TLC Book Tours – The War Beneath by S.R Hughes

It’s tour day on Jessicamap Reviews!

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for the free copy in exchange for my honest review and feature

THE WAR BENEATH – S.R. Hughes (Released October 1st, 2019)

Book Description:

“There is a war going on behind things, beneath them.”

Paul had been a forensic psychologist. But after his daughter’s funeral, he hit the rock bottom of a spiraling addiction. When the spirits of the dead started rasping their wishes in his ears, he fled New York for withering Oceanrest—a flat-broke city barnacled to Maine’s coast. There, he’s spent the last five years scraping by, trying to shake off the burdens of his past, pretending to be a man without context, without history, without the secret ability to speak with the dead. But soon, all of that will be taken away from him.

Deirdre’s spent the past fourteen years as a resident of Squatter City—the most distal and dilapidated of Oceanrest’s gangrenous appendages. Growing and harvesting a hydroponic farm of mystic flora and esoteric plantlife, she’s built a business as a drug dealer and apothecary. After years of relative peace, Deirdre’s life finally seems tenable. But when one of her regular clients double-crosses her, what little serenity she’s discovered quickly unravels.

Deirdre and Paul soon find themselves under attack from criminals and cultists, on the run from Quebecois mobsters, Aryan Nationalists, and a group of young men who seem dedicated to a cause of brutality and destruction on an apocalyptic scale.

My Thoughts: 3/5 stars

This was my introduction to S.R. Hughes and I found this to be a very interesting and unique read. THE WAR BENEATH is a paranormal thriller that focuses on a man that went from a successful forensic psychologist with the FBI to a man at rock bottom drinking himself away from his memories and his past.

After the death of Paul’s daughter he leaves his job as an FBI forensic psychologist in New York for the small Maine town of Oceanrest, where he falls into a depression. After his daughter’s death he discovers that he can communicate with the dead, and to drown out their constant voices he turns to drugs and drinking. We meet Deirdre, the local drug dealer and apothecary – which is how their paths cross.

I feel like there was a lot going on in parts of the book, but the author laid it all out well for the readers without causing too much confusion. I liked the supernatural element and the pacing of the book. Definitely some thriller elements in the mix. Overall, I would definitely pick up more from the author and would recommend this to those that like a good supernatural element added into their thrillers!

About the Author:

S. R. Hughes inhabits the glittering darknesses between dreams but writes from Queens, NY. He’s been published in Sanitarium, the Wild Hunt eZine, and has had stories featured on several podcasts.

Find out more about him at his website, and follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Where to Purchase a Copy:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million