Red Creek: A Horror Novel by Nathan Hystad

Once a best-selling horror author, Paul Alenn is in a slump. His wife and daughter are across the country, moved away to the West Coast, leaving him alone in his Central Park-adjacent New York townhouse. When his sister calls, asking for help packing up his estranged mother’s house in his old hometown, Red Creek, he decides to put the past behind him and face his demons.

What he finds back home is an ongoing mystery that stems from his childhood, a time he has no recollection of. When a boy is taken on his second night in the Creek, Paul starts to unravel a dark past...one he hadn’t even known was buried. All paths lead to the orchard and the eccentric owners, but Paul doesn’t know if the shadow he keeps seeing is real, or his imagination’s cover-up of a traumatic event.

With help from his former best friend, his brother-in-law, and a cranky old sheriff, Paul digs up the truth of the shadow looming over Red Creek.

 

Series: Red Creek #1 | Publisher: Audible | Narrator: Will Damron | Length: 6 hrs 54 mins |  Genre: Contemporary Horror/Thriller  | Source: Publisher  | Rating: 2.5 Cups

Challenges Read For:  -  2019 Try Something New: New-to-me Author

 

I went into this one thinking I was going to get this creepy little horror story, after all the book is subtitled: A Horror Novel, what I got was a suspense novel, which was a letdown.  

 

Here’s what’s going on. Paul’s been haunted by shadows all of his life but attributed them to his overactive author’s imagination. When Paul returns to his hometown, he soon realizes there’s more to the shadows than he realized. Now that a child has gone missing, Paul and his friends set out to uncover the truth Red Creek is hiding but when Paul discovers his childhood bike in the basement of a local orchard he soon realizes his ties to the orchard and the missing children are stronger than expected. Will they be able to figure out what’s lurking in Red Creek before another child vanishes?

 

Okay, the premise for this one sounded amazing and reminded me of Stephen King, sadly this one failed to deliver any of the horror that I was promised. I was rather disappointed because the author’s writing was brilliant and hooked me from the start.

 

The suspense is riveting. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see who/what was behind the missing children, how everything was connected, and what Paul’s daughter had to do with things. Unfortunately, I was left with more questions than answers. While there was a conclusion of sorts, there were no answers or no explanations for some of the major points of the plot. I just felt there could have been so much more added to this book

 

This was my first time listening to Will Damron and I enjoyed his narration.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the suspense but I was let down by the conclusion and I spent the entire book waiting for something that never happened.