Title: The Horrors of Rejection

Author: Radar DeBoard

Release date: June 9th, 2026

*Huge thanks to Radar for a digital ARC of this one!*

I connected with Radar a number of years back and have always enjoyed the content he’s been releasing on various social media platforms, as well as his support to many authors. A few years back, I had the pleasure of reading his book ‘Drowning in the Drink’ and really enjoyed it, but I haven’t managed to read anything else from him. Recently, I saw him post a Tik Tok looking for reviewers for his upcoming release ‘The Horrors of Rejection.’ A short story collection compiling all of the stories he’s submitted over the years that were rejected for one reason or another, I reached out to see about a review copy. Radar kindly emailed one over and while I was wrapping up ‘The Dorians,’ I dove into this between chapters, flying through it.

What I liked: Every author out there has tens, if not hundreds of short stories that they’ve submitted over the years that for some reason, were not accepted for publication. It’s the nature of the game and a cold reality you need to accept if you want to try your hand at having work accepted and published outside of the DIY/Indie route. Radar lays this out in the introduction before we dive into the stories that comprise the collection.

The stories ranged in length, from poetry, to a page, to novelette length, but each one was a lot of fun and though the stories were written with the purpose of submitting to various open calls, it was interesting to see a bit of a few themes emerge when all was said and done. We had a number of stories set in/around the water and similar with the woods.

The stand out stories for me were a trio that hit hard and were very snappy.

First was ‘Show Some Teeth.’ This story followed an employee, struggling to deal with a horrendous boss at work, while realizing the crows outside are acting strangely. The story was a lot of fun and went from brooding to dark very quickly. My favorite story within.

Next was ‘From a Bathtub to the Ocean.’ This story throws us into the middle of an extreme situation where a man has abandoned ship after a fire started and he’s coming to grips with what happened, his role in it and what that means for his life. Really engaging.

And the third was ‘Immurement.’ If not for ‘Show Some Teeth’ this would’ve been my favorite of the collection. This one picks up with Thomas, trapped in something and trying to fight his way out. The story begins as a very claustrophobic tale, before we learn the ‘why’ of his predicament and we realize just how awfully dark this story really is.

What I didn’t like: While it might’ve been an almost impossible task, I would’ve loved to have seen a brief note prior to each story mentioning what the open call was. Not so much to whom the story was being submitted, but what was the theme or submission requests. IE – 1,500 word limit for grief horror. Or, 3,000 word limit for nautical survival. I think that would’ve helped a few of the stories have a bit more context and work better as to why Radar did what he did in the chosen word count, otherwise some of the stories you’ll be wondering why things were rushed or felt unanswered. Often in submissions, you’ll have a specific constraint that will always make you decide on doing something (either limit characters or details etc.) and I think knowing some of that would’ve allowed some of the stories that didn’t hit as much with me make a bit more sense.

Why you should buy this: Radar’s a very talented writer and a number of these stories are superb. I’m actually a bit surprised a few of these haven’t been picked up somewhere, but that’s the frustrating reality of the anthology world. This was a short story collection that’ll have something for every reader and is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to his writing if you’ve not read anything of his yet.

Title: The Dorians

Author: Nick Cutter

Release date: May 19th, 2026

*Huge thank you to Edelweiss, the publisher and the author for a digital ARC of this one!*

Back in 2015, I discovered Nick’s massive novel ‘The Troop’ at the same time I found Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Demonologist.’ The two books are very far apart in terms of content, but both launched each author into another realm of popularity and in the following decade, until Andrew’s passing away, the two developed a great friendship.

Through Andrew, I connected with Nick (and for the few who still don’t know, his real name is Craig Davidson, and yes you should go read his books as Craig, but also his books as Patrick Lestewka if you can find those) and we’ve developed a burgeoning relationship.

When ‘The Dorians’ was announced, I was very excited. The synopsis alluded to a mix between ‘The Troop’ and a little bit like his book ‘The Preserve’ as Lestewka, which was released in 2004.

Knowing Nick’s penchant to start the journey in one direction only to pivot and go in a very different direction, I was keen to see just where this one went.

What I liked: The novel follows a group of senior citizens, all at the end of their lives, all choosing MAID to wrap things up. Only, each of the people are given a life-line at the last minute. A phone call from a young female doctor. One offering them the potential of immortality.

Each accept and each finds themselves heading to a remote compound in the Canadian north, where a research laboratory has been created with a seemingly blank cheque. Here, they meet Astrid, a hyper-driven woman who has figured out not only how to halt death in its tracks, but how to also de-age those who join her program and have something implanted into them.

What could go wrong, right?!

From here, Nick introduces us to two Indigenous jack-of-all-trades who are keeping the facility running smoothly, but also watching what’s happening with the wolves who’ve also been implanted.

As things progress, we see the toll that eternal youth takes on each of the elderly who’ve accepted the implant, but also the physical weight on those around them and those running the program.

Cutter does a wonderful job of asking a lot of very pointed hypothetical questions. Questions that we’ve all asked ourselves at some time and as somebody who is soon turning forty-five, they’re not questions that often stray far from my mind.

This novel felt like a mix between the literary beauty of the writing within the Davidson books and the brutally harsh Splatterpunk writing within the Lestewka and early Cutter novels.

The ending is bleak, harsh, definitive (to a degree) and though it is expected, it still is startling.

What I didn’t like: Oddly, I didn’t feel a single connection to any of the characters. With the setup and the descriptions and the way the book begins, it’s written with the expectation that each reader will connect and hold onto at least one, if not multiple, characters so that when the shit hits the fan, we get that emotional reaction, but in this case, I just didn’t have that. Not sure why, but because of that, I think I missed a lot of the emotional weight and depth Nick was trying to create.

Why you should buy this: While reading this, I got the sense it was a spiritual sequel to ‘The Troop’ and in the afterword, Nick even mentions that writing it, it felt like that. We have similar settings, similar groups with the various dynamics and we get a really gross, ever-evolving parasite wrecking havoc. The difference here is that ‘The Troop’ was teens and ‘The Dorians’ was elderly people. It felt like the time had passed and we were getting a look at how things would’ve played out in ‘The Troop’ in a different scenario.

Nick has really delivered a thoughtful look at aging and what it means to different people with different backgrounds while also giving us a novel that’s full of bleak, awful decisions and moments. Paired together it works perfectly to unnerve and unsettle the reader while also causing you to squirm all over again.

At least this time there’s no turtles.

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.