Middle of the road horror novel, not great but not a waste of time to go through. At least it doesn't take to long to go through.

Cedar Mills opens up with an intense bloodbath as a motorcycle gang is torn to shreds by a mysterious creature. Twenty-five years later, high school senior Jake finds himself in the wake of his best friend’s death which is oddly suspicious. When government agents show up to take over the investigation, Jake and his friends join forces with a retired homicide detective to find out what’s really out there lurking in the forest.

The pacing never lets up right from the beginning. Chapters interchanging between character perspectives are short and concise which helps keep the story engaging. Cedar Mills is full of action that will keep horror readers interested.

I was intrigued from the moment carnage ensued, and to be honest I wish there was more. The plot is full of turns that you would never expect. Cedar Mills was a fun creature feature you don’t want to miss out on.

<I>Thank you to NetGalley and Savage Realms Press for this ARC opportunity. This is an honest and voluntary review. </I>

This was a quick and easy to read courtesy of its short and concise chapters. I occasionally felt like the story was casting a bit too wide of a net that led to certain narrative elements feeling disconnected. The story behind the creature wasn’t what I expected. It stayed intriguing all throughout, and when the characters finally faced the creature. It was nice balance of horror, suspense and mystery, the story is entertaining without being overly convoluted or dense.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGelley.

What started out as a formulaic whodunit type book for me morphed into a pleasant surprise. I really thought this book was going to focus on the detective trying to figure out what was going on, and it was, but not at all in the way I thought. The characters in this book aren’t very well drawn out, except for maybe Tom Dalton, Jake, and Jarrett. And truly, I’m not sure if they need to be. The focus isn’t really on them. I did not see any of the twists in this story coming, and from someone who usually figures out the ending of these types of books halfway through, that’s a great compliment. The ending wrapped everything up while still offering one more little twist, and it was very satisfying. However, this book did drag on in parts, and I feel that some parts could be cut down without sacrificing much. The author also has a strange quirk with exclamation points, which makes the writing seem far more juvenile than it is. In all, Cedar Mills is a clever story with enough twists and turns and gory moments to keep horror fans interested.

This novel is a terror filled read with a horrifying creature, lots of blood and gore, and a well paced narrative. In other words, I enjoyed the story immensely. But there's one nagging issue which I'll talk about shortly.

Set in the titular town, people have gone missing from around the river for hundreds of years. We'll find out though that they didn't actually go missing, but were visciously torn apart and sometimes eaten by an alien monstrosity. Not only that, but there's a very deep state government agency who is not only covering everything up but actually keeping this creature alive and under surveillance.

Tom is a PI who loves his solitude but when a group of high school kids find themselves in the middle of this agency's secrets and friends are brutally killed by the creature, they and Tom will go on the run to discover secrets. But this will not be without consequences.

The action in this book is fantastic and the kills are as brutal as they should be for a book like this. It's fast paced and a unique monster.

My only issue is all of the exclamation! Marks! Everywhere! On almost every page! Everytime someone says even the most casual thing! Even when they whisper! Exclamation marks!!

Overuse of these became distracting after awhile and while I loved the story, it's a flaw which needs editing. But I still recommend it because it's a good creature feature and the story is solid.