I'm just going to say this right up front in all caps, in case the right people happen to see this: J.E. ERICKSON DESERVES A MAJOR PUBLISHING HOUSE CONTRACT BECAUSE YES, HE'S THAT FRIGGIN' GOOD. 

Agents? Publishers? You listening? You should be.

<ahem> 

On to the book. This ithe fourth novel of Erickson's I've both read and enjoyed the heck out of. He can always be counted on to bring the horror, and he absolutely does.

"I breathe nightmares and speak torments. I know fear, Ella. And I know your fear best."

Mara, one of the two main characters says that. But it could just as easily be Mr. Erickson speaking to his readers. I firmly believe this man breathes nightmares and speaks torments. And he knows all our fears.

But what makes his horror visceral is that it's entwined into the soul of each of his characters, and spreads its tendrils between the various characters. Ella and Mara. Ella and Jerome. Ella and Mara and Jerome. 

Erickson excels at characters who live and breathe, who share the same wants, needs, and fears as you and me. Ella's a hot mess, but she's a hot mess that we understand. We've seen her. We've worked with her, been friends with her. She's our sister or our mother or our daughter.

And for the most part, this book could have been written without any supernatural content, just a thriller about a love triangle with two women broken in different, but similar ways, and the man who dares involve himself in their lives. It could have been that, and it would have been both a well-written love triangle, and one seriously amazing thriller.

But the supernatural element only serves to heighten the horror, to increase the emotions, and to raise the stakes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: In the indie world of horror, while there's many, many incredible authors doing incredible work, Erickson is absolutely at the top of my list as the best of them.

Read this book.