27814643Prince of Nightmares by John McNee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars (I liked it)

For some reason Eagles “Hotel California” started playing in my head since the beginning of the book. Quite fitting, but maybe not in the way you’d like to prematurely imagine.

Our main character Victor checks himself into a hotel after his wife shoots herself in the face. Caboom! Splat!

Victor’s bodyguard slash chauffeur slash handyman (with a gun) doesn’t like the idea (of that particular hotel) but drops Victor off anyway and becomes a sideplot in the story.

Now, in fairness, when the hotel receptionist says something like this:

“Put it this way,” she said. “I’ve slept here only once. That was ten years ago. And it’ll be another hundred before I do it again.”

Yeeeaaahhh, sure sign of pick up your seven rags and fnd a different hotel.
Victor had a reason though, for going into Ballador House.

You’ll find out the reasons as you’ll read this book- it’s not just a horror story. There’s more. This book is mystery, gore, great writing and smart solutions.

“Her warped arms twisted and bent like rubber in wave-like motions that he soon realized were intended to coax him towards her. Triple-jointed fingers spread from her knuckles like a thousand untidy branches from a sapling. Each coiled and uncoiled its own invitation.
As crotesque as the woman appeared, Victor could feel himself yielding to her, longing for her phantom embrace.”

And it’s just not a horror story that leaves the majority of possibilities to your own imagination. Because lets face it- your own imaginaton would not freely create such a scene:

“One of them had already gone to work on his face, carving his cheeks open, slicing off his eyelids, cutting crosses into the white flesh of his left eye.”

There is a really interesting and unique culmination to it all, a unique reasoning why this is all happening. The nightmares, which will see no locked gate in between dream or reality. This is what makes the whole horror story worth reading. It’s not just spilled guts, there’s some smarties in there too. But after a lot of spilled guts… and during spilled guts.. and after… yeah, you get the gist. Let’s just say, the color of the cover fits like a fist in the eye socket (meaning, perfectly)

To summarize- read this book. In fact, finish this book and you’ll have had more than enough horror to last you a … well… a long while.

PS! Recommended reading just before going to sleep. Triggers some wicked dream-material.

Amazon UK — Amazon USA