And I Thought I Had a Headache...

 

TITLE: Head Like a Hole

AUTHOR: Andrew Van Wey

PUBLISHER: Greywood Bay

PUBLISHING DATE: September 30, 2022

PAGES: 382   

SOURCE: Kindle Unlimited 

FROM GOODREADS: When you bury your past make sure that it’s dead. 

It’s the mid-nineties. Grunge and flannel are fading as the Spice Girls and Hot Topic conquer the malls. Cherry gloss glistens on the lips of the youth. Modems hiss as America comes online. 

And in a fog-drenched cove at the edge of New England, something terrible awakens when a fisherman reels in a gruesome catch: the remains of a young woman. Remains still pulsing with furious life. 

For Megan Monroe and her friends, this is how their nightmare begins: a wet whisper over their shoulder; a dark hand reaching out from the edge of their sight; and a name clawing at the back of their minds. 

A young woman scratched from their memory. 

To stop this devouring terror, Megan will need to mend broken friendships and reassemble her fractured past. For what stalks them hungers to remake itself in their image… piece by bloody piece.

MY THOUGHTS: This book caught my attention in 2022 when it was first released but I never picked it up.  I also then got it confused with a novella with a similar cover I tried and soft DNF'ed.  However, it recently came up as a book club pick and when I picked it up, I devoured it and became sorry I waited so long.

A few years ago, Megan was in a devastating car wreck which led to the loss of most of her childhood memories.  Her parents are killed in a house fire and she flunks out of art school.  She is trying to put back together pieces of her past and it isn't an easy task.  Her entire history, including a mysterious woman from the past that neither she, nor her estranged friend group, remember very well. 

A fisherman experiences a mysterious catch off the coast while illegally fishing one night.  He rescues a woman, Oksana, who is unlike any woman I've encountered in recent books.  She is basically a head who regenerates the more she consumes from others.  The two stories are set to collide and as they do, the author creates a thrilling and unique ride definitely worth experiencing.

I loved the 90s nostalgia throughout the book and as a very flawed character, Megan was intriguing.  I wanted to know what had happened in her past that led up to current events, and I definitely needed to know more about Oksana, a truly terrifying villain in her own right. My only real complaints are both minor and huge.  Firstly, I saw where the ending was going but it was such a fun trip there, I didn't mind.  Secondly, dog death which is a big no-no in my book. 

I highly recommend this book to people who like messy, gory horror, and a plot with bite (no pun intended given the mysterious head).  I need to see what else this author has written because I am definitely interested.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS