36502696The forest is a deadly place.

Nobody knows this better than Penny. She has spent her whole life hiding in the darkness, shielding herself from the terrors that watch and wait within the trees.

When Penny is abandoned and left for dead in the forest, she is forced to navigate this terrifying labyrinth in order to return home to her son and take revenge on the woman who tried to kill her.

But the murderous creatures with the false smiles aren’t the only monsters to lurk in the forest, and some demons may be closer than she thinks.

Source Format Pages Publisher Genre Publication Date
Random Things Tours ebook 240 Unbound Horror January 24th, 2018

*Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for The Log House, and I am delighted to open up this tour today with a review and don’t forget to check in with the other bloggers over the coming days.*

Creepy book be creepy!!!

The blurb of the book intrigued me enough to say yes to reading it and I was pleasantly surprised when The Log House ended up pulling the ultimate iceberg-effect on me: what you at first see (blurb) is impressive but what lies underneath?  Ah, now that was the ultimate prize! Creepy prize, but a prize nonetheless!

Because, seriously- I knew there was going to be some running through the dangerous forest, branches slapping faces but the foundation of this horror story is so much more solid and multifaceted than just a boogeyman up the tree!

From the get-go, we are introduced to the dangers of the forest as Penny finds herself in a precarious position. And from that very moment where Penny realizes that she is in danger, I was introduced to the urgency of finding shelter, of getting away, of hiding alongside Penny.  Luckily for her, Penny has a slight chance of making it another few steps and staying alive because her father has taught her some on how to survive!

Once I was fully introduced to the situation, I started wondering how Hart was going to keep the setting of the forest from getting too repetitive. That was impatient and premature of me. From that very first hazardous moment with Penny, the pace does not let up as perfectly timed, wonderful, dark and interesting twists are introduced to progress the story.

Penny herself is a wonderful character you simply can’t help but respect; and respect her I did quite quickly. The sheer willpower, the need to get back to her son, the need for revenge and the stamina that she demonstrates throughout this book is nothing but admirable. At times questionable, sure, but where survival instincts are involved the moral boundaries do seem to blur a bit.

So, on a scale of 1 (this wouldn’t scare a rabbit) to 5 (I peed my pants&slept with the light on), how does The Log House score?

Well, it depends what you’re afraid of, right? For me, the needle falls solid and steady in between 3 and a 3.5 on the horrometer! The atmosphere in the forest, the dangerous creatures and the impending sense of doom behind every tree trunk and wall were enough to make me content that I was, in fact, following Penny’s difficulties from the comfort and safety of my home.

Overall, I truly enjoyed The Log House. It delivered so much more than I was expecting to receive. I was gripped from the start until the very end as I kept turning the pages to match the rate of my heightened heartbeat! Utterly tense, powerful and dark, the show of stubbornness fuelled stamina was a joy to explore.

Find The Log House on Goodreads ¦ Amazon UK ¦ USA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Baylea Hart Author photoBaylea Hart is an IT Technician by day, horror writer by night and a reader everywhere in between. In 2013 she wrote, directed and edited the short film Behind the Door, which won a Top 50 spot in the Bloody Cuts “Who’s There?” competition and as of 2015 has over 410,000 views on YouTube.

In October 2015 she won the Bristol Horror Writing Competition with her short story Jack in the Box, and her short story Eyes Open was published in the 12th issue of 9Tales Told in the Dark. 

Baylea’s debut novel The Log House was published by Unbound in 2018. 

She can be found on Twitter @bayleahart and on her website http://www.bayleahart.com/

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