October 7, 2019
This underwhelming homage to slasher films from Shea (Antarctic Ice Beasts) delivers plenty of gore, but fails to bring a fresh take to the genre. Five years before the book opens, Ash and her friends, a group of urban explorers, broke into the abandoned Hayden Resort and were massacred by a killer known as the Wraith. Ash alone survived the attack, and manages to live a fairly normal life until her memories of what happened come flooding back, and she commits suicide. Her grief-stricken fiancé, Todd, follows the cryptic clues that Ash leaves in her suicide note to piece together what really happened five years ago. With the resort scheduled to be demolished, Todd races to learn more about the monster that lurks within its walls and avenge Ash’s death. The violence is visceral and unnerving, but the villain’s backstory lacks the novelty inherent to the best of the genre. Though suspenseful, this grisly horror story is a retread of familiar tropes.
March 6, 2020
Shea (The Montauk Monster) demonstrates his abiding love for the slasher genre in this new novel, masterfully deploying and upending horror traditions and tropes. Todd's fianc�e, Ashley, was the "final girl" survivor of a killing spree during an urban exploration adventure at a long-abandoned Catskills Mountains resort. Unable to recover from the ordeal, Ashley dies by suicide, prompting Todd and their friends to return to the retreat in an attempt to understand her experience and uncover the killer's identity. Unfortunately, they aren't alone. The killer is ready for round two, and soon blood is spurting and limbs are flying. The tense build up to the group's return to the camp provides effective emotional weight and adds to the backstory, and though deceased, Ashley continues to drive the plot via a series of clues she left behind. The twist at the end might make the novel more appealing to some, while diminishing the tension for others. VERDICT Recommend to fans of slasher flicks and readers who can stomach explicit gore.--Monica Howell, Northwestern Health Sciences Univ. Lib., Bloomington, MN
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