Because of his affable demeanor, Adam Cesare is probably not the-first-one-you-expect to be a horror writer. But he is probably also the kind of guy who wears a Re-Animator shirt to buy groceries, so his cover is always blown. (By the way, I have no problem wearing a Re-Animator shirt in Wal-Mart) 
Ok...back to the business at hand. Adam has written a book called The First One You Expect. It's good. That's all you really need to know...but I'll keep going: It's the third book I've read by him (Tribesmen and Video Night were the other two), and my favorite thus far. I don't know if this is a product of Cesare honing his craft, or if this particular story gripped me more than the others. Running right at 100 pages, it's a fast-paced, Laymon-esque read. Without giving away any plot points, the book reads like noir wearing B-movie clothes...or is it a B-movie wearing noir clothes? It's also the second book of three that I've read that has a film-making theme to it, so heads up if you're into that; you'd probably enjoy this one and Tribesmen.
Despite novellas being my story-length of choice, I think I would've liked this one to have a slightly higher page count. However, this is a very small complaint, as I liked the pacing and I read it in one sitting. I also think that it's better for a book to be too short than too long.
Thanks to Adam for providing a copy for review!
Grade: B
Review by Jason Cavallaro
Ok...back to the business at hand. Adam has written a book called The First One You Expect. It's good. That's all you really need to know...but I'll keep going: It's the third book I've read by him (Tribesmen and Video Night were the other two), and my favorite thus far. I don't know if this is a product of Cesare honing his craft, or if this particular story gripped me more than the others. Running right at 100 pages, it's a fast-paced, Laymon-esque read. Without giving away any plot points, the book reads like noir wearing B-movie clothes...or is it a B-movie wearing noir clothes? It's also the second book of three that I've read that has a film-making theme to it, so heads up if you're into that; you'd probably enjoy this one and Tribesmen.
Despite novellas being my story-length of choice, I think I would've liked this one to have a slightly higher page count. However, this is a very small complaint, as I liked the pacing and I read it in one sitting. I also think that it's better for a book to be too short than too long.
Thanks to Adam for providing a copy for review!
Grade: B
Review by Jason Cavallaro
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