I have never heard of Nate Kenyon before so when his first book published by Leisure fiction titled “Bloodstone” hit my doorstep the first thing that caught my eye was the very impressive book cover, that has this really freaky looking ghost peering from a window. I also noticed that the book was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award and have received a lot of praise from other publications and writers. Leisure knows how to pick their writers, every book that I’ve read so far from the company has been very good. While Bloodstone did have it’s up and downs however, it was a book that does have some shaky moments but does come full circle when it’s all said and one.
The story of Bloodstone is full of a lot of back story and plenty of information to keep your mind going to the very end. The book starts off with two people in a car driving north. Both are haunted by ghostly visions, however Billy Smith has taken the girl in the car with him, simply known as Angel hostage, kidnapping her from a drug addicted life in Miami. Little do they know that these visions are bringing them North to the town of White Falls, Meanwhile the death of White Falls most famous and notorious resident Ronnie Taylor has pasted away in prison. His son Jeb is on his way to the prison to pick up his father’s belonging and make arrangements for his body. Jeb is a troubled young man in his late teens, living with his crazy grandmother Ruth. To make a long story short Jeb finds this gem with his fathers belongings, little does he know that this stone of sorts has been the center of all the bad things that have happened in the past history of White Falls and that it is calling home all those who have a past history in the town.
Bloodstone is a very interesting story that has a lot of information to offer the reader and puts you into a very twisty world. Kenyon really develops not only his main characters very well but also the supporting characters. Everyone who lives in the small town of White Falls from their job to their interests are all mentioned in the book. Kenyon really developed this book to give you that uneasy feeling that Stephen King gave us with Salem’s Lot. All the towns people seem very creepy throughout the book and your never sure if they are characters that should be trusted. My one and only complaint about the plot of the story was that their were certain chapters and situations that were very easy to predict the outcome or the secrets that certain characters have been keeping from one another. This happened close to the middle of the book for me, and it did honestly slow my interest in the book, however, Kenyon hit me good at the end which made that little bump in the road well worth hitting and riding over to the more horrific and surprising outcome.
Overall, besides the few bumps in the road, Bloodstone is very impressive first novel. Nate Kenyon shows a lot of promise among the horror elite. Bloodstone is very well written, detailed story that will really keep you thinking all the way to the end of the book. It’s a book for horror fans who like to get really deep in the history of characters and the mystery that surrounds them. It also includes a preview to Kenyon’s next novel “The Reach” which will be released in 2009, which looks to be another promising novel from Kenyon.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
