The Summer I Died, by Ryan C. Thomas, was one of my favorite novels by a new writer in the last several years. It's an extremely violent book. Almost to the point of ridiculousness, but Thomas pulled it together with clear prose and vivid characterizations. I gave the book a huge thumbs up.
I heard that Ryan was writing a sequel to The Summer I Died, and I was happy to hear it. I wondered how he could convincingly pull it off. I'm very happy to report that he has done so, beautifully, with Born to Bleed.
A decade ago, in the pages of The Summer I Died, Roger Huntington lived through a vicious, bloody nightmare. He and his best friend were captured by a sadistic psychopath and were tortured in the most grisly ways imaginable. Huntington survived and is now trying to go on with his life and cope with the guilt and the nightmares he continues to experience.
This time, Huntington is up against a cabal of wealthy individuals who indulge themselves with kidnap, murder, and cannibalism. Again, the level of violence Thomas uses is mind-numbing. A sensible reader will ask his or herself if Huntington can survive such desperate odds. Not to mention the many grievous wounds he has inflicted upon himself.
It really seems like a highly unlikely coincidence that Roger Huntington again finds himself fighting for survival from brutal psychopaths. Lightning doesn't strike twice. Does it? Of course this is the horror genre, and you know as well as I do that anything goes in sequels. Stick with Born To Bleed until the finale. Ryan has some devious surprises in store for his readers. And best of all, he does not merely leave the door open for another sequel, he blows the entire wall down. I think we'll see more of Roger Huntington in the future.
I consider Ryan C. Thomas to be one of the most talented writers coming up from the micropresses. The Summer I Died and Born To Bleed are both excellent examples of hard-hitting, relentless horror. And I think his acidly satirical novel, Ratings Game, is criminally overlooked by genre readers.
I hate to say this, but I think the packaging that Coscom used for Born To Bleed is simply awful. The anime-boy-by-way-of-a-video-game illustration completely misrepresents the novel. I wouldn't glance at it twice if I saw in it a store. And Coscom needs to employ better proofreaders.
Don't let that dissuade you from buying Born To Bleed, but please read The Summer I Died first. Both are short novels, and I'd really like to see a publisher put both of them together in an omnibus hardcover edition. These books are a lot better than some of the stuff I see out there getting the deluxe treatment.
I heard that Ryan was writing a sequel to The Summer I Died, and I was happy to hear it. I wondered how he could convincingly pull it off. I'm very happy to report that he has done so, beautifully, with Born to Bleed.
A decade ago, in the pages of The Summer I Died, Roger Huntington lived through a vicious, bloody nightmare. He and his best friend were captured by a sadistic psychopath and were tortured in the most grisly ways imaginable. Huntington survived and is now trying to go on with his life and cope with the guilt and the nightmares he continues to experience.
This time, Huntington is up against a cabal of wealthy individuals who indulge themselves with kidnap, murder, and cannibalism. Again, the level of violence Thomas uses is mind-numbing. A sensible reader will ask his or herself if Huntington can survive such desperate odds. Not to mention the many grievous wounds he has inflicted upon himself.

I consider Ryan C. Thomas to be one of the most talented writers coming up from the micropresses. The Summer I Died and Born To Bleed are both excellent examples of hard-hitting, relentless horror. And I think his acidly satirical novel, Ratings Game, is criminally overlooked by genre readers.
I hate to say this, but I think the packaging that Coscom used for Born To Bleed is simply awful. The anime-boy-by-way-of-a-video-game illustration completely misrepresents the novel. I wouldn't glance at it twice if I saw in it a store. And Coscom needs to employ better proofreaders.
Don't let that dissuade you from buying Born To Bleed, but please read The Summer I Died first. Both are short novels, and I'd really like to see a publisher put both of them together in an omnibus hardcover edition. These books are a lot better than some of the stuff I see out there getting the deluxe treatment.
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