Dark Book Review – Blood Vengeance
Written By Casey Douglass
More and more
frequently, I’m running into articles and snippets that feature
some element of Environmental Psychology,
the relationship between people and the spaces they occupy. What such
a study would make of The Montague and the shadows that pass behind
the peep-hole of room 213 I couldn’t even imagine. Then again,
maybe no study is needed if Michael Schutz-Ryan's Blood Vengeance covers all the
bases.
Blurb:
Sick of being bullied, seventeen-year-old Brennan Cooper packs up for San Francisco to start over. But before he can settle into his new home, Bren is drawn to the abandoned apartment downstairs. In its shabby rooms, he sees the grey and rotting ghosts of murdered girls claw each other in sick imitation of their deaths.With his wild new friends, Brennan explores the seedy streets of the city. But the laughter and screams downstairs continue to both terrify and entrance him. After meeting Tara, his dream girl, he convinces her to explore the downstairs apartment with him. There they encounter not only the murdered victims but the raging spirit of the girls’ dead killer.Bren and Tara’s ghost-hunt soon becomes a manhunt as they trace the history of the “San Francisco Ripper.” But retaliation for their meddling is quick and brutal. Now time is running out, not just for Brennan and his friends, but for the spirits of the girls trapped for all those years with their murderer.
Brennan
is an immediately likeable character, his lack of confidence and
bookish nature will more than likely resonate with anyone who
remembers what it’s like growing-up as an awkward outsider. He gets
on really well at his new home so it’s a real shame that paranormal
shenanigans get in the way. He starts to become the person he wants
to be, makes new friends and lives a better life, but always has
nagging nightmarish fears and thoughts. The topic of these thoughts
is what is going on one floor down in the dilapidated hotel where he
now lives with his Uncle Marc.
There
is a varied cast of other characters, his new friends all have their
own distinct voices, mannerisms and secrets, and other more
peripheral characters are all different enough to stick in the mind
and add something to the tale. The setting of San Francisco is
brought to life by Michael Schutz-Ryan’s words and you are never in any doubt
about where things are happening nor left mentally scrabbling for
orientation, except in those scenes where that is the desired
outcome!
The
group of friends seems to go from misfortune to misfortune, on the
surface being down to personal choices but on another level, Brennan
suspects an outside influence. Things escalate as the book continues,
the situations becoming more and more life-threatening. Michael
Schutz-Ryan does an excellent job of taking the ordinary and twisting
it into something more sinister. There is a particularly good
situation in the last third of the book that in another guise, would
be a happy Disney style event. No such luck for the poor soul in this
story.
Blood
Vengeance is an easy read, the chapters flying by at an
interesting pace with enough background detail to pull you in, and
enough points of interest to keep you there for as long as the ride
continues. I rate it 5/5, it’s one of the fastest book reads I have
achieved in recent times and I think the way that Michael builds
things up and creates oppressive feelings is very well done indeed.
If you like horror, pick up Blood Vengeance now.
I was given a free
copy of the book to review.
Book Title: Blood
Vengeance
Author: Michael
Schutz-Ryan
Publisher: Permuted
Press
Cover Art: Hunter
Walker
