of anguish, I'd say this book's as good as it gets.

        5 stars (*****) Prepare for this one to shake you.

YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED.....SIX MYSTERY WRITERS STUCK ON AN ISLAND....WHO'S THE KILLER?

  You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego (2025 - Release Date 2/11/25)

     If nothing else, this book could stake its claim to having one of the most attention getting titles of the year. Who could resist it? With a title like that, you just knew it could only be - #1. Your family's invitation to Thanksgiving dinner where everyone holds different political views. Or #2. A locked room mystery with a host of unusual suspects trapped on a remote storm stricken island.

     Surprise surprise ....it's #2. with the added attraction of the host and guests all being best selling mystery authors. And with another big non=surprise......our host, mysterious, anonymous author J.R. Alastor plans to subject his guests to all sorts of puzzling clues and games, based on the secret sins each one is hiding. You would need something akin to a NCAA March Madness chart to make sense of everybody's scandals and exactly how they interconnect with each other. One thing's certain......these people will wish they'd gone on that 3 hour cruise to Gilligan's Island rather than this lethal shindig.

     Assisting Alastor in all these murderous revelries is failed writer turned event planner Mila del Angel. But unknown to Alastor, Mila's using this opportunity to wreak overdue vengeance on one of the novelist guests, someone who wronged her terribly, leaving her life and future ambitions in ruins.

     The guests themselves arrive with enough emotional baggage and darkest of secrets to fill out a dozen 'trapped-on-a-storm-tossed-island murder mysteries. So it's no great mystery when the 'And-then-there-were-none' body count starts steadily rise to alarming proportions.

     In the first chapters, author Ande Pliego uses just enough measures of acerbic wit to poke
some overdue fun at this well worn genre and all its tropes. I only wish the book had maintained that level of sardonic mockery all the way through. But as the bodies pile up and the expected multiple twists finally arrive, the book (and we its readers) become immersed in the impossibly intricate mysteries. on display.

     I'm in complete awe of how this labyrinth of a plot works itself out in the final pages. I'd recommend "You Are Fatally Invited" to any mystery fanatics who love to end up muttering multiple times "Well I didn't see THAT one coming.".

          4 stars (****). Remember to avoid excursions to remote islands in the midst of stormy weather......not in books, just in real life.....

THE MEADOWBROOK MURDERS.....AMONG THE STUDENT BODY....TWO DEAD BODIES...(****)

 The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman (2025)

     There are worse things than attending an exclusive Prep School for the sons and daughters of the Uppercrust. but given the horrible things that occur there in YA thrillers, I'm not so sure.

     But let me give credit to author Jessica Goodman - even though I wasn't inclined to care one millimeter about any of these student-suspects, the book's brutal murders and search for the killer hooked me from start to finish. And the deeper I got into it, I began to admire the story's perceptive takes on the nature of friendship, the clash of the super-rich with everybody below them and role of journalism in a society feeding on tabloid sound bites.

     The Meadowbrook school's rocked by the stabbing deaths of seniors Sarah and Ryan, both found in bed together by Amy, the girl's traumatized roommate. Budding school newspaper editor Liz is determined to use her investigative instincts to uncover the truth, but she's kept on a tight leash by her advisor and the Meadowbrook Headmaster. They much prefer uplifting stories about how the school's coping with such horrific tragedy.

     Absolutely no more should I spill, plot-wise, other than to say there's no shortage of suspects as the startling reveals and twists begin to unfold. And of course, on top of the mystery, a reader can sample a full menu of YA romantic betrayals, as well as friendships and rivalries that date back to childhood. It's fascinating to watch the back=and=forth clashes of the wealthy entitled Amy and middle class struggler Liz, right up to the expected melodramatic climax.

     While not the most puzzling or clever of murder mysteries, this book surely succeeded in keeping me turning those pages until the perp's at last unmasked in a more than satisfying finale, and a well done aftermath, both poignant and realistic.

     Maybe the next book in this genre could be "How to attend Prep School and still come out alive."

      4 stars (****)