I hate to say it, but this was just not good. The premise was intriguing, but I really struggled with the stilted dialogue and very repetitive nature of the book. The writing felt very juvenile. There were a lot of events that were included for shock value, but not much else. The dog diarrhea near the end of the book was just nonsense. The only redeeming part of the story was the unexpected ending!

Sadly, the narration did not add anything to the story. If anything, I think the narration made it even cringier! This is not an audiobook I can recommend. There was some promise, but it really missed the mark for me.

The horror aspects really appealed to me, but the characters and the writing felt so underdeveloped that it was difficult to really connect with the story.
I enjoyed the narrators voice, but at some points I had to really focus on not letting my mind wander, so sometimes it just became white noise in the background.

I really wanted to like this, because I love horror, but this just unfortunately didn't meet the mark

The premise for this book sounds wonderful, a killer in the woods, taking out young people. And parts of the story are really very good, but the author failed to use dialogue that was convincing. As many other reviewers have noted, this reads more like a YA horror story then an adult book.

This has the vibe of a random b-horror film you'd find on Tubi at 2 a.m. It's not a bad watch but it's also not something you're going to remember next week. The writing felt very VERY juvenile and the audiobook narrator didn't help, a lot of dialog felt like it would be coming from a young teenage boy instead of a man in his 30s. At one point the words "knuckle sandwich" were said and yeah... The non-stop banter regardless of the situation was tiresome. Honestly, this could have worked as a young adult horror novel. It was repetitive and focused too much on small things, someone died and all you can talk about is your lack of sleep over and over? Coffee? Do you want to talk about coffee AGAIN? The characters were all pretty hollow, and interchangeable. The body horror was the best part, some great visuals. Wish there'd been more of a focus on it.

If you want a quick little horror read that doesn't have much substance this is the book for you.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for this gifted ALC.

I tried. I really tried. I made the mistake of reading the reviews before I started this audiobook, and that is out of the norm for me because early reviews usually skew my opinion. But this book was not for me. I can’t tell if it was the narrator or if it was the storytelling, but it was just not the greatest. It had potential. It really did. But I could not mesh or gel with it.

I really wanted to love this story, but it ended up feeling like a weaker, less refined version of The Troop by Nick Cutter. The premise had potential, but the execution fell flat—mainly due to the writing, which felt immature and often undercut the horror elements rather than enhancing them. The scares lacked the tension and atmosphere needed to be truly effective, making the story feel more juvenile than unsettling. While it didn’t work for me, I hope others connect with it more than I did!

Fast paced. The author does a great job at keeping the story going. There were no lulls or fluff.
As for the story, it was a mix of Tremors, Slither, and The Road. The tone of the book had some hard shifts. It started off as horror, evolved into a drama, crossed over into a sort of light-hearted comedy, and finally back to horror. I love a book that can mix all of those moods and still keep the same overarching tone throughout. This one missed. The shifts were a bit distracting, but overall, the book was still entertaining.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this one early!!!