“Watch out, world, the Wraith is coming for you. As always, Shea brings the thrills with this urban exploration mystery chiller!” Megan Hart, New York Times bestseller authorFive years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that may reveal the … clues that may reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith. With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskills Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
more
This is my first Hunter Shea read, and there’s a lot to like about this slasher story. It starts at an odd point, after character Ash has survived a horrific murder spree at an abandoned resort in the Catskills. Ash is the legendary final girl from those classic Friday the 13th type stories, the lone survivor. It does lead to some confusion if you think this book is a part two of something. It isn’t, as far as I can tell. But that’s okay, because it sets up the real story about Ash’s fiancé Todd returning to the abandoned resort to seek retribution for Ash’s crippling PTSD. Without giving too much away, Todd publicly invites the escaped killer to a showdown, and a showdown does happen during one hellish night.
The things I liked:
Ash. I loved her as a character and wish we could have seen more of her. But this isn’t her story, as Todd is the focus, and Todd is a well written character too.
The horrific monster that Todd and his friends have to face. I was skeptical about many superhuman elements of the murdering monster until it became clear what he was. I’m not going to spoil it, but I liked the twist to it.
The ending. It didn’t quite end like I was expecting it to end for Todd, and that’s a good thing.
The things that I didn’t like:
For the level of horror that Todd and his friends were up against, I found their inability to stop bickering and to instead keep quiet a little annoying.
Without spoiling too much, there is a fire fighter scene that we come upon after the fact, and I was hard pressed to understand why it took so long for backup to arrive.
There is one final scene at the end of the book that transitions badly, and I was lost about what was happening for a moment.
That having been said, this was an ARC copy of the book, so some of those issues may have been corrected. It was an enjoyable horror read overall. I’d give it a 3.8 which is worth tipping the scale to a 4. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review it.
Slash by Hunter Shea is an amazingly fast paced tale filled with sadness, terror, and gore.
With the mystery that totally sucked me in combined with the horror and dread I felt about what would happen next- I really struggled to put this one down!
This is a tale that has a wonderful Friday The Thirteenth tone, but in my opinion, was much more terrifying!
There were so many scenes that I read as fast as I could to see what would happen next! But a few times, when a scare would happen, I had to close my eyes for a moment.
I know jump scares are typically only used to describe films and how the scares are combined with a sudden switch in imagery and a loud noise, but the scares in this book got me to jump just like a jump scare in a film! This is honestly the very first book I have read where something like this happened and I was shocked. The writing was just that perfect; I was totally captivated by the tale and it felt like I was watching it all play out as a film!
This was my introduction to the author. It had an original idea to draw me in. The developments with the characters were realistic and logical. I was surprised by the final reveals of the villain. Well worth the time.
Slash by Hunter Shea is the literary equivalent of a Friday the 13th or Halloween movie, a twisted and scary page turner.It is perfect for fans of classic 80s or 90s horror movies. Hunter Shea is a master of building tension and it shows in his latest thriller.I can’t recommend it enough. Having read all his previous work (and loved it all) I think Slash might be his best to date.
Slasher horror with a paranormal twist
Ashley was the only survivor “the final girl” of a resort massacre. Her and friends had gone urban exploring in a deserted resort and only Ash made it home. They never caught the killer called The Wraith and she has never gotten over the experience – an experience she can’t remember.
Her fiancé Todd knows how badly she was affected when her friends were killed and after Ashley kills herself, he finds a hidden NOTE letting him know she left a memory chip at the resort that might explain what happened.
I was expecting a slasher type story just by the descriptions given of the book and, in part, that is what the story is like. But there is more towards the middle and end of the book that I didn’t expect.
The first half of the book moved rather slowly but the action ramped up nicely after that.
I’ve enjoyed other horror books by author Shea and I wasn’t disappointed by this one.
I received this book from Flame Tree Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.