I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

There is nothing I love more than a good slasher. As of late, I’ve found that slasher books can be hit or miss for me, but that was not the case with this one. Stephen Graham Jones knocked it out of the park and made my 80s slasher-loving heart so happy. This gripping novel takes us back to the year 1989 in the sleepy town of Lamesa, Texas, where seventeen-year-old Tolly Driver finds himself caught up in a sinister curse that will change his life forever.

We spend the entire book in the mind of Tolly, a seemingly ordinary man with a dark and deadly secret to tell. Thirty-some-odd years after he was forced to leave his sleepy West Texas town, he is finally ready to tell his story. Armed with an old computer, he sits down to write out what happened the summer between his junior and senior years of high school – something that caused him to murder six people and then disappear, never to be heard from again. As the story unfolds, we witness Tolly struggling with the death of his father and eventually having to come to terms with the bloody path that fate has laid out for him. With each page turned, we are drawn deeper into the dark and twisted world of a young man driven to kill for revenge. Tolly never wanted to be a slasher, but he and his best friend Amber made a fateful decision to go to a party, and a series of events transpired that left Tolly vulnerable to something that turned him into a homicidal maniac.

Jones paints a vivid picture of life in rural Texas during the late 80s, bringing the setting to life with vivid descriptions and attention to detail, transporting readers back in time to a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business and nothing exciting ever happens -at least not before this fateful night that kicks everything into super-high gear.

Jones does an excellent job of building tension and suspense throughout the novel, keeping readers on the edge of their seats as they follow Tolly’s journey toward his inevitable fate of hacking through those who wronged him, culminating in a showdown with his final girl. The writing is crisp and engaging, with a raw and authentic voice that brings the characters and setting to life. What really made the novel shine was the bits of comedy peppered throughout. Tolly is not the hulking, lurking shape we’re used to seeing when it comes to a slasher. He’s tall and, lanky and unassuming. He also really doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but he can’t help but succumb to the drive of the slasher inhabiting his mind.

What I also loved about this book was the unique perspective from which it is told. Instead of following the typical formula of a group of victims being pursued by an unknown, masked killer, we are given insight into the mind of the killer himself. Tolly’s struggle with his actions and the weight of his curse makes for a compelling and very entertaining read.

Jones definitely knows slasher movies and all of the tropes that we’ve grown to expect from them. I loved how he explained the ‘schtink’ sound knives make any time Tolly picks one up, cars that won’t start when he touches them, and old chainsaws that only start for him; Jones covers it all in very entertaining detail.

If you are a fan of 80s slasher films, then you must read this book. It’s the perfect summer read for fans of horror and psychological thrillers. With its unique narrative style, richly drawn characters, and engaging look at what makes a slasher tick, this novel will keep you hooked from start to finish. I couldn’t put it down, and I will definitely purchase a finished copy when it is released.