reads_vicariously's review
3.0
Basically this book is about a recently down-on-his-luck US Army Vet named Henry who goes hunting and accidentally kills a Bigfoot. Not knowing what to do he drags it back to town. Unfortunately for him, and really everyone else in town, there’s a whole ancient race of Bigfoot, and they’re out for revenge.
When the rampaging starts it gets violent and intense quick! Very gory, and what felt like a higher death count for just over 100 pages. Unfortunately even in a book that short I still wanted it to happen sooner haha. I enjoyed our protagonist and his little spat with the town jerk, but I wasn’t super invested in the massive emotional turmoil he is going through.
I was surprised in the direction the book took (like why exactly the Bigfoot showed up). Not good or bad, just didn’t expect it. I do wish there had been more about the Bigfeet in general. There’s a whole lore/backstory hinted at and plenty of room is left open for some kind of a sequel or series. I would love that!
Overall the book didn’t hit all the emotional buttons with me, but it reads quick and the second half is especially fun. It has definitely prepped me to want more Bigfoot in my life!
Thanks to authors @hollyraegarcia and @prentice2525 for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
When the rampaging starts it gets violent and intense quick! Very gory, and what felt like a higher death count for just over 100 pages. Unfortunately even in a book that short I still wanted it to happen sooner haha. I enjoyed our protagonist and his little spat with the town jerk, but I wasn’t super invested in the massive emotional turmoil he is going through.
I was surprised in the direction the book took (like why exactly the Bigfoot showed up). Not good or bad, just didn’t expect it. I do wish there had been more about the Bigfeet in general. There’s a whole lore/backstory hinted at and plenty of room is left open for some kind of a sequel or series. I would love that!
Overall the book didn’t hit all the emotional buttons with me, but it reads quick and the second half is especially fun. It has definitely prepped me to want more Bigfoot in my life!
Thanks to authors @hollyraegarcia and @prentice2525 for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review
4.0
The Easton Falls Massacre was a short, sharp shock to my brain. Sometimes you just come across a book that is inevitably your thing. This is not a book you can define, not a book that you can neatly file away under already established genres. This was a book that deserved to be inhaled, it deserved to be experienced at the rate the events took place. The story is told through the eyes of Henry Miller ex-army veteran. We witness his struggle with civilian street and his frustration at wanting a wholesome life in his hometown. He is the anchor of the story…the humanity.
Henry Miller is now on home soil, he’s rekindled his romance with Kate after ten years apart and has a baby boy on the way, Otis. Pretty regular things, human things, things that define our grip on normality, our legacy. Life as life does, takes a downward spiral. Things don’t go to plan, and Kate and Henry separate. Henry’s way of escapism is to go hunting. To become one with the woods, the sound of birds chirping, gunpowder wafting and a kill at his feet. A kill that doesn’t look much like a bear but more deformed and resolutely larger…unbeknownst to Henry we are experiencing the tailspin that has no end.
The Easton Falls Massacre was devoured in less than an hour. I was completely absorbed in the journey of delusion, anger and fear. I didn’t necessarily expect a happy ending but the brutalness of the prose had me by the throat and wouldn’t let go until I had digested the horrific nature of grief.
The plot examines and makes us question everything we though we knew about the natural world. It delves into our psyche like an Olympic diver. It plays upon our fears about what the woods could potentially keep hidden under the cover of darkness. It’s that knee jerk reaction of checking over your shoulder when you hear a twig cracking. Did you see a shadow or was it a trick of the eye? What if everything we believed was a lie? Henry has no control over the events he inadvertently, set in motion. He has no control over anything. It makes you think about grabbing life by the balls whilst you still have it.
The Easton Falls Massacre was a paralysing analysis of the human condition. The writing left me spellbound. It takes your darkest fear and makes it a horrifically brilliant reality.
Henry Miller is now on home soil, he’s rekindled his romance with Kate after ten years apart and has a baby boy on the way, Otis. Pretty regular things, human things, things that define our grip on normality, our legacy. Life as life does, takes a downward spiral. Things don’t go to plan, and Kate and Henry separate. Henry’s way of escapism is to go hunting. To become one with the woods, the sound of birds chirping, gunpowder wafting and a kill at his feet. A kill that doesn’t look much like a bear but more deformed and resolutely larger…unbeknownst to Henry we are experiencing the tailspin that has no end.
The Easton Falls Massacre was devoured in less than an hour. I was completely absorbed in the journey of delusion, anger and fear. I didn’t necessarily expect a happy ending but the brutalness of the prose had me by the throat and wouldn’t let go until I had digested the horrific nature of grief.
The plot examines and makes us question everything we though we knew about the natural world. It delves into our psyche like an Olympic diver. It plays upon our fears about what the woods could potentially keep hidden under the cover of darkness. It’s that knee jerk reaction of checking over your shoulder when you hear a twig cracking. Did you see a shadow or was it a trick of the eye? What if everything we believed was a lie? Henry has no control over the events he inadvertently, set in motion. He has no control over anything. It makes you think about grabbing life by the balls whilst you still have it.
The Easton Falls Massacre was a paralysing analysis of the human condition. The writing left me spellbound. It takes your darkest fear and makes it a horrifically brilliant reality.
jellybean_gene's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.25
Elevator Pitch: Gritty town sheriff/war vet/local hunter accidentally starts a small war with a tribe of...creatures.
Worthwhile if you're trying to scratch an itch for an old Syfy creature feature in book format.
The writing is quick and keeps moving the plot along at breakneck speed.
The characters aren't very well fleshed out. Even the MC feels more like a sketch of someone based on an old memory moreso than a character portrait. There's not much agency either, everyone's just kind of reacting to what's directly in front of them at that moment, constantly.
Worthwhile if you're trying to scratch an itch for an old Syfy creature feature in book format.
The writing is quick and keeps moving the plot along at breakneck speed.
The characters aren't very well fleshed out. Even the MC feels more like a sketch of someone based on an old memory moreso than a character portrait. There's not much agency either, everyone's just kind of reacting to what's directly in front of them at that moment, constantly.
jdkauthor's review
4.0
Originally posted over at my personal blog site, Night Terror Novels
“It couldn’t be the Dzunukwa, or the Bakwas. Sasquatch weren’t real, or Bigfoot, or the million other names people called creatures like that. It had to be a mutant, a one-off. Some sort of birth defect. Because Bigfoot did not exist.”
– Holly Rae Garcia, Ryan Prentice Garcia, The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge
I feel like I should probably start this review with an admission; I love cryptids. I love, love, love them. I will greedily devour any piece of media regarding them: books, documentaries, movies – I just absolutely love it all. The subject has been something of a personal hobby of mine for an awful long time now.
So with that in mind, The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge (2020) from Holly and Ryan Garcia, a novel about a Bigfoot encounter in small-town America, already had a slight advantage going in. Though, it also needs mentioning that I had already experienced Max Brooks’ stellar story of survival, Devolution (2020), earlier this year. Similarly focusing on a man versus Bigfoot narrative, Brooks’ astonishing book had set a lofty bar for stories concerning the lovable (or not so, in these two examples) hairy ape.
I’ll be honest – going into this story, I was a little worried that the incredibly high standard set by Brooks would be a burden. But actually, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this story was, and how much it stood up in its own right. Whilst Brooks’ interpretation of Bigfoot was more scientific, depicting them as animalistic primates driven by primal urges, the Garcia’s offer a more tribal and societal version of the hairy beasts. This distinction, alongside the more human qualities they chose to instil in their apes, completely drew me in.
The characters are terrific, and really well-written. Henry Miller makes for an interesting protagonist, and his relationships and interactions with the other characters feel natural and realistic. The back and forth between Henry and his friend Pete Stewart was great, as was the contentious rivalry between himself and fellow hunting enthusiast Robert Williams. I really loved how the authors set the scene as well – it was very easy to put myself in those deep forests, shadowed by the Cascades mountain range, to feel the temperamental weather of the Pacific Northwest, and to soak in the atmosphere of Easton Falls, a classic all-American town through and through.
At around a hundred pages, this is a brisk experience – I would have perhaps preferred a little more delving into the town itself, and into the people that call it home. I felt like some of the plot points regarding Henry and his (recently ex) partner Kate’s relationship sort of fizzled out, when they could have been developed further, for more emotional resonance. I’d also have been keen to see more from characters like Kellen Tsosie, who was really intriguing. His and his family’s role as peacekeeper between the town and the tribe of Bigfoot is definitely something that could have been expanded further.
I wouldn’t say the plot reinvented the wheel either, but nor did I think it particularly needed to. As a straightforward, sometimes thrilling, and consistently entertaining narrative, there was so much to love here. It is worth noting as well that this story is subtitled ‘Book One’, so if the Garcia’s plan to return to this world, I’ll be more than happy to revisit Easton Falls and its townsfolk. I’d also be eager to learn more about their version of everyone’s favourite elusive primate. The fact that it left me very hungry for more is only ever a good thing, in my opinion.
VERDICT: The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge does what it says on the metaphorical tin: it weaves a simple but endlessly entertaining story of furry vengeance (nothing to do with the awful 2010 ‘comedy’ film of that name, thankfully), with an engaging cast of characters, excellent scene descriptions, and several enjoyable set pieces. It’s a short experience – I’d have happily read more about the town and its residents, prior to things going to hell – but is thoroughly engaging, and easy reading, to coast through over a spare day or two. I would definitely be up for reading more from this pair of authors in the future.
All things considered, it’s a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from this reviewer.
Book Information
Title(s): The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge, The Easton Falls Massacre
Author(s): Holly Rae Garcia, Ryan Prentice Garcia
Publisher(s): Close to the Bone
Original Publication Date: 30th October 2020
Page Count: 99 Pages
Format Read: Digital
Advance Review Copy (Y/N): N
Website(s): https://www.hollyraegarcia.com/
https://www.ryanprenticegarcia.com/
https://www.close2thebone.co.uk/wp/
“It couldn’t be the Dzunukwa, or the Bakwas. Sasquatch weren’t real, or Bigfoot, or the million other names people called creatures like that. It had to be a mutant, a one-off. Some sort of birth defect. Because Bigfoot did not exist.”
– Holly Rae Garcia, Ryan Prentice Garcia, The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge
I feel like I should probably start this review with an admission; I love cryptids. I love, love, love them. I will greedily devour any piece of media regarding them: books, documentaries, movies – I just absolutely love it all. The subject has been something of a personal hobby of mine for an awful long time now.
So with that in mind, The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge (2020) from Holly and Ryan Garcia, a novel about a Bigfoot encounter in small-town America, already had a slight advantage going in. Though, it also needs mentioning that I had already experienced Max Brooks’ stellar story of survival, Devolution (2020), earlier this year. Similarly focusing on a man versus Bigfoot narrative, Brooks’ astonishing book had set a lofty bar for stories concerning the lovable (or not so, in these two examples) hairy ape.
I’ll be honest – going into this story, I was a little worried that the incredibly high standard set by Brooks would be a burden. But actually, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this story was, and how much it stood up in its own right. Whilst Brooks’ interpretation of Bigfoot was more scientific, depicting them as animalistic primates driven by primal urges, the Garcia’s offer a more tribal and societal version of the hairy beasts. This distinction, alongside the more human qualities they chose to instil in their apes, completely drew me in.
The characters are terrific, and really well-written. Henry Miller makes for an interesting protagonist, and his relationships and interactions with the other characters feel natural and realistic. The back and forth between Henry and his friend Pete Stewart was great, as was the contentious rivalry between himself and fellow hunting enthusiast Robert Williams. I really loved how the authors set the scene as well – it was very easy to put myself in those deep forests, shadowed by the Cascades mountain range, to feel the temperamental weather of the Pacific Northwest, and to soak in the atmosphere of Easton Falls, a classic all-American town through and through.
At around a hundred pages, this is a brisk experience – I would have perhaps preferred a little more delving into the town itself, and into the people that call it home. I felt like some of the plot points regarding Henry and his (recently ex) partner Kate’s relationship sort of fizzled out, when they could have been developed further, for more emotional resonance. I’d also have been keen to see more from characters like Kellen Tsosie, who was really intriguing. His and his family’s role as peacekeeper between the town and the tribe of Bigfoot is definitely something that could have been expanded further.
I wouldn’t say the plot reinvented the wheel either, but nor did I think it particularly needed to. As a straightforward, sometimes thrilling, and consistently entertaining narrative, there was so much to love here. It is worth noting as well that this story is subtitled ‘Book One’, so if the Garcia’s plan to return to this world, I’ll be more than happy to revisit Easton Falls and its townsfolk. I’d also be eager to learn more about their version of everyone’s favourite elusive primate. The fact that it left me very hungry for more is only ever a good thing, in my opinion.
VERDICT: The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge does what it says on the metaphorical tin: it weaves a simple but endlessly entertaining story of furry vengeance (nothing to do with the awful 2010 ‘comedy’ film of that name, thankfully), with an engaging cast of characters, excellent scene descriptions, and several enjoyable set pieces. It’s a short experience – I’d have happily read more about the town and its residents, prior to things going to hell – but is thoroughly engaging, and easy reading, to coast through over a spare day or two. I would definitely be up for reading more from this pair of authors in the future.
All things considered, it’s a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from this reviewer.
Book Information
Title(s): The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge, The Easton Falls Massacre
Author(s): Holly Rae Garcia, Ryan Prentice Garcia
Publisher(s): Close to the Bone
Original Publication Date: 30th October 2020
Page Count: 99 Pages
Format Read: Digital
Advance Review Copy (Y/N): N
Website(s): https://www.hollyraegarcia.com/
https://www.ryanprenticegarcia.com/
https://www.close2thebone.co.uk/wp/
qhuinnblay's review
3.0
I was allowed access to read this story in exchange for my honest review:
I give it 3/5 stars, because it was too short, in my opinion. It could have become a nice story with more space to develop, but the author didn´t try to give the plot a chance to evolve and create an original story. Pity, because I liked what I read. It just felt too little, too rushed.
This is about humans and big foot having a confrontation. Henry Miller is an Army Veteran who gets lost near Easton Falls. He finds himself accidentally meeting a Bigfoot, which will have an impact on everyone in Easton Falls. And that´s it. That´s all there is about this short story.
This had a lot of potential, and some of it was obvious. The story deserved a lot more space. This review took me a month to write. Why? Because it lacks development, and I can´t really describe it accurately. I liked what I read, but I need more. That is actually a good sign, because I was invested in the story. I need more.
I give it 3/5 stars, because it was too short, in my opinion. It could have become a nice story with more space to develop, but the author didn´t try to give the plot a chance to evolve and create an original story. Pity, because I liked what I read. It just felt too little, too rushed.
This is about humans and big foot having a confrontation. Henry Miller is an Army Veteran who gets lost near Easton Falls. He finds himself accidentally meeting a Bigfoot, which will have an impact on everyone in Easton Falls. And that´s it. That´s all there is about this short story.
This had a lot of potential, and some of it was obvious. The story deserved a lot more space. This review took me a month to write. Why? Because it lacks development, and I can´t really describe it accurately. I liked what I read, but I need more. That is actually a good sign, because I was invested in the story. I need more.
pbanditp's review
3.0
Henry’s world comes crashing down on him. Just when he thinks that nothing else can surprise him, he triggers an attack on the town. He thought it was just a big bear, he was wrong. Now the things parents want revenge.
If this story was extrapolated out it would have made things more interesting. It seemed very cut and dry and so much could have been drawn out
If this story was extrapolated out it would have made things more interesting. It seemed very cut and dry and so much could have been drawn out
adam_tries_books's review
3.0
There is quite a cast of characters in this story and with it being less than 150 pages it’s difficult to grow attached to most of them. Also with it being a bit of a creature feature you’re always expecting people to be killed off!
In particular I enjoyed the last part of the book the most, once things really kick off at that point! There’s a bit gore and some great deaths, which is what you want from a creature feature like this! The last few pages set the story up perfectly in my opinion for the next book.
There was hints to the history of Bigfoot dotted through out but I personally I would have loved these to be explored more, I was left wanting to know more about Bigfoot. But maybe that will come later in the series.
Overall a fun read and I look forward to seeing how the story is continued in future books!
In particular I enjoyed the last part of the book the most, once things really kick off at that point! There’s a bit gore and some great deaths, which is what you want from a creature feature like this! The last few pages set the story up perfectly in my opinion for the next book.
There was hints to the history of Bigfoot dotted through out but I personally I would have loved these to be explored more, I was left wanting to know more about Bigfoot. But maybe that will come later in the series.
Overall a fun read and I look forward to seeing how the story is continued in future books!
goobersmom57's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
To say I loved this book would be an understatement. I went in expecting a cheesy slasher book, but was met with something so much different and better. There was so much emotion (who knew 😄), and a great story as well. I won’t rehash the details (not sure I could without spoiling), but just know you will get a horror story with so much heart and a great take on the mythology of the Bigfoot. For such a short book it certainly packed a punch.
n0rmann's review
5.0
Such an awesome and fun read Love the story and the quick pace. Great violence, too!
readingvicariously's review
3.0
Basically this book is about a recently down-on-his-luck US Army Vet named Henry who goes hunting and accidentally kills a Bigfoot. Not knowing what to do he drags it back to town. Unfortunately for him, and really everyone else in town, there’s a whole ancient race of Bigfoot, and they’re out for revenge.
When the rampaging starts it gets violent and intense quick! Very gory, and what felt like a higher death count for just over 100 pages. Unfortunately even in a book that short I still wanted it to happen sooner haha. I enjoyed our protagonist and his little spat with the town jerk, but I wasn’t super invested in the massive emotional turmoil he is going through.
I was surprised in the direction the book took (like why exactly the Bigfoot showed up). Not good or bad, just didn’t expect it. I do wish there had been more about the Bigfeet in general. There’s a whole lore/backstory hinted at and plenty of room is left open for some kind of a sequel or series. I would love that!
Overall the book didn’t hit all the emotional buttons with me, but it reads quick and the second half is especially fun. It has definitely prepped me to want more Bigfoot in my life!
Thanks to authors @hollyraegarcia and @prentice2525 for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
When the rampaging starts it gets violent and intense quick! Very gory, and what felt like a higher death count for just over 100 pages. Unfortunately even in a book that short I still wanted it to happen sooner haha. I enjoyed our protagonist and his little spat with the town jerk, but I wasn’t super invested in the massive emotional turmoil he is going through.
I was surprised in the direction the book took (like why exactly the Bigfoot showed up). Not good or bad, just didn’t expect it. I do wish there had been more about the Bigfeet in general. There’s a whole lore/backstory hinted at and plenty of room is left open for some kind of a sequel or series. I would love that!
Overall the book didn’t hit all the emotional buttons with me, but it reads quick and the second half is especially fun. It has definitely prepped me to want more Bigfoot in my life!
Thanks to authors @hollyraegarcia and @prentice2525 for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!