Michaelbrent Collings
Because Life Is Too Short Not To Read Michaelbrent Collings is a #1 bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His bestsellers include Strangers, Darkbound, Apparition, The Haunted, The Loon, and the YA fantasy series The Billy Saga (beginning with Billy: Messenger of Powers). He hopes someday to develop superpowers, and maybe get a cool robot arm. Michaelbrent has a wife and several kids, all of whom are much better looking than he is (though he admits that's a low bar to set), and much MUCH cooler than he is (also a low bar). Michaelbrent also has a Facebook page at facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings and can be followed on Twitter through his username @mbcollings. Follow him for awesome news, updates, and advance notice of sales. You will also be kept safe when the Glorious Revolution begins!
Okay, I know I'm in a minority, but I just couldn't get into this one. There were some good moments of creepiness, some cringe-worthy scenes, but nothing that really got into my noodle. More important, this book just didn't make me care enough to want to finish. There are a lot of books that I relegate to the back of the toilet: books that I'm going to read in quick three-minute chunks now and again while I'm - ahem - engaged with other "business." Books that I don't much care if I finish in one month or one year or one decade. But there are precious few that I just put to the side of my bed and think, "I'll get to that later"... and then never do. This was one of them. It was competent writing, don't get me wrong! That's why the two stars: because there was nothing overtly "wrong" about it. But I just didn't like it. A lot of people did, and I can see why, and that's fine. But it's like carrots: a lot of people like THEM, and there's nothing wrong with THOSE people. There's even a lot that's objectively GOOD about carrots.But I don't like 'em. And I don't have to. Because that's part of the fun of being a grown-up.
So take this review for what it is: a purely subjective look at a book that didn't do anything "wrong" - other than simply fail to connect with one of its audience. I like horror, I like ghost stories, and I don't have a problem with flawed characters. But in this case the hook was okay, the characters uninteresting, and the ghosts uninspired (to me). I'll read more Joe Hill because he knows how to write, so perhaps the next story will knock me down with its awesomeness. And that would be great. But this one... meh....