Whistle - Linwood Barclay

I’ve read everything that Linwood Barclay has written. And I thought I knew what I would find - some excellent thrillers and mystery suspense. But…I’d also heard that Whistle was a new direction from Barclay. It was indeed!

“A cursed toy train.  A desperate mother.  An evil with a one track mind…..”

Annie is a great lead character.  Barclay gives the reader more info than Annie has about the trains, ensuring I couldn’t put the book down. There are other characters who figure it out and those who already know. I was surprised by some of their fates.

The choice to use toy trains as the ‘evil thing’ was excellent. Because because who would think of them as being dangerous. What kid doesn't have a set?  And the inspiration? Barclay has a large train set up in his home...

I really enjoyed this one and I’m hoping that Barclay continues to explore other ideas like this one.

Stephen King gave Whistle this blurb -“Terrific“. And on the flip-side, I really enjoyed the nod given to King by Linwood.

A Step Past Darkness - Vera Kurian

I liked the title and cover of Vera Kuria's new novel - A Step Past Darkness. I had also enjoyed her debut novel - Never Saw Me Coming. And at last but not least - I liked the premise!

1995. Six high school students who live in the perfect little town of Wesley Falls head down to an abandoned mine for a big party. Uh huh, you're getting the idea right? The six see something unbelievable down in the mine. They swear to each that they'll never speak about it again, to be careful, and to get out of the town as soon as they graduate. Gotcha yet? I was - I needed to know more about the mine and what they saw.

2025. Five of the six return to Wesley Falls - and I'll leave it there for you to discover what happens next...

A Step Past Darkness is told in a now and then style. I always like this style of storytelling. Just when we're on the cusp of something, we're taken back to the teen years. It makes for addictive reading.

All six characters are given a voice, so we see what's going on from very different views and timelines. Each one has a unique personality. I quite liked them all, but especially Jia. Her view is not quite like the others. Kurian has fleshed out each protagonist with a rich personal story that enhances the story being told. 

The suspense action and danger and action is palpable. (There's a bit of a Stranger Things feel to this tale.) And the final aha is was spot on for this reader. See for yourself. Read an excerpt of A Step Past Darkness. I'll be watching for Kurian's third book!

Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak

I read Jason Rekulak's first novel back in 2017 and loved it. I was thrilled to see that he had penned a new book - Hidden Pictures. This descriptor and cover from the publisher caught my eye...."comes a wildly inventive spin on the classic horror story in Hidden Pictures, a supernatural thriller about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets." Who else liked it? Stephen King did..."I loved it." 

I quite liked the flawed but likable lead character Mallory. She's a recovering addict and desperately wants this second chance to pan out. She's making good money, has her own little cabin to live in, the parents seem like good people and their little boy Teddy is a joy. Sounds great right? But...yup, there's that but. Young Teddy starts drawing some increasingly disturbing pictures. The parents dismiss her concerns but....

I'm going to leave things there for you to discover. Rekulak's plot is inventive and insidious. The creep factor increases as Teddy's drawings begin to tell an unsettling tale. The drawings included in the book  from illustrators Will Staehle and Doogie Horner add extra goosebumps. 

Hidden Pictures was a page turner for me. I was caught up in the story and really wanted to know what/who was behind the pictures as well as the why. I have to say, Rekulak surprised me with a twist that no reader could predict on the way to the answers. Bravo! I absolutely love being caught off guard with what direction a book is going to take. A few situations require a few grains of salt - but go with it. It's entertainment I'm after and I definitely found it in the pages of Hidden Pictures. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Hidden Pictures.