The Well House

I got Well House 2 and 3 as well, and hoped to spend a week or two with Matassa as I moved and healed from my wreck. Im writing this review after reading all three, so some of this applies to all of them.

The first book reminded me of a campy niche film. Definitely great, but I could understand why some people may not be that into it. Not everyone falls in love with the good/evil dynamics so blatantly in the open. This book is, as with the other two, a hundred percent a piece meant to incite real thought and fear. Not only is Matassa a good writer, and has written this series and this book with great care and attention to detail, he wrote this book on an original plot idea.

The Well is a great first installment to the series. I enjoyed reading about Ben and enjoyed that it jumped right into the story without much buildup or setup. For a first novel, Matassa nailed his pacing, left out a lot of extra and unnecessary detail and dialogue, and didn’t do a whole lot of “telling” which is one of the most notable things new authors do.

I set aside a couple of weeks for these three books, and I blew threw them in a few days. Definitely give this series a read, you wont be disappointed.

A husband’s fight to save his wife and unborn child from the terrifying forces of evil.
The Well house is a faced paced, adventurous romance/horror story that will keep you intrigued from start to finish with its unpredictable and exciting plot.

A must read in my opinion that should appeal to many people who like different genres as this story is a mix of romance, horror and fantasy . Im looking forward to reading The next book.

Colorado author Michael S. Matassa earned his degrees from Regis College in Denver and the University of Colorado School of Law and is an attorney and Municipal Court Judge in Arvada, Colorado. THE WELL HOUSE is his debut novel though he has also written several short stories and a screenplay. He states discovered the well house in the late summer of 1994, standing by a field of corn on a small farm just south of Brighton Colorado, where it still stands today. His nom de plume is M.S. Matassa. The author is able to transplant us into a terrifying nightmare as he opens his story with a scene that seems tangibly real – ‘The specks floated in the sky, drifting in circles as if caught in a small whirlwind. The old Mustang convertible, traveling on Highway 85 below, appeared from the south, speeding by emerald-colored fields of corn. It was a beautiful day in Colorado, warm and breezy with high blue skies and wispy clouds forming over the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The vast cornfields reminded Ben Carson of his childhood family vacations in the Midwest when life was much simpler. As the Mustang was about a mile south of the well house, the specks converged into a churning black cloud, drifting in a controlled, gliding freefall. Ben glanced at the mountains in the distance and noticed the strange cloud moving in the sky: a mass of black specks, circling and floating in the air, searching for something. Ben pulled the car over to the side of the road and shut off the engine. He sat motionless behind the wheel, intently observing the approaching cloud. As the cloud drew closer he saw the shapes of the individual specks—black wings flapping in a uniform rhythmic motion, glistening scales covering the quivering bodies. Birds or flying reptiles—he couldn’t be sure, but his chest tightened with fear. One of the creatures broke from the main group and dove toward for the Mustang. Ben sat in the front seat, petrified, unable to move. He watched the body of the creature grow large, then small, pulsing in rhythm with its beating heart. A shrill scream split the silence, and Ben’s head jerked to the left. He saw a small run-down well house on the edge of the cornfield with its door ajar, beckoning him to safety. The scream again pierced his ears, and Ben looked back at the sky. The black creature was no longer a distant object, but flew directly overhead, circling to his right. Ben decided to get out of his car and run across the highway to the safety of the well house. The old Mustang’s door had once worked with precision, but twenty-five years of use had made the door stubborn on some occasions, and this was one of those occasions. Ben pulled the lever, but the door didn’t budge. He pulled himself to his knees and jumped over the side. Luckily, the roof was down, making Ben’s exit easy. He started to run, but his feet slipped on loose gravel and his legs buckled. Ben put his hands down to break the fall, and the gravel tore into them, leaving small craters of glistening blood oozing out of the cuts in his palms. As Ben stood up, a sharp pain traveled across the top of his head. His hand immediately went up for protection, touching the warm sticky fluid matting his hair. As he turned around, a large black blur struck him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Ben fell on his back, striking his skull on the concrete surface. Tears filled his eyes as pain shot through his neck into his head. Ben lay still, waiting for his mind to clear. He heard a ruffling of feathers and looked to his right. A large scaly winged creature stood next to him, peering intently at his face, a hideous grin on the parched beak. The black eyes of this hellish thing reflected the image of the well house sitting at the edge of the cornfield across the road. For an instant, Ben thought he saw Anne’s reflection in the blackness of the vacant eyes.’ And that is the quality of writing that is found on every page of this fantasy thriller. The ‘dream’ that opens the book is explained in the plot synopsis – ‘The dream is back and Ben Carson is terrified. His pregnant wife, Anne, is locked in a coma and Ben is the only person who can save her but he has no idea how to accomplish this. His dreams contain clues but they make no sense. Ben can’t figure what a small white well house and black flying creatures have to do with Anne. Then he meets a mysterious woman named Thelma Grippe. What he learns from Thelma shakes him to the core, but gives him the knowledge to free Anne from the force keeping her in the coma. Once he locates the well house, Ben finds a passage to another dimension, where he searches for Anne. After a long, arduous journey, Ben faces the ultimate evil that holds Anne captive. The Well House is a multi-layered tale that takes you on an amazing journey, from the mountains above Boulder Colorado to the depths of the dark zone.’ There is now a follow-up novel THE WELL HOUSE II and if it is of the caliber of this book then we have a powerful new author in our midst! Highly recommended – but keep the lights on.

There were such creative layering I found in The Well House which made it difficult to put down once I got into it. It’s very well written for a first-time author, and I even went to check if he’d released earlier books but apparently not. The descriptive writing was engrossing and the plotline draws me in and kept me hooked. The writing quality was found throughout the book. I loved how Ben meets a mysterious stranger who directs him to the Well House. It is in the well house where Ben enters the dark, where he looks to defeat evil that lies within, and save those that mean most to him. A great read and I hope the second book is just as amazing as this one. Great job. Definitely recommended.

I highly recommended this book. It is written in a fast paced and edgy way and it kept my attention throughout reading it. Matassa has a distinctive way with words and I found this very had to put down once I got into it. The pace of the book was just perfect not too fast and not too slow either. It was full of interesting plot twists and is such an interesting take on good vs evil narrative. A great read. Highly recommended and I cant wait to get started on the next book.