Review: Devil in the Dark Woods by Mark Gillespie

    

Print Length: 176 pages

Publisher:  Mark Gillespie (May 1, 2021)

From Goodreads.com:  Mike Harvey just broke up with his girlfriend. Now her daddy, the Devil, is coming after him. And Daddy’s mad as Hell.

It starts off like any other night. Mike and Anita, a celebrity couple (him a movie director, her a pop star), go out for a nice dinner. Then they fight. Then they break up.

Anita warns Mike not to do it, not to break her heart. Tells him there’ll be consequences.

She’s not kidding.

Mike had no idea who he was dating. What he was dating. Tonight, he’ll find out everything about his ex-girlfriend.

And about her family.

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

I will start off my review by giving credit where it is due. This author had a way of creating an atmosphere of danger and fear that drew the reader in. The problem became that once this atmosphere was created, the author spent so much time in it repeating details that it ended up becoming tedious rather than scary. 

I would have rather have read about little things happening over time that scared Mike rather than having it happen all at once. I mean I get it, the poor man was trapped in a hell of his worst nightmares, but the way the author went about it just seemed .... unrealistic. Even for the characters. 

There was also (for me but I read an ARC so this may well have been addressed before the release date), a GLARING plot hole. If one person was unable to act upon something because of the "rules" regarding that sort of thing, than why was someone else afforded the same protection from "consequences" when they in fact, broke the same rule? Shouldn't they have been bound by the same magical rules? 

It feels like the author just went a bit too "out there" in order to wrap up the ending of this one, although there was a lovely twist at the end that I wasn't expecting. 

All things considered, this was an enjoyable novel if you're into the horror genre, and I would read more from this author.

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

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                                                 Devil in the Dark Woods is available from Amazon.com

                                              (for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited).