Fascinating, so fun and well-written. Horror readers will adore this for sure, but I would recommend this to everyone, regardless of their favorite genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you’re a nostalgia junkie like me (and even if you’re not), you will love love love this debut horror novel. Just the right amount of creepy, not too much gore. 90s nostalgia becomes haunting as a town seemingly stuck in the past reveals its secrets to newcomers. So well-written and a premise I have never seen before! Can’t wait to get this on my library’s shelves!

You had me at creepy island!

Clifford Island is a tiny island in Wisconsin stuck in the past. It’s the discovery of WHY the collective residents keep up with this charade of being stuck in June 17, 1994 that intrigued me, and the question of if it’s even a charade at all. What is really going on here?

Willow arrives seeking answers of her own. After the death of her son, she finds the name of the island town written on his bedroom floor and she is desperate to find the connection. Very quickly, she can see that something is off, but she needs to know more. What does she discover before she goes missing???? Her brother Harper arrives on the island to find out what happened to her and we see through his narrative in current time, the strangeness of this town and its inhabitants.

Along with the two siblings’ narrative, we also get POV from a teenage resident, Lily. She is dead set on getting out of the town she grew up in, never having subscribed to the craziness they spout.

This is a book with a slower, eerie pace. The secrets of the town are so off the wall, but I loved it! There is this undercurrent of evil that flows through this tiny island town and finding out it’s depths was so entertaining.

In this house we LOVE originality and Dead Eleven is easily the most original read of the year. After his sister, Willow, seems to disappear, Harper ventures to Clifford Island to try and track her down. Willow, distraught after the loss of her son, discovers a cryptic note leading her to Clifford Island where she begins to discover the island’s secrets and experience the supernatural elements that keep the island so isolated. Clifford Island has a way of doing things, rules that must be followed that keep the whole island stuck in 1994. But will Willow, Harper, and rebellious Lily break the norms and escape the hold the island has on its residents or fall victim to it’s cultish mythology? This book takes a second to warm up but ohhhh boy when it gets cooking it’s so entertaining. As I said up top, it’s such an original concept I was so into the central mystery pretty early on. It’s told through multiple POVs and flashbacks which I love. I find that so compulsive for pacing and all the main characters were so interesting and complicated. I liked spending time in all their POVs. I really, really enjoyed this book and even if yes maybe I had originally applied for this just based on the absolutely sick cover, but I stayed for the sick premise, creepy mystery, and incredible atmosphere. Big recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book! In this creepy supernatural story, Willow Stone, who is morning the passing of her child, travels to Clifford Island after she sees the name of the island written under her son's toy chest. When she disappears, her brother comes looking for her and both start to unravel the mystery of why the island follows a complex set of rules and is obsessed with the year 1994, I enjoyed reading this book. The story was well told and imaginative and it was just slightly creepy so as to hit the mark but it wasn't terrifying. I do think it reads a little bit like a Stephen King novel, that's a good comparison. And I would recommend it to anyone who is good with a tame "ghost story". 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I don't read much horror, but I was very intrigued by the premise of people stuck in the year 1994. I came of age in the 90s and am a sucker for anything 90s-related, and I'm glad it led me to this book. It was very spooky and engrossing, with excellent writing. I'd caution anyone who doesn't like feeling a bit creeped out, but otherwise it's a great read.

Though this book is written very well I just wasn't a fan. Thank you so much netgalley to be able to read this book,I hope the author the best.

THANK YOU #netgalley and #penguinbooks for an advanced copy in return for an honest review!

SYNOPSIS: "On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death - but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules."

MY THOUGHTS: This book started off strong and eerie. There are a few POVs and timelines, but the author did a great job building the characters and making sure the reader doesn't get lost trying to connect the dots. There was a lot of repetitive dialog, which caused me to get bored around page 200. I will admit I do not read a lot of horror, so I felt a little disappointed by the ending. It felt rushed and anticlimactic. The plot was incredibly creative, and I loved experiencing the 90's nostalgia.

Dead Eleven is available on June 27, 2023!

This book was wild. It was set up so differently than any book I’ve ever read before & I loved it. I honestly had absolutely no clue what the heck was going on for awhile but I had my suspicions. For me, there wasn’t any super wild twists & turns because everything sort of progressed slowly into you figuring out what was going on but it still kept me on my toes. The nostalgia was perfect because there is just something about the 90s. The creepy factor was definitely at a 10 & I would definitely say this lands somewhere between a thriller & a horror book.

I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because there were still some questions that I had when it was finished.

Read this one if you’re into: nostalgia, the 90s, creepy remote islands, weird townspeople, secrets, & being completely freaked out.

"There are certain things we all know, but we don't talk about them, because there's no reason to talk about them. We just know."

Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano

QUICK SUMMARY
There's an island that no one knows about, and few people fine. The island is living with a strange obsession with a year 1994. Clifford Island, Willow Stone is looking for the answers after the tragic accident costing the life of her son. Soon after arriving, she realizes there's something not quite right. Then five weeks after arriving, Willow disappears.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Thank you @NetGalley & @DuttonBooks for this copy of #DeadEleven in exchange with my honest review. I came for the synopsis and read the book in a day because I immediately NEEDED all the answers. This book shows multiple POVs telling the story and the journey to answers. I LOVED how true to 1994 this book stayed, like POGS. The best way I could describe this book is if the shows Lost & From had a baby. Over all I loved this story.

Can we talk about this cover first of all??? It's beautiful, that's all I can say. Just perfection.

This is also one of those times that you can judge a book by its cover, because the inside matches the outside. This feels like a love letter to classic retro horror, and yet something so new and intriguing.

It gave me 'Midnight Mass' (Netflix TV show) and 'From' (Epix TV series) vibes, so if you're into those tv shows then you'll probably really enjoy this. The mystery of this island (that is time locked in the 90s, how cool of a concept is that??) is so intriguing, and I really loved the inclusion of interview, and chat log chapters.

This is definitely going on my staff picks list at my work 👌

What a wickedly woven web. Dead Eleven may be the creepy horror mystery of the year.

Set on Clifford Island, this story revolves around several missing people. One in particular, Willow, is of major concern because her brother knows that something is amiss. And it is! Clifford island holds many secrets. The island seems to be obsessed with year 1994. What exactly does this island intend for its inhabitants. And who exactly are the Dead Eleven? These are all the secrets that are set to be answered in this novel.

There are many mysterious characters and the landscape sets the scene for some truly diabolical sequences. I really enjoyed this and felt that although it was definitely a slow burn at times, the payoff felt right! Honestly I think this holds a lot for readers of all genres.

Mystery lovers, horror fanatics, thriller junkies rejoice because this story is for you!! Check it out!

I loved this book so much and it was such a meta experience reading it in Door County. It reminded me a lot of Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines series, but in the best possible way. Great writing and great atmosphere and I even loved a little bit of gore!

In the vein of Stranger Things, the book combines horror and nostalgia, this time of the mid-90s. However, it is not set in the mid-90s. The characters choose to live in that flashback for reasons that are made clear about 3/4 of the way through. The book was well-written, but the basic premise was.really hard for me to accept, and there was way to much explanation needed to establish that far-fetched premise at that point in the book. It wasn't weird, eerie behavior like usually happens in horror. It was just odd. That's probably my biggest issue. The book just wasn't scary to me. This could have been more fun as an ironic, half comic, half horror fest. The pastor's and islander's behavior could have been funny in the right light.
Something that would have helped were dates in the chapter headers because many of the characters existed in multiples timelines and you had to figure it out as you read the chapter.

Urban legends, mysterious disappearances, and unexplained deaths are the backdrop for this creepy book.

After the death of her son, Willow Stone is set adrift. Nothing in her life makes sense anymore, until the day she finds the words "Clifford Island" scratched into her son's bedroom floor. Suddenly, Willow has a purpose again; to find out all she can about this enigmatic island and how her son came to know about it. Clifford Island itself seems quaint and cozy, but bizarrely resistant to progress. And the Islanders definitely don't like Willow asking too many questions, so she has to tread carefully. But just five weeks after she arrived on Clifford Island, Willow vanishes without a trace. Her estranged brother Harper only knows that Willow was living on Clifford, and so he goes to the island himself to investigate and try to find her. Only Harper may find more than he bargained for on Clifford Island.

I really enjoyed Dead Eleven, and it kept me guessing the entire time. Dripping with atmosphere and menace, Clifford Island is the creepiest vacation destination I've ever visited. The book is fairly fast paced and not overly gruesome. It's got a little something for every fan of horror and thrillers, though. Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Books for the chance to review this advance copy. Dead Eleven publishes 6/27/23.

Captivating read from the first chapter to the last. Such a riveting story of loss, mystery and why is the OJ Simpson car chase on every channel?? Sorry getting ahead of myself. Willow is a grieving mother who lost her child to a horrible accident. Strangely one night she finds two words written under his toy chest, Clifford Island. It’s one of several islands that were in existence but slowly the islands are disappearing. The story is from the brothers point of view, sister disappears after a tragic death, the husband takes off and she goes to the Island to see what it might have to do with her son. Her side of the story is relayed by unsent letters to her husband. It’s such an extreme read that you just can’t put it down and what I love is you are kept guessing to the end. I read where this is Mr. Juliano first novel and if we are very lucky it won’t be his last. Enjoyed to the last page.

"On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death - but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules...

Clifford Island. When Willow Stone finds these words written on the floor of her deceased son's bedroom, she's perplexed. She's never heard of it before, but soon learns it's a tiny island off Wisconsin's Door County peninsula, 200 miles from Willow's home. Why would her son write this on his floor? Determined to find answers, Willow sets out for the island.

After a few days on Clifford, Willow realizes: This place is not normal. Everyone seems to be stuck in a particular day in 1994: They wear outdated clothing, avoid modern technology, and, perhaps most mystifyingly, watch the OJ Simpson car chase every evening. When she asks questions, people are evasive, but she learns one thing: Close your curtains at night.

High schooler Lily Becker has lived on Clifford her entire life, and she is sick of the island's twisted mythology and adhering to the rules. She's been to the mainland, and everyone is normal there, so why is Clifford so weird? Lily is determined to prove that the islanders' beliefs are a sham. But are they?

Five weeks after Willow arrives on the island, she disappears. Willow's brother, Harper, comes to Clifford searching for his sister, and when he learns the truth - that this island is far more sinister than anyone could have imagined - he is determined to blow the whole thing open.

If he can get out alive...."

I spent every summer in Door County as a kid, my brother loves to talk about our trips, so for him, where is this island and when can he visit?

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “Dead Eleven” prior to publication. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

That 90s VHS c9ver is just amazing!

After Harper loses her husband and son, she goes off to Clifford Island to find some answers. But it does take long for her to go missing and its up to her brother to find her in this mysterious island.

I def recommend and it was an easy page turner.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC for a review..

Promising, but maybe better as a podcast or in some other format? DNF @ 28%.

I liked the premise of this a lot (shout out to northeastern Wisconsin haha), and the writing was decent, but the suspense is just building too slowly to keep my interest.

Longform horror writing can be difficult because you have to figure out how to consistently build suspense over a longer timeframe. If you’re writing a short story, or a podcast episode, (or a post on r/NoSleep, which is where this author apparently first found success,) you set the “normal” scene, build the suspense, hit the shocking twist, and then you’re pretty much done. In novels, on the other hand, I don’t think you can just build up to one shocking twist at the very end - if that’s what you’re doing, the audience just gets so bored by the scene-setting. Instead, the author typically needs to build in mini-scares or mini-twists throughout in order to keep the reader interested… and this author just didn’t pull this off imo.

I think the found-documents style may have been a poor choice as well, since every time to the story shifted I had to re-remember why I was invested in whoever in the current protagonist was, while the cliffhangers were never exciting enough that I wanted to keep reading the new found document/perspective so that I could find out what happened at the end of the last one.

I honestly wonder whether this wouldn’t be better in some other format, like a podcast. Frankly horror podcasts (Black Tapes/Tanis/Rabbits, Lore, Blackwood, The White Vault, VAST Horizon - just to name a few) can get a lot of mileage out of middle-of-the-road writing through sound design/sound effects and the episodic structure. (And here I will note that apparently this book is already in development at A+E Studios so maybe someone else had this same take about the episodic structure being better for this particular story haha.)