I got 20% into this book and could not get any further. I found the narrator incredibly sexist, which unfortunately meant I didn’t care enough about the fate of the character to continue reading. What stuck me initially as a psychological horror with an interesting premise was in fact the same old misogynistic, unimaginatively violent blandness that unfathomably still exists in the world of horror. Not for me, but it may be for someone else.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish this book. I am a fan of the horror genre—with one major exception—slasher/torture porn stories. Movies like Friday the Thirteenth, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Saw are just not my choice of entertainment. I don’t ever remember anything equivalent in written form, until I read this book. It took me three days to get through the first third(?) of the book, because the tone reminded me of one of those movies, and I would think about picking the book up to read more, and would choose to watch TV instead because I simply couldn’t bring myself to face reading any more. I finally picked the book back up on a Saturday, because I wanted to give it another chance before deciding not to finish it, and to my relief discovered that the tone of the story moved away from this gory start—and was able to finish the book in a single day.

I think there was an interesting story buried in this book—a riff on Sartre’s belief that hell is experienced through our interactions with other people. In this book, hell is something that we bring on ourselves through our own behavior. I just think the humanity of this concept was lost amidst the trappings of a gross and unbelievable horror setup.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy.

3.5

Reading this book is like having a vivid hallucination with some drawn out, confusing things in between. Don't get me wrong, I like horror as much as the next person, but this book was pretty out there. There were times when I thought even the author might have become confused about which way he was going with his story.

There were parts of this book that were intense and made me sit on the edge of my seat as I read them, but then they were followed by parts that I just found silly. You have to have a strong stomach to get through certain portions of this book, but if you are a dedicated lover of horror, then this shouldn't be a problem.

Overall, this was an interesting book, but one that I think will certainly not appeal to everyone. I know a few people that I would certainly buy it for, but I guess what I'm saying, is, it takes a certain type to appreciate the dark humour and the imagery this book creates. I was grateful for the opportunity to read it, either way.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Not a bad book but not my cup of tea.
I appreciated the creepiness and found that the plot was quite engaging and entertaining.
Unfortunately I think that the style of writing was a bit confused.
I think there's a lot of potential but some more editing would help.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Really?? I’m honestly confused as to why this book is in the horror/thriller genre. I can kind of see what the author was trying to portray but sadly it just flopped for me. Very much over the top. A true lesson of less is more. Had the warnings been a little less in your face they’d of been more believable hence much creepier. I hate leaving bad reviews on someone’s work but this one just left me disappointed.

My thanks, once again to Flame Tree Press, the author and Netgalley. I wasn't in much of a hurry to start this book after all the dreadful reviews I'd read, But, I had heard good things about the author's other stories. I liked the beginning of the book. The band getting back together for one last show. They sucked before, and they sucked again! My ex-husband was a drummer and co-lead singer in a band when we met. If you knew me now, "boring Lisa" as compared to ....you'd realize how outrageous that is! So, I had fun with this story. It quickly became eye rollingly stupid. But sometimes my 👀 did stop rolling, and became glued to the pages. So, I stuck with it. Turns out it was just as ridiculous as I thought,.Yet I was really enjoying it, while being slightly weirded out. This is a book I think you should judge on your own. I had moment's when it was a definite 2 star book, and others where I was so skeeved out that it was 5 stars. I'm going to settle for 3 here. It was just damned odd at times. I'm also damned odd at times, so I'm calling it good! I'd give 3 1/2 stars of I could.

I’ve seen them. Those feral hillmen staring quietly at me behind trees. I started seeing them when I was 60% into the book. Weird symbols flashed across my mind at random times throughout the day. Does anybody here experience the same thing? Or am I going crazy???

Just kidding... don’t bash me up! This book does have the effect on you. Makes you wonder if you will end up in the same position as Jesse. But I felt that the “warnings” to the reader were too over the top. Jesse repeated the warnings like a broken recorder, and instead of getting all creeped out, I soon started smirking at the corniness of it. Had the “warnings” occur lesser and were less blatant, it would have certainly been more impactful.

I agree with some of the reviews here, that the book had a superb idea but was weak in execution. There were lots of loopholes that made the storyline uneven.
For example, it was unnatural of Cassie when she reunited with Jessie, and was not mad at him for “cheating”. The fact that Al, his sponsor, was so personally invested in Jesse, was also unnatural. Doesn’t that guy have a 9 to 5 job to work instead of waiting till 5am for Jesse to sleep off his hangover and then diligently drives him to his very own private cabin? Al kept the obsideo card, intending to read up about it or something, but later in the story Jesse miraculously has it back in his pocket? The Ouija Board only served to coax the confession out of Jesse, did that spirit used to be a priest or what? The whole exchange just sounded very mechanical, which is not typical of Ouija Board experiences. The Ouija Board idea could have been exchanged with a futuristic interactive console that Initiates have to play around with in order to unlock the doors.

There are also other parts that I could not understand but perhaps was the intention of the author to make it as such. For example, the book seems to try to link Doctor O with the Devil, yet the work Doctor O has done so far was good-natured, if not commendable. Doctor O gave marriage therapy to Jesse and Cassie by trapping them in a cabin and making Jesse confess. Doctor O also aided Rox in his inabilities. So is Doctor O on the good side or not?
Too much time was spent describing the Homoculus when their only screen time was grunting like mad dogs at Priscilla and later, Jesse.


Things I wished could have been explained...
Firstly, Priscilla and her Hero: I wanted to read more about what happened to her.
What exactly is wrong with Al? Was he complicit in the whole plan?
Background story of Doctor O? He must have had far reaching influences in order to pull such a huge stunt on Jesse.

Overall, slightly weak execution. But damn, did this book kick ass! The idea is original. It is deep, it is thought provoking. If developed properly, i can almost imagine it on the big screen, creating waves like the movie Inception.
Awesome read! Just for the great idea, I was willing to overlook the loopholes and give this a 4.
Oh and have I mentioned how much I enjoyed the part on the Homoculus experiment? That itself is interesting enough to have its own book. I want me more of those!
I will definitely pick up part 2 of this book if there ever is one.

I was really excited to read this. It sounded creepy. Loved the premise and enjoyed the start of the book. After awhile it got weird and then it got tedious and confusing. I am sure there is an audience out there for this one but it was just too much work to finish and not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying a copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF’ed at 57%. Convoluted writing and confusing/uninteresting plot. Not for me! I had heard good things so I may try again

I found this book hard to like. It felt cliche, the characters cookie cutter and not relatable. I mostly felt bored as I read it. I wouldn't have minded it as a movie that I could turn on for background noise, but I didn't really love trying to push my way through it by reading.

There are some things I really liked about this book and some that really didn't work for me.
There is a very surreal quality about almost everything that happens in this book, which worked in its favor because, by everything being so surreal, almost anything can happen, which is scary. I also liked a lot of the mad science ideas. That said, I felt like those two significant aspects of the story didn't necessarily play very well together. I felt like the author should have stuck with one or the other because mad science didn't do a very good job of explaining the surreal things that were happening, and spent a lot more time attempting (but failing) to do so than the book warranted.
There is also a weirdly silly feel to some of the descriptions of certain aspects of the rockstar lifestyle our protagonist formerly led. I felt like the author was definitely uncomfortable with some of the more lawless/promiscuous aspects and wrote some of those bits in a way that their feelings came through more strongly than the character's.
In spite of its flaws, however, I overall enjoyed the book. It kept me guessing and had me invested enough that I had to know where the story would go next. There are some very unnerving bits-- the first time the midnight hour radio plays comes to mind-- that were real gems in this reading experience.
One last note: I really don't care for the title.

I like to consider myself a horror buff. So rarely does a book get under my skin. But this one. This one left me paranoid I legitimately checked the locks on my doors and rearmed my security system after reading it. This book is unbelievably twisted. It leaves more questions than it’s given answers. It’s depraved. It’s shocking. It’s gut wrenching and I loved every bit of it!

I was interested in the plot and was given the chance to review through Netgalley. The book was creepy but, slow moving like a victorian horror novel. It wasn't enough to keep my attention though if you like old gothic horror then definitely give this book a chance.

This is a horror novel unlike anything I've ever read. From the very first sentence, the eerie, creepy vibes will have you turning pages to find out what happens next. An intriguing premise and highly readable prose make this a book you'll remember. Following ex-rocker Jesse from a one-night reunion with his old band into a nightmarish ordeal that may or may not have something to do with a cursed book given to him by his old bandmate, Will Haunt You will have readers questioning what's real and what's a figment of the darkest parts of Jesse's imagination.

The ideas are fresh and unique, and Kirk is excellent at making the hair on the back of your neck stand up, but I thought that some of the story was disjointed and at times confusing. That also added to the aura of dread overall, and there were some great twists. I would recommend this book to horror fans looking for something a little different. I'm excited to see what Brian Kirk writes next.

Many thanks to Flame Tree Press and Brian Kirk, as well as NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Expected publication: March 14, 2019

Will Haunt You sounded very dark and menacing. It is, but it's bizarre as well. I was lost through most of the story. Some scenes were just not for me. I think it might have been too much for me all the way through. The writing is good, but it's way out there. This author might do well with a premise more believable. I do think true horror fans will enjoy it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so disappointed! This is such a good premise, a book that is watching you, haunting you.....

The lead character ends up in a living nightmare whereby he has to relive his past mistakes. My issue with it is it's as if the writer was on something when he wrote it. Or, perhaps, you need to be when you read it? Either way, I could make no sense of it whatsoever and I really wanted to. I wouldn't dismiss trying something else from this author as there was a thread of a powerful story there, it just never made it into a coherent one for me. Sorry!

Thanks to NetGalley and FlameTreePublishing for the opportunity to preview.

DNF at 15%

I ended up not finishing this book almost purely because of the amount of body horror involved, which is not a part of the genre I enjoy. The concept of the book that haunts you is a great one, and I'm sure that those who enjoy body horror will love this one! For me the narrative felt a little clunky and what I had expected to be a slow-burning psychological horror ended up being more of a 'straight into the deep end' gore fest.

I had high hopes going into this. The synopsis sounded creepy. And while I did get plenty of that, I also got some bizarre scenes. It was hard, at first, to see where the author was going with his story. Once I figured that out, kind of, I kept thinking this would work so much better as a movie. The plot was out there and hard to follow by reading. I enjoyed some parts, especially the twist at the end. Other parts, not so much. I was left wishing I’d gotten more of what I thought this was going to be about. If you like books that take you into the strange unknown and make you think, this might be a good one for you.

Just plain creepy. I wish I hadn't read the prequel posts first because now I am shaking all over. This is an original, and insanely twisted novel that ca frighten anyone.

Brian Kirk is an original voice in Will Haunt You crafting a scary read from start to end. Worth the read!