Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Now you see her

Gillian is haunted by the disappearance of her little girl two years ago. A devastating fire burned down their home, but she remains convinced her daughter survived.

Now you don't

Ten year old Tom lived by a neglected church. Is he the only one who sees the strange, solitary child playing there? And what is she trying to tell him?

Now you run

There's a new vicar in town - Harry. But menacing events suggest he isn't welcome. What terrible secret is this town hiding?"

My Thoughts:

I am completely convinced that this author can do no wrong in my eyes.  Easily, this will one of the best thrillers that I have read in 2014, and I am always sad to think that not enough readers have found the amazingness that is this author and her books.  I shall just continue to spread the love myself, shall I?  

In this book we are introduced to a young boy named Tom and his family, who have recently moved to a secluded village near the moors.  Tom is struggling with his new home though as he is having a hard time making friends and keeps having strange occurrences happen to him.  He soon becomes convinced that someone is watching him and his family....but it isn't until some of the town's ugly history is revealed that the reader realizes how much danger he just might be in.  And by then you will be beyond well and truly hooked!  This is not a small book by any means but I managed to fly through the pages.  I kept telling myself just a little further which turned into chapters (and then huge chunks of the book).  I couldn't put it down!  I needed to know what was going to happen to Tom and his family which made it even harder to stop reading.  Although this book is a standalone, it did feature Evi Oliver who also shows up in the Lacey Bolton series.  I loved how she managed to connect the books without really making it an issue for those readers who have only read one or the other. I wonder if her other standalone books connect characters at any point as well.  It will be interesting to find out!  

This book was an intense thriller and had such a great setting for the storyline.  I loved the sense of isolation that came from the village.  It made this a much creepier read for me!  Add to that an old church graveyard, the moors surrounding the village, and a secretive community of villagers, and you had a gothic novel in the making.  Love!  These are pretty much all of my favorite things rolled into one when I want a spooky read!  The overall storyline was filled with suspense and kept me reading late into the night.  And the ending didn't disappoint whatsoever!  I will admit to picking up on pieces of it but not enough to really ruin the surprise of the ending.  In fact, I was reading so fast by the end that I had to back up and reread to make sure that I didn't miss anything. 

If you can't tell by all my gushing this was an amazingly good read for me that will easily be on my top reads list for 2014.  At this point, I already know that I will read everything/anything that this author has written.  I'm just taking my time on them so I have books to look forward to!  If you are a fan of mysteries, suspense, or thrillers, then I cannot recommend this author and her books enough!  Highly, highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  This gothic tale kept me reading late into the night!  One of my favorite books of the year!

Disclosure:  Checked out from my local library.  Thoughts are my own!

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon (thoughts)

I adored this book!  In fact, I found myself so completely enthralled in the pages of this novel that I couldn't get anything accomplished while reading it.  The author did such an amazing job with the atmosphere in this book!  It was super creepy and was perfect for a cold winter night.  This book literally gave me the chills at certain points!  I had this book on my most anticipated reads list for 2014 and it certainly didn't disappoint!

This book tells two stories in one:  the story of Sara Harrison Shea who died under mysterious circumstances in 1908 and the story of Ruthie and her family who now live in Sara's old farmhouse.  When Ruthie's mom goes missing it will be up to Ruthie to figure out both the mystery of her mother's disappearance and the mystery of what happened to Sara all those years ago. 

McMahon does a marvelous job of intertwining those two storylines in a way that makes the reader not want to stop reading.  I just had to keep reading because I needed to see what was going to happen next!  And the atmosphere!  This book had this dark creepy tension feel to it that just wouldn't let up.  But my favorite part of the book was the isolated feel that the author created.  She used the snowstorms, the farmhouse, and the two storylines to create this layer of isolation for the characters from the outside world.  It felt like a living, breathing part of the story itself.  I loved it!  When you have two different stories being told, chances are that the reader will prefer one over the other.  Myself, I preferred Ruthie's story as I wanted her to find her mother.  Sara's story was really interesting though because it had hints of the supernatural.  In fact, the author also did a really nice job of taking those hints and managing them in a way that made them almost believable.  Which was quite horrifying when you think about it!  (Those that have already read the book will understand what I mean).  The ending was done quite nicely and while I didn't get all of the resolution that I wanted, I was left feeling satisfied.  Because sometimes it is best to be left guessing, and there were some threads to this book that definitely left me in the dark. 

Books like this are why I adore reading so much.  I am hard pressed to come up with a single complaint for this book so I just won't.  Instead, I will continue to gush because it was that good and this author is fast becoming one of my favorites.  It is early in the year to say this but I'm guessing it will be one of my favorites for the year.  And considering that I'm still thinking about it after finishing it a few weeks ago tells you how good this book really is!  Highly, highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  A book brimming over with atmosphere and creepy tension that kept me caught up within its' pages!

Disclosure:  I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book for review from the publisher courtesy of NetGalley.  Thoughts are my own!

The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (thoughts)

The Waking Dark was one of the creepiest, darkest books that I have read in a long time!  Wasserman creates a thriller that not only gives the reader chills but also makes you think about the society that we live in.  This is one of those books that sticks with you, and I've been thinking about it every since I finished.  Wow!  This was a really good read but quite disturbing!

I don't want to give too much away so I'm going to use the Goodread's summary for this book:

"They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed—or whether she'll do it again."

How eerie and dark does that sound?  Oh my goodness, it was all of those things and so much more!  The tension and suspense begin from the very beginning in this novel and continue to build the further it goes on.  Before I knew it, I was so wrapped up in this book that I just couldn't put it down.  I had to see what was happening and even more importantly why it was happening.  The author creates this menacing atmosphere that just creeps up on you, and it doesn't let up until the last page.  I couldn't help but imagine if this could really possibly happen.  And scarily enough I suppose that it could.  I know that I'm not giving you a lot of details but I just don't want to spoil this book for anyone.  This is a book where it is best to be experienced without knowing much about it.  I think that it makes the reading experience that much more unnerving.  I really appreciated the ending of this book as well because it didn't just tie everything up in a bow.  I liked this book that much more because of it!

Overall, this book was spine-chilling and one of the best young adult books that I have read recently.  It is books like this that make me glad that I'm planning on reading more YA this year.  I will definitely be reading more by this author because wow!  Just wow!  She managed to really blow me away with this book so of course I want to read more.  And I will!  I'm just curious to see what she comes up with next and if it will be as scary as this book was!  I could see this one being made into a movie (which I would definitely want to see).  Highly recommended to fans of horror and dark thrillers!

Bottom Line:  A chilling read that is both dark and terrifying!  Read it!

Disclosure:  Checked out from my local library!  What a great choice!

P.S.- I saw that this author has been compared to Stephen King and what a compliment!  I have to agree on the fact that they both used horror in a way that makes you think about society as a whole.  Nicely done!