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megandherbook's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I loved The Nightmare Man and this was a great second book from J.H. Market.
In a small town there is an infamous tunnel that always seems to have disaster and tragedy associated with it. It was collapsed in after a young boy, Sully Dupree, was injured and remains in a coma. We get introduced to some key members of the town that all have connections to Sully as well as some people that have never been to the town or even have met the boy but still have strong connections to him. As bizarre murders start happening and bodies are showing up at the tunnel and a brief moment where Sully wakes up with a warning members of the small town of Herrod’s Reach start to learn that there are two worlds and the sleeping world is starting to come into the real world.
This book is very entertaining but does take some concentration to follow along. There are a lot of different story lines that are all intertwined but it takes some time before you see how. As someone with night terrors I’ve always found folklore around dreams intriguing and especially loved the use of it in this book. If you read The Nightmare Man you would have already gotten a taste of this world from J.H. Markert. This book is a standalone though and you don’t have to have read The Nightmare Man to read this one but there are bits of the story that overlap and there is even a part where the setting and plot of The Nightmare Man is specifically talked about.
I did a tandem read while also listening to the audiobook and I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. There are multiple narrators that jump back and forth between time and places so hearing the different narrators made it easier to keep track of what was going on. The narrators were wonderful and brought each of the many characters to life.
The way the book ended has me very hopeful that there is going to be a sequel where we’ll get more answers. If there isn’t then it’s a disappointing ending but an entertaining read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry