Review: Chills by Mary SanGiovanni

Print Length: 368 pages

Publisher: Lyrical Underground (September 13, 2016)

From Goodreads.com: 

It begins with a freak snowstorm in May. Hit hardest is the rural town of Colby, Connecticut. Schools and businesses are closed, powerlines are down, and police detective Jack Glazier has found a body in the snow. It appears to be the victim of a bizarre ritual murder. It won't be the last. As the snow piles up, so do the sacrifices. Cut off from the rest of the world, Glazier teams up with an occult crime specialist to uncover a secret society hiding in their midst.

The gods they worship are unthinkable. The powers they summon are unstoppable. And the things they will do to the good people of Colby are utterly, horribly unspeakable…

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Based on the synopsis, I had very high hopes for this story. Unfortunately - for me at least - it missed the mark by a lot. Don't get me wrong - it both started and ended on a strong note, but the rest of it felt very stagnate. Yes people died, yes there were good descriptions of the "murders", but it just felt entirely MEH. A lot of "gruesome" deaths does not a good book make. 

I think the main "issues" I took with this story can be summed up as follows: there is very little character development. And what bit is included takes so long to get from point A to point B that a lot of it is lost. I still don't understand why certain characters developed the way that they did.

 I also found it hard to "picture" these monsters as they are all so just... weird sounding. Yes I get they are supposed to be things from another world, but I can't picture a "spider hand" without thinking about "thing" from The Addams Family (don't get me wrong that was just one of a few different monsters described - but without spoiling everything it was the best one to pick). 

Overall, I am certain that this book will appeal to a variety of people, it just wasn't for me. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

                                                          ********************

Chills  is available from Amazon.com