Title: Monumental

Author: Adam L.G. Nevill

Release date: April 2nd, 2026

*Huge thank you to Adam for the digital ARC of this one!*

First, huge huge apology to Adam for not getting this one read and reviewed before release date! I thought my time management was totally on track, but alas I messed up! So, my apologies Adam!

Second, I have a theory about this novel after having read it, which I’ll share later down below, but outside of that, going into this, ‘Monumental’ was ticking a lot of boxes off for me for things I love in books. Great cover? Check! Adam Nevill as the author? Well, duh, check! Remote, isolated location? Check! Folklore content? Check! I mean, at this point, Adam could essentially turn a fast food restaurants menu into a folklore novel and I’d be glued to my Kindle!

And while Adam’s last novel took a detour away from isolated folklore – ‘All the Fiends of Hell’ was PHENOMENAL FYI – it always felt like he’d return to writing something such as this, so it was no surprise that he did. Saying that, if you follow Adam on any social media platform, you’ll undoubtably see his love of all things kayaking. Much like when Tim Lebbon writes about running/marathon’s in his books, it absolutely elevates the ‘realness’ of the events and Adam bringing kayaking into this novel worked so very very well.

What I liked: The novel follows a group of kayaking pals as they make their way to a remote estuary. A place that is supposed to be a ‘no-go’ area, they foolishly believe that they can make their way up stream and camp on the outskirts, nobody wiser regarding their intrusion. Made up of a variety of skill levels and fitness levels, they’ve gone on a number of paddles together, but nothing like this before.

Once on land, Marcus starts to set up his tent while dealing with others egos, an older woman’s struggles and his growing feelings for Jane. He doesn’t notice Jane wander off – none of them do – until she screams in pain. Once found, she’s in rough shape and Marcus knows they must get her help.

This is the point of no return in this novel. Once Marcus and two others – Nigel, the husband and Sophie, the wife – head off to find help, leaving Jane with the older woman, Mary and the other male, Julien, in the group, things continue to get weirder. They find stuff hanging in the trees, they find rocks and ruins and they come upon finely manicured farm land. And then they encounter the man who owns the estuary – Clement Colman. A former tech bro billionaire, he’s crafted a cult from former addicts, and insists that they’ve found a God deep below the building in the middle of their farm land.

Nevill has a gift of making every branch eerie and every shadow creepy as hell. And when scales start scraping the rock walls and the air grows heavy and rancid, every reader understands that all hell is about to break loose and Nevill won’t be holding back.

And Christ-all-mighty he doesn’t hold back.

We get bone clubs, Little Priests, an arthritically, twisted old woman and the reality that the estuary sits equally between here and there, between this realm and the next and with each time Jane is mentioned and she rambles in the throes of crossing over, her comments only work to confirm that nothing good comes from over there. Or from up there.

And I can’t state enough that while the God within this book is never fully ‘described,’ that’s the perfection of what makes this thing so terrifying.

The final quarter of this book is a pure sprint – or rather paddle – of survival. We see some glimmer of hope and some slight lightness at the end of the tunnel, though even that is left more to the readers interpretation.

The ending of this is bleak and solidly horrifying, letting the taste that we develop in our mouths to remain putrefying on our tongues after the last page is turned.

What I didn’t like: There was two things that I noticed, but both were really my own issue than anything of note!

The first – well, I found there was a lot of internal discussion happening for each character. It seemed that every other chapter a character would spend a solid few pages just going over the situation again as well as where they found themselves. I got that it was Nevill showing their deterioration, but I found it slowed a bit of forward momentum in later chapters. How many times could Marcus go over his own personal decisions from the weeks and months prior to this trip?

Second thing – there’s a moment where Marcus is essentially home free and could leave and survive and he decides to turn back and try and find his friends. I wanted to reach through my Kindle and strangle the man. Leave. Get help. Return. Instead he returned to the belly of the beast. Good grief, haha!

Why you should buy this: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’ve never read an Adam Nevill story (no matter the length) that doesn’t make me feel dirty and stained. As though what I’ve read has bleed through my device and coated my skin and bones. It’s a perpetual trademark that his writing has and I think it’s a combination of his prose and story structure.

‘Monumental’ is just that, another amazing vessel where Adam showcases his prowess to throw a group of people into the middle of nowhere and then beat them down blow-by-blow.

And as for my theory I mentioned before? Well, I felt like I read Adam’s take on a Conan tale. A horror novel that was really a sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel. We have a warrior – Marcus, who battles a force of evil – Clement, who has called forth a dragon – the God. Marcus needs to save the damsel in distress – Jane, and in this book, Marcus literally uses a sword against the Little Priests. Throw in the fact that he has a faithful steed – his kayak, and needs to travel across an inhospitable landscape – the Wyrm valley, and I rest my case. I’m probably wrong, but throw on some Iron Maiden as a soundtrack and I feel like you’ll get where I’m going here!

Once again, Nevill delivers a dark and wicked novel, one that will keep many readers up late at night, as only he can.

Fantastic.

Title: The Rise – Five Tales From the Gulp

Author: Alan Baxter

Release date: February 13th, 2026

Back in 2021 & 2022, Alan Baxter gave us two memorable collections of novellas – first with 2021’s ‘The Gulp’ and ‘The Fall’ coming the following year. It introduced us to the odd and quicky (and mysterious) remote own of Gulpepper, Australia and the folks who inhabit it – some by choice, others involuntarily.

The stories of what took place within and around The Gulp were all fantastic, all cosmically charged and the mythos the Alan infused in each story made me want more. After finished ‘The Fall,’ I kind of assumed that Baxter was done (to a degree) with the world of ‘The Gulp,’ but then earlier in 2025, Alan messaged me to ask if I’d have time to beta read the third entry in the world. Unfortunately (and sadly on my end!), I simply didn’t have the time needed to devote what Alan would adequately need, as one doesn’t simply read the stories set in the world of The Gulp – insert Sean Bean meme here if you want – one lives and breathes them. And though I couldn’t beta read the collection of five new novellas, I preordered the Kindle edition and jumped in as soon as I could, once it loaded onto my e-reader.

What I liked: As mentioned, ‘The Rise’ contains five novellas of new stories taking place in The Gulp. This one is comprised of the first four being interconnected – both in location (duh!) and in narrative – before arriving at the fifth novella which combines everything that’s taken place and wraps up the insanity that built in the first four.

The first novella is ‘Strange Leaves,’ which was hands down my favorite of the batch, purely because it starts kind of hilariously and then goes bonkers. We follow two stoners, Adam and Neil, who accidentally kill the guy they buy pot from when they confront him over him selling them weed cut with junk. Not sure what to do, they decide to dispose of the man’s body in the middle of nowhere. Things take a turn when something happens to one of them and from there, The Gulp begins to unfurl its odd ways and Baxter kicks things off with a bang. This novella sets up the rest of the stories so very well, but is also a perfect opener to ease us readers back into the world and what awaits.

The next novella is ‘Sunlight on Clear Water,’ which was another very solid entry. This one atmospherically felt at the far other end of the spectrum from ‘Strange Leaves.’ This one follows Will, who is newish to living in Gulpepper. After answering an ad to come and be trained as a woodworking craftsman, he’s fallen head-over-heels with the owners daughter, Beverley. On this particular day, she takes him to an off-the-beaten-path reservoir to do a bit of skinny dipping and to enjoy a picnic basket. Of course, with this being The Gulp, some things are revealed and the true nature of what the job posting was all about takes a wild turn. This is a classic Baxter story.

The third novella is ‘Vitulinum’ and this specific one comes with some very pointed trigger warnings prior to it beginning. Should you choose to proceed, the story follows teen boy, Connor, who lives in an abusive household. His father’s a homophobic bigot and his mother’s no better. Between Connor’s older brother, Brendan and himself, they do their best to protect their little sister Serena from their father, Frank. As the abuse rockets ever worse, we get our first introduction to the strange suit wearing character known as Winterbourne. He offers Connor a decision and because of everything that’s been going on, it appears to be a lifeline. Connor’s best friend, Lauren, is there for him and the two of them have each others backs, though Lauren’s life is very, very different. It all comes to a head when the boys have to stand up one more time for Serena and Connor is forced to decide about Winterbourne’s offer.

This novella is powerful, grotesque and a sad reality when considering a lot of the world isn’t far off from how Frank and Lydia are.

The fourth novella is ‘The Gulpepper Institute of Health and Wellbeing,’ and if you’ve ever watched or read any horror in the past that involves anything with a title close-ish to this, you’ll know things are never going to be on the up-and-up.

The story follows international superstar musician Eevie Chill, who checks in to the newly opening institute to get help for their spiraling life. Within moments of being admitted, she realizes things are not what they seem and from there Baxter lets carnage and chaos reign. This was a lot of fun and when it ended, I wondered just where things could go from there.

And that brings us to the fifth and final novella in this collection. Simply titled ‘The Rise,’ we see everything that was building through the first four come together – both in Winterbourne’s plan, but also with Chrissy, the woman tasked with ensuring the strange energy and way of The Gulp is maintained and confined. We get a return of Blind Eye Moon, the famous band from The Gulp, and we see different characters from the first four novellas band together to protect the people and the place that is Gulpepper. Once again, Baxter does an amazing job of keeping all the moving pieces in order and tying it all together to see an epic finale come to a close.

The world that Baxter’s created within The Gulp and the mythos around it always feel fresh and familiar and always deliver the perfect amount of insanity us readers expect from stories focused on world’s such as these.

What I didn’t like: As mentioned, you may decide to bypass the ‘Vitulinum’ novella,  which considering the subject matter is understandable, but also does create a bit of a character plot issue when we get to the final novella. If you’ve skipped, you’ll not have much understanding about Lauren and what she brings to the table. It’s a tough one to truly navigate, because on one hand, that novella is very, very powerful. On the other hand, it wouldn’t have near the impact if it was PG13’d for readers and Connor’s decision would’ve been rather meh. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I also think you could sneak past that novella and be confident that Lauren is a resourceful character when she arrives in the final novella.

Why you should buy this: I think it goes without saying that if you read and enjoyed the first two entries into this world, getting the third is a no-brainer.

If you’ve not visited Gulpepper yet, this is your sign to grab all three and dive into a wonderfully weird and twisted world, where the sky is always swirling and the energy is palpably different. Baxter’s done the literary world such a huge favour by creating this world and these characters and continuing to deliver such richly rewarding stories. All while creeping us out with each and every entry.

Phenomenal. And fingers crossed a fourth set of stories is coming some time down the road.

Title: Driven

Author: Mason Coile

Release date: September 8th, 2026

*Huge thanks to Edelweiss & the publisher for a digital ARC of this one.*

‘I had found the dream I was meant to live, and it was the life I was already living. And then it was over.’

When’s a book not just a book?

It’s a question I’ve asked myself before, both internally and out loud to the wider world. It’s a question scholars have asked for hundreds of years. And it’s a question that’ll be pondered as long as we have books – in some form or another.

I imagine when Andrew wrote the short story and screenplay that became his first novel as Mason Coile, the wonderfully tech-savvy ‘William,’ that his intentions weren’t to write a trilogy that mapped out his final days metaphorically and with such aplomb.

No. I imagine back then, he was looking at writing what he called, ‘shorter, snappier thrillers.’

‘William’ kicked things off. And, I’ll admit with a bit of ‘for the record’ reader/reviewer/superfan pride, that after I posted my review of ‘William,’ not only did Andrew publicly confirm my theory of what that book was truly about, but we had several in depth conversations about that book itself.

While that book – on the surface at least – tells the story of a brilliant engineer with crippling agoraphobia who must confront his affliction when his AI creation goes off the walls, it was a metaphorical telling of Andrew’s world during the Covid-19 pandemic/lockdown.

Next up, we received the claustrophobic nightmare that was ‘Exiles.’ Again, when taken at face value, tells the story of astronauts sent to aide in the set up of the initial Mars colony, but when they arrive the three robots there are in the midst of a meltdown causing the base to be mostly destroyed. I’ve read the book three times now and had my suspicions this was another of Andrew’s metaphorical examinations. Diagnosed at this point with terminal cancer, the story maps out Andrew’s treatment journey, his body the base, the doctors and modalities the astronauts and robots, all ultimately failing to figure out a way to make things right and give us the happy ending we all so desperately hoped for.

Which brings us to his third novel as Mason Coile. ‘Driven.’ By all public accounts, this is the finale of the Mason Coile books. Andrew’s swan song with his pseudonym.

Yes, we got the final (with Andrew Pyper that is) Oracle audiobook, that release finished by the amazing Craig Davidson. And while I know of two other unpublished Pyper books – one stand alone and one co-written with Craig (though, I’m not sure if it’s under Craig’s name or as Nick Cutter) – those I’ve asked are unsure if they’ll ever see the light of publishing day.

I finished this one last night and I couldn’t sleep after. I made notes. I reread a few spots I’d marked. I wanted to email Andrew all my thoughts and questions and wanted confirmation about my theories.

If you’ve read any of my other reviews, understand this one’s going to take a different format. Let’s call it an examination, if you will. And hopefully I’ll do this book the justice it deserves in showcasing why you need to read it and why this three AI arc of books Andrew released as Mason are just as important as his arc of five books examining grief earlier in his career.

On the surface, ‘Driven’ tells the story of Jamie. Defeated and alone, he’s haunted. His wife and daughter have left him and his life around him has fallen apart. He’s moving from shit hole apartment to even shittier hole apartment, trying to outrun the terrifying ghoul that continuously pops up and chases him from each place. Home. That’s what he longs for but knows he can never find again. Not with his wife and daughter gone. Not with the ghoul always on his heels.

Hoping his haunting is purely quantified by four walls around him, he decides to buy a Lion, a fully autonomous car. He plans to live in the car, letting it drive him to wherever it wants to drive, so that he can get some sleep and hopefully some mileage between himself and the ghoul.

Of course, this is a horror novel, even with all the tech flashiness of the cover and hashtags and marketing that’ll accompany it, and things go sideways, leading us to several revelations. He buys the car from an odd, rich guy, one he knows to be untrustworthy. After waking, he discovers the hood of the car is dented and what appears to be blood on the windshield. From here it becomes a mix of what happened and what’s next. The pace increases, Jamie learns what happened and decides to make some of his own moves, in the hopes of making things from the past right. It turns into a surreal cyberpunk sleuth novel, where we get threats, actions, and an unlikely friendship.

But I can’t read this book purely on the surface. And I imagine if you know my love of Andrew’s work, and how much I cared for the man himself, you’ll know that I read this with my Pyper Superfan cap on. And for those of you who’ve been reading Andrew since his first collection in 1996 came out, you’ll understand just what Andrew was doing within this book.

You see, Andrew was saying goodbye to us all.

And he was saying goodbye to his family.

Within this book are Easter eggs to each of his previous books. Knowing how cerebral Andrew was with his meticulous plotting and connecting the dots, I’m confident this isn’t me searching for things that weren’t there. No, as the book went on, I found myself grinning frequently, when little details popped up.

I’m going to do my best to remain spoiler free here, but no promises.

The biggest connection throughout his books and this one, is the ghoul-type figure that haunts Jamie. A ghoul-type figure is mentioned in all but two of Andrew’s novels in his career, something that became a bit of a staple in his writing.

For his 1999 debut, we get a ‘Lost Girls’ connection with Jamie having been a lawyer before his life spiraled, harkening back to when Bartholomew Crane arrived on the literary scene. Of course, this wouldn’t be an Andrew book without it being set in Toronto, which ties into almost every of his other books. We see a connection to ‘The Damned’ with a scene between Jamie and his mom. We get noted ‘The Killing Circle’ and ‘The Guardians’ Easter eggs with some very specific locations. And of course we get the tie in of technology with ‘The Homecoming,’ ‘William,’ and ‘Exiles.’

But the book that we get the most connectivity with is ‘The Demonologist.’ We get Jamie going into a cellar, we get him longing to be reconnected with his daughter, we get a description of wall colors and most notably, we get what appears to be an ending that mirrors – though more defined – than what happens in ‘The Demonologist.’

Throughout this novel, Jamie is saying goodbye to his loved ones. And frankly, it was hard to read. Because I knew who was writing those words.

In my years of friendship with Andrew, nothing was more apparent than his love for his wife and kids. And within this book, that love is almost palpable on the pages. We read about the little moments between Jamie and his wife, Lauren, that reinforced his love and remained imbedded deep within his brain. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of those moments were from Andrew’s real life. We read about the small, tender moments with Jamie’s daughter, Olivia, and we’re reminded about how much Andrew loved being a father. And when the revelation of ‘why’ they’ve left arrives… it’s a hard section to get through.

If this is the finale of the Mason Coile AI-tech novels, Andrew has done a stellar job of showcasing the terror that can take place when AI begins to think for itself and stop listening to those who’ve created it, but also highlighting the dependency and intangible connections humans make with those devices. We’ve already started to see it in commercials, of people using smartphone AI options as though it was a real, living, breathing friend. And Andrew dissected the why and wrote three books about what happens when we allow it to get out of control.

At the end of the day, ‘Driven’ showcases everything that made Andrew’s books so special. It is the story of a man, trapped in a car, wondering what comes next. A story that mirrors Andrew at the end of his life. A man trapped in his body, losing control, desperately wanting to remain forever with his family. Desperately wanting to live a longer life at the place that means more to him than any other place ever could.

Home.

 

 

That’s right!

Kaiju Killers Pt I – the first of two novellas that act as sequels/companions to my novel Mastodon is NOW OUT!

The cover was designed by Geoff Parrell – thank you, Geoff! – who does fantastic work.

Available for KU/eBook/paperback right now – you can snag it at this universal link;

mybook.to/kaijuone

You can also order it from your favorite bookshops!

It’s on Goodreads as well – here’s the link;

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/247792086-kaiju-killers-pt-i

And of course – here is the synopsis!

What lurks deep within the remote Rocky Mountains, not far from Golden BC?

It’s time to return…

Iron Marshall has made a career out of going where nobody else will go. Off the books. Getting the job done. He’s been in the thick of things before, areas and events kept from the public eye.

But after being assigned to a secret complex near Ogre Peak, he begins to question what’s happening there and why.

As more strange occurrences take place, Iron struggles to maintain the façade of being ‘just a soldier.’

‘Kaiju Killers I’ takes you back to the basin, back to where things are never what they appear to be, and answers some of those burning questions asked in ‘Mastodon’ – while expanding upon that world and introducing much, much more…

 

Full paperback wrap below!

Title: A Dash of Demon (Achewillow #1)

Authors: J.-F. Dubeau & Amy Frost

Release date: June 16th, 2026

*Huge thanks to J.-F. for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*

I have to admit that I really don’t listen to any podcasts. I manage to fit in maybe one of The Ghost Story Guys podcasts a week when I can and same with Ronald McGillvray & Michael Shotter’s The Post Mortem Report. The biggest part of it, honestly, is that I just don’t have the time in the day to listen to something in any dedicated fashion. It’s also why I’ve listened to a total of three audiobooks in my life (and it probably wouldn’t surprise you to know they are the three audio only Andrew Pyper books!).

I was away of Dubeau and Frost’s ‘Achewillow’ podcast though, where Dubeau and Frost were writing this crazy world of mystery and creatures and Frost was narrating.

When it was announced that a book was being released for it, I was excited. I’m a huge fan of Dubeau’s loving both of the God in the Shed books as well as his sci-fi novel ‘The Life Engineered.’ I was intrigued and when he posted on FB about any reviewers interested, I reached out and he kindly sent me a digital copy. And he also mentioned that this wasn’t the traditional horror that I might be used to, when compared to his two (with a third coming) God in the Shed books. Fine by me! I was excited to see what they’d created and dove into this one with great anticipation.

What I liked: The novel opens with our main character, 20-something Miriam DuFour being kicked out of culinary school. On top of that, she’s living in her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, funds depleted and looking up from the very bitter bottom of her life. Then, she’s contacted out of the blue. Her grand aunt has passed away and left Miriam her coffee shop in a remote small town – Achewillow. Miriam’s never heard of this aunt, nor the town, but believing she can head there and sell the place and pocket the cash, she goes.

Dubeau and Frost set things up nicely. We immediately feel like we’ve known Miriam for our whole lives and we instantly want to see her succeed, see her catch any sort of break at all. Miriam hitches a ride with a burly truck driver, one that she’s unsure of, and when the man starts telling her that bodies have started to be found in Achewillow, she wonders what she’s even doing going to the town.

Once there, the authors quickly introduce us to a cavalcade of small town people, all folks who you’ve come across before in your life at some point, and we see Miriam thrust into the centre of the mystery. Who is killing these people? And was that a demon she saw walking near the shop?

The final half is a fun who-dunnit that morphs into a survival-against-huge-odds story, one where we see Miriam grow stronger and more confident while also realizing that maybe this strange place is where she wants to call home going forward.

What I didn’t like: For me, the only thing that I wished to be different, or rather that I noticed felt off, was that a body is found and Miriam is suspected to be involved almost immediately upon her arrival (technically during her first night there), and I wished it happened a day or two after, simply so that it could’ve given us a bit more time to see some of the ebbs and flows of the town. Saying that – with this being a podcast originally, that may have simply been a result of timing/ending of an episode, which would make sense based on the beats of when this happened.

Why you should buy this: I’m not overly familiar with the huge variety of sub-genres in the dark fiction world, but I have to believe this is bread-and-butter ‘comfort horror’ yeah? I imagine it’s what ‘Schitt’s Creek’ would be like if it was mixed with ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer.’ Or more accurately, this felt like when I watched The Kids in the Hall’s mini-series “Death Comes to Town.’

Quirky, tense, mysterious and ultimately heart-warming, this novel will be one I think will catch a lot of readers off guard, while also grabbing those same readers and not letting go.

What a wonderfully done novel, one that gives you light and dark in perfect mixture.

Pun intended.

 

Title: Scratch Moss

Author: David Barnett

Release date: September 1st, 2026

*Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC of this one!*

I’ll admit, this one wasn’t on my ‘absolutely need to read list,’ even after seeing Kealan Patrick Burke raving about it on one of his social media pages. As you probably know, I LOVE folklore and all that comes with it, but the description of this one, with the multiple timelines had me on the fence about reading it. That changed after I was messaging with All Star reviewer, Tony Jones, who told me I’d love it. I popped on Netgalley, saw it was still available and requested it. Amazingly, I was approved and hopped onto it shortly after.

Going in, I was really excited to feel the atmosphere this one suggested and was elated to find that it had exactly that and so much more.

What I liked: The story follows down-on-his-luck author Joe, who is returning to his childhood home in Scratch Moss, to attend his father’s funeral. Though his father is viewed as a hero to many, Joe’s memories of those early years are shrouded in trauma blocking and he doesn’t remember much of Scratch Moss, or why his father spent most of Joe’s life in prison.

Soon after arriving, his mother begins to act strangely and when Joe catches up with one of his first boyhood crushes, the past begins to return to him.

From here, Barnett gives us a descending timeline all the way back to 1905, then re-ascends back to present day, sharing how the events from over a century ago played out to the townsfolk over the years and even the town itself.

There’s a lot of connecting-the-dots that take place as the story reveals itself, and learning the history of Scratch Moss was a lot of fun – though obviously dark and twisted.

As we re-ascend to present day, the reality of what needs to happen is showcased front and center and I appreciated that Barnett didn’t find a way to weasel the story out of confronting things head on. The ending – though briefly described – still works to answer a lot of those burning questions you’ll have.

What I didn’t like: Though I really liked the book, I still wasn’t super onboard with the descending/ascending timeline layout of the book. I found by the time I got back to the present day at the end, I had to remind myself about what was happening as it’d been a bit since we’d been there. I think that would read differently if you’re able to sit and read this straight through in one or two sittings, but with my current reading, I wasn’t able to do that.

Secondly, there’s an epilogue of sorts that ties this book into Barnett’s other books and because I’d not read those, the big reveal moment of tying them together had no impact with me. So, for new readers who’ve not read any of his other stuff, Barnett does describe it a bit in the afterword, but I found it unnecessary after how solid the ending was.

Why you should buy this: If you love atmospherically dark folklore with tons of timeline building and following something causing chaos over the course of a hundred years, look no further. This was like wrapping a Kealan Patrick Burke novel into an A.M. Shine novel and then having Adam Nevill rewrite the whole thing.

Bleak, haunting and absolutely captivating.

 

Title: Skinners II: The Spawn

Author: Craig Wesley Wall

Release date: February 17th, 2026

Having recently read book one in this series, I wasn’t going to wait to read book two when it landed on my Kindle on the 17th. As soon as I wrapped up one of my previous reads, I jumped in, excited to see where this one went!

This is a direct sequel to the first book, and this is 100% a case where you have to have read the first book to read the second. So, in accordance with that – everything going forward will pretty much be a spoiler for the first book. I suggest if you’ve not read book one, halt here and return after having done so!

What I liked: The book picks up immediately after the events in the first. Thom, Leland and Angie have survived the skinner infiltration where the survivors were hunkered down, but have been taken into custody by the military group that has arrived. Thom’s imprisoned in a cell with a massive biker named Zeke, unsure of where the two kids are.

Working with his new friend, he escapes and they go on a search for the kids, all while understanding the skinners are still making duplicates of those they attack.

What they don’t realize is that there’s another form they can take.

Craig does a great job of maintaining true to the tension and atmosphere of the first novella. There’s plenty of action, huge emotional moments and we get some really grotesque and fantastic skinner scenes.

Very rarely in this one does Craig take his foot off the gas, and that works to really heighten the reality these characters find themselves in. Saying that, we learn a bit more about what these things are, why the military is involved and whether this sort of thing has happened before on Earth, which I greatly enjoyed.

The ending is a one-two punch of culmination of events and what comes next, and I think it was handled perfectly to conclude things while still leaving the door open a crack for a third down the road.

What I didn’t like: The only thing that I noticed, was that early on a military leader mentions they’ve been studying things for a while and it made me feel like I’d missed something. It gets explained later on, but considering this takes place right after book one, I was momentarily thrown for a loop. Push past that spot if you end up confused like I did!

Why you should buy this: If you loved book one, book two is another creature/sci-fi/horror novella home run. Craig’s skinner creatures are a lot of fun and it’s great seeing them wreak havoc across the country side.

If you haven’t read book one and are looking for that perfect mix of 80s VHS creature-feature/sci-fi/horror that you used to rent every weekend, look no further.

This was such a good time!

 

Title: The Memory Shades

Author: David Watkins

Release date: February 17th, 2026

*Huge thanks to David for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*

I’ve read a bit of David’s – definitely not enough – and so far, everything I’ve read has been wonderful. When I saw ‘The Memory Shades’ announced, I was super intrigued. I had the same feeling when his novella ‘Rhitta Gawr’ was announced and I think about that story all the time. The difference this time was the sci-fi/horror blending, which I’m a huge, huge fan of. Knowing what Watkins did with werewolves and folklore, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one and see what he’d created this time.

What I liked: Set in the future, we arrive on a distant planet where those being woken from cryo-sleep are about to learn their new reality. Here, on this planet, those who left the remnants of Earth, will be the ones to terraform this new place so humanity can continue on. Jon is one such person coming out of a deep sleep, and that’s where he discovers the trade off he made back on Earth. To avoid prison – for a horrible crime he can’t remember – he (and the other workers) will work off his sentence. And when the watch he wears finally ticks down to zero and his sentence has been completed, his memories will be restored.

It’s with that basis that Watkins sets up the day-to-day aspect of the ‘why.’ They’re there to plant the seeds, build the walls, dig the trenches, do the dirty work to get the place up and running. But things soon begin to rumble off the tracks.

There are reports of larger ‘worm’-like creatures that live below the surface, though they seem to stay farther away, closer to the coast. A few of the guys in charge are ruthless, making them work non-stop and punish them when they slack off or take an un-authorized break. And things really begin to shift when Jon – and some of the other ex-cons – begin to see ghost-like figures. In Jon’s case, it’s a bloody and brutalized woman who follows him everywhere. He thinks it might be the victim of whatever crime he committed on Earth, but he can’t be certain, his memories locked away in the vault within his implanted chip.

From here, Watkins begins to dissect the internal workings of those seeing these figures, but also throws us into a survival thriller. Jon and a few other’s head out on a scouting/retrieval mission. Another ship sent a message and then lost contact with the base. It’s while on this job that they discover the ‘worm’ creatures have grown in considerable size and threaten to destroy the base.

Watkins uses this section to humanize the characters. Up to this point, they’ve all remained fairly surface-level in terms of depth, but this is where we really see who they are and the ends they’ll go to help each other and ultimately try and defend the base. We also learn more about the implanted chips, the odd figures only some folks are seeing and also find out why some people are remembering bits and pieces from their time on Earth.

The ending is a cinematic blast. Watkins gives us an all-guns-blazing send off, with all hands on deck and tons of splattery insanity.

What I didn’t like: There was really two things that stuck out for me here. The first was that these figures some are seeing, dubbed ‘memory shades’ (hey, that’s the title!), kind of fade away from importance as the book goes on. I was hoping to learn more about the reason each one was seeing earlier on and in a bit more depth, but instead they get pushed aside to a degree during the mission and mentioned sporadically after.

The second, and this is just me being persnickety, is how the ground/soil/dirt etc. on this distant planet constantly is called earth. The ground sloughs away and it says they get covered in earth etc. etc. It drove me batty, because they’re not on Earth. Yes, lower casing ‘earth’ is frequently interchanged with dirt/soil, but when on another planet, it would be called regolith, which differentiates from earth as it won’t have the same elements as earth. And yes, I’m sounding super nerdy, but my son and I have been reading a bunch about this stuff for his current Science section about outer space and Mars, so it’s stuck in my head! And double yes, I’m being totally persnickety, lolol!

Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a absolutely bonkers sci-fi/horror mashup where people try to survive each other and crazy creatures on another planet, look no further. Watkins has delivered perhaps his current magnum opus – a novel layered with emotions, action and deeper themes that break through the foreign planets soil when you least expect it.

From start to finish, I was hooked and throughout the entirety of reading this I was trying to picture who would play each character when this becomes a major motion picture – and it absolutely should.

Watkins has delivered an outstanding novel, one that shows his attention to detail and ability to create page-turning books.

 

Title: Wilson

Author: Jack Finn

Release date: February 10th, 2026

*Huge thanks to Jack for sending me a digital copy of this one!*

It’s been a few years since Jack and I connected – I think first on IG – and I absolutely love the variety of posts he shares, highlighting so, so many books. Up until now, I simply haven’t managed to read one of this yet, but when he reached out and asked if I’d be down to check out his newest, ‘Wilson,’ I was all over it. The cover (from Blaine Daigle, an amazing author himself!) was great and the synopsis sounded right up my alley. It read like a monster-of-the-week X-Files episode, which had me stoked!

What I liked: Set in the 1940’s, Wilson works in a sideshow carnival, traveling the country and bringing in townsfolks to see the animals and the freaks. He’s a loner, an odd-ball, but a key component to the day-to-day enjoyment of the show to those who attend. He has a camera and he takes a photo of those who’ll pay, so they have a picture to remember the day. But his camera isn’t all that it seems to be. It has an extra button. A special button. A button that allows Wilson to connect with their soul.

Finn sets things up nicely while also playing rough shod with the idea of ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ Wilson doesn’t care that the camera connection seems to be growing, seems to be demanding more of him and that he simply can’t control the desires he gets from what the camera gives him.

As the story progresses, we get to see the hold Wilson finds himself under, but as the darkness takes over, a light shines – Dahlia. A beautiful woman visits, one who – for some unknown reason to Wilson – attaches to him and wants to see the elephants.

There’s a marketed tone shift here and it works really nicely to let the reader know something’s off with Dahlia, but something’s off with Wilson’s addiction to the photos.

This sets up the ending really nicely, spinning the story on its head and ensuring that we get an finale that did the build up justice.

What I didn’t like: We get a little bit of a backstory regarding how Wilson gets the camera etc. but I would’ve really loved to have learned more and maybe even had a flashback or two of it previously being used. Not a big thing, but I think a slightly missed opportunity for more of the dark element that camera brought to the story.

Why you should buy this: This novella ended up being a perfect take on the ‘monster-of-the-week’ idea I was hoping it’d be when I dove in. Snappy chapters, deft storytelling and the darkness Finn gives us what a perfect mix of unsettling and brutal. This was a ton of fun, and a book I think folks will really dig, especially if you enjoy carnival/circus themed horror.

Title: Kayak

Author: Kristal Stittle

Release date: February 17th, 2026

*Huge thanks to Tenebrous Press for the digital ARC of this one!*

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Tenebrous Press is the wild variety of books they release. Be it through their Split Scream releases or the novellas and novels, or the collections, they don’t have a singular ‘style’ of book. They like to publish across genre’s. Secondarily, Tenebrous continues to introduce new-to-me authors. I can think of a half dozen authors who I’ve discovered through Tenebrous releases that I actively look forward to seeing new releases from. Hilariously, in this case, though I was thinking Kristal was a new-to-me author, when I started reading the book, I was trying to place where I knew her from. I knew I’d shared one of her books in my 2025 month long celebration of fellow Canadian authors, but it wasn’t until I went to Goodreads where I realized we both had a story in the ‘Dark Canadiana’ anthology in 2025! And I loved her story within.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. I’d briefly scanned the synopsis and knew aliens were involved, and that was about all it took for me to be excited to dive in to this one.

What I liked: The novel hops between present and past as we follow teenager, Keith, trying his best to survive in the new world. He’s wracked with guilt over an incident he believes has resulted in the loss of dozens of lives, and with that weighing him down, he continues to flee further up the river. Why up the river?

Well, an asteroid had landed on earth and while at first it was a celebratory event, the space rock hitting a remote, deserted island, while being live-streamed, soon stories spread of strange alien creatures – huge dog-like things, that have the ability to disappear into the dirt below. Dubbed ‘dirt devils’ an alarm is sent out – get to (and into) the water – as that’s the only safe place.

As the story unfolds, Stittle does a wonderful job of balancing emotions and tension. We see the difficulties faced by the inability to step foot on dry ground. How do you get food? Where is it safe to spend the night and get some rest? And when it rains, how long will the rain last, allowing you the time to go into the various water front cabins that now lay abandoned.

The jumps between past and present works (for the most part) to push the emotional and physical guilt that Keith is dealing with, especially in consideration with being separated from friends and family, and deftly displays the ‘why’ of some of the decisions Keith makes. This also helps heighten the ever-growing anxiety as the chapters get closer to the end.

The ending works – though I’m going to be a bit vague here about it so as to not push anything one way or the other – and dare I say it even offers some hope?

What I didn’t like: There were a few things that struck me and came back to me as I was reading this one. Up first was that I found the back and forth didn’t always work to raise the stakes, if you will. There were a few times when a present chapter would suggest something and when it was then revealed in the past chapter, the impact wasn’t as big as it could’ve been. I know that’ll happen with the time jump stuff – I’ve been in that situation before as well – but in this case, it happened enough times that I noticed it.

The second thing I noticed was there is a lot of ‘tedium’ throughout the chapters. While necessary in some instances, I think those repetitious instances could be enough for folks to find its moving too slow and tap out. It’s something we all deal with, especially if you’re writing about anything set in the wilderness. I just felt like a few times we could’ve done with less of the descriptions of when Keith was bored waiting for it to rain, or when he was paddling to find rocks etc. Though part of the survival element, it also greatly slowed a few of the chapters to a slog.

And lastly, I personally don’t know if the ending fully worked for me. I’m trying to be spoiler free, so what I will say, is that the novel never once really offered a ‘this is what needs to be done for humans to survive/overcome’ aspect. That’s often what folks are drawn to in alien invasion books/movies, right? The idea that if they band together and do [X] they’ll overcome and survive. I suspect a sequel might be on the horizon, as there was an ‘egg’ angle left behind without any further development and the season was changing.

Why you should buy this: A very grand novel in scope, Stittle has delivered a fantastic entry into the alien-invasion/humans try to survive subgenre, but throwing a new wrench into the mix. Much like in the movie ‘Signs,’ we see the aliens dislike/hatred of water and by isolating the surviving humans to the bodies of water around them, it made for an even higher-stakes game of ‘how can we survive.’ By taking the land out of the equation, this novel really thinks outside of the box and had me on the edge of my seat numerous times.

A great Canadian-based speculative novel from a Canadian author, this book was a lot of fun and one that reminded me about why it’s important to push your characters to the very edge and see what happens if they fall over.

You can snag it here – https://store.tenebrouspress.com/products/kayak-ebook