
Slattery Falls, by Brennan LaFaro
Savage Island, by Brian Moreland
Ride or Die, by James Newman
Slattery Falls is a ghost story, which is somewhat of a risky move as a debut novel. Ghost stories in the hands of inexperienced writers often fail. Reason being, there are so many tropes related to this type of plot. A writer either has to rise above that with great writing, or introduce a new idea. Another problem typical of ghost stories is the dreaded second act. First Act: introduce characters, and a few creepy situations. Check. Most writers pull this off. Second Act: characters learn more about the ghosts. This can become a problem, because the more the reader learns about the ghost(s), the less compelling they can become. Third Act: This is usually where the writer shows that their ghost story is different from the others. First act and third act were no problem here. The second act had a few information dumps that got a little dull. Maybe they could've been "dumped" a little more organically? I don't know. Either way, I think Brennan has a bright career ahead.

Grade: C
Next up was Savage Island by Brian Moreland. I was sure this book was headed for an A or B grade for the first half of the novella. The villains were sufficiently hate-able and the plot was moving along swiftly. Then when the supernatural aspect of the plot really kicked in, I lost interest. Not sure why. Maybe it was my fault, but I'm still blaming Brian.
Grade: C

Grade: B
Reviews by Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn
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