This is one of the strangest and wildest rides you can take in a book. Reality and darkest fantasy cross paths in a way that doesn't end well for a lot of people. Dark, macabre and original, this is not a light, before bedtime read.

Your Turn to Suffer is an otherworldly horror novel featuring the terrifying Cabal.

The protagonist, Lori, is a normal person. She suffers from severe migraines, but generally she lives an ordinary life. She has an ordinary job, and has normal problems.

That is, until she encounters sinister otherworldly beings who inform Lori that she must confess, or else. The problem is that she has no idea of what she's done. Then things turn dark. Very dark.


This is a wild ride. From the off, Waggoner holds no punches. It's clear straightaway that Your Turn to Suffer isn't going to hold off on the dark imagery.

The book is like a nightmare come to life. In certain sections, I was reminded of James Herbert. This is a good horror book.

I would recommend this to all horror fans. This was my first book by this author, but it definitely won't be my last.

Thanks to Tim Waggoner, NetGalley, and Flame Tree Press for this advanced copy.

Review Copy

Loved this book! Why? It's not he same old thing. IOt twists, it turns and thens...well, it stands on its head. I've always liked Tim Waggoner books, but he really outdid himself with the story idea here. He had interesting characters, which was also a pleasant twist from the ordinary.

Check it.

I received a free review copy of Your Turn to Suffer from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review - my sincerest thanks to both the author and the publisher. :)

Mr. Waggoner does an excellent job of creating this nightmare filled psychosomatic world where things change in the blink of an eye and most of the way through you still aren't sure if the occurrences and creatures are actually real.

Sadly for me this is where the book started to fall apart and it's a damn shame because like I said his writing and world creation are superbly done and adrenaline inducing. The first 3/4's of the book are this intense wild ride through delirium and reality then this comes to a screeching halt with a rather suspect way of ending the book in my humble opinion. Without spoilers the ending happenings are just too plot armored for me and left me wondering "Why didn't they just do that on page 40?".

That said I have his Alien: Prototype novel and still have high hopes for that especially with his insane talent of world building and making you feel the terror/adrenaline.

Your turn to suffer is the kind of book some people will hate, and others will love. As a reviewer, I go beyond just the overall story; I look at structure, characters, style and the overall plot. If you enjoy Clive Barker-Neil Gaiman's styles, you’ll love this book. It’s a horror novel peppered with the weirdness of a Lovecraftian tale — sometimes called weird fiction. The overall story wasn’t my typical go-to genre, however I loved everything else about it.

In horror, many authors speak of the terror to horror to disgust elements in this genre. If you’re not familiar with these terms, basically terror is when you have a sense of dread. You’re afraid a monster is lurking in the shadows, but you don’t know what it is or where it is — fear incarnated. Horror is when an event shocks you, makes you angry or yelling out loud “Nooooo”. For example: your favorite aunt committed suicide while being the happiest human being you know. And finally disgust is when it almost feels like you’re going to throw up in your mouth, while reading a specific section of the book. Well, Your Turn to Suffer sits in between horror and disgust, and spends a good portion of the book in the disgust genre, sprinkled with unexpected horrific events waiting at the curve.

The story starts a bit slow, but eventually picks up speed as Lori, the principal character, tries to figure out — like us — what really is happening. There were a few areas in the book I’d structured a bit differently, such as the big reveal in the end where it feels a bit out of place or less than credible as we had gotten very little setup prior. Also, there was a big event with the shadowkin mid-book, like it was the end, and then we went back to the story as if nothing had happened. It felt misplaced. Also, as a comment probably to the publisher, I’d change the cover. It feels a bit dated and really not representative of the story.

In this third chapter in a trilogy of articles (see links on the others below) I wrote around Tim Waggoner, my expectations around this book were high and met in certain areas, especially where characters were involved. Tim spends a good amount of time building humanized characters we can root for (or hate), even when a truly horrific event occurs to them not long after. I also liked the constant sense of ignorance on what exactly brought such darkness around Lori, and as far as I was concerned, did not know where the story was going next, which is where you want your readers to be.

I also really enjoyed Tim’s style, where he inserted a few lines here and there to lighten the mood of the book and gave me a few laughs. Which is so important when you dabble in dreadful and shocking events throughout a story. Strike a good balance. In the end, the overall package that is Tim’s Your Turn To Suffer is a book I’d recommend to fans of the genre, especially those who truly enjoy tales of the weird and disturbing.

I received an e-Galley ARC of Your Turn to Suffer, authored by Tim Waggoner, from the publisher Flame Tree Press and NetGalley. What follow below is my honest review, freely given; I am thankful for the opportunity.

I rated this novel 4 stars. Waggoner creates horror that you want to live in, while it’s scaring you; take Barker and the Cenobites, King and the Overlook Hotel, or VanderMeer and Area X, all the while knowing you would die fairly instantly, no regrets.

The worlds that Waggoner creates to interact with ours in his novels, intruding or connecting at various points, bleeding through, changing the environment and people in a range of ways; masterful in execution, top tier in my opinion. He starts you off with something banal (almost!), a thing that has happened to you, maybe not countless times, but it would be fair to say...at least once. Out of the corner of your eye you see someone and their features are…..shockingly off, something out of your bad dreams off (What is that?!? A person can’t have that on their face!)….and when you go to look up because you how perception can be messed up with your head down looking at labels in the grocery store, goodness! You are just going to make eye contact, smile and move on, but BAM !!! You are looking eye to eye with something that should not be in the same aisle as you, whispering things to you while you drop your groceries and the story hits x4 speed and away you go! Hold on tight. Or should have held on tight before opening the book, hope you make it to the end, kisses.

Done correctly, meaning rated R at least (remember the red rated R trailers on videos, you just knew it was going to be for a great horror movie), this could be be a stunningly visual, gory, and explicit horror film, anime, or graphic novel/comic book adaptation if desired (I desire). He has written the Cabal, the Nightway, the Garden of Anguish, and so much more in ghastly intricacy, I can just imagine seeing in colour, either on the page or screen, as an extra treat.

It seemed impossible for the protagonist to learn what she needed to be able to succeed; which felt at odds for how the story line built up. I have been arguing with myself over if this an intentional part of the novel, or a flaw in the plot. It’s part of what has taken me so long on getting this review written, not going into detail to avoid spoilers ties my hands a bit talking it through here, I still have no clear decision made. Obviously someone could be given a task to complete, with the giver having no intention for the person to be successful...or maybe as the reader I am missing part of the layers being built, very possible too.

This is a solid horror novel with interesting concepts, harrowing encounters, and moments that definitely stick with you after you've finished. Your Turn to Suffer is mean-spirited in a fun way. Bad things happen to good people because it is entertaining in this context. The main character isn't mean-spirited and provides extremely relatable, comfortable grounding for what occurs in the story, but there is no mercy in this book and the things that happen to perfectly nice people are almost cartoonishly awful. That's the kind of book this is though; the kind that keeps you turning the page until it serves up a moment that makes you go "God, that's nasty." A pop-corn book, effectively thrilling when it wants to be, easy to breeze through, and significantly nasty in exactly the way someone who seeks this book out would want.

Where the book isn't quite so effective is when bad people in the book make quips. The villains in the story have a propensity for lines that just feel a little more on-the-nose in their revelry for evil than say, a Hellraiser movie (from which this tale seems to take inspiration). Where the Pinheads of the world come across as alien entities, the Cabal feels more like human beings trying very hard to be very evil. The human characters are incredibly natural and well-characterized, but when evil speaks, it just doesn't have that same effortless feeling. That said, the villains' presence is mostly felt in the action they take against the protagonist and the unfortunate bystanders caught, so these gripes are relatively minor.

This isn't a book to recommend to anyone who isn't okay with borderline unspeakable things happening to good people. It's also not recommended to people who want to avoid gore. For those who do like horror tales involving both; this is a very, very fun book.

You ever crave true horror but can't find a title to scratch the itch? This is the one you're looking for.

Physical therapist, Lori, lives a relatively uncomplicated life until the mysterious Cabal appears out of nowhere and demands that she “confess and atone — or suffer.” Bizarre nightmare creatures continually chip away at her safety, her sanity, and everything she loves until she can uncover and atone for her own horrible truth.

Your Turn to Suffer is the most intense book I've read in a very long time. This title is dedicated to David Lynch, and that definitely makes sense. The sudden slips between normalcy and the surreal dreamscape are nightmarish to say the least. It’s cryptic, bizarre, horrible, beautiful, and most of it remains just out of reach. Until it doesn’t.

Around the midpoint, there are some short scenes involving minor characters and townspeople when the nightmare hits. This is the turning point where the plot stops being distinctly Lynchian and diverges into something paranormal yet hyperrealistic at the same time. The effect is gutting.

The terms “splatterpunk” and “extreme horror” are sometimes used interchangeably, but this, I feel, is the difference. Yep, there’s a lot of gore, but the story touches on obvious fears as well as psychic horrors that I didn’t even know existed. Some scenes were pure fantasy a la Beetlejuice, while others were way too real.

About a quarter of the way through, the book reaches a point that would be climactic in the hands of other authors, but Mr. Waggoner turns the heat higher and higher until we're burning, then turns it up one more time.

That said, I do think there are too many things going on in this world. The Cabal is made up of such diverse, um, entities that it's hard to know what’s scary and what’s just weird. Some of the scenes are so “out there” that it’s just too much. There are no rules whatsoever.

It’s hard to summarize this story and do it justice. Basically, if you like your horror with a side of mindf*ck, you should just read this. This one pulls out all the stops. I can’t imagine any reader would be unaffected by this brutal book.

CW: strong horror elements including animal abuse and a disturbing scene with child victims.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

WOW what is going on in Tim Waggoners head? he has the most outrageous concepts that with any other author wouldn’t work but with him at the helm he somehow manages to make an unbelievable idea believable.
Your turn to suffer focuses around a young woman Lorelai Palumbo, she’s not very remarkable she’s a physical therapist in a so so relationship and lives with her ex bisexual boyfriend, on a day she has a massive migraine she is approached by a woman with goat like eyes who tells her to confess atone or suffer, writing her off as a whacko, Lorelai’s life quickly unravels and becomes a surreal nightmare, the biggest problem though is she has no idea what she is supposed to of done.

This Author/Book isn't afraid to pull no punches. Lori is visited by otherworldly guests that call themselves the Cabal.. She must "confess and atone" or she will suffer. She has no idea / can remember what she would have done to cause this group to take an interest in her. This book is definitely dark, gory, and brutal, but the author does a good job with also adding a comedic tone to take away some of the darkness.

Super Wow! Author Tim Waggoner rolls out a Road (literally) of extreme horror, both laced with and grounded in metaphysics. A young Ohio physical therapist with memory issues, Lori, finds herself inexplicably abducted to a nightmare Orherworld and commanded to "Confess and Atone...or Suffer." Since she doesn't know what is meant, suffering ensues, not just personally. Waggoner ramps up the horror and tension to a nearly unbearable peak, yet leavening it with deep character delineation and integrity and purpose.

What happens if you are accused of something you cant remember doing and those who accuse you have unspeakable powers. You have to get creative and try to solve the mystery yourself whilst battling the strange goings on around you. Taut and twisted the book gives you a truly scary read that you shouldn’t read alone in the house .

DNFR at 24%.

I have absolutely no criticisms of this book, it just wasn't for me. I was drawn in by the cover and then the blurb, but I just really struggled to get into it.

I did enjoy what I read but sadly this just wasn't the book for me.

This was my first dive into the wild imagination of Tim Waggoner and it was a crazy ride! I will need to try reading another book written by Tim Waggoner to see if I really enjoy his writing.

This was a fast paced and at some points brutal read, I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. I really loved the storyline.

DNF at 50% ... I felt like there was far too much filler for my tastes. I just read a chapter where a handful of characters are introduced, given detailed backgrounds, and then quickly killed in the same chapter I was unhappy while reading the book and it didn't improve all the way up to the half way mark, so I'm putting this one down. It seems like the story could have been told in half as many pages (at least).

I appreciate the ARC and opportunity to read this novel. My score below is middle of the road because I didn't finish it, I am forced to leave a score on this platform, and because I can see why other people would enjoy this title. It does feature some horrific and exciting sequences.

This is the second book I’ve read by Tim Waggoner, and also my second five star read by him. He is an extremely talented horror author, and his world building is simply “out of this world”. He has a real talent for seamlessly mixing the real world with fantasy worlds.

Waggoner’s writing is extremely dark, and absolutely no one is safe in this novel. It doesn’t matter whether a character is a child, an adult or an elder; everyone might suffer. I have to warn you: There is a specific part of the book that had me a bit shaken up. It involves children’s deaths, and that is something that really gets to me. So if that makes you as uncomfortable as me, just be aware that stuff like this does happen in this book. Nevertheless, it does not change my opinion on this book.

The last part I want to talk about is Lorelai herself. She is an amazing protagonist, and I took quite a liking to her. When the book was over, I was actually kind of sad that her and my story was over. But who knows, maybe I will find her on the Nightway one day!

A big thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the arc.

What a ride! I haven't read a horror ish book like this in a very long time and I don't think I was truly prepared!
At first I wasn't sure if I"d enjoy it like I used to love these back in the day, but I ended up liking the horrific ride.
Well done in characters, plot, twists, scares and horror. Not for the squeamish!
Thankful for the ARC!

3 stars--I liked the book. This is primarily weird fiction, with a very strong horror element that flirts with splatterpunk. (In other words, not for the squeamish!) I don't read a lot of weird fiction, and I quite enjoyed this one--the plot is fiercely paced, Lori was a likeable main character, and the horror elements were both gross and scary. It's fun to read something different once in a while.

I'd give this four stars, but one of the deaths made me sad. Specifically, [the death of Lori's nephew in a mall shooting. Too much like a real life tragedy. Yes, I'm a wimp.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

This... this is not something we see often anymore. It reminds me of some of the darker 80s paperback original horror novels, which is to say it's a dark and mean little book. It reminds me of something Clive Barker would have written early in his career (Books of Blood/Damnation Game era). I do mean that as a good thing.

Our plot follows Lorelei who has made a serious mistake. What is the mistake you ask? She finds herself asking the same question. A group of strange... human-like creatures calling themselves the Cabal have taken an interest in her. They have a message for her: "Confess and atone--or suffer." Their threat is serious. They won't tell her what she needs to confess to, they don't even point her in a direction. They get immediately to the suffering, both mentally and physically.

Let's get this out of the way fast, this one is a fairly brutal read. I’m pretty comfortable with horror, but there are scenes that are extremely hard to read. No one is safe in this book, doesn't matter if you're a main character, side character, man, woman or child... anyone can die. In fact, a minor criticism is that, at least for me, the suspense was slightly lessened because once anything started to happen, I immediately assumed the character WOULD die rather than possibly escape (fear not readers, I was sometimes wrong, so no spoilers here).

For this one I'm going to break out my old friends pros and cons.

Pro:

1. It made me uncomfortable. I'm not easy to bother and I'm not squeamish when it comes to horror, but there were scenes that I read going "No, we're not actually going to have this happen, we're going to fade out or there will be a miraculous escape or... nope, that happened." This happened not once, but several times. I'm putting this as a pro rather than a con, but some readers may want to prepare themselves before going in. Violence is rarely extreme, but it hurts when it's described.

2. Genuinely something I haven't seen before. While yes, I can say "Oh, this remind me of this book a bit" there are visuals in this novel that made me pause and admit that I've never read anything quite like it. Yes, it seems to draw inspiration from many different modes of horror and sources, it also uses them in a fresh way.

3. It does have a decent sense of humor about it. While the book is extremely dark and will do its best to make you uncomfortable, the author does a nice job of throwing out the occasional comedic line to give you a moment of relief. One of which honestly was such a horrible joke, but used in such a great way that it almost brought tears to my eyes. I did of course groan, but an intentionally good bad joke is to be commended.

4. The actual nature of the Cabal once revealed is actually rather fascinating. I will say no more on this, but I personally liked it.

5. The Garden of Anguish... another one I won't discuss, but those visuals won't be leaving me anytime soon.

Cons:

I actually only have one, and that is an issue with the the "Shadowkin" (one of the sets of monstrous things we see). The rules on them seem to change every time they show up. First they have to break through things, then they just absorb them. When they kill they cut through things... no, they turn them into a puddle, no they absorb them! They seemingly change as needed for the story. While inconsistencies in horror can be frightening, While there is a minor explanation for this, I found it distracting in this case as it felt like they would alter themselves anytime the story needed for them to succeed.

So, do I recommend it? Oh boy, to all horror fans, yes, I give it a solid recommendation. This is a treat and something we really don't see often anymore. While many "extreme horror" or "splatterpunk" books aim to make you uncomfortable, they frequently just come off as extremely gory, they frequently lack the psychological depth or get so over the top they become funny (obviously not all fall into this, but quite a few that I've read do). That is not a problem here. This is written by a talented author who wants to make the reader uncomfortable. Violence is there, but emotions, the psychology, those are where the central attack is upon. This is Waggoner using his talents to create something genuinely uncomfortable. Horror fans who miss that feeling need to check this out. Just beware, I'd classify it as a great horror novel, but as such it is not always a "fun" read. 4/5 stars.

ARC provided via Net Galley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.