Thirteen years ago: summer’s end. A final night of vacation at New Mexico’s Gila Cliff Dwellings. A picnic under the moonlight for high school sweethearts meets a deadly end… Things will never be quite the same again.
After eloping, newlywed Virginia Campbell’s bright future grows dim. Eerie night visions begin to haunt her. Are they real or imagined? Her husband’s sudden aloofness raises suspicions of an affair. Unable to sleep, doubts torment her—doubts about her marriage, her unborn child, her sanity. Then, there is blood. She awakens to blood-soaked sheets. Is it too late to save her unborn child?
Her only hope is her charming doctor for whom she is falling. Can he save her from this living nightmare? Ten-year-old Kyle also suffers from insomnia and eerie night visions. Something, or someone, sinister has brought them together… waiting for the moment to strike.
Three years later: Mother’s Day. The nightmare is not over. A surprise visitor greets Virginia with a gift one morning. What begins as a day of celebration is twisted into a violent, bloody confrontation as festering wounds reopen
Title: Deadly Nightshade | Author: Jason Paul | Publisher: HellBound Books Publishing | Pub. Date: 26 April 2019 | Pages: 336 | ISBN13: 9781948318617 | Genre: Horror | Language: English | Triggers: Themes of rape, loss of children | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Source: I received a copy of this from the Publisher for review consideration
Deadly Nightshade Review
Deadly Nightshade takes the lead for one of the weirdest books I have read this year, maybe in my entire life.
The main theme within this novel is motherhood, with subtler themes including loss of children, spirits, reincarnation and deception.
There are a lot of different concepts in this book exploring the above themes, that at times felt forced, and could have been executed more successfully. I am staying out of spoiler territory here, but a few plot directions and reveals didn’t really matter at all to my experience as a reader. I felt like if the focus was on just one or two of them and my attention wasn’t wandering in wonder this could have made much more of an impact on the reading experience.
Deadly Nightshade had way more twists than I was expecting, when one is realised you find yourself in another; it is certainly thought provoking and has you questioning who and what traumatic events Virginia (the protagonist) experienced in her past to lead her down her current path. However, It baffled me that there were no consequences for any of the events that happened.
The characters are okay, and I loved the ‘mother’s protectiveness over her children’ strengths of Lynn and Virginia, but I wasn’t really bothered about any of the characters, so if something happened to any of them it wasn’t a punch to the gut. I didn’t really trust anyone, and maybe that wasn’t really a bad thing, but I felt like I was on edge with certain characters maybe unnecessarily because they didn’t feel completely believable, but maybe that’s my fault for not being a generally trusting person.
Overall, I enjoyed the weirdness of this read, it is certainly a great conversation starter. Never have I read a book with multiple detailed scenes where a woman has breast fed her kittens before… and liked it.
3 deadly stars!
You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on GoodReads (Buying direct from retailers is a good way to support indie authors); however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.
Sian joined the Coolthulu crew in March 2019 and reviews horror and science fiction books for the site.
She’s trying hard to play it cool but she’s more excited than Lilyn’s new puppy to be part of the crew. PS we got T-shirts!
The character breastfed her kittens? Holy moley.
Sounds like it’s not a bad book but it may have been better if the plot were simplified.
Haha that is pretty much exactly what I thought! LOL. Yes, it could definitely have benefited from less ideas!!