Shannon Felton

This is Shannon Felton's debut novel but I was lucky enough to have a previous taste of her work in an anthology called Midnight In The Graveyard. If you haven't read that one you should. She had a great story in there called Devil's Dip.

Anyway, about this book.
It is told from the point of view of Casey, a teen who lives in a run down trailer park with his brother Shane and his elderly grandmother. It's just the three of them ever since mom got sent to prison for her drug habit. Shane works in the cement plant, and Casey is still in high school.
The first word that comes to mind in describing the town of Stewartville is bleak. What else can you say about a town that grew around a prison? Pretty much everyone who lives in Stewartville is there because they work in the prison, or have family in prison, or are inmates themselves. There's nothing much to do but get drunk or high and sometimes both. There's a long history of murder and mayhem here, and very little hope, so just to be clear this was no happy place even before Casey and his best friend Denny found the tunnel in Denny's basement. Once they did, Denny became obsessed with finding out what was inside and where it would lead to. Maybe if he had left it alone a lot of people would still be alive. Maybe not, because there was already something wrong with Stewartville, even before those scratching noises started in the walls.
I can scarcely believe this was a first novel. Shannon Felton is already quite adept at bringing her characters to life and weaving suspenseful tales.

I received an advance copy for review.… (mehr)

Bravo to Shannon Felton on this, her debut novella! After reading her short story in MIDNIGHT AT THE GRAVEYARD, I was super excited to read more from this author and she did not disappoint!

Beneath a dying town, whose only means of support is the prison, a young man and his friend discover hidden tunnels one night when a brick fell out of the basement wall. From that point on, something seems to spread throughout this already bleak place. Were these tunnels used by escaped prisoners? What's causing the noises in the walls townsfolk are now hearing? You'll have to read this to find out!

Stewartville as a town rang true to me. There are several places here in the northeast that have dwindled to nothing as manufacturing jobs have been moved overseas. Just driving through some of these places you feel suffocated with despair. There is also a severe opioid crisis going on in several of these towns as well. In this manner, Stewartville became an all too well known character in this tale. The despair....the grayness...it became an entity of its own.

Ms. Felton has demonstrated a command of language and characterization that, I'm sure, will hold her in good stead as she, (hopefully?), continues her career in dark fiction. As far as I'm concerned? You can sign me up right now for anything she writes in the future!

Highly recommended!

Available today, here: https://amzn.to/3c6SPAr

*Thanks to Silver Shamrock Publishing for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*… (mehr)