Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

Eh. I tried to get into this. I gave up halfway through and just grudgingly finished this thing over a period of like four weeks. Bah. It had a great premise, it just got boring to me halfway through. And then I kept finding other books to read instead. Maybe if I hadn't started King's "The Institute" (nope still not done) and seen some similar themes here, it would have grabbed me. Honestly it reminds me a lot of La Valle's "The Devil in Silver" with too many themes going on to settle on just one main thread. 

"We Are Monsters" follows a a troubled psychiatrist Dr. Alex Drexler who starts to do experimental trails on the criminally insane at the asylum he works at. This ties into a serial killer who just arrives, Crosby Nelson, and of course bad consequences emerge. I didn't really like anyone in this because any doctor with a God complex is always going to start some shit. Honestly parts of this book reminds me a bit of old school Koontz with his whole debate about science moving faster than humanity and the consequences that emerge.

There are other characters in this book, Dr. Eli Alpert, Angela, of course Dr. Drexler and Crosby (woo boy that name). I just didn't care after a while what was going on with anyone though. 

The writing was stilted after a while and some of the sentences made me scratch my head. Since this was an ARC, maybe the final version gets more polished. The flow just gets dragged down after a while too. I maybe went okay then, can we please move on like a dozen times.

The book definitely reads like a Southern Gothic novel I have to say. It's usually one of my fav genres. I just got bored and didn't feel wholly engaged by the time we get to the ending. 

Dr. Emil Alpert runs the Sugar Hill mental asylum with compassion and humanity, treating his patients with understanding rather than drugging them into catatonic submission.
However, his protégé, Dr. Alex Drexler views treatment of the mentally ill differently, secretly testing a new experimental drug that he believes can cure schizophrenia. Driven beyond his means and his better judgement, he seeks fame and fortune at any cost.
When the brutal murder of a former patient, seemingly by a member of the hospital staff sets in motion a series of errors that removes Dr. Alpert from his position, Drexler is given his chance to prove his drug works....by testing it on the asylum's newest and most infamous patient.....Crosby Nelson, the 'Apocalypse Killer'.
Allowing his ambitions to override his common sense, Drexler agrees.....and discovers his drug does something he never planned for...
Crosby Nelson's inner demons have broken loose in the halls of Sugar Hill, and no one is safe.

Because the demons that haunt the Apocalypse Killer are many, and they won't be denied.

An interesting novel that balances between a hard look at how society treats the mentally ill and a straight out horror thriller.

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.

I give up. I made it 20% into the novel and just couldn't make myself care enough to continue. This may be someone else's cup of tea, but in the end I decided I had (much) better stuff to read. Here are my main problems with this book:

1. I had no clue what was going on. I don't mind a novel starting in media res, but at some point things have to start making some sense for me to want to keep reading. And yes, I get that there will be an "all will be revealed" moment somewhere down the line, but I honestly didn't care enough to find out.

2. While I love a good forced confinement story (Misery is one of my favorite novels ever, in any genre), this one just felt like a trip through one of these extreme haunted houses that have become popular in recent years. Instead of gripping psychological terror, it's simply torture porn and seems to be geared towards being consumed more as a film than a novel. This is made worse by the fact that the main character doesn't have enough of a personality to drive the story forward. He's simply a prop for things to happen to him.

3. The popular trope of book/video/message that curses anyone who handles it has become overused and boring. In this case, it's a book, and there are sporadic, clumsy callouts to the reader (that is, us) warning us to put the book down, or mentioning that there's a camera recording us right now... yawn. This might have worked if it had been better planned.

Otherwise, the writing was actually quite decent. I just wish it had kept me interested.

If anyone else reads this and actually likes it, I would love to chat about it. And I'm not being sarcastic here; part of the problem might be that I'm just not the right audience for this book. But hey, maybe this means I won't get killed by the creepy book. Right?

I received this copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure how much I like this so far. For one, the beginning is really confusing; I get not wanting to give too much backstory, but there's such a thing as too much in the other direction. It's also one of these stories where the reader is supposed to now be implicated (by virtue of the book itself, which we now own and is supposed to be affecting us); so far, the references to this aspect have felt clumsy (there's a phrase at some point that says something like "I didn't notice the camera, which is like the one now pointed at you" sigh okay). Finally, and this is just a personal preference, I'm not too into the "person chased through the woods after car breaks down" kind of narrative (unless it's done by someone like King; I'll forgive that man just about anything). As much as I love reading horror, I'm not a fan of horror movies at all, and this feels a bit too much like a film trope at this point. But we'll see.

itle: Will Haunt You

Author: Brian Kirk

Pages:288

Genre:horror

Publisher:Flame Tree Press

book synopsis



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.



My thoughts 

Would I recommend it: No

Will I read anything else by this author: don't know

When I say the cover I was hopping for book that was going to keeping me up all night reading and one that was going to be scary and creepy , and sadly it didn't do any of those things, in fact there was times I wanted to DNF it but I didn't for I kept hopping it would get better and win me over ,once again it didn't do any those thing, its not a story kept me wanting to read it , in fact there was non thing I liked about it at all , it didn't pull me in to , it didn't hook me , it was just boring and confusing .With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read it and review it exchange for my honest opinion.