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I had high hopes for this book. The author is a pal of one of my favorites, Mr Mark Henry. And he’s an MRI tech. That latter factor particularly perked me because I love medical thrillers, and people with medical qualifications are smart, and I like to associate with those more intelligent than I. I was thinking Mr Schreiber would be my kind of writer, a male Tess Gerritsen – and it certainly helped that the aforementioned Ms Gerritsen had a blurb right on the front cover.

So this novel didn’t work for me because I was expecting (okay, hoping) it to be something else: a medical thriller. Instead, I should’ve paid attention to the helpful genre sticker the library had put on its spine: a ghost, for the horror genre.

It starts off interesting enough: this is Tanglewood Hospital’s final night of service before it shuts down for good. There is only a few staff members left when they have to treat one final patient: serial killer Frank Snow needs an MRI.

You wouldn’t know it from my unintelligence, but I am interested in medical conditions. When we learn that Snow was in a car accident as a child, leaving a possible tumour in his brain, I thought that maybe this was why he’d become a serial killer, because of the head trauma.

But, of course, this is a horror novel, and to me horror is stuff that wouldn’t happen in real life. Like whatever creature Snow is. I don’t think even the author specified that, so it makes sense that I had no fricking idea.

If you like to read stuff that wouldn’t happen in real life, you’ll find this book much to your liking. As for me, I’ll be wishin’ and hopin’ that the author writes a proper medical thriller someday. Until then, I’ll be sulking in a corner.

Review by Tez Miller

Look for more horror stories at DriveThruHorror.com.

Tags | ghost stories, monsters, thrillers