Contents
That Ghoul Ava by TW Brown
Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke
The Colony: Genesis by Michaelbrent Collings
Chronicler of the Undead by Mainak Dhar
Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman
Chasing Spirits by Glynn James
The Home by Scott Nicholson
Preta’s Realm: The Haunting (The Hidden Evil Trilogy, #1) by J. Thorn
Drew Green works hard, pays his bills, and loves his family. When a visit from the spirit of his deceased grandfather coincides with the violent murder of two co-workers at Rede Design, Drew falls into a desperate spiral of delusion and betrayal. He must face the demons of his past to free his children’s future. Preta’s Realm exposes the harsh loneliness of living in the modern world. Intense characterization infused with visceral flashbacks take the reader on a journey to the edge of sanity and the dark places beyond. J. Thorn weaves a quickening tale of fate bound by redemption.
The glowing oasis of the screen floated in a sea of darkness. The orange pall of the streetlamps crept beneath the drawn shades. The cool hand of February cracked the floorboards and shook the loose windows in their sills. As if maneuvered by a hidden hand, the worn refrigerator motor kicked in and rattled the empty kitchen.
What is a Preta?
Preta, or Peta. Name for a ghost of human suffering originating from Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Jain texts. Known as “hungry ghosts” in English. Pretas were jealous or greedy people, and now their karma gives them an insatiable hunger for repugnant things, such as human corpses or feces.”
“Pretas are invisible, but some can see them in states of distress. They have sunken eyes, mummified skin, narrow limbs, enormously distended bellies and long, thin necks. The metaphor suggests enormous appetites that cannot be fulfilled. In Japan, preta is translated as gaki, and the word is often used to mean a spoiled child. To Hindus, the creatures are very real.
I kind of liked this book and kind of hated it too. The story of the preta was a bit brutal – talking about raping and killing “gooks” in Vietnam – the lack of remorse – the greed that followed. The book contains another book inside just discussing human greed. Buying the latest cards, electronics, indulging in hedonistic pursuits. The second story is that of Drew and his cheating wife and his boner – yep – he has a boner when he hears her moaning under the caresses of her lover. The third story is that of a murder investigation.
They seem a bit detached of each other – the jump from one story to the other almost dream like. A scene would suddenly jump in time without it being properly conveyed, yet I’m not sure if that was supposed to be intentional or not. Either way, it came across as not entirely thought out – like Thorn rushed through the process.
All of the characters lack depth. They could have been carbon copies of each other. Only the wife (Miriam) seemed to have a drive and motive and a bit of description to her wants and needs. This book felt like I had been thrown into the middle of a movie. The author provides very little backstory on the characters, their lives, their intentions, their surroundings or the ‘creature’ itself. This ties in directly with character development. Without a descriptive back-story, the reader ends up with more questions than answers. The only reason I finished the book was the hope that some of these questions would be answered. They were not.
What I really didn’t care for besides Drew’s cuckold boner, was the descriptions of other women – the sexual fantasies. His introduction consisted of him fantasising about a younger waitress, which I honestly found to be off-putting. He referred to her as his “gothic princess”, and the moment he noticed her in a colour other than black, the fantasy was apparently ruined. Clearly this information wasn’t relevant in any way, shape, or form, yet it was still relayed like it was somehow crucial…
This is apparently the first in a trilogy of novels focusing on the supernatural threat detailed here. Perhaps the latter novels are better. Sorry to say, I won’t be finding out first hand, though I may seek out some of Thorn’s other works to see if this was a one-off “not for me” read.
One Book a Week (Julia Reads Books) 
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