Debut Horror From Down Under

Of course with Halloween just around the corner, I've been poking through my TBR stack for some season-friendly reading. 'Course horror is a year-round reading trend for me, but there is a lot of great stuff hitting shelves lately that I feel it's my duty to showcase for you!

One of these recent releases is Stephen M. Irwin's debut, The Dead Path. This creepy read has been on my Watch list for a few months now, so I can't tell you how happy I was to be curled up with it this weekend, double checking all of the locks and literally jumping at strange noises! Yep, it gave me chills.

In the book, recently widowed Nicholas Close heads back to his childhood home in Australia in the wake of his wife's tragic death. In truth, Nicholas knew the exact moment it happened. Unfortunately, another accident left him with the ability to see the dead -- the ability to see his wife's death happen over and over and over again.

On the night that he arrives at his mother's home, there is another death. This time a boy is taken near the local woods. His body is found and his killer confesses to the crime. Strangely, the event is strikingly similar to another killing from 1982 when Nicholas's own best friend was also taken in the woods. His killer was apprehended as well, but Nicholas can't help but think there's a larger connection and something strange going on in his hometown.

Oooh! Ghosts and murders and strange woods! I don't want to give too much away, but there's even more to it, obviously.

I loved this book. Irwin has an incredible talent for weaving a tale. His writing is an all encompassing experience, grabbing readers and bringing his story to life with the exactly right choice of words. To put it in perspective, I read just a portion of this in the airport 45 minute wait area while waiting for Mike's plane to arrive. Even with cars whizzing by on the interstate and my fellow waiters leaving and being replaced, I jumped when the phone rang! I'm always up for a horror read that does that!

For any readers who may be overseas, or later looking for more work by Irwin, you should know that The Dead Path was pubbed in the UK as The Darkening.