Book Review of David Jacob Knight’s The Pen Name

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

The Pen NameGood horror is hard to come by—very likely because I don’t follow the genre as closely as I should. I love horror with a supernatural twist, which is why Stephen King has always been one of my favorites. With limited reading time, Stephen King’s bi-annual offerings have kept me fairly occupied, satisfying my “horror” craving. I guess I’ll need to make more time. David Jacob Knights first entry into the horror genre instantly earns him a place on my “to read” list. Check out my review of The Pen Name. 

“The Pen Name takes the age old premise of the Faustian Bargain and fashions a unique, utterly horrifying contemporary tale. A devilish blend of psychological thriller and supernatural horror—this one will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

Meet Ben, a struggling writer on the verge of failure. Reality, both financial and family-related, is one step away from crushing his lifelong dream. Armed with his self-published novel, The Mark, Ben takes a chance on a book convention, ordering hundreds of copies of his novel. The books never arrive, crushing his hopes even further. The single bright spot of his day is a chance encounter with Jack Fleischer, New York Times bestselling author, who happens upon Ben at the convention. Fleischer has somehow procured a copy of Ben’s book and asks him to sign it. Ben’s career is about to take off—in a direction he never anticipated.

Knight captures the essence of Ben’s character. His hopes, dreams, frustrations and fears—all play a significant role is the terrifying suspense that unfolds after the “deal of a lifetime” is waved in front of him. The particulars of the deal are sketchy at best, the contract is several hundred pages long, and the Fleischer’s literary agent is impatient. Das Verlag Publishing needs an answer right away! Within the span of minutes, Ben has to make a choice. The rest is white-knucked ride through psychological hell, masterfully twisted and turned the moment you get comfortable.

Das Verlag is a force to be reckoned with, watching his every move—and if Ben violates the terms of his agreement, terrible consequences lie ahead. The problem is that Ben doesn’t have a copy of the agreement, and all efforts to secure one after signing it have failed. When his publisher’s requests start to cross the line of sanity, Ben is catapulted into a life or death struggle to uncover the shocking truth about his contract with Das Verlag.

The supernatural element is present, but never overdone. The scenes inside Das Verlag publishing are awesome…a skyscraper in the middle of the cornfields of Pennsylvania, reachable by taking an unmarked highway tunnel that doesn’t appear on any map. You have to take the trip with Ben to see it. The devil is in the details, and Das Verlag doesn’t disappoint.

I look forward to future offerings by Mr. Knight.”

Book Review of Michael McFarland’s BLOOD ON THE TRACKS and DUPLEX

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Michael McFarland recently notified me that he released a new novel—apparently the first book he’d ever written. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed McFarland’s work in the past, so I was naturally excited to hear the news. Then it dawned on me that I haven’t shared my reviews of his work on my blog. Not sure how that slipped past my ever vigilant radar (not difficult, I suppose). Here is my review of Michael McFarland’s most intriguing novel to date, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, plus a quick review of a novella he published a year or two ago, DUPLEX. Both excellent supernatural horror/thrillers. Trust me, either novel will impact your electric bill—you’ll find yourself turning on ALL of the lights to walk around at night!

Review of BLOOD ON THE TRACKS:

Blood on the TracksMichael McFarland delivers a brilliant supernatural horror novel with his latest release, Blood on the Tracks, landing him a place next to masters of horror like Stephen King and Blake Crouch, on my must read list.

The story terrified me from start to finish, leaving me afraid to walk around in my own home. This is not an exaggeration. There is something so menacing and chilling just behind the surface of the novel’s narrative, that my imagination ran wild, conjuring up images and concepts of what lurked in the Condon House.

McFarland primarily delivers the tale through the eyes of Detective Gary Murdoch, summoned to the fated Condon House to investigate the latest tragedy to cast a shadow over the house: The suicide of a rising musical artist, with eerie and inexplicable links to the house’s bizarre and twisted past. As evidence mounts to suggest horrible undertakings within the basement’s recording studio, the final pieces of the Condon House mystery start to fit together, culminating in a finish that left me speechless.

There is considerable history surrounding McFarland’s fictional mansion and its deceased inhabitants, starting with lumber magnate John Bradford Condon and focusing on controversial poet/songwriter Ian Ellison. The author does such a good job weaving this history into the story through old journals, news clippings and interviews, that I was left wondering what was real and what was fiction. I hope it was all fiction, because the integration is disturbingly realistic, which in my view is why the story scared the daylights out of me.

Like McFarland’s other work, the novel is well written, with vivid descriptions and natural dialogue. Well paced, building tension from start to finish, the story will keep you turning the pages or clicking the buttons. I am very eager to read McFarland’s next offering.

Review of DUPLEX:

DuplexMichael McFarland has created novella worthy of inclusion in any of Stephen King’s anthologies. The novella incorporates a perfect mix of supernatural suspense and pure human malevolence, to leave the reader reeling with a dominant sense of helplessness, and a sliver hope, even at the most disturbing moments in the story. For a novella, the plot is perfectly paced, launching the reader into immediate distress, and dragging it out just long enough until the ceiling caves in. I found myself attached to the protagonist, and intimately concerned with the family’s situation. What happens to the family, is for the reader to discover. As a huge fan of Stephen King’s writing, I stand by my statement, that this story has all of the elements I’ve grown to love and seek out in Stephen King’s short stories. Michael McFarland has a bright future in the horror genre, if “Duplex” is any indication of the stories rattling around inside of his head.