2 Stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

Riley Sager was the reason I started a "men writing women (derogatory)" tag. But this book is going to be my new example.

Willow is an actress who starred in a long-running teen/young adult sitcom, but was fired recently after being "cancelled" online for writing a supposedly awful thing on Twitter. The whole book is told from her perspective as we go with her to a remote summer camp for adults who want to escape reality and their problems for a little while.

I'm going to start off with what I liked, so that after this paragraph, it helps to understand why I'm so disappointed. What I liked about the book was really just the last 20%. That's when it truly felt like a summer camp slasher book. The other 80% was just boring whiny white people. If the whole book was as good as the last 20%, I would have rated this higher. But, alas. It was spooky, scary, thrilling, and terrifying. It really did feel like I was watching an 80s slasher bloodbath.

Now for the bad part.

This is such a rich, white person fantasy that it was so hard to connect with the characters, especially Willow. We're told over and over again that the tweet ruined her life, destroyed her relationship, ended her career, and cost her everything. But when the tweet is actually revealed, it's such a fucking nothing burger. She made a bad joke at the wrong time and instead of just explaining, she allowed herself to be "cancelled."

Say what you want about cancel-culture, but it focuses so much on the wrong things and, most of the time, goes after petty issues between a few people that happen to blow up at the wrong moment. The whole time I'm reading this book, I'm thinking of all the real things that are happening in the world and the worst thing to ever happen to Willow is that she had to leave social media and lose her job (while still being rich as hell.)

Another 5⭐️ horror read from this author! Literally the most perfect horror for me and my taste and I cant wait for the next one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/GP Putnam’s Sons for early access to this in exchange for an honest review.

Good thing this book is set at a summer camp for adults, because it is quite camp. I feel like I had so many “you cannot be serious” moments. This book was giving silly, goofy vibes , like a teen slasher, a la Nightmare on Elm Street, Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, and Evil Dead. Frankly, I was really enjoying this book.

But then we had the discussion about her brother. And the scene about her ex. And the scene about Courtney. Those parts in particular totally shifted the tone of the book. I do feel like these conversations were well done, but they felt like excerpts from a different book. I struggled to understand if this book wanted to be a drama/serious or silly/goofy. I think the tone and pacing was just a bit mismatched.

The thrill scenes were also pretty well done. I think these were the highlight of the book. “Cut,” she muttered, as the blade descended. ICONIC.
I would still recommend this book for the right reader. And I wouldn’t discount any future work by Winning. This was a creative idea – I just wish it had been executed a bit differently. I hope in the future, Winnings leans more into the silliness. I feel like the horror/comedy genre is seriously lacking, and Winning could be onto something.

My nit-picky judgements: 1) The comment of Tye having a “bronze torse that would make Zac Efron start a juice cleanse.” Don’t like that line. 2) Bebe is so out of touch to the point her character is just not believable. Lady is delulu. Furthermore, the name Bebe belongs on r/tragedeigh. 3) The softball scene, all I could picture was Twilight (queue Supermassive Black Hole by Muse).

A perfect summer slasher! Delving into cancel culture with immaculate horror vibes, Josh Winning knows how to write a book!

Looking for a great, creepy summer read? Look no further than Josh Winning’s Heads Will Roll!
Like your favorite slasher film, Winning packs it all in, in this pop culture-filled, gory, & ultimately insightful look at the impact that social media (& real-life relationships) can have on our lives. Winnings’ writing is fast-paced & funny, & you don’t have to wait for the creepy until the middle of the story; it’s there from ‘go’ & just keeps getting bloodier, right up until the end. Perfect summer horror read!
(Oh, & it might make you re-think that enlightening summer retreat you have booked…)

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Heads Will Roll Author: Josh Winning 

Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled, which happened after a night of revelry.

After her agent sends Willow (her characters name, but the name she uses throughout the book) and wonderfully anonymous confines of Camp Castaway. Tucked away in the trees of upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults in desperate need of leaving behind their mistakes, their social media accounts, their lives. No real names, no phones… and no way to call for help.

Willow is relieved to find that her fellow campers seem okay. But that peaceful vibe is shattered when a terrifying woman pops shrieking from the wardrobe in Willow’s room. Soon after, one of the campers vanishes. Is this the start of the end for Willow?

Soon, terror grips the group, and as paranoia grows and disturbing past deeds come to light, this escape from their shallow lifestyles might just lead to a permanent escape from their lives.

The frequent jump scares and blood spillage are balanced with an unexpected depth of heart, making this more than just a slasher flick. The characters, from the sitcom star to the jaded writer, are vividly drawn, and the eerie setting of Camp Castaway adds to the suspense. 

A fun, crazy wild read! For fans of murder mysteries, suspense, and horror - or better yet, a great read for those seeking one book with a nice balance of ALL these categories!

When sitcom star, Willow, finds herself canceled, she goes to a camp for a phone detox. Strange things immediately start happening at the camp. Who could be doing all of this and why? Read the book and find out?
3.5☆
I loved the summer camp setting of this book, and the phone detox was a great way to make it even more isolated. I love slashers, so I enjoyed that aspect. Sadly, the dialogue and characters were kind of annoying to me, and the plot didn't feel complete. This book was still enjoyable to read, though. Thank you to NetGalley, Putnam, and Josh Winning for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you like slashers then you will love this book. Perfect summer slasher book. I was deeply invested from the first few pages which rarely happens. The characters and the plot were very well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. This was my first book by Josh Winning. Heads Will Roll follows Willow, a disgraced actor as she goes to a summer camp/ retreat. No technology is allowed at the camp. This is a big issue once campers start going missing. Heads Will Roll sounded very promising from the summary. I did enjoy the story overall, but I found myself bored in the beginning and middle. There was a lot of introductions and it was a little difficult to keep track of who was who. I thought the end was fast paced, but I did guess the ending.

Set at Camp Castaway, a place people can go when things go wrong and they need to get away from life for a while. Lots of commentary on social media, cancel culture, and how quickly someones life can be upturned by a gossip/hate post gone viral. I really liked the way these topics are explored among the camp members, as well as all the horror references dropped throughout the story. The kills were pretty fun and I enjoyed all the character pov's. Overall I thought this was a really fun summer horror. I think a lot of slasher lovers will enjoy this one!

This was a perfect summer camp slasher/thriller. I picked this one up based on the fantastic cover and it did not disappoint. This story takes place at a summer camp, Camp Castaway, where celebrities who have been cancelled go to get away from media attention. At this camp they must give up their phones and are given the chance to leave all their problems behind. Willow ends up at Camp Castaway after her popular Netflix show “We Love Willow” is cancelled after she tweeted an insensitive joke leading her friends to ghost her and her fiancé to break up with her. Everyone Willow meets at camp has a past they are hiding from. Everything seems great when she first arrives at camp, but then campers start to go missing. Willow becomes suspicious and uncovers some dark secrets about the camp’s past and her fellow campers. This book is crazy addicting and I would definitely recommend.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book early!
I absolutely love slashers, and I must say, this one absolutely is worth the read! A 2-week camp for adults?! Perfect. Queer representation? Also, perfect! This book had a lot of suspenseful elements to it and you didn’t truly have any idea who the camp slasher was until the end. However, the pacing felt a bit off. It felt like while there were some instances of the slasher showing up throughout the buildup, not much really happens other than weird incidences until the last quarter of the book and then things take off from there. I think this is personal preference, but I would have liked more of the slasher scenes around the mid-way point of this book but overall, it was absolutely enjoyable.

Heads Will Roll is a summer camp slasher for adults. Camp Castaway is a camp for adults, a place where they can detox from technology…from social media. And it’s exactly what Willow needs ever since she blew her life with a bad tweet. While not totally original, what it is is a smart and campy slasher that hits the all the tropes you’d expect. While not as good as Josh’s spectacular love letter to the 80’s puppet flicks: The Shadow Glass (seriously don’t pass that one up), there is still a lot to like and enjoy here. Thanks so much to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read an ARC of Heads Will Roll.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heads-will-roll-josh-winning/1144297577?ean=9780593544693&bvnotificationId=af077e38-4eac-11ef-be62-0e523e7aa7fb&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/315480805

Welcome to Camp Castaway, where the campers are disgraced, cancelled, or ostracized one way or another and are there seeking a tactical retreat from their woes. No one knows who anyone else is, or so they think, and the camp is a 'safe space' to process trauma, work through grief, and learn more about themselves and what's holding them back. It's also a hunting ground for a vengeance obsessed killer!

Heads Will Roll was excellent. I sped through it in a day and was happy to find that there was no unnecessary monologuing, side quests, or unresolved plot lines slowing me down as a reader. Winning kept the plot moving - running for its life, really - and the main character Willow was just self-righteous enough to work as a final girl. The inclusion of tweets and communications between chapters that slowly revealed pieces of the puzzle worked well enough (but was a bit finicky on an e-reader) and each character's arc was well thought out and compelling.

It was clear to me from reading Heads Will Roll, both in terms of the actual text of the novel and the inspiration it clearly draws from, that the author is a horror fan, specifically favoring slashers. Probably specifically favoring the second film in the Scream franchise, if I'm being honest. For a horror-obsessed film fanatic and voracious reader, clear thematic and cinematic inspiration lead me to solve the puzzle of the novel well before I had to buy any vowels which was simultaneously satisfying if a little underwhelming. I don't mind a book that gives me enough to work with to identify the killer before they tear off the mask, but some of the scenes were almost so shot-for-shot that I found myself skipping ahead to their resolution (hello, police car scene from Scream 2). But being derivative isn't necessarily bad and Winning made the effort to wrap tried and true tropes (of course it's raining, of course the power has been cut, of course the phones are missing, of course someone the main character has gotten close to turns out to be somewhat of an enemy) feel fresh and fun in the summer camp context. And I commend him even further on writing a ghost story into the plot that simultaneously worked and felt like something I hadn't heard before.

Heads Will Roll also does double-duty (like any good horror film or book) as social commentary and the emphasis on the dangers of social media and cancel culture, particularly when framed alongside a coming out narrative, was successful in my view. The book certainly isn't genre-defying and it failed to deliver on a very wanted and wished for Yeah Yeah Yeahs joke, but it made me buy the author's other novels, so in that sense it's more than Winning (and I will not apologize for a pun like this in a review of a book with wordplay at its foundation).

5/5✨ - Add this to your Fall/Halloween TBR now!

As an avid horror movie connoisseur, the blurb for this book piqued my interest. Because of this, I also went into this book expecting the typical sleepaway camp slasher. I was mistaken in the best way.

I love books with multiple POVs and this one has many, but in an orderly way. Each POV helps you learn more about the characters and their motives and past. Winning did a wonderful job of making most of the characters likable at some point in the story.

I appreciated the queer representation in the book as well. Not many books make me want to cry, but this book had me misty-eyed at points that were revealed from these characters' past.

Overall, the book's chapters mostly ended in cliffhangers wanting me to read more and I flew through this book. The writing is elevated but in an easy read kind of way.

3.5 stars rounded up.

<i>Heads Will Roll </i> is a pretty entertaining adult, summer camp slasher set at Camp Castaway, also known as Camp Cancelled as all campers, for one reason or another, are attending to take a much needed step away from social media. This book shows the ugly of social media and the toxic situations one may encounter when enthralled by the constant pull of electronics.

Though this was a quick and easy read with a twist I was not expecting, I didn’t really feel the tension and really didn’t care much for the characters. I did enjoy it enough to quickly finish and would recommend for a fun weekend read.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the e-ARC.

Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning tells the story of "Willow", who is an actress who has been cancelled after posting an attempted joke online. To escape the publics backlash, "Willow" decides to go to Camp Castaway, a camp where people go to escape their reality and can have a fake name while there. Camp Castaway has a no phone policy and members are not supposed to advertise if they know the other members there, hence why everyone can choose their own name while there. Everything was seemingly going good at Camp Castaway until people start vanishing without a trace.

I liked how the author incorporated cancelled culture and the whole "Camp Cancelled" spin. Nowadays with all the cancellations, it was a different take to kind of see the other side of the story.

Overall, I found this a good read and I was pretty invested in the book. However, I did not love the ending and the killer reveal, that to me was a bit of a let down. Other than that I did find this to be a good slasher book.

I give this book 3.5 stars, I have rounded it to 4 stars as there are no half stars here.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC the above review is of my own thoughts.

3.5 stars ⭐️ Heads Will Roll was a mildly entertaining read. I appreciated how it demonstrated the toxicity of social media and cancel culture. Overall, it wasn’t something I could get into. I’m not sure if it just wasn’t for me or if it was that the horror seemed too kitschy, but I kept getting thrown out of the narrative by the feeling of it being a formula. If you’re really into the summer camp horror sub-genre then this is the adult-ish version of that and is probably right up your alley. I’m ok with summer camp horror but it needs to be something special. Still everyone has a sub-genre that they love and if this is yours, I recommend Heads Will Roll.

Thanks to Penguin/Putnam and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.

The biggest thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

Following the release of his previous novel, Burn the Negative, Josh Winning gives us yet another entertaining slasher-esque piece of horror fiction with Heads Will Roll. Willow arrives at Camp Castaway in a state of turmoil as she has been “canceled.” Her life as a sitcom star seems far away upon arriving at this remote camp in the woods, a place that is focused on disconnecting with the world that seemingly is out for Willow’s blood. All seems well for the first few days, but then fellow campers start going missing. And doll heads start showing up? The campfire tale of Knock Knock Nancy, a woman who knocks on your door begging for her severed head, begins to seem more than just a story.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Winning’s books is simply how downright fun they are. As with Burn the Negative, Heads Will Roll sets up a premise any horror fan has come to know and love. Willow’s situation invokes strong imagery akin to iconic movies such as Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp, and Fear Street Part 2: 1978 with the remote location of the camp cutting her off from the conventional means to the modern world. For fans of horror, we know the dangers of settings like this and can imagine the worst possible scenario playing out before any real events begin to occur. This is an unnamed level of suspense that makes meeting every camper full of suspicion and mistrust.

What works equally well is if you are not aware of the particular sub-genre tropes associated with stories similar to Willow’s. Winning writes such clear, concise horror that executes mystery, body horror, and twists in a way that is incredibly accessible. This is the perfect kind of story I would recommend to a friend who is dipping their toe in the horror genre as Winning’s writing captures the magic of slashers, gore, and the puzzling mystery of who hides behind the axe.

Even more captivating is the character of Willow, a person who finds themselves in the wreckage of a life that has been flipped upside-down. Her character arc details the complexities of realizing who you truly are versus the person you’re pretending to be, a struggle that feels rather timely in the age of social media. Winning calls great attention to the intense connection that has been normalized between humans and technology, a poignant message that adds a dimension of emotional horror to an otherwise physically violent tale.

Heads Will Roll is the perfect summer horror read that provides entertainment and certified scares. Josh Winning’s writing appeals to seasoned horror readers and newcomers to the genre alike through his use of familiar tropes and nuanced perspective. You will definitely want to add this one to your “Summerween” TBR.

Pages: 320

Horror sub-genre: Slasher, Summer camp

Plot: After an ill-advised tweet, Willow loses her TV series, her fiance, her house, and is officially cancelled. She decides to get away from everything at Camp Castaway, where she can decompress and look forward to a lack of technology and social media. Everything seems great until campers start going missing.

Review: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
I enjoyed this book and if you're looking for a Friday the 13th vibe (for modern times) in a book, then this will be a good choice. The camp has a group of eclectic characters, with positive and strong LGBTQ rep, and I found myself rooting for all the ones you're supposed to root for. The addition of the urban legend of "Knock Knock Nancy" makes the reader question whether the killer is supernatural or human, and I found the book to be fun. While I did really enjoy the book, I found that the cancellation and social media aspect was very clunky, and while necessary to the story, didn't really add anything positive. Overall I liked this though, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a face-paced, entertaining summer horror read.