SMALL TOWN HORROR by Ronald Malfi [Book Review]





Small Town Horror

SMALL TOWN HORROR
By Ronald Malfi 
Published by Titan Books in hardback, paperback, audiobook and e-book

Andrew Larimer, a successful lawyer, should be excited about the upcoming birth of his child with wife Rebecca, but a darkness looms over him – a malevolent feeling he thought he’d escaped when he left his hometown of Kingsport and never looked back. After receiving a late-night phone call from one of his childhood friends, he’s no choice but to return to Kingsport to aid his longtime pals with whom he shares a dark secret with; events which they’ve kept quiet about for 20 years. But the past can’t stay buried forever.

Author Ronald Malfi’s words burrow under your skin in this unsettling horror story about five friends who, on the Fourth of July, experience something that will change their lives forever. Decades after that fateful night, Andrew Larimer, the main character of SMALL TOWN HORROR, is the only one who has escaped the harrowing memories and the town where it all began, but it seems even that isn’t enough for the past to come calling. Returning home, he is forced to reacquaint himself with old friends – drug-addicted Meach, bar owner Tig, sheriff Eric and property developer Dale – after one of them is accused of a very serious crime. Being a lawyer, Andrew is equipped to deal with such criminal wranglings, but the case could have deeper consequences for all of them if a long-buried secret should find its way to the surface.

When weird stuff starts happening in and around Andrew’s childhood home, he begins to suspect his friends aren’t being entirely truthful with him as he tries to keep his current life and his past separate from one another. As eager as he is to wrap things up as quickly as possibly so he can return home to his heavily pregnant wife and the top city law firm he works for, Kingsport has a way of reeling him back in.

Malfi expertly builds up the life of Andrew Larimer and his friends, flitting between the past and the present to reveal the horrifying events of his 16th Birthday and the lasting effects it’s had on the friends since. Being away from Kingsport, Andrew has missed so much so through his re-acquaintance with his old pals, we too learn about their friendship and the personalities of the group and how those events have changed them.

It’s so easy to get sucked into Malfi’s world as he builds a such a detailed picture of his characters and the environment they inhabit. He blends the drama with aspects of the supernatural so effectively that the story genuinely sends shivers down your spine and caused me to audibly gasp in surprise with the direction he takes.

SMALL TOWN HORROR is haunting as it combines realism with what can be perceived as fantasy, leaving you unsure of what’s real and what isn’t. Creepy and nail-biting, you’re never really confident where Malfi’s slow-burn story may end as he explores both familiar and unfamiliar angles within his storytelling.

With a sense of wickedness and danger lurking with every page turn, SMALL TOWN HORROR is a novel that likes to play with its characters, and effectively the reader too, only releasing its grip until its work is complete.

Just like his work on the novellas in They Lurk, Ronald Malfi continues to showcase his profound proficiency in crafting an absorbing tale of terror.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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About Bat 4554 Articles
I love practical effects, stop-motion animation and gore, but most of all I love a good story! I adore B-movies and exploitation films in many of their guises and also have a soft spot for creature features. I review a wide range of media including movies, TV series, books and videogames. I'm a massive fan of author Hunter S. Thompson and I enjoy various genre of videogames with Kingdom Hearts and Harvest Moon two of my all time favs. Currently playing: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Yakuza Zero and Mafia III.

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