Published by Am Ink Publishing on April 17, 2021
Genres: Thrillers, Suspense
Pages: 234
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
Rebecca Crow's four-year-old son is dead,
and her husband is missing.Divers find her husband Jon's car at the bottom of the canal with their son Oliver's small lifeless body inside. The police have no suspects and nothing to go on but a passing mention of a man driving a van. Guilt and grief cloud Rebecca's thoughts as she stumbles towards her only mission: Revenge.
James Porter knows exactly what happened to them,
but he'll do anything to keep it a secret.James didn't plan to kill Jon and Oliver Crow, but he's not too broken up about it, either. There are more important things for him to worry about; he needs money, and his increasing appetite for murder is catching the attention of a nosy detective.
Today, I’m thrilled to be joining with some other fantastic blogs to chatter about Come Join the Murder! Thank you, Blackthorn Tours and Holly Rae Garcia for the sending a review copy.
If you have followed me for a while, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I bounce around from genre to genre. It has been a while since I’ve been tempted to pick up a book marketed as horror and all the better if it is an indie published book! You, presumably, have read the synopsis for the book. It is an exceedingly grim topic.
Come Join the Murder is a solid, gritty debut that explores grief and violence. I spent the first 45% of this book in ugly tears. My daughter is just a hair younger than Oliver and this is one of my worst nightmares as a wife and mother. Garcia holds nothing back when Rebecca discovers the fate of her son and I honestly had to read this book small bits at a time because I was an absolute mess.
The most frightening aspect of Rebecca’s tale of heartbreak boils down to realism. Garcia deftly manipulated my emotions by sprinkling everyday thoughts and actions that we all can relate to. Who hasn’t complained about picking up after their spouse and child? (If you haven’t, then I strongly suspect you need to start picking up your socks and your own recycling.) Rebecca’s typical, lowkey grousing made me smile and chuckle. Then everything went off the rails.
Garcia sets a harried pace that made me feel frantic even though I knew full well it was just a story. Rebecca’s subsequent spiral into despair and violence was crushing. Her profound grief lay in direct contract to the killer’s POV. Scum doesn’t even begin to cover James’s gross view of his actions. The absolute worst part is there are garbage people like James out in the world.
Now, I clearly enjoyed the telling of this story, but I do think it could have benefited from a separate POV for the detective. I usually hate more than two POVs, but I think it would have highlighted the sudden and extreme shift in Rebecca, James’s gross POV, and helped even out the pacing. This would also allow for an epilogue, as the ending was quite abrupt.
Overall, this was a solid read that twisted my insides and left me reeling. I enjoyed the telling of the story, but I feel gross saying I enjoyed the story for obvious reasons. I highly recommend if you are looking for a good cry and an interesting take on a parent’s grief. Potential side effects include a sharp increase in paranoia as a parent. So… There’s that.
CW: animal cruelty/death, child death, parent death, violence
**I voluntarily read and reviewed a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About Holly Rae Garcia
Holly loves the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Daniel Keyes, Richard Matheson, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stephen King. Dark stories with sad endings are her jam. In her own writing she leans toward the horror, sci-fi, and dystopian genres. Holly also serves as Editor-at-Large and Art Director for Versification Magazine, a publisher of micro punk poetry.
She lives on the Texas Coast with her family and five large dogs.
Holly co-wrote The Easton Falls Massacre with her husband and fellow author, Ryan Prentice Garcia.
