Another intriguing novel from Jonathan Maberry featuring Monk Addison. I love the blend of Horror and Noir and Monk is one of my favorite recent characters. This time he heads to Pine Deep and squares up with a truly chilling villain.

It's been a while since I've actually sat down and been able to read a text version of a book instead of listening to them, but I'm finally able to start making time for it now. Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing a review copy.

Ink is ostensibly a standalone novel from Maberry, from whom I've read only one series (Joe Ledger) and I'm glad I've had the chance to branch out and sample some of his other work. Let me first say that after reading 10+ of his other books (albeit only in that one series) I feel like I have a pretty good handle on his writing style and the way he likes to structure his stories. Ink, at least, doesn't deviate from that established formula. Chapters usually focus on only one character, and are usually pretty short - sometimes only a few words. Somewhat counterintuitively in my view, this has the effect of actually pulling you into the story as while it is really just a rather obvious mechanism for transitioning characters or to another part of the story, it is always well executed, keeping you as the reader nicely centered in the story.

Another thing Jonathan is really good at is getting inside the heads of his antagonists, and making sure the reader is just as goddamn uncomfortable as the events occurring in the scene are to the characters involved. While it may have sometimes felt out of place in the Ledger series, just because there is a very clear delineation between who is good and who is evil - so we don't necessarily have to spend a lot of time inside antagonists heads, exploring - up close - their motivations and proclivities, it makes perfect sense for a horror novel. Make no mistake here, the chapters dealing with the villains here are brutal. They are not fun, yet somehow you can't bring yourself to stop reading. This is a testament to how good Maberry is at this sort of thing, and its on full display here and it fits beautifully.

I said that this is <i>ostensibly</i> a standalone novel, because it actually does take place within one of his other established universes - Pine Deep - and there's no indication that you need to have any familiarity with that existing universe in order to enjoy this novel. And you don't - I say that as someone who doesn't have any. The main plot follows two characters, Monk and Patty, who came to Pine Deep for their own reasons, and who's shared history binds them together. Throughout the novel, they interact with characters that readers familiar with the Pine Deep universe will no doubt appreciate all the more because of that knowledge of preceding events. All of these are very well developed, even to those like me who haven't read the Pine Deep trilogy before, and Maberry does a very good job of slowly setting up the characters, and the town that links them all, and the story they're all involved in, using those trademark alternating chapters, each usually a different point of view. In fact, the disparate threads only ever start pulling together at the halfway point of the novel. But here is where I had some problems.

As I said, Mayberry does a very good job setting up his characters (good characters and evil ones, both) throughout the front half of the novel. But my main issue here is that by the time they actually start working together, you've hit the climax of the novel and that's the only time you get to see them work all together. And that's where the pre-existing universe comes into play. The way this novel plays out, it seems that the audience that will get the most out of this book are those that see this novel not as a way to meet the new characters in that universe, but to reunite with their old friends and favorites, with the protagonists existing only to facilitate that happening. Now, it is being grossly unfair to the novel to state that that's actually how things play out. Like I said, Maberry does an excellent job of exploring everyone's motivations and keeping you squarely in the shoes of the new characters he introduces, even while he's jumping into what for some people will be old favorites. But when all is said and done I can't help thinking that that's what this ultimately was, because by the time all the setup is done you get that one climactic sequence and then you're done. It seems like a way shorter payoff than all that glorious setup deserves. 

In fact, maybe it is just a case of running out of space or time and having to cut a longer plan short. For example, there is one particular character arc (Alexa) which is set up just as slowly and carefully as everyone else, only to be relegated to one meaningful action at the end of the story, and even that comes off as an afterthought. Similarly, the final confrontation with the villain is just as short and happens mostly off-page. It actually stands as stark contrast because every other character ultimately has a very good arc and overall payoff. My overall feeling that I just can't help is that Maberry had something longer planned here but for whatever reason had to cut it short, which is why everything that happens after one particular set piece is wrapped up altogether within about a dozen pages.

Still, all told, for me this is actually a relatively minor gripe when set against the rest of the story Maberry has penned here, which is actually quite the accomplishment as a rushed climax is usually one of the things I hate most in a story. It's a testament to the strength of this book (and all his other novels that I've read) that the reason that you get invested is his characters and not simply their actions within the course of the story. So all told, while this stands out because it doesn't happen in any other of his stories I've read, the book is still good in spite of that, and still worth reading as everything else is executed so well.

So go ahead and pick this one up if you know what you're getting into. (Actually, at this point, you probably already have). I wouldn't strictly recommend that you read the prior books before reading this one. I haven't read them so I can't make that call. But I feel like the rushed climax and falling action will bother you less if you do, because you'll be approaching things from a different context than I was. I will leave that decision up to you, just know that I think this one is worth reading either way.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Jonathan Maberry is known for his zombie and young adult horror novels. His latest, Ink, a standalone supernatural thriller, could be considered a spin-off of his Pine Deep trilogy. It contains some of the same characters but takes place years after the trilogy ends. To give a fair review, I read the Pine Deep trilogy before reading Ink.

In Ink, trouble again comes to Pine Deep. This time it is in the form of a thief that steals people's most precious possessions - their memories. Newcomers Patty and Monk team up with Crow, and Mike Sweeney, the now grown-up boy, and other locals to find the thief before he can steal any more memories. 

I enjoy Jonathan Maberry's writing style, sense of humor, and choice of settings for his novels. The Pine Deep trilogy and Ink are based in Bucks County, where he used to live. I live in Philadelphia, minutes from Bucks, and am a sucker for novels set in places I know. Maberry correctly describes real locations and includes well-known landmarks. He brings the area alive and accurately. 

While it is not necessary to read his trilogy before this standalone novel, I strongly encourage you to read it first.

This 200-word review will be published on Philomathinphila.com.

Ink is a superb, standalone suspense story. 

I haven't read too many books by Jonathan Maberry but after reading Ink I know I want to rectify that immediately.

The author knows his craft. He writes such well-written characters that have depth. Apart from that, there is an interesting plot where the story line sucks in the reader in and the story takes off and how completely hooking the reader. 

"Tattoo-artist Patty Cakes has her dead daughter's face tattooed on the back of her hand. Day by day it begins to fade, taking with it all of Patty's memories of her daughter. All she's left with is the certain knowledge she has forgotten her lost child. The awareness of that loss is tearing her apart.

Monk Addison is a private investigator whose skin is covered with the tattooed faces of murder victims. He is a predator who hunts for killers, and the ghosts of all of those dead people haunt his life. Some of those faces have begun to fade, too, destroying the very souls of the dead.'

The storyline is so compelling and a creepy villain with the ability to sneak in and access the mind of victims, especially in such a way as to be unnoticed, is downright terrifying. And in Ink, like the name suggests the villain gets in by way of the victim’s tattoos.

The story is based in the small town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania which lends a lot of character to the book. 
The characters are fascinating, believable and compelling. I was completely sucked into the world. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the characters.i enjoyed the book very much.i love the cover of the book. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

I liked the horror story of this book with the Lord of Flies stealing the memories of unsuspecting victims and feasting on their life through their tattoos. I must admit I yelled at the book a few times, urging Monk, Crow, Mike, Patty, and Dianna to work together and connect the dots to figure out what was happening.  I was satisfied with the ending too. There was too much graphic sex though and I feel the story could have been better if some of that had been cut. Then it would be excellent.

Although it's been a long time since I've read any of Maberry's books, he remains an author that I always keep an eye out for because of how much I adored his Pine Deep trilogy. The description of this one called this a standalone novel - and while you don't have to read Ghost Road Blues or the subsequent volumes to enjoy this, I think that it's best to read those first (I desperately wish that I had re-read them before falling into this one - I disliked feeling like I forgot details and the background alluded to!).

This one - revolving around a man who steals memories attached to tattoos and the victims banded together in Pine Deep to fight him - is well-written and certainly creepy! The villain- the self-proclaimed Lord of the Flies - is truly vile and the imagery around him will make the reader's skin crawl as well. The concept for the character feels totally unique and completely interesting. I really enjoyed reading this well-written return to Pine Deep. The Trouble may be behind them, but there is clearly still plenty of weird to be found there!

The modernity of this one surprised me - not only with the diversity of the cast (not always the norm for horror), but the social media, the cell phones and the genuine respect for women (again, not always the case for the genre). It's an entertaining and riveting read - great for the fall and well, I am sure to drive new readers to the first introduction of Pine Deep - either for the first time or a long overdue revisit - I know I am longing to do just that now that I have finished this one!

What a concept! Crazy and disturbing and interesting. I felt like I was missing some back story though, and was able to find out that though this is a stand alone, there are other books set before this story takes place. I think reading those first would have helped me connect with some of the characters and understand what was happening in this town.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in return for an honest review. Prefacing by saying that I really enjoy Mayberry and typically like this genre, but it was a bit darker than I wanted right now, which is why it took me a little longer to get into this book. 

Pine Deep is facing a silent terror. Something or someone is stealing tattoos and the memories that go along with them. Tattooed private investigator, Monk Addison wants to help his friend and tattoo artist, Patty Cakes, when she falls victim to this terror. I found the premise of INK very interesting; the pacing felt a bit slow, but it built appropriately to a creepy crescendo. The character development was rich and fascinating; you really get to know INK’s main players, but the same can’t be said for the world building aspect. I would have liked to know more about how the “magical” aspects of the story worked, if there were rules around this magic and why it wasn’t consistent between characters. Overall, I enjoyed the premise, the characters, and the plot. 4/5. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this book.

Monk Addison is a private investigator and a skip tracer who has a background is from being in the military.  His body is covered with tattoos of the faces of the dead.  He is moving to Pine Deep as he is concern about his friend Patty Cakes.   Patty is a tatto-artist who has the face of her dead daughter on her hand.  Diana Agbala reads tarot cards.  When she has Owen Minor for a customer, she is shaken by the tarot cards reading of him.  Why?
When Monk parks in front of Patty Cakes home, he goes to the door and knocks.  No one answers.  He goes in and finds her in the bathroom drunk and naked curled up into a fetal position.  Why?  He realizes she needs to go to the hospital and discovers her daughter’s face is gone.  It’s as if it never existed.  How did that happened?  At the emergency room, he overhears a man told by his wife that he is missing his tattoo.  He denies it.  A nurse tells him that people are losing their tattoos.  It is discovered that memories that went with the tattoo are gone too.

The author has written a compelling horror story.  It is mysterious yet terrifying and scary.  The characters don’t understand what is happening to them.  I was enthralled with the characters as the author writes them in depth that made me feel as if they were people I knew and cared about with the exception of one character.  That one character is not one that  I’d want for a friend.  It is a standalone supernatural story.  (The author has written a trilogy of The town Pine Deep. ).   The novel is an excellent horror story that I won’t forget.

The thing where the visible minority are compounded minorities and just generally have the most or next to the most painful backstories. The story itself was rushed and nonsensical at times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Patty, Monk, Dianna, Mike, and Crow’s paths cross when they find themselves embroiled in a shocking investigation regarding missing tattoos and memories. This book is twisted in the best possible way! I loved it! The characters are all well-developed and flawed, which makes the story more realistic and relatable. The plot is complex but compelling. This is easily one of my favorite books of the year!

I adore Mayberry's work. Ink is a standalone which is also loosely tied to Glimpse and the Pine Deep trilogy.  This novel is dark horror at its best.  A cast of complicated and damaged characters who have gravitated to Pine Deep, a town with its own history of scars.  The citizens of the town are having their memories stolen and do not know know why or who.  What transpires is a group of these damaged souls working to find answers and stop this terrible evil.

Very unsettling and creepy but well done nonetheless.

This has to be one of creepiest reads that I have read in 2020. I have many five star reads this year but I do not have many that are my favorites this book has made my short list. This came on my radar because of Netgalley so I want to thank everyone involved in me getting a copy of this book. While my review is late I actually did manage to finish this a day before the book came out. Again, my apologies. Now to tell you how much I enjoyed this book.  This is my first book by this author but the things that stands out to me are a well-written story with characters that have depth and there is an interesting plot where the story line pulls the reader in and never looks back.

Monk Addison is a private investigator whose skin is covered with the tattooed faces of murder victims. He is moving to Pine Deep to be close to his friend tattoo-artist Patty Cakes. When tattoos start to fade on multiple people, their memories associated with those tattoos also start to fade. Who or what is causing this? Will they ever get their memories back?
Overall, this was a creepy suspenseful read. I loved the reaction it brought out in me and the uneasiness that I had during the entire read.  I will for sure be looking for other reads by Jonathan Maberry. Thank you for introducing me to an awesome new author.

I have never read this author before and could not get into this book. 
I stopped reading 25% in since it did nothing for me.
Thank you netgalley for this great opportunity anyways.

I’m a huge Maberry fan. He’s in my top ten auto-buy authors currently working today. Unfortunately, INK didn’t work for me. I was a huge fan of the Pine Deep trilogy. This story is set in Pine Deep, with a mix of favorite characters from that trilogy meeting up with characters from another Maberry standalone, Glimpse. 
 
The pacing was off compared to Maberry's other work. I found myself wishing it would end. The new characters in the town were underdeveloped. I’ve forgotten all of their names, remembering only my favorites from the trilogy and Glimpse. Readers should also probably read the trilogy to appreciate any of this story, so this is less of a standalone than it seems.
 
The novel seemed to be building to something that never came, and had one of the lamest villains in Maberry’s bibliography. 
 
Fortunately, one miss is not enough, for Maberry remains on my auto-buy list. I’d love to see the Pine Deep locals in other locations in a future story.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good tattoo. I especially love it when tattoos become part of a story. After all, tattoos should have significance for their owners, especially because they can take such a long time to finish and hurt more than you might think. So, Jonathan Maberry's newest story about tattoos that disappear along with their owner's memories, Ink, caught my eye not only for its intriguing premise but also because tattoos were the stars of the story.

Sadly, I finished Ink more confused than impressed. I might adore magic, but I do like it when authors provide guidelines and explanations for the magic in their world. Mr. Maberry provides none. We get no explanations for why Owen can take tattoos and memories or how he does so outside of simply touching a person. We do get some hypothesizing of energy vampires (think What We Do in the Shadows), but there is nothing definitive to help explain the phenomenon.

Plus, only a few of the characters who become Owen's victims lose their memories in their entirety. For every person we meet who has no memory of his tattoo or the story behind it, there are two others who not only remember the tattoo but also recognize that they are missing a memory. It all seems so haphazard because there is no logic to it.

To make things worse, not only do some of the characters remember their missing tattoos, some of the characters fight to keep their tattoos and memories. Again, this occurs without any explanation or understanding of this magic's limitations. While it seems silly to get upset about this lack of understanding of something that is pure fantasy, it does not hide the fact that the lack of knowledge is deeply unsettling for it means that the author can use his world's magic whenever he wants. Having trouble with the story? Throw some magic in. Can't finish a character's arc? Add magic. Good fantasy has rules when it comes to magic. I can't say that Ink is an example of good fantasy.

When I looked at Ink by Jonathan Maberry as a potential review copy, I noted the sentence that said it was a standalone novel. After reading it, I can say that this is not completely accurate. It is a standalone story in the fact that all the action occurs within the story's timeframe, but there are so many references to the Trouble and the town's past to truly say that Ink is a standalone novel. I felt like I was missing something the entire time I was reading it, Not having the knowledge of what the Trouble was or how it impacted the characters who lived through it did impact my reading and understanding of those characters as they addressed this new threat.

The one thing I will take away from Ink is an absolutely killer playlist. Mr. Maberry is kind enough to give us a list of the songs Patty Cakes has on her playlist, something mentioned throughout the novel. I recognized enough of the songs on sight to want to check out the rest. The list is fabulous and really allows you to get to know Patty through her music choices.

Outside of a new playlist, there is not much about Ink that impressed me. I do wonder if I would feel differently had I read the original Pine Deep trilogy, if only because it would mean the end to constantly wondering what the hell the Trouble was. I can't even say that Ink is all that terrifying. Yes, memories play a very strong part in our personalities, and to lose those memories would be tragic. Sadly, people lose memories every day, and sometimes those memories are significant. While Mr. Maberry's version certainly leaves an impression, it is not the one he hoped.

Despite really wanting to, I just could not stay with this one... I was surprised, because it started very strong and I was drawn in straight away. But then there just seemed to be so many characters, 
several of whom popped in and out in ways that felt tangential, and I found myself having  trouble keeping track of all of the relationships. I started losing my sense of where things were going as the characterizations started loosening, and once that happened I just could not find my way back in.... I understand this is a story set in an established World - I hadn't read Maberry before, so maybe that's part of the problem. If there are echoes of previous characters or story lines that may be why I felt lost. Regardless, this one just didn't work for me...

I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't get it. I was really bored. I liked the concept of the book but I felt everything was over written when explaining things and felt that if it wasn't over written the book could have been shortened a lot. I also personally feel that books shortened to around 350 pages appeal more to an audience than books 400+ pages with over written explanations. (Please don't take that last sentence as me being rude, I am sincerely not trying to be and it is only my opinion.) I also felt the name "Patty Cakes" was a turn off :(

Thank you for allowing me to review this book for my honest feedback.

Most people get inked to mark a transition in their lives some painful and some not, but most ink is deeply personal. It can be as simple as a semi-colon recognizing that your story is not over with much more to be written or it can be as tender as the image of your dead child's face. But what if an entitity existed which could not only steal one's tattoos but the memories that accompany them we well. Piqued your interest yet, if you want to know more then pick up Ink Jonathan Maberry and find out. After reading it, I can almost guarantee that if you are tattoo enthusiast will be paranoid about  hanging on to them and if don't you have one you will think twice before getting one.

Ink is an amalgamation of horror sub-genres such as supernatural, occult, dark fantasy and survival with some elements of police procedural mystery weaved it, all of these elements make for fantastic suspense fiction. Since the novel is heavily character driven the first third of the book may seem slow to some, but in my opinion that is just Maberry getting us well acquainted with this eclectic cast of characters whose back stories are traumatic, painful, sometimes captured literally and figuratively in ink. The second part of the novel , where many books often falter, but not this one, pivots toward a police procedural mystery as all of the players try to piece together this baffling conundrum of missing memories and tatoos. The final act is action packed, fans will not be disappointed that they hung around once the book reaches its thrilling conclusion. If you are a true horror lover or someone who enjoys character driven fiction, I highly suggest you read Ink by Jonathan Maberry a deep, dark, and delicious dive into the lives and psyche of the diverse residents of Pine Deep. This was my first Jonathan Maberry novel but it will not be my last I will definitely be checking out his backlist.
Pine Deep Trilogy here I come!