The misdeeds of our ancestors are debts passed from generation to generation. They lurk, hidden in the shadows, waiting for the right time to be collected. For the residents of Harper Pass—their debt is due. When a young autistic girl goes missing from a small Appalachian community, the residents of Harper Pass descend into chaos. Brooks Raker and his friends stumble across the police … across the police investigation, and as they dig deeper into the mysterious events, the boys realize the fate of their missing classmate pales in comparison with the evil lurking in the shadows of the quiet little town.
With four boys who believe something sinister is at work, and an ambitious reporter breathing down his neck, Detective Holt of the Harper Pass Police Department must confront his doubts and follow the evidence. A chain of disappearances and suspicious deaths, leads Holt to the doorstep of the mysterious and reclusive Professor Wadlow who may know exactly what has come to collect in Harper Pass.
Can the detective and the boys work together to unravel the dark secrets of Harper Pass before those secrets devour them all?
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This was a great book. This book did a great job of building characters, relationships, and a fantastically haunting story arch. I reserve five stars for book I’d read again, and I will most definitely read this book again.
He takes a coming of age story and sets it into a small town that has inherited problems of the paranormal kind. It is a great read.
If you want to read a good suspense novel and keep turning pages, this would be a good read. Great book!!!
I had the privilege of reading an Advanced Reader Copy of Shawn Burgess’ debut novel, The Tear Collector. This book had everything a reader could possibly want – an intriguing & well-developed cast of characters, evocative prose, a suspenseful plot, so many twists & turns, and loads of delightful creepiness. The story centers around the town of Harper Pass and talks about the mysterious happenings in the area, specifically Grief Hollow. Shawn’s description is so on-point that most of the time I felt like I was walking through the woods and witnessing unsettling sights along with the characters. The Tear Collector is a page-turner and hard to put down that appeals to audiences who enjoy shows like Stranger Things, Goonies, or Stand by Me. I cannot wait to see how the journey continues and what spooky adventures lie in wait in the sequel. The Tear Collector is the first of many greats from this promising author.
‘The Tear Collector’ is my first go-around with Mr. Burgess and what a great introduction to his writing. The synopsis itself and the cover had me massively intrigued and I’d seen some really good reviews about this around its release date.
What I liked: This story hums along and the principle plot behind it is right up my alley. Grief Hollow is a section of woods near a small town that everyone avoids. People go missing, odd things happen etc. The story opens with a horrific incident that sets the stage for the main events almost a decade later.
The story itself is broken into two main narratives; the first is a coming-of-age story about a group of friends who band together to face an unseen force, while also dealing with some local bullies. The second is the search for a missing girl, which then becomes more and more a police story about just what is going on.
The characters were great, and the short, quick chapters made sure you wanted to keep reading more, to find out just what is happening. The ending was a bit of a mixed bag, but it played out just the way the story needed. Good character resolutions and the epilogue was a fun add on.
What I didn’t like: Even with the quick chapters, there was a bit in the middle that seemed to lag, where the story didn’t really move along. Part of it was building trust and rapport within the group of characters, but the timeline of everything happening in this story wasn’t very long, so the middle section I thought could have been a bit more condensed. The other thing I wasn’t completely sold on was the ‘why’ of the thing in Grief Hollow, but that’s just me. It may work really well for others!
Why you should buy this: Everyone who reads horror loves coming-of-age stories set in the creepy woods. Add in bullies, disappearances and the police and this thing is primed for fans of this genre. I really loved the gore and then as we do see more of the thing, the story grows creepier and creepier.
This was a great introduction to Shawn’s work! I had a blast and it’s always a fun time when the story moves this quickly for most of the book.
I received a copy when I was ailin with the flu. This story made me feel better. I got better the very next day. OK so Tamiflu helped as well.
It was worth buying in physical form. Great author.
The Tear Collector, the debut novel of talented writer Shawn Burgess, is a thriller that acts as an exploration of childhood, friendships, and the real and supernatural fears of a detailed cast of characters. The Tear Collector follows in the same vein as King’s It and the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things. One thing The Tear Collector has on It is that coming in at 389 pages, it’s a bit more palatable while still allowing the reader to relive the most potent time of our lives and fester there in our fears.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Tear Collector, by Shawn Burgess, especially with so many readers comparing it to Stranger Things. The Tear Collector didn’t disappoint! It’s a face paced thriller with horror and supernatural elements, that focuses on a small town’s search for a missing girl. At its heart, it’s a story about a group of friends who band together and uncover long hidden secrets which they suspect are related to the missing girl and other inexplicable, terrible events which have gripped the small town of Harper Pass. The ending left me wanting more, as I’m sure it did for many readers. A must read!
Stranger Things meets Stephen King Horror
In a small town, four young boys are forced to confront a horror unlike any their minds can conjure up much less believe they are seeing. Together, they learn to trust not only each other, but those who they’ve grown up believing were monsters.
The relationship between these four boys was actually one of the best things about this book. They were not written as the stereotypical boys who weren’t allowed to show fear or sadness, and that was a major draw for me. In other words, the characters were real.
I can’t wait to see what’s next in this series.
The Tear Collector is what horror and suspense should be. Author, Shawn Burgess, weaves a masterful story in this debut novel that brings you on a roller coaster of thrills and emotions from the moment you open the cover . I’m a lifelong Stephen King fan and the Tear Collector reminded me of the same excited frights I used to feel when reading King’s stories. Check out The Tear Collector, you won’t be disappointed.
If you are looking for an amazing horror story in the vein of Stephen King this book is for you. Shawn Burgess gives us real-life characters and a horror story that is sure to scare the most stoic of readers. From beginning to end I was enthralled with a novel that captured my undivided attention. This book is sure to please readers
While Detective Holt searches for a missing autistic girl, Brooks, Tee, Robby and Devlin form their own search party. They do what teenagers always do: get in trouble. Oh, they try to do the right thing, but as always they find culprits and criminals in places where they should be, to say the least. Being friends, they also stick together in their search for what truly transpired that morning in the woods. And you meet it all. Strangeness. Weirdness. Things you don’t believe possible.
Paranormal? It isn’t far away. By the end of the book you sit on the point of your chair with only one question on your mind: who survives this onslaught?
Shawn Burgess has a way with words. He brings his characters to life while you search together with him for the possible solutions. While Brooks is the main character, you meet others as well. From bullies to victims to Detective Holt – the man who must solve all of this or risk losing more people. And then there is Brady – the kid that starts the book with the wrongest of choices. What is his role in all of this? Is he guilty of murder? Did he make Margo, the autistic girl, disappear? Or is there something we all miss, hidden in the dark past of one of the characters? Or the town?
Shawn offer you a magical look into his head. It’s a twisted one, I admit, but it’s such a fun read that you almost forget this is a debut. It may not be a surprise that this book goes places on Amazon (and in your head). So, if you want to get an answer to every question we posed, there is but one thing to do for you: go read his book. Now. You won’t regret it because… Well… It’s even better than I said, sir. Lady.
The Tear Collector is the exciting, excellent debut novel from Shawn Burgess. At its heart, it is a supernatural mystery thriller.
Let’s think about that.
This is not simply a horror story, though it is that. That’s where the supernatural part comes in and you get a taste of it right away as the book begins. There is a monster here, though Burgess gradually teases out exactly who/what/why that monster is.
There is also a great deal of mystery wrapped up in the tale. Readers will find themselves asking what is going on but also wanting to know why it is going on. Why are these things happening and how are they connected? Some of the characters, for example, are as mysterious as the monster for much of the book.
But I think it’s primarily a thriller. The main characters — a group of teenagers who are contending with the horrors of supernatural creatures but also the horrors of bullying, a young man who has experienced horrors natural and supernatural from a young age, a local sheriff contending with murder and more — are faced with exciting and scary obstacles, from sources human and other, throughout the book.
Burgess succeeds at blending these genres into a coherent, exciting whole. These characters seem like real people with real problems who are confronted with a literal monster while still having to contend with their real-life issues. One of the central characters, for example, becomes aware that he and those around him are endangered by a ghost-or-worse but also has to be afraid that if he leaves his house a group of bullies are hunting for him, looking for payback. As a reader, you can’t help but worry about him either way.
Burgess is an excellent writer. When I say that, I am talking about two different qualities. Yes, the writing is very good and he has a knack for turning a phrase to evoke an image or an emotion for the reader. Even more than that, though, he shines as a story-teller. He knows how to pace, he knows when to tantalize, he knows how to draw out a mystery so the reader wants to stay up later to read the next chapter and find out more.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to readers who like mysteries which include the supernatural, who like excellent writing, and who love a well-paced thriller. In other words, this will appeal to a lot of people.
(I received an advanced reader copy without expectation of a review.)
I was sent this book to read for my honest review. I have not read a massive amount of horror but I have enjoyed Joe Hill, Steven King, and recently, Kealan Patrick Burke. I had no idea what to expect but I honestly blew through this book. I don’t think of myself as someone who gets super scared but one night I found myself getting up to check all of the windows and doors to make sure they were locked! lol. I don’t want to give away spoilers but if you like thrillers, horrors or murder mysteries, I highly recommend The Tear Collector. I hope there’s going to be a sequel. It’s hard to believe this was a debut novel!
I was fortunate enough to be given an advance copy of Shawn Burgess’s debut novel in exchange for an honest review, and Shawn did not disappoint. Although the horror/science fiction is not my normal “go-to” I enjoyed this book and tore through it in one sitting. The story is fast-paced, tightly plotted, and creepy as hell. As others have mentioned, the plot is reminiscent of Stranger Things and Steven King in that it involves a group of young boys solving a gory mystery of supernatural origins in their tight Tennessee town, so fans of those shows/books should enjoy this wild and graphic ride. Shawn is gifted in his ability craft descriptive scenes of intrigue, tension, and bloodshed. Reader be warned, The Tear Collector is not for the faint of heart. The books opens with a horrific and fatal forest fire and does not slow down from there. I was routing not only for the main protagonist, Brookes, but also a number of secondary characters, including a dedicated but overwhelmed Sheriff and an unlikely hero in need of redemption. Although the boys appear to solve the mystery and exterminate the evil that haunts their town, Shawn leaves several threads hanging and I can’t wait for the sequel!
Just finished this book and really enjoyed it. Made me think of Stranger Things, or It by Stephen King. Total compliment by the way, because this book had it’s own plot, own characters, and own ending. Loved the twists, human connections, and even saddened me a little, when certain characters met their fate. I’d recommend it.
The first chapter is serene, kids out in the forest playing but soon, I’m drawn into deeper darker secrets that keep me on the edge of my seat. A Stranger Things feel coats this story yet it’s unique, sometimes funny and often true to life.
Mr Burgess is an author I’ll definitely add to my following list. I liked his writing style, the ease with which he wove his tale and the beautiful descriptions of the surroundings.
5 thumbs up from me!
Shawn Burgess’s debut novel “The Tear Collecter” was everything I was looking forward to reading. Within the first few chapters, I was hooked. The plot was compelling, with relateable characters that sucked you into the pages. I haven’t read much speculative fiction, but take my advice and read this book, you won’t be mad that you did.
Definitely worth a read by this first time author! The way I tell that a book is for me is that when I am done with a chapter and ready to stop, I always find myself reading two or three more. Very easy, entertaining, and character forward book that makes you want to read more to see what will happen next. Recommended for all ages, especially those who are fans of the horror genre, or television shows like Stranger Things. Looking forward to the sequel!