Genre: Horror
Format: eBook
Pages: 362
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis:
Criminal noir and cosmic horror by the author of “The Place of Stars & Bones”.
There is dust on the horizon and dust in the fields. The sky is a burned-out shade of white and cicadas haunt the trees and rooftops. It is late September, and Lucy Ashwood has just finished the last unremarkable day of her life.
By morning, Lucy finds herself lying in a puddle of gore. The dead number three: two men from the MontVida Corporation and one sheriff’s deputy. They came to serve notice of genetic patent violations, and to evict the Ashwoods. When the Ashwoods push back, the end result is an accidental bloodbath. Lucy’s contribution involves feeding the dead to her pig, Wilbur. The contribution of her cousin, Arthur, involves his connection to a criminal collective known as the Aggregate. They say they will help the Ashwoods...for a price.
Subject to waking nightmares and crippling guilt, Lucy goes on the run. As her visions grow ever more vivid, Lucy begins to suspect there is more to what happened at her home than simply murder. Meanwhile, the Aggregate has decided to call in its favor for assisting the Ashwoods, thrusting Arthur into a world of violent revolution. Neither Lucy, nor Arthur, nor the Aggregate realize there is something else at work, something malevolent that has sprung from the very soil beneath their feet. It speaks through Wilbur, through the drone of the cicadas, through the hot dry wind. When it finally gains a foothold it will force its way through the veil between worlds, Lucy and the rest of humanity be damned.
Review:
"You assume that the building blocks of life have a sense of morality, that your genes share your ideas of right and wrong. All life is selfish, Lucy Ashwood. There is no virtue in the face of extinction."
MontVida is a vast corporation that controls the majority of land. They have implemented their genetic hybrids to produce super crops, but in the process, they have banned farmers from using their patents. It has caused farmers to do everything in their power to protect their farms from having any crossovers. Filtering, green housing, and fencing. The work is hard, the earth is dry, and the food is sparse.
MontVida have come to the farm of the Ashwoods, blaming them for violations of their genetic patents. The Ashwoods fight back, and the result ends in blood and death. It also ends life for the Ashwoods as events only continue to get worse and it becomes the downfall of their existence.
The Ashwoods reach out for help from the Aggregate, notorious for their crimes against MontVida, they have no respect for life and once called upon, you owe them your life. They will stop at nothing to earn their comeuppance. Their goal is to destroy!
Amongst the chaos and death, there is something sinister occurring. There are whispers, voices on the wind, and in the trees the cicadas drone their music upon the ears that hear. It speaks though Wilbur, Lucy Ashwoods Eurasian Boar. She must listen and heed the warnings. All of life is hanging in the balance of this malevolent being.
There is a lot that occurs throughout this story. World building and character development, deceit of characters that stay a bit obscured behind the scenes, the cosmic anomaly that causes a mass destruction, their goal to preserve their own existence, and many horrific deaths.
A mix of crime noir, cosmic horror, fantasy, dystopian, and speculative fiction. This takes us on a journey of disturbing imagery and grotesque monstrosities.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book as it kept me quite intrigued!
**A very kind thank you goes out to Mar at TBM Horror for sending me complimentary copy, much appreciated!
Goodreads Author Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/
Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/G.-Owen-Wears/author/
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