Monday, May 25, 2015

Review ~ Sign

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author: Lou Rera
Formats Available: eBook & Paperback
Publisher: Netherworld Books
Publication Date: 07-08-14          Pages: 228
Purchase - Amazon                        Add to Goodreads 
Jim Thompson received a phone call from a dead man-a man he watched die one drunken, adulterous night while out of town on business.

Jim's wife, Deirdre, doesn't know his secret. Neither does Detective Frank Gibbons, who is hot on the case of the year-old crime. In this supernatural thriller, Jim's past surfaces through his guilt and lies. As Detective Gibbons closes in on the truth, Jim and Deirdre must run from a malevolent stalker in this terrifying horror tale of deception and murder.

 My So-Called Review:

First off, I just want to thank Lou Rera from the bottom of my heart. I belong to the “Psychological Thrillers” group on Goodreads which hosts 1400 members. Sign was chosen as our May BOTM and not only did Lou ensure that every member who wanted a copy was able to get one but he also gave away 5 signed paperback copies of his book and I was one of these lucky winners :) On top of this, Lou made daily appearances to our group discussion board where he interacted in our group discussions and answered every possible question thrown his way. It’s not often that you find an author who’s willing to put forth so much of their time for so long. I know I truly enjoyed having him around and loved getting to know him better this past month!

Now on to my review! I absolutely loved this book, it was at times incredible creepy and scary and at others times just pure horror fun. The mixing of genres has become increasingly popular lately and that’s what we have here. This book is one part crime thriller, in which a detective is trying to solve a year old murder case and one part paranormal horror, in which our two main characters, Jim and Deirdre embark on a road trip from hell. The best part of this book is trying to figure out how exactly these two story-lines will connect in the end.

The story opens with our two main characters getting ready to leave for a romantic weekend getaway. Their marriage has been on shaky ground in the past year so this is supposed to be their chance to re-connect and talk about things that Jim’s kept secret from his wife. Right away we know things aren’t going to turn out well for this couple when Jim receives a phone call from the man he saw die last year with his own eyes. Sure enough, they set off on their trip and along the way are forced to stop at a deserted gas station which kicks off one of the scariest nights I’ve ever had to read through! I live in an area where we have lots of old, rundown gas stations in the middle of nowhere so ya, I got totally freaked out!!

Sign isn’t one long creep out fest though; there are so many more elements and layers to this book that I just loved. Remember the classic Twilight Zone? That vibe ran through Jim and Deirdre’s entire road trip and there were a lot of fun references to Stephen King and Clive Barker, just to name a few. I’m a HUGE fan of books that reference other books and/or authors in them so these parts helped lighten the mood a little for me when I came across them :)

Overall, Sign was a hugely satisfying read for me and I am so glad it was chosen for our book of the month as I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to discover it otherwise. I would highly recommend this one to anyone who loves horror, paranormal, supernatural and crime books. Since this book sparked up so many great conversations on our discussion board I would also recommend this as a terrific book club read. Even if your book club doesn’t typically read paranormal or horror, give this one a try and I think anyone would be pleasantly surprised! Congratulations to Lou Rera for writing a spectacular debut novel and I’m eagerly awaiting your next book!!


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