The Festering Ones by S.H. Cooper

After the disappearance of her father, Faith York’s life is changed forever.

As a child, Faith watched some thing drag her father into the woods. Convinced that no one believed her, and even doubting herself at times, it takes Faith decades before a glimmer of hope sends her on the trail of her father, encountering a mysterious cult called The Gathered, and realizing that some boxes are better left unopened.

This book moves at a break neck speed, filling the pages with action, Lovecraftesque ancient ones and stomach churning, toe curling description. The world building is incredible; an interdimensional mythos that is aching to be explored in more depth.

However, the fast pace doesn’t leave much room for the characters to breathe. I question the author’s choice to write in first person, as I struggled to understand Faith’s motivations throughout the book. She is very reactionary for most of the time, without much thought, and then has a bizarre melt down in the middle of the story.

Likewise, the ending suffers for the lightning pace. While events are resolved satisfactorily, there is a certain anticlimactic feeling to the resolution.

There is more than enough story, setting and character potential to have filled a much longer book without any padding. The horror is top class, with the type of gross out factor that makes your skin crawl and has you looking around your room for glowing eyes watching you from a shadowy corner.

Despite my complaints, this is a good book, one I thoroughly enjoyed, and I recommend to all fans of horror.

I award The Festering Ones…

The Festering Ones is available for $3.16 ebook and $5.99 print book on Amazon.