When Kris Barlow's husband is killed in a car accident, an image of the summer cottage where she spent her childhood emerges in her mind...a place that suddenly feels like home...a place to heal. The summer cottage on lost lake was a place where 10-year-old Krissy was able to say goodbye to her dying mother. Now, almost three decades later, Kris returns with her daughter Sadie to the remote town of Pacington, Kansas...where an old friend has been waiting for her return.

Thank you Inkshares! Violet, is a fantastic new novel by the author of Kill Creek (which I LOVED). The author takes a slightly different approach with this novel, delivering a mystery/psychological thriller based horror. The town itself has a rather dark history with both its creation and the tragic events that occur afterwards. This historical backstory immediately adds both a sinister and magical element to the novel's setting. Kris has experienced several traumas throughout her life, which combined with her coping mechanisms, play a major role in the psychological suspense felt throughout the book. Sadie, Kris's daughter, also increases the "creepy factor" as the plot progresses...because let’s face it kids say and do creepy stuff even without an evil presence. There are some disturbing, eerie, and even goose bump (for me) elements throughout but the novel itself isn't overly horrific. This is a more character driven story as Kris continually grapples with her past memories which cross over into present events and kind of unhinge her mental stability even further. This was another fantastic read by this emerging horror novelist who will definitely be going on my watch list for future reads.

I also want to add that I really enjoyed reading the introduction, "A Whisper", by the publisher of Inkshares. As a lover of the horror genre, I found it to be both an informative and interesting look at the genre's history and future. I hope that they will consider including it in the published novel as well.

I cannot stress how much I loved this book, I am going to go straight out to buy his previous book. It was so beautifully written, I felt as though I was there with Krissy and Sadie every step of the way. The story unfolded slowly but there was an undercurrent of unease and creepiness throughout, alongside grief and sadness which was so well conveyed it almost felt your own. Just brilliant.

I have been fortunate enough to receive a advance reader copy of this book Violet and I would just like to say to all authors and publishers that as a reader first and foremost aswell as a book blogger these arc copies are an honour and a privilege to receive and I truly appreciate each and every book and I hope my merge efforts to review and promote goes someway to helping get these books the exposure they deserve, so, Thank You 🙏🏼

As I said, I have been luck to receive an early copy of Violet and it opens up with a foreword from the CEO and publisher Adam Gomolin in which he summaries the plot a hell of a lot better and quicker than what I could so I hope he doesn’t mind but I am going to use his words to open up my review with!

A woman returns to the lake house where she watched her mother die of cancer as a child – but an evil has been growing beneath the surface of the town, one emanating from her own loss thirty years before. Its a terrifying exploration of grief, denial, and betrayal. Where Kill Creek was driven by plot, Violet is a character focused exploration of life in the aftermath of loss.

Thats much better than me rambling on trying to lay the bare bones of it down for you😂

As with Kill Creek which I loved, and I will now shamelessly plug my review for that book here! Kill Creek by Scott Thomas Violet is also a bit of a slow burner to begin with but my god does it work! The pace allows for the in depth character development as well as all the fine tuning of the atmosphere which creeps and keeps on ratcheting up page by page and for me it was the atmosphere that was the key to this books success and it has it by the bucket load! The characters, the locations, to the creepy neighbours you can feel watching all adds up to an atmosphere you could cut with a knife!

The house and its setting is a complete character in its self, a living breathing entity that is always there, watching you even though its not the house that you should be scared of. It’s what lives in that house that will put you off reading at bedtime!

She was a walking dream, a thought made flesh, an inhuman spirit caught between two realms.

I may have overused the word atmosphere in that paragraph but please forgive me, I have not slept yet as I was up all night reading and yes I kept the light burning bright all night reading this one!

Just when I thought things couldn’t get more taught with tension I was proved so so wrong! I thought I had worked out the solution to Kris’s Violet problem just mere moments before she had and as I was busy congratulating myself literally seconds later my heart ended up in my mouth when both the character and I realised at the same time that we were both may have got it totally and utterly wrong! 😱

Horror fans world wide will devour this in one sitting, claustrophobic and atmospheric this book will give you chills.

Violet will be published on 4 Sep 2019 and can be pre ordered now

A massive thank you to the author Scott Thomas, publishers Inkshares and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

https://debbiesbookreviews.wordpress.com/2019/06/29/violet-by-scott-thomas/

Scott Thomas, author of Kill Creek, delivers a most masterful read. Horror pertaining to childhood has always freaked me out. Violet freaked me out on another level. I can hang with evil toys, urban legends, and the paranormal. What I can’t hang with is imaginary friends. Violet plays on that creepy aspect from our childhoods. Imaginary friends have always scared me. Kids seeing an invisible person or thing and spending time with them. Kids converse, confide in, and get into mischief with them.

To me, it’s spine-chilling because you really don’t know who or what is talking to you, your friends, or your children. Bystanders can’t see them or communicate with them. When a kid mentions their imaginary friends by name, I freeze up and chills run down my spine. You don’t really know if the imaginary friend is benevolent or malevolent until it’s more than likely too late. What happens when the kid grows up? Does the imaginary friend go away? How can you be sure? Violet explores all of these questions and more.

I was truly blown away with Scott Thomas’s prose. He has become a stronger writer since his debut. The sentences flow better and the dialogue is smoother, making for a smooth reading experience. The pacing is nice and taut. The story never bogs down or gets sluggish. The two main characters are everything. The mother-daughter duo, Kris and Sadie, have tons of depth. And something or someone has been waiting for their return. Violet is filled with tragedy and great sadness. You can immediately sense the dread with the gut-wrenching opening scene. It’s the foreboding that propels the story forward at a breakneck speed. Scott Thomas sucks you headlong into the story with his complex characters and rich narrative. You want what’s best for Kris and Sadie. I was on the edge of my seat during all of the arduous situations and scenarios.

Scott Thomas uses vignettes to expand on the characters backstory. Thomas reveals a little bit at a time, peeling back layers of the characters and their history. He gives you just enough information to keep you turning the page. The scenes in Violet are vivid. Thomas doesn’t just tell you about the people and places, he shows you. It’s one helluva reading experience. Like I said before, there’s so much tragedy and it’s heart-wrenching just thinking about what horrible things Scott Thomas puts his characters through. He literally throws the whole kitchen sink at his characters to see if they can survive.

I would like to say that before I started this book I read the synopsis. I normally don’t, but I just felt compelled to with this one. At first, I thought it revealed a lot about the plot, but upon finishing the story I realized that it barely scratches the surface. You couldn’t guess the plot, climax, or ending if you tried. I have never cried with a character more than I did with Kris. It has a lot to do with the way Scott Thomas wrote her scenes, and how much emotional trauma she has endured over her lifetime. After all, Violet is set in the aftermath of tragedy and loss. Mental health also plays a key role in this story. It certainly adds an extra layer of intrigue to an already outstanding tale.

Violet is eerie in the best ways. This book has all the ingredients you need for a great horror story. Scott Thomas fills your horror heart with coming-of-age, psychological, emotional trauma, tragedy, and dynamic characters. There’s a plethora of twists and turns along the way. When you think you know what is really going on, Thomas pulls the rug out from under your feet. The reveals are the fun part because you get to experience them with Kris. And that ending will send you reeling. You won’t see it coming. None of you will.

The cover is splendid. I don’t know who the creator is, but I do know it catches the eye. It sets the tone for the reading experience. You’ll want to notch out a nice chunk of time to read this one. You don’t just read Violet, you experience it. Violet is simply one of the best books of the 2010s. Violet is definitely my favorite book of 2019, so far. It’s in my top ten for sure. If you haven’t put this one on your TBR piles, then remedy that immediately. You’re going to want to read this one. If you have this one on your TBR piles, I suggest you move it to the top. Overall, you can’t ask for a better book or a better reading experience. I can’t wait until his next release. I may have to re-read Kill Creek now that I think about it. Violet gets all the stars! Helluva book!

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

I hope this book does not just get pigeon-holed as a horror novel, I hope that this gets a wider audience than just readers of the genre because while it is a very suspenseful and at times scary book, it is also so much more than that. I loved this authors first book Kill Creek and was very excited when I was given the chance to read and review an arc copy of this. This is a book about friendship and family ties and ultimately, loss. It's also about survival. What people do and tell themselves to get by when the crap is hitting the fan with the realization that the world won't stop turning because you need it to and that life goes on whether or not you want it to.
Right from the onset you know that the characters are going through it. From the beginning you know that they are running from something, trying to regroup, and get themselves back to some sense of normalcy. This setup is what made the book for me in terms of connecting with the characters and making me care for them and about what was going on. And I think without the time spent doing this the ending would not have been as impactful nor as emotional. All these different things were happening and backstories were filled in and all the while it seemed like I, as the reader, was circling the drain, sinking slowly but gaining momentum towards the finale. And what a grand finale it was! Everything came together in such a spectacular and satisfying way I just might have had tears in my eyes. (might have, because men don't cry)
I also loved the way the author used music to set the tone and mood throughout. As the main character listened to old mix tapes her mom had made I was able to hear these songs in my head as I knew and loved most of them myself and it totally added to my overall enjoyment and appreciation of the book. It was little things like this that set this one apart for me, the little added details that might not have been necessary to further the plot but made the story all the more vivid for their inclusion.
Violet made me laugh, it made me sad, it also scared the crap out of me. The book made me feel pity and disgust but also relief and happiness. Violet is a fast paced book without a wasted page and no time was spent with meaningless fodder or filler. Total reading enjoyment is to be found in here and I give this my highest recommendation possible.

I want to thank Inkshares and Netgalley for providing me the arc of this but that in no way impacted my opinion or review.

After the death of her husband, Kris Barlow wants to give her young daughter a chance to recover in the house she herself spent her childhood summers in. Traveling to Lost Lake (where a small village lies under the waters), Kris discovers the house she remembers has begun to decay. Trying to put aside the stories about the town children who have gone missing and been found dead, and the voices she hears in her own head, Kris sets out to make a home for herself and her daughter for the summer. But there are many things she deosn’t remember from her own childhood, and when her daughter begins playing with an invisible child, Kris wonder if she, or her daughter might be insane. This is a creepy, intense and incredibly well written coming of age ghost story. Thomas is a gifted writer on par with an early Stephen King

This is one creepy ghost story.. Parts of it are flat out chilling and shivery.. Highly recommended.

I read the author's 2017 debut novel KILL CREEK the day before I read his upcoming horror novel VIOLET. Both are literate horror, set in Kansas, in economically deprived locales. Both center on a house, in both cases long abandoned and uninhabited (by the living). The setting in VIOLET is a lake house on a bluff near "Lost Lake" in Southeastern Kansas. When Colorado veterinarian Kate's husband dies in a horrible auto accident, she and eight-year-old daughter Sadie travel to the lake house of Kate's childhood, inherited from her late father. Her last summer there was tragic, as her mother died from cancer, so already there are parallels to the current situation and little Sadie's silent grief.


But Pacington, the tiny community near Lost Lake, suffers from its own griefs. Several families have suffered unspeakable, inexplicable tragedies. As Kate will eventually discover, the explanations of accident or roving child predator are far too facile and too far from the Truth. The answer is Supernatural.


As with KILL CREEK, VIOLET was a one-day, non-stop read for me.