I can finally share my review with you for the second installment in the Lake Witch trilogy!
Thanks to TLC Book Tours and Saga Press for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review and tour spot
DON’T FEAR THE REAPER – Stephen Graham Jones (Released February 7th, 2023)
Book Description:
December 12th, 2019, Jade returns to the rural lake town of Proofrock the same day as convicted Indigenous serial killer Dark Mill South escapes into town to complete his revenge killings, in this riveting sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author, Stephen Graham Jones.
Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.
Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.
Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.
Don’t Fear the Reaper is the page-turning sequel to My Heart Is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars
When I read MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW in 2021, I was very excited to find out that this was the start of a new trilogy. Who doesn’t love a new horror series that pays homage to slasher genre in the best ways possible? Book two is here, and I’m so happy to report that DON’T FEAR THE REAPER wasn’t just a filler book in the series. That’s one thing I’m always nervous about when picking up book two (in a trilogy specifically, or other installments in longer series) because it’s almost guaranteed that it will be more of a filler to help set things up for the final book, but not really contribute anything dazzling. Hopefully that makes sense. Well, Stephen Graham Jones did not disappoint and I liked book two better than the first one!
Highly recommend reading the first book before picking this up. It’ll help having the knowledge from book one and you won’t regret it. These books truly are love letters to the slasher genre and the old slasher movie gems we all love. Having some scenes play out and being able to pick out the inspiration for them got me more invested. Didn’t want to miss anything! Once again, as with MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW, there is plenty of blood and gore and quite the body count.
I think what I enjoyed the most was seeing Jade trying to reinvent herself – after the events of book one who wouldn’t want to try and distance themselves from that? I also loved that this started on Thursday the 12th and, in true horror fashion, came to its conclusion on our favorite day, Friday the 13th. If any of this piqued your interest then you need to do yourself a favor and pick up this series. If you read and enjoyed book one, then you need to continue on in the trilogy. I can’t wait to see how it ends!
About the Author:
Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians. He has been an NEA fellowship recipient and been recipient of several awards including: the Ray Bradbury Award from the Los Angeles Times, the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Jesse Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, and the Alex Award from American Library Association. He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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