What a creepy book! Such a delight. It's hard to say too much without giving away spoilers, but I definitely found that this lived up to the hype that's grown up around the book. I did enjoy the narrator, but since it's multi POVs I do wish we had multiple narrators just for that little extra touch. A great time either way. Definitely reminiscent of King at his best.

In the Stephan King realm for sure!

I am a huge fan of anything horror and thriller and "The Nightmare Man" did not disappoint.

The story starts by introducing Ben Bookman, an author that specializes in horror novels. He's gone off to Blackwood manor, a family estate, where he can write out his latests book. It then comes to light that the murders that Ben is writing about are happening in the real world. Is this the case of a copy cat murder, or is something more sinister going on? This is where the detectives come in, they are a father daughter team and it's their job to figure out what is going on.

This book definitely kept me on my toes then entire time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller.

Thank You to J. H. Markert and Dreamscape Media, for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first read of 2023 and it was the best book I could have possibly started the year with. I devoured this story. I still have vivid images of the cocoons stuck in my head. I will probably reread this book every year. I enjoyed the POVs, the horror atmosphere, the twists and turns. I truly cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next.

I’m speechless. This book sucked me. It’s thrilling, gruesome, spine tingling with fully fleshed out characters and a twisted ending that I never predicted. This book is incredible! Everything that lives under your bed … I would say the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the consistent bickering in families. Seems everyone is unhappy and it’s a bit depressing. But, a family secret combined with a serial killing scarecrow. It’s so much more than I imagined!

I tried to listen to this book, but the story did not draw me in. I have heard rave reviews from friends but I think that the writing style is just not for me.

The Nightmare Man is straight out of a Stephen King Novel and I’m here for it!!! This was so good!! Scarecrows and stolen dreams! If you’re a fan of Stephen King … you’re going to love this one!

Can’t wait to see JH Markert does next!! This is the stuff nightmares are made of!! Although, I did enjoy this audiobook to me I think this would have been a better time reading a physical book in the dark!

Thank you in advance to NetGalley and the publisher for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review! Definitely an author to keep on your horror reads radar!

Ben Bookman writes horror novels and he has been working on a new book and staying in the ancestral home Blackwood manor where he soon learns that there are some murders happening in town that are identical to those in the book.

The two dectectives in town are a father daughter team and they end up and some really strange and brutal murder sites, that lead them to Ben Bookman. He has no clue what is going on or why the murders are happen like in his book, but it's hard for the cops to understand what is going on.

Ben as well as the cops have to take a deep dive into Ben's history as his brother went missing 13 years ago and Ben has been looking for him since then, but he comes upon some bones he begins to think his brother could be among them. There is something about the Screamer, who takes kids.

It really is hard to describe what this book is about really, I am having a hard time putting it down without thinking something I say might spoil something, so just going to say that I thought this was very interesting.

This horror got me to like a lot of the characters so I knew someone was going to die that I didn't want to die, and at the end I was really on edge. I really liked all the characters a lot. They were interesting.

Narrator was great!

My first read of the year was The Nightmare Man and based on the synopsis it had all the markings to be a favorite but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I was really really enjoying the book until about the 70% mark and then it just got too convoluted for me. I feel like the author tried to cram in too many twists and turns but it became way too much! I also feel like there were so many folklore elements that I was just overwhelmed. But listen, take my review with a grain of salt because there are so many people who loved it and gave it 5⭐️ and like I said it was a solid read for 70% of the book but it lost me for the rest of the story. With that said I really did enjoy the characters and their backstories. I especially liked the before-timeline of detective Mills and his whole storyline. The audiobook narrator was pretty solid as well, it almost had a hint of noir in the narration style which I truly enjoyed.

The Nightmare Man checks a lot of boxes for me without half-assing any if them. There's folklore, there's familial secrets, there's mystery, there's plenty of twists and turns. Sometimes when a book tries to hit too many niches, end ends up a mess. I feel like The Nightmare Man very successfully blends many tropes and elements into one very engaging and entertaining story.

I’m not a horror fan at all, but this book was really good! I was engaged from the very beginning and on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Overall, a very entertaining and unique book. I thought the first half was stronger than the second half, but it continued to be wonderfully scary throughout the entire book! I just disconnected from the characters a bit part way through the book, and so the ending didn’t feel as impactful as it could have. The writing was reminiscent of King’s writing, with familiar character archetypes, long descriptions, and wacky horror events. I think fans of Stephen King would love this book.

I think this is one of those books that does better as a regular book than an audiobook. There were a lot of characters, some that are mentioned and then disappear from the story for awhile, and at times I forgot who people were. It was easy to miss things happening in this book, especially at the end. I think there was just too much going on for this to truly work as an audiobook on its own. My only other complaint is that the story felt a little drawn out at times, causing the story to drag a bit.

Otherwise, I thought Markert did an excellent job creating a complex and engaging story with some true horror built into it. I definitely got the chills more than once, something that happens more often with movie/tv shows rather than books. While the story was wrapped up well, I can definitely see there being a sequel, and there are definitely more areas I would love to explore.

First book by this author. I listened to the audiobook of The Nightmare Man - a story about a horror author whose latest novel begins to play out in real life. A creepy, suspenseful thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was the real culprit.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley both the paper copy & the audiobook. This was one of the first books I have ventured into with the “horror” genre and it definitely did not disappoint! I switched between both the paper and audio versions and enjoyed both equally! The narrator on this one was great and definitely easy to listen to!

This book has multiple POVs. I actually liked all the characters in the book for separate reasons and enjoyed reading the back story of each of them. The book paints a really good picture of what the Blackwood Mansion and how creepy it is! The story flows through the gruesome murders that were depicted in Ben Bookman’s best selling book but the reader is left guessing who is behind all of this. There was really great peaks and valleys in this one and it kept me engaged the entire time. I binged this book over the course of a weekend because I couldn’t put it down! The ending was definitely a curve ball! There were elements of paranormal which I wasn’t expecting, which is why it wasn’t a solid 5 ⭐️s for me. Overall - I definitely enjoyed this and will 100% be looking for this author in future books.

There's an uncomfortable and unstable place between knowing the villain vs. doubting that perhaps there's a side of ourselves that we are not aware of. A fun read. Lots of thrills!

The Nightmare Man was given to me as an ARC through NetGalley for review.
This was not a hardcore horror book but always left you wanting a bit more from it.

This is one of my new favorite horror books. Absolutely loved it. Can't belive this a debut, will be on the look out for more from this author.

When best selling horror novelist Ben Bookmans stories start being reinacted in gruesome detail. Is it someone copying the book, is it Bookman himself or has Bookman released a nightmare into the world?

I enjoyed the concepts and mythology brought up in the book. There was also so many layers, whenever you learned something new that was never the full answer / story and keep things very interesting.

Although all the loose ends were tied up in the end it also left a lot of room for this to become a series. I would love to see Blue and Brianna work to hunt down all the mares.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook for review.

What a crazy, wild, fantastic book! This was very well done and was not like anything I’ve read in a while honestly. There are horror and supernatural elements woven into this thriller, and to top it off, it also has book within a book components too. The audio was great, David Bendena did a wonderful job bringing this one to life. This was dark, twisted, and kept me on the edge of my seat as I waited to see how the final scene would end, and it most certainly did not disappoint. All the stars for this one, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital galley and to Dreamscape Media for the ALC to review.

I received this audiobook via NetGalley and I’m so glad I did. This was really solid, and the narration is spot on.

This is a multi-POV as well as a multi-time period crime/horror novel. Similarly to my latest read, however unlike The Angel Maker, I think this one was spot on in terms of how it was handled. The short chapters are enough that you know who’s who, they are exciting with cliffhanger endings that actually intrigue, and they make you want to stay up all night to finish.

The novel features an author, Ben Bookman, with a dark past. When a mad criminal starts acting out the murders from his latest novel, the police are, of course, immediately pointed towards him as a suspect. Each chapter unravels in a more and more desperate and insane turn of events until the story is a mix of supernatural and paranormal horrors. The cover, as well as the description gave me serious Jeepers Creepers vibes, and the rest was even better.

Well handled, well written, and I’m especially impressed as I believe this is a debut. Personally 5/5*.

This is my first five star read of '23! Twisty, dark and utterly gripping. Markert gives you tiny tid bits and leaves you craning your neck and staining your eyes and reading way into the night to find out what happens next. Enjoy!