May was a good month for my reading goals, and I managed to spend a lot of time reading thanks to being on vacation (yay!) followed by a brief bout of illness thanks to picking up an airport bug (boo!).
So, here’s how it went:
- 7 books completed
- 100% fiction
- 100% physical books
And here’s how I rated them…
Red River Seven by A. J. Ryan
Seven strangers. One mission. Infinite horror.
A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who or where he is. He’s not alone – there are six others, each with a unique set of skills. None of them can remember their names. All of them possess a gun.
When a message appears on the onboard computer – Proceeding to Point A – the group agrees to work together to survive whatever is coming.
But as the boat moves through the mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form. Who is directing them and to what purpose? Why can’t they remember anything?
And what are the screams they can hear beyond the mist?
Internationally bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan – writing as A. J. Ryan – delivers a nerve-shredding thriller in which seven strangers must undertake a terrifying journey into the unknown.
Seven strangers are placed on a boat to undertake a vital mission, but with no memory of themselves or their objective tensions run high. Can they trust each other, and how will they achieve their goal if they don’t remember what they are fighting for?
An action-packed horror with as many twists and turns as the river they are travelling down.
4 out of 5 stars
Murder Road by Simone St. James
A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.
July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.
When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.
A newlywed couple have a supernatural experience en route to their honeymoon and become trapped in a small American town. They are drawn into the local urban legend and become determined to solve a string of mysterious murders that have taken place over several decades.
A spooky tale with a fun 90’s setting. Complex and loveable characters, but failed to deliver any scares.
3.5 out of 5 stars
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye’s decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiralling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavour will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether.
Haunted by violent dreams that spark an inescapable need for radical change. Themes of identity, family values, and the daring act of transformation are explored within three acts.
A disturbing read that left me feeling unsettled.
4 out of 5 stars
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.
That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.
Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.
We’ve all been there, crying in the bath and cursing the name of an ex-boyfriend…but what if you were actually a witch and you accidentally hexed your ex, putting your whole town at risk in the process?
The Ex Hex is a spicy romantic comedy with some cosy spooky season vibes. This was more focused on the relationship between our main character and her love interest, with not enough witchiness for my personal tastes. I would have loved a deeper focus on the magic system and lore, but this is a cute read with a loveable cast of characters. Bonus points for focus on healthy female family relationships, queer rep, and an adorable grumpy cat.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Believe Me by JP Delaney
In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation.
A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.
Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.
Then the game changes.
When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.
Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?
A tangled web of lies that could have deadly consequences. An aspiring actress plays a dangerous game when she is hired by police who need her to go undercover and get close to a suspect they have been tracking for years. As she gets drawn deeper into her role, she risks leaving her real life behind…
A twisty, fast-paced thriller that kept me switching sides and completely in the dark about who I should be rooting for!
I love the colour grading on the title of my paperback copy, if you look closely the word “LIE” has a different shade of red than the rest of the word “BELIEVE” ♥️
3 out of 5 stars
Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino
Paired with two stories of creeping tension and unsettled minds, the unnerving title novella Nails and Eyes introduces a unique new voice in Japanese literature.
With masterful narrative control, Nails and Eyes—appearing in English for the first time—builds to a conclusion of uncanny power.
A young girl addresses her stepmother, who has moved in shortly after her mother’s death in unusual circumstances. The girl shows strangely detailed knowledge of the older woman’s life, and as her stepmother settles into the house, the girl’s obsession sharpens to an ever finer point.
Strange and haunting tales of everyday life where something is deeply wrong beneath the calm facade presented by this cast of characters.
This volume contains three short stories fraught with tension and it made for some uneasy reading. Dark and emotional, with a very different take on horror. I felt a little disconnected from the characters, and frustrated with their behaviours at times, but their struggles and flaws were beautifully written.
2 out of 5 stars
The Double Clue by Agatha Christie
A perfect introduction to Agatha Christie – four of the best Hercule Poirot stories, chosen for their readability and sense of adventure.
A man is found shot through the head in a locked room. A wealthy banker vanishes while posting a letter. A thief disappears with a haul of rubies and emeralds. And, in the golden sands of Egypt, the men who discovered an ancient tomb are dying one by one . . .
Hercule Poirot, the fussy Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head and immaculate moustache, solved some of the world’s most puzzling crimes. This book contains four of the very best stories, selected by John Curran, author of Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks, and Sophie Hannah, who wrote the brand new Hercule Poirot novel, The Monogram Murders.
Includes the stories ‘The Double Clue’, ‘The Market Basing Mystery’, ‘The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim’ and ‘The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb’.
A collection of four short stories featuring the inimitable Hercule Poirot. I love Agatha Christie’s style and storytelling skills. This was a fun little read with satisfying mysteries that left me wanting more. An excellent introduction to the Belgian inspector.
4 out of 5 stars
Currently reading…
I always like to have a couple of books on the go, in various formats so that I can always have something ready to pick up and read whenever the fancy takes me.
Currently reading:
- With this Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher.
From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young woman with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her best friend. But she carries a painful burden, something she’s kept hidden for years; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. But she’s never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if her kiss is the thing that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was sixteen.
Then she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t… or can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change what she sees?
Spellbinding, magical and utterly original, With This Kiss is one love story you will never forget.
- Interference by Brad Parks.
Quantum physicist Matt Bronik is suffering from strange, violent seizures that medical science seems powerless to explain—much to the consternation of his wife, Brigid.
Matt doesn’t think these fits could be related to his research, which he has always described as benign and esoteric. That, it turns out, is not quite Matt has been prodding the mysteries of the quantum universe, with terrible repercussions for his health. And perhaps even for humanity as a whole.
Then, in the midst of another seizure, Matt disappears. When foul play is feared, there is no shortage of suspects. Matt’s research had gained the attention of Chinese competitors, an unscrupulous billionaire, and the Department of Defense, among others.
With Matt’s life in clear danger, Brigid sets out to find him. Will Matt be killed before she reaches him, or could the physics that endangered him actually be used to save his life?
Bookish socials
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Storygraph @heartofhorrors
And all the rest via linktree @heartofhorrors
Let me know in the comments:
What is your most recent read?
What is on your TBR?
Have you read any of the books in my latest wrap-up?
