A God in the Shed by J-F Dubeau REVIEWED

2017 is coming to a close and, on this early Sunday morning, I reflect on the year gone by. Lots of awful stuff happened, mostly socio-political in nature, but I won't go into it, as this is a Horror Fiction blog with a largely American readership, not a blog on my world views. You know what's up.

Just kidding, long and short is as follows: Donald Trump and his billionaire crew of demonic halfwits have profoundly affected me; I can't stop ruminating around the bastards and their cruel, oppressive policies threatened each day... I wish awful things for the White House at this time.

But, Let's move along.

We will keep it positive. 2017 is the year I got married! The year I started this blog! The year I could walk into Barnes & Noble, the last major bookstore in my area, and buy a book like A God In The Shed!

I didn't even have to special order it!

Horror fiction is slowly creeping back to life, and the retailers are taking notice. It was grim for a few years there, but I feel we are heading in a solid direction where the genre is being respected enough AND selling enough to earn some shelf space not just reserved for King, Koontz and the like.

Of course, you have to still look a lot harder... I found this one wedged into the Science Fiction and Fantasy section.

While the dark Fantasy elements are heavy in this one, and as such, I can understand it's product placement, fret not-- it's a horror novel through and through.

Of course, Horror remains a dirty word in mainstream fiction, so the B & N, as well as major publishers, continue to parade the horror product around as "Thrillers" and "Dark Fantasy", I will take it, for now.  As long as we are working back towards a place of respectability...

But hey, Barnes and Noble, if any of your people are reading this...can we please just get a Horror section back? Like, really. If Westerns still can have their own shelves, why can't Horror? The 75856th post-humous Johnstone Western can not possibly be selling that many more copies than a book like this...

The first thing one should notice, is what a beautiful looking book this is. Inkshares really nailed the cover art and overall presentation on this one. I love the pages made to look ragged and worn. It really adds to the experience.

Judging books by their covers has gotten me into trouble plenty of times, but thankfully, not here. The story held within is also quite good.

Saint Ferdinand is a small Canadian town that is plagued by murders, as it has for years. Finally, the killer has been caught. But, the killer is far less of a problem than the soul-eating God that has said killer and just about everyone else in the town, as we find out, bound to meeting his every nasty need.

A small group of teenagers, the Sheriff and a few other unlikely heroes are thrown into the mix to save the day, but not before a whole bunch of gnarly plot-twists that will definitely keep you reading.

A God in the Shed is a bit of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink novel, that's just a bit convoluted which at times makes for a hard to follow read. I found myself having to flip back a few times to remember who the hell a certain character was or what a character was doing.

But that's really my only complaint.

A God In The Shed is a classicly told small-town horror story, with tons of surprises and freshness to keep it interesting. There's something for everyone here too...monsters, murderers, ghosts, necromancy, spooky circuses...moments of eerie atmosphere with short bursts of gore. Overall, it's a winning formula.

You can order this thing online like every other book, but do yourself a favor as a horror fan and go pick a copy at a brick and mortar bookstore. You'll feel like it's 1988 all over again.

I give A God In The Shed 4.5/5 and a strong contender for being on my top reads of 2017, which will be posted in a few weeks. Check back soon!

But first, a few more old school reviews...