February 23

Chopping Spree – Angela Sylvaine

Eden Hills, Minnesota is famous for one thing—its ’80s inspired Fashion Mall. When high school junior, Penny, lands a job at one of its trendy stores, she notices her teen coworkers all wear a strange symbol they won’t explain. Suspicious but wanting to belong, she agrees to stay after closing for a party in the closed store. Her fun turns to terror when Penny discovers a mortally wounded boy and learns there is a killer loose in the mall. Soon the teens are running for their lives.

 

I recieved a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley

 

Despite my claims of being a Crime and Thriller blogger I do enjoy other types of books too.  Eagle eyed visitors to the blog will have noticed a few fantasy titles down the years and I am very partial to a good horror story.  When you grow up reading Stephen King, James Herbert, Richard Laymon and Shaun Hutson you know there is absolutely zero chance you will allow yourself to miss out on a book called Chopping Spree.  And look at that cover – it screams to be read.

Chopping Spree is set in an 80’s themed Mall in Minnesota and the reader follows Penny who (at 16) is still in school but she also has a job in one of the high profile fashion stores.  We see her finding her feet in her new job and her nervousness around the highschool heart-throb who also works in the shop. But any teen crush problems are going to fade into insignificance when Penny is confronted in the mall by a man wearing a wolf mask and warning her of danger.

As the mall closes for the evening Penny and her colleagues are locked in after hours with a dangerous would-be killer and that is just the start of Penny’s problems.  Why do her colleagues all wear the same strange symbol? Why is there a hidden door inside her shop? And then people start to die.

Chopping Spree is a novella and I made rapid progress through the story. Events are almost entirely concerned with a single evening of Penny’s life (the last evening?) so it suited the novella length and breaking reading during such a tight timeframe felt a bit wrong – I wanted to keep going.  In terms of horror it is assuredly a tale of terror and peril but it is light on gore and although I haven’t seen Chopping Spree tagged as being a YA read that’s where I felt it could be presented.

For an 80’s music fan there is a great soundtrack to Chopping Spree.  Songs play in the mall and Angela Sylvain blends the songs perfectly with the action on page.  There was also a playlist at the end of the book which I plan to add to my digital library.  These extra touches for readers are always appreciated.

Fun was had with Chopping Spree. I do enjoy a horror tale which stands up without been too ridiculous and the story worked really well for me. Penny is a likeable lead, the mall is a great setting for a horror tale with events contained with no chance of escape and the actual danger is *redacted* but perfectly in keeping with the background.

 

Chopping Spree will be published in digial format on 1 April 2021.  You can pre-order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08W4R1NGL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6

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July 1

The Corruption of Alston House – John Quick

Katherine’s life has been on a downhill turn, filled with tragedy and heartbreak. When she bought Alston House in the small Tennessee town of Poplar Bend, she hoped it would be the chance to turn things around, center herself again, and get serious about her art. True, it was a risk buying a house virtually sight unseen through the internet, but she knew it needed some extensive renovations, so what could go wrong?

What the real estate agent never told her was that Alston House had a history that was among the darkest secrets in the small town. As Katherine begins to put her life back together following her dream as a painter, she discovers there is more here than meets the eye. One of the home’s former residents never left, even after death, and now he seems to have set his sights on her. Can she uncover the darkness at the heart of the town and overcome her personal ghosts, or will she become one more victim to the town’s hidden hearts?

 

 

I received a review copy from the publishers, Silver Shamrock, but I also bought my own copy which I read through Kindle.

 

Forgive me readers but it has been one month since my last confe…erm…my last blog post.  This is entirely down to gravity.  Had it not been for gravity my laptop would not have fatally rushed towards the floor after it lost balance from a high place and the screen would certainly not have cracked up.  Not that it cracked up anywhere near as much as I did trying to get a replacement laptop through my insurance company – but all sorted now and no need to involve the Ombudsman as I eventually had to suggest may happen.

*And Breathe*

So let me turn to John Quick’s excellent The Corruption of Alston House. I started this one back at the beginning of lockdown but rest assued it has not taken me over 100 days to get through it.  Sadly for much of the lockdown time I have been unable to focus on books, everything I had started back in March got put to the side and it has taken me several weeks to slowly get back into my reading. But I had been enjoying The Corrupton of Alston House so I went back to the start and began again – a good decision!

I have always enjoyed a creepy story with a haunted house and in that regard this book was exactly what I needed. Katherine moves to Alston House to start a new life for herself, she leaves upset and tragedy behind her and hopes to restablish her painting as she is a talented artist.  Her new home, Alston House, is a grand property but in need of some maintenance to make it comfortable.  I was already imagining the sprawling old homestead with dark nooks and hidden corners.  There is a graveyard in the grounds (never a good sign) and the basement gives Katherine the chills when she needs to venture down in the dark.

The author builds up the anticipation around the secrets of Alston House really well and even before the really weird stuff kicks in there is a definite sense of foreboding. The first unusual incidents manifest themselves around the paintings which Katherine produces – she becomes so lost in the creative process she cannot even remember some of the details she includes. It is not long before the paintings are just a small part of the shocks which lie in store.

Katherine is befriended by the local marshall who is also trying to match-make her with his younger colleague Bradley. As events in her new home become increasingly dangerous for Katherine she relies more and more upon the support of Bradley and there is more than a spark of romance in the air.  However, one former resident of Alston House wants Katherine for himself and he will not let anything, not even the grave, stand in his way.  As Katherine gains greater understanding of the horrors which ocurred in her home many years earlier she realises a confrontation is looming – one she may not survive.

I always enjoy swapping out my crime reading to take in a good horror tale and The Corruption of Alston House helped me out my lockdown reading slump.  Horror readers should have this one in their collection.

 

 

The Corruption of Alston House is available in paperback and digital format and is free to Kindle Unlimited readers.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0826TT1HH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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