The Sleigh by Max Hawthorne

-

 





From the Back Cover

The only Christmas cheer this year will be from those who live to see the dawn . . .

For hardened NYPD homicide detectives Ilsa Dunbar and Andy Alvilda, Christmas represents a holiday of horrors.

Every December for the past decade, a cult of serial killers the press calls the Christmas Cannibals has chewed the Big Apple to its core. Creeping in under cover of darkness, they bypass the finest security systems and slaughter entire families, leaving wreckage and half-eaten corpses in their wake.

But as Dunbar and Alvilda’s investigation leads them from one horrifying crime scene to another, they begin to realize there is something dark and deadly lurking in the shadows. It is an ancient evil whose roots are wrapped around the most iconic Christmas figure of all.

And for those who meet its fiery gaze, the legend of Santa Claus will never be the same.

If you're a fan of must-read horror fiction books like Brom's Krampus: the Yule Lord, gripping mythological thrillers like Felix Blackwell's Stolen Tongues, fast-paced occult fiction like Adam Nevill's Cunning Folk, or nail-biting Gothic horror like A.M. Shine's The Watchers, you're going to LOVE this terrifying extension to Hawthorne's Braddock brothers Kronos Rising series universe!


About the Author - Max Hawthorne

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7365782.Max_Hawthorne

Max Hawthorne is an American author and screenwriter. Referred to as the “Prince of Paleo-fiction”, he is best known for his Kronos Rising series of sci-fi suspense thrillers, which have garnered both Book of the Year and People’s Choice awards.


The Sleigh

This is the closest I have come to read about a creature which reminded me so much of the one in the Jeepers Creepers franchise in terms of shock and horror quotient. And that series especially the first one was chilling.

I have been putting off this review for some time now having picked it up the day after Christmas and completed it in the new year. The timeline has no bearing on the story and I wanted to make this last.

The Prince of Paleo-fiction shines with a horror novel tied to the holiday season and with ties with the ritual of Christmas, with Santa.

After a blockbuster run with the Kronos stories which had a delayed epilogue novella with Kronos Rising - Purgatory last year (https://sanjibsblogreads.blogspot.com/2022/12/kronos-rising-purgatory-by-max-hawthorne.html) Max has switched from terror to horror.

The Sleigh is a supernatural horror thriller with a being who is partly a myth that that just cannot be killed and is relentless and unstoppable like a Terminator. The murders are grisly and filled with blood, gore and enough degradation to turn the stomach.

The main characters in the story the law enforcement folk are partly well written and partly caricature with bits of everything from corruption to diligence thrown in. The camaraderie between the main characters is good and leaves the reader begging for more. The diligence of the protagonists is supreme and we can see their efforts as well as their impotence in the face of the incomprehensible. The best arts are the easy dialogues and banter with humor coming up in every few line that pushes back the dark story.

The protagonists are interesting enough to warrant future stories and I would love Max to write some more stories featuring them.

The book is fast paced and follows a set pattern of murders but it is the supernatural elements and the myth entwined into the story that carries the story into a new level. The story at parts seems too pat but thats taken care by the pace which never falters. Ilsa and Andy make a good pair of officers with Andy is a bit of a mystery here.

Altogether a 4 star read and well recommended.

This is a book that will challenge peaceful sleep after completion even for hardcore readers of horror. I can vouch for it and I have read some of the very best.

Please do not forget to post your comments. I am an equal opportunity person so would love to hear your love or your hate for the review or book in any order. Please write what you did not like or whether the book was an absolute disaster for you and why.

You can also write to firstsutraindia@gmail.com


You can also follow/like my review at Goodreads here - 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5189668752

Or my Social Media Handle @BookishDramas  in Twitter, Instagram & Facebook. Links are given below -

https://twitter.com/bookishdramas

https://www.instagram.com/bookishdramas/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088404892842

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

James Bond 007, Vol. 1 by Greg Pak

-
Image
  ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐  Stars Blurb The ODD JOB epic begins in a new ongoing James Bond comic series by superstars GREG PAK (Planet Hulk, Mech Cadet Yu), MARC LAMING (Star Wars, Wonder Woman) and STEPHEN MOONEY (Half Past Danger)! Agent 007 tracks a smuggler into Singapore to secure a dangerous case, contents unknown. But a Korean mystery man wants the case as well, for very different reasons. And if Bond and this new rival don't kill each other, the ruthless terrorist organization known as ORU will be more than happy to finish the job. James Bond 007, Vol. 1 by Greg Pak  More 3.5 than 4 but an entertaining graphic novel. This is a great Bond novel and very much like the Bond of old, cynical, sexy and borderline insane. The introduction of diversity acceptable cast comes in the form of M and Moneypenny both people of color. This story takes a new road with an Oddjob wannabe entering the action as a sleek action driven character who upstages Bond with his finesse. This glimpse takes the mind towar
Read more

Hell Moon (Xeno-Spectre Book 1) by Mary E. Lowd ARC from BookSirens

-
Image
⭐⭐⭐ ⭐  Stars Blurb A search and rescue mission on a deserted moon goes wrong when Janice and her crew mates are attacked in the dark abandoned city beneath the surface. Infected by a strange blue energy, Janice doesn't know how much time they have left, or what will happen when time runs out. The underground ruins crawl with mysterious, scarab-like figures, and even death isn't a certain escape, when the dead rise as ghostly forms. The only logical choice is to flee, but the lizard-like aliens paying for the mission insist on forging on. Their secretive agenda and the sordid history of the sentient spaceship who brought them there divide the crew, when they can't afford to be divided. Trapped on hell moon, Janice must fight to keep as much of her crew alive as possible while wrestling against impossible odds. The only one who has a clue about how all the pieces tie together is a little girl who survived the last hundred years asleep in her cryo-pod. On a world where the dea
Read more

Manga Classics: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Review on NetGalley

-
Image
An auspicious start as this is the first book that I am reviewing on NetGalley after procrastinating for nearly a month. A 178 year old blockbuster Alexander Dumas classic full length novel converted to manga format seemed incredible and when I saw this available here in NetGalley, I just had to have a peek. Not just a peek, have had a full read and am thankful to NetGalley for making this book available for review.  The Count of Monte Cristo has been one of my favorite classics and I have had the privilege of reading it in many formats, the classic novel, short condensed edition, comics, illustrated editions, meant for adults, teens and schools. Even then I was not very confident that the book would come out well as a manga.  The book was quite a revelation with crisp artwork and well edited to include all major key points of the book.  An elaborate revenge drama, the story at many levels is a bit dated but nothing can jade the elaborate set pieces and the way the story pumps up with
Read more