"The Hungry Dark" by Jen Williams

 

As a child, Ashley Whitelam could often see odd things nobody else could: quiet, watchful figures she called the Heedful Ones kept a strange vigil wherever she went. As an adult, she keeps these visions to herself, but she’s turned her taste of the beyond into a career as a “psychic”­ – parting people from their money with a combination of psychology and internet research. When the Lake District is gripped by a series of grisly child murders, Ashley offers her services to the police for the free publicity. But as Ashley leads the police on a fruitless search around the small town of Green Beck, she catches a glimpse of those old ghosts of her childhood and, following them into the woods, she finds something she never expected: the corpse of the latest missing child.

The press fly into a frenzy and the police grow suspicious: either Ashley’s psychic abilities are real, or she is guilty of murder. Hounded by interviews and interrogations, Ashley teams up with Freddie Miller, a podcaster covering the crimes. As they investigate, Ashley realises that there’s no way to distance herself from these murders: whoever or whatever it is that’s haunting the Lakes is haunting her, too.

Master of unsettling suspense Jen Williams is back with another chilling, dark read that will draw readers into a gruesome and atmospheric nightmare. ~taken from Goodreads

Another Jen Williams novel for me. It's not my first, and the plot premises always are so unique that I am excited to give them a read! A Dark And Secret Place and Games For Dead Girls are two previous books that I've read by the author, and both I gave around 3 stars. I hate to say that this one was no different. 

There were interesting concepts of this book, but for some reason nothing meshed well together. This was a very slow moving story as well. For a thriller, I need to be wowed here and there, and this just didn't do that. I found myself skimming paragraphs quite regularly through this entire book.

This did have a creepy, eerie vibe, which was enjoyable. The best parts of the story are the glimpses into Ashley's past. 

I am sure there are those who will enjoy this book much more, but this was not for me. 

2.5 stars is what I give this. 

The Hungry Dark is out today, April 9, 2024 here in the U.S. so get your copy today. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review. 

Happy Reading! 

 

"Games For Dead Girls" By Jen Williams

 

When Charlie was eleven, she created a monster…

In the seaside town of Hithechurch, England, eleven-year-old Charlotte meets Emily, a clever and secretive girl her own age with a dark family history. In an attempt to get rid of Emily’s abusive father, Charlie and Emily perform a ritual to try and summon the spirit of a Hithechurch girl of urban legend—named Stitch Face Sue by Charlie—who was killed by pirates and supposedly haunts the town in a quest for revenge. When it appears that the macabre game they've invented is working, Emily becomes obsessed with Stitch Face Sue, and ropes in another girl—but the game goes tragically wrong when the new girl is killed. Charlie and Emily are caught trying to hide the body, and both are carted away to institutions.

Past meets present when Charlie returns to Hithechurch as an adult to research a book on the folklore of the area, but is drawn into the cases of several girls who have mysteriously vanished. And she has other motives for coming back as well. Emily has published a bestselling memoir on the fateful incident from their childhoods, one that lays the blame squarely at Charlie’s feet. Outraged, Charlie scours the town for evidence to back up her side of the story—and in doing so exposes an older, even darker tale.

Charlie is set on discovering the truth about the girls’ disappearances, but someone is watching, and her own past is nipping at her heels. In a town haunted by tragic disappearances and unrelenting urban legends, Charlie's determination for truth is laced with secrets buried deep in Hithechurch's past. ~taken from Goodreads

This wasn't my first book by author Jen Williams. Her book "A Dark And Secret Place" I read and reviewed on my blog a couple years ago.

The premise to her latest novel was perfect for a good read! Small town, creepy folklore, missing girls and dark secrets. The perfect setup for a good page turner. This book is told from 3 different perspectives and from 3 different timelines. 

At first there is no possible way you would think they all fit together in present day. You keep reading and reading, trying to put the pieces together. 

Charlie and her niece are on an off season holiday at a seaside town that Charlie once vacationed at with her family as a child. Charlie has an ulterior motive for visiting the town, clearly to investigate the missing teenage girls and how they somehow relate to her past, her niece is clueless to her agenda. 

We do get to see into Charlie's past and her relationship with her childhood vacation friend as they investigate creepy folklore and start to do weird rituals to try and summon the spirit of Stitch Face Sue, a tale they become semi obsessed about. 

The third storyline is about a doctor who cognitive abilities are compromised by an accident. He ends up with a beautiful woman who also has an accident, but hers effects her looks, which effects her self esteem. 

A long way into the novel these stories interconnect. But I got bored long before that happened. So many times I wanted to quit this book. I actually started reading another book while still reading this one because I was so incredibly bored. There is so much potential here with this book and I am so disappointed the author wasted it on nonimportant side stories and ramblings. There were also so many storylines missed. There were characters I would have loved to know more about, but they were passed over as unimportant. 

This was a gracious 3 star read for me. I really struggled to finish. 

"Games For Dead Girls" is set to be released here in the U.S. on April 18. 2023 so you can pre-order it now! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review. 

Happy Reading! 

 

"A Dark and Secret Place" by Jen Williams

 

When prodigal daughter Heather Evans returns to her family home after her mother's baffling suicide, she makes an alarming discovery--stacks and stacks of carefully preserved letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave. The "Red Wolf," as he was dubbed by the press, has been in prison for over twenty years, serving a life sentence for the gruesome and ritualistic murders of several women across the country, although he has always protested his innocence. The police have had no reason to listen, yet Heather isn't the only one to have cause to re-examine the murders. The body of a young woman has just been found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers. Just as the Red Wolf once did.

What did Heather's mother know? Why did she kill herself? And with the monstrous Red Wolf safely locked inside a maximum security prison, who is stalking young women now? Teaming up with DI Ben Parker, Heather hopes to get some answers for herself and for the newest victims of this depraved murderer. Yet to do that, she must speak to Michael Reave herself, and expose herself to truths she may not be ready to face. Something dark is walking in the woods, and it knows her all too well. ~taken from Goodreads

Honestly, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. The premise sounded amazing and it's the type of story I have been in to lately. It started out with a bang- a daughter cleaning out her mother's house after passing away and discovering stacks of letters to The Red Wolf, a now imprisoned serial killer, dating back decades. Did Heather really know her mother at all? What secrets were her mother hiding and why?

Then, the body of a young woman turns up and the ritualistic killing similarities between this current day body and The Red Wolf's victims are too much to ignore. Heather reports her letter finding to a local detective and he decides that Heather should visit the prison to talk to The Red Wolf. It could help them solve the current murder if Heather can get him to talk. Perhaps he was not alone in the murders and had an accomplice...

We get an alternating perspective from Heather's present day storyline to a past story line involving an abused boy. How does this past story melt into the present day scenario? How does the boy, Michael, fit into Heather's life? I think the author did a wonderful job in the writing and the character development was terrific. I really got excited to read on with each turn of the page.

Towards the last 1/3 of the story it really seemed to slow down. Just when things got interesting, it quickly became suddenly drawn out and I found it hard to stay interested. Heather, as a character whole, seemed to really start getting on my nerves for some reason. She went from a character I liked and sympathized with to a character is despised and who frustrated me with her way of thinking and actions she took. 

The plot starts to swirl like a tornado at the end. It felt rushed and confusing and before I knew it, it was over. We meet so many new characters it was hard to keep track of them all and remember how they fit into this story. Serial killer, family secrets, cults- its all in the ending. The reveal is what I wanted to know more about. A second book written about those characters would be amazing! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me an advanced e-copy to read and give my honest review. It was a 3 1/2 star read for me! 

"A Dark and Secret Place" is set to be release here in the U.S. on June 8, 2021sp preorder now to add to your summer reading list! 

Happy Reading!