As a fan of horror movies, this book was right up my alley! A group of friends go to a healing retreat to work on realigning their lives, not knowing that a killer is in the mix! One by one we find out their secrets as they finally give in and decide to become a better version of themselves! This book is brutal! Loved it!

The best of campy slasher mayhem meets the worst of hippy-dippy wellness culture at a yurt-filled desert retreat, and it’s a bloody soundbath of delight.

This was completely bonkers and such a fun read, with all of the hilarious, epically gory murders one could want, all executed in true Scream fashion using the items at hand. (Crystals! Saunas! Yoga props! Perfect!)

Loved this — and the author’s note was a real treat, too!

#CampNetGalley

I loved this so much! I knew I’d love this after reading Candy Cain Kills/ CCK again! This was so fun from start to finish! What a wild ride! Full of gore, mystery, and an unreliable main character! I akin this to a solid twist on the Scream movie franchise! A solid four ⭐️ read! Give me more of this Mr. McAuley— and pls tell me there is a sequel in the future! 😍

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC for my honest, unbiased opinion and review!

4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read this book!
While I love the horror genre, I tend to stick to the more supernatural side of the genre wehn it comes to books. But I have always LOVED slasher movies. And this book was a real love letter to the slasher movies of the late 90s and early 00s. It was a nice dose of nostaligia. There were all kinds of Easter eggs for slasher movie fans, from the grumpy locals that are mad about the highfalutin fancy LA people coming into their town to a crazed cannibal pickaxe killer man urban legend. Even the friend group all felt straight out of a slasher movie, so passive aggressively bitchy and at each other's throats the whole time. And I love that it had the trope of forshading how/where a character would die, I got so excited when I caught that.
The author does a great job convincing the reader that Hannah, our MC, is a highly unreliable narrator. A traumatized young woman who is willing to lie in her therapy sessions to score more drugs, she also has visual halucinations that make you question what is real.
This will be a great book to read at the close of summer for a nice injection of nostalgia.

This book was twisty, bloody, and delightfully unhinged. A great slasher with a psychological twist that kept me on toes the whole way through. I was constantly second-guessing who the killer was and who could be trusted. The FMC’s spiral into paranoia was one of the highlights for me since I love when a story makes you question what’s real and what’s just in the main character’s unraveling mind.

It was fast-paced and had just the right amount of chaos. A great option if you like messy characters, mounting tension, and a good old-fashioned mystery soaked in blood.

I am not usually a thriller or horror reader, so this book was a step out of my comfort zone. I usually find that the thrills, twists and turns and suspense are lacking but that DID NOT happen with this book. First of all, the cover is amazing and immediately made me want to pick it up. Second, the writing was impeccable! It was like reading a horror film except you are actually invested and FEEL the tension building! Reminiscent of early 2000’s slasher movies but without the cringey dialogue.
Hannah felt like a very real and relatable character, from her therapy sessions where she does the bare minimum to feed her drug dependency to her reluctant acceptance and participation in the activities at the retreat. You get that tingling feeling that something feels off and unsettled but it’s so easy to chalk it up to Hannah as an unreliable narrator and the tone of the book.

I don’t want to spoil anything or give something away but this book honestly gripped me and transported me to Joshua Tree along with the characters. It was engaging, chilling and a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for taking me out of my comfort zone and into this story!

Would be hard pressed to name a different book that I want as my pick for my next book club. I really enjoyed this one. A genre bending thrill ride all gas no breaks. Brian's style of prose is extremely approachable while not lacking the depth and substance you need to BITE into it. I was lost (in a good way) in the story and could not put this one down. Always good to see a Texan with good politics and ethics delivering some heat. Can't wait for the physical release. Can't wait to get my hands on this one to show all my homies.

This book was honestly just so much fun. I've loved horror books forever, but only recently started running into horror books that are 'slashers' like this and I'm absolutely loving it. Just in time for spooky season (yes, it starts earlier every year if I have my way), this is a horror book that I would recommend for both big horror fans and also people who just want to start dipping their toes in.

It almost reminded me of an adult Fear Street book ... with psychedelics?

The cast of characters reminded me so much of the cast of a horror movie. Each has their own archetype and if you like a lot of horror, you'll be able to pick them out right away. I'm also totally down with grief horror and I've been reading a lot of that in the past couple years. The kill scenes were wild and unique.

I think the author definitely accomplished what they set out to do because this book is slasher through and through. Definitely recommended for spooky season!

I thought this book was perfectly fine. I liked the premise, and I thought the spiritual retreat setting could be fun. However, by the time we got to the end I was a little tired of the "it's this person! Just kidding, they were just killed off" of it all. Hannah's backstory really wasn't that horrific or shocking, so that was an underwhelming reveal. It's a fine book, you can read it really quickly and it won't have you wracking your brains to understand anything. I'd read another book by Brian McAuley.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

This horror novel follows our main female character Hannah. We are introduced to her during a very low, trying time in her life: her fiancé has recently passed away while on a remote trip alone with Hannah, she's having trouble focusing at work, and she's avoiding her best friend. She's attempting therapy but only tells her therapist what he wants to hear to support her growing addiction to medication. The therapy sections of the book felt real; Hannah struggled to reconcile her past trauma with her current life situation. She's hit rock bottom, which she knows but is trying to block that out by clouding her emotions with substance abuse. She is mired in her grief, survivor's guilt, and depression. Her best friend, Tess, forces Hannah to confront her life and convinces Hannah to join her and their college friend group on a trip to Joshua Tree to participate in a new therapeutic healing retreat. This forced socialization makes Hannah uncomfortable but she admits that it might be what she needs to drag herself out of the darkness. 

From the start of the retreat, you get the sense that something is a bit off. But considering Hannah's trauma and the occasional hallucinations she has of her dead fiancé, it's hard to count her as a reliable narrator. The retreat is run by one guru named Pax and his assistant Kimi. The area is isolated and cut off from technology, so the group is forced to surrender any phones or tablets they have with them. The days start off as one might expect a spiritual healing retreat to begin: meditations, all clean eating, hiking. But as the days go on, tensions rise in the group as members start to in-fight about current jealousies and past conflicts. Hannah begins to suspect that Guru Pax might be drugging them but she doesn't know to what end. Her hallucinations begin escalating and before long she starts seeing an old timey miner with a skin mask and rusted pickax. 

There is a dark history to the area where the retreat is being held. The local legend involves murder, gang violence, and mining danger. The things Hannah starts to see play into that bloody story. Could any of it be true? Is the area haunted? Are they being hunted by a territorial ghost or is this all in her head? After a couple of her friends go missing, Hannah struggles between believing this to be foul play or paranormal violence. 

Overall, this book was fun and exciting. I found Hannah to be a believable character; her struggles and catharses would be hard on anyone. But add in a remote location, estranged friends, vaguely threatening spiritual mental gymnastics with added drug side effects, and a possible killer on the loose? She is in some deep crap. Towards the end of the story, I had a couple of questions that remained unanswered that could have easily been addressed. I found the reveal to be unexpected and apart from a few loose ends, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any new horror readers. 

4/5 stars

Liked this!! Was an easy page turner, slasher-wellness-camp-trip-journey-whodunnit situation. Liked the changes in perspective, keeping you guessing and adding very well to the mystery.

Got a bit by the book at the end, but a very enjoyable read.

Thanks NetGalley!

This book had me hooked from the very first page. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another twist would hit—completely shifting my perspective and keeping me on edge. The pacing was spot-on: long enough to develop the plot and explore the characters' backstories, but never dragging. What stood out most was how it blended suspense and mystery with deeper emotional themes, particularly grief and its complex impact. This book really dived into grief and how we each experience it and the people we encounter along that journey. Each character felt fully formed, had their own stories and feelings, and I really enjoyed watching their dynamics unfold.
The ending was satisfying and tied things together nicely, though I would’ve liked an epilogue to glimpse where the characters landed after the dust settled. Overall, this was a gripping, thoughtful read that stayed with me. I’m excited to see how others respond to it once it’s released.

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley is the perfect summer slasher/horror read. I was hooked from the very beginning, captivated and terrified, on the edge of my seat until the very end. The storyline is gritty, intense, and a nonstop adrenaline rush with just the right amount of goriness that pulls you in, and doesn’t let you go. I loved every single page of this campy thriller. A huge thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, the author and NetGalley for the eARC of the book.

The story follows the female protagonist, Hannah who’s been through an awful, traumatic experience. She is in therapy, but is still having a tough time dealing with everything that has transpired. Hannah has pushed every one in her life completely away. However, when she receives an invite from her estranged best friend, Tess to go to an exclusive healing retreat under the guidance of a guru, along with some other friends. She decides to go on with them. The retreat is out in California, in an extremely isolated, middle of nowhere location. Hannah thinks a getaway just might be the actual thing she needs to pull her out of the numb daze that she has been stuck in. But this retreat takes a violent, unexpected turn when people start disappearing and murder ensues. Can Hannah trust herself enough to be able to stay alive?

Breathe In, Bleed Out is a suspenseful, highly atmospheric, fast-paced, classic slasher story with dizzying twist and turns galore. This book read like an old "Block Buster" video movie from the 90’s. I couldn’t get enough of this addictive, nostalgia driven, blood-soaked contemporary horror book. If you’re a fan of movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, Urban Legend etc.., then this is a definite must read book.

4.25 stars

I am OBSESSED with story. The slasher in a wellness retreat gives off the vibes of a campy teen scream slasher and I’m here for it.
At times the pace was a bit on the slower side, but the gory and gruesome kills definitely made up for it! In the beginning I was so interested in Hannah’s backstory that I kinda forgot what was coming for me.

It’s one of those books that you don’t want to put down, and I really recommend it if you’re looking for a fun and twisty slasher!

This slasher novel delivers exactly what you’d hope for. It has gruesome kills, tension, and a healthy dose of camp. It gave me major nostalgic vibes for those classic 80s/90s horror slashers, complete with a remote setting, a shady spiritual retreat, and a killer on the loose. The pacing is solid, and the kills get increasingly creative in true slasher fashion. While Hannah wasn’t my favorite final girl, the ride was undeniably fun, and I appreciated how the story leaned into its genre roots!

Thank you NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the gifted copy.

Leave all your baggage behind and come and take a wellness journey deep in the heart of the California desert… Just kidding, this is a slasher horror novel so you might as well bring all your baggage because it’s not going to let a thing like distance, isolated remoteness or danger stop it from exacting its well plotted plans... A year ago, Hannah’s fiancé died in the frozen wilderness and grief, and guilt, has plagued her ever since. She is haunted by his ghosts and overmedicating herself to get through her days. When her life seems to blow up in her face even more than it already has, she is offered an exclusive wellness retreat for her and her friend group. Desperately hoping to change the trajectory of her life and reconnect with her college friends she reluctantly says yes. The wellness retreat is led by Guru Pax, who seems to mash up cultural spirituality and repackage it as a unique healing journey. Hannah, and other members of her group are skeptical at first, but as they undergo sound baths, yoga and desert hikes in a tech free haven she begins to feel a lightness that wasn’t there before. But her peaceful journey to a better life, veers violently off course when a masked killer starts picking them off one by one. In true Agatha Christie fashion, the reader is tasked with discovering the who and why behind the whole nightmare.
Brian McAulty has created the perfect set up for every slasher movie fan and will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing the outcome with every turn of the page. I loved how he created an ominous atmosphere from the beginning and never let it venture too far from the story. There are hidden agendas, secrets galore and a friendship group that may have a few things they need to deal with. Each of the characters are amazing and scream, “I am a perfect horror movie archetype”. The obnoxious jock, the lovelorn friend, the sassy artistic lesbian, the beauty, the fraud, the indigenous guide and of course, the final girl. In true final girl fashion, she will undergo periods of growth, strength, weakness and a feeling of losing her grip on reality, but her emotional journey is one that you will want to be on. The wellness retreat deep in the desert provides the phone free experience that you need for a slasher to work in this day and age. There will be no phone calls to make that can save them from the evil that is coming for them and no handy google searches to find out the truth. This is a perfect warm up to spooky season book and an excellent choice for the reader who just can’t say goodbye to Michael, Jason, Freddy or Ghostface, no matter how many times the studio tries to make us.

I just finished Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley, and it’s a total blast—if your idea of a good time includes trauma, bloodshed, and a healing retreat that turns into a waking nightmare (mine does).
The story follows a troubled woman still reeling from a traumatic experience, trying to get her life back on track. She heads to a remote wellness retreat with her friends, hoping for some peace and healing—but let’s just say, things get very messy, very fast. What starts as self-care quickly spirals into paranoia, violence, and some seriously unhinged horror-thriller territory.
McAuley nails the balance between real emotional depth and gory fun. It’s sharp, fast-paced, and surprisingly funny in places, without ever making light of the main character’s pain. If you like your thrillers soaked in blood with a side of emotional grit, this one’s absolutely worth the read.

Brian McAuley's Breathe In, Bleed Out is the novel version of a Final Destination film, with a smorgasbord of gruesome but inventive deaths perpetrated by the ghost of a miner who likes to wear the faces of his victims - or are they? This was a quick, fun read.

Thanks to Camp Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Brian for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, I can safely say I am now definitely a fan of Brian McAuley after having never read any of his previous work! Also this is my first slasher novel and I was hooked! I can safely say I will never be Hannah and I will never be attending a healing retreat I will happily stay broken thanks 😂

can def imagine this as a slasher. i was losing my mind at times w the "modern" dialogue... and honestly, i would've chosen crazy loving doctor at the end. that's just me. bc what are we doing now?? getting sued for malpractice?? no, hannah.