The Nightmare Room (The Messy Man Book 1)

I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down, but at times I had to. (I’ll come back to that.) This is a creepy, dark, and rickety stair that descends into an ominous and hallucinogenic nightmare of heart pounding fun. I had heard about the author, and the book, from a friend. I was looking for something in the vein of Stephen King but, to be honest, I’m over him. So, she turned me onto Chris Sorensen. I bought the second book right before I wrote this review and I can’t wait to read it. Specifically, I enjoyed his writing. Its clean, evocative and keeps the story moving. The characters are familiar to be sure: the husband and wife trying to put their lives together after the loss of a child, the high school friend who never left town and, well, never really left high school, the mysterious past, the annoying over-ambitious real-estate agent, the creepy college goth who’s into the occult… but I guess that’s another thing I liked, not so much because they are so “tropish” (is that a word?) but in the way he takes the trope and turns it on its head. Of course he uses tropes that’s what makes genre books genre books, but it’s how well they are used and how interestingly they are manipulated is what makes this book so good. And do you know what this book has that King’s books never have? I really good ending. All of the pieces he sets up come to a really exiting climax that he writes with power and excitement. As for having to put the book down – I was visiting my son out of town and was reading in a hotel room. I was just about halfway through the book reading in an almost completely dark room by my kindle’s booklight. I don’t suggest you read this book in a pitch-black unfamiliar room. After about to chapters I put the book down and stayed up for two hours playing Sudoku on my phone until the heebie-jeebies calmed down enough from me to comfortably fall asleep – with the light on.

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM starts off as a great haunted house tale but then evolves into something else altogether. I loved it! Peter and his wife Hannah return to Peter's hometown after a family tragedy. A fresh start in Maple City is just what they needed. Moving into an old farmhouse, disturbing things begin to happen, (as they often do in these types of tales), and from there, hang on tight because it's a crazy ride! Fast paced with characters I could really root for, I found it difficult to put this book down. I know everyone says that, and I know that the week it took me to read this book doesn't seem that fast. However, with everything I had going on in real life over the last 2 weeks, it truly is a miracle I was able to read anything at all. This is a testament to the quality and pace of the writing. Will Peter and his wife get to the bottom of what is going on in their old farmhouse? Will they survive it if they do? You'll have to read this to find out! This was my first read from author Chris Sorensen and I'm starting part 2 in THE MESSY MAN series today. That should be another indicator of how much fun I had with this book! Highly recommended! *Thanks to the author for the signed paperback copy he sent in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.* **I apologize that it took so long to read this book. I regret it!** ***I had already purchased the Kindle copy of this book when the author contacted me, which is why my review on Amazon shows as a verified purchase.***

There are both positives and negatives to this book. The Goods: The opening prologue is horrifying. In fact, all of the scenes with the little boy are terrifying and heartbreaking. This is exactly what you want a horror story to be. If you're a decent parent or have any compassion for children whatsoever, these scenes will rip your heart out. The twists are also fairly unpredictable. The Bads: The adult characters aren't fearful enough to invoke fear in the reader. Sorensen needs to take the emotions of the little boy and apply them to his adult characters. The characters are mostly nonchalant about haunting experiences and easily go back for more. Peter quickly investigates strange noises and broken objects with no fear whatsoever. If he's not afraid, why should I be? The second negative almost put this into two-star category for me. Hannah is supposedly a main character to this story, and she is used as sexual trope. The only thing you know about her is how her rear and legs look in a pair of jeans. It's mentioned several times. Almost all of her scenes are about how hot she is in various articles of clothing and how the men around her can't keep their eyes off of her. Peter's appearance is rarely mentioned unless it forwards the plot. He sends her away with a "pat on her ass" at one point. In another, she's sexually harassed by her boss and anger briefly registers before an "oh, it's ok just don't do it again, you silly" type of reaction. At one point she's reminded of an extremely traumatic event which leaves her sobbing, and in the very next paragraph they are having sex because she just needs to after such grief. Her sexuality is forced and unnecessary. There is an intense conversation on social media right now surrounding the inauthentic way male authors write female characters. I advise Mr. Sorensen to take note of the conversation, talk to some women, and edit Hannah a personality instead of just a pair of breasts with legs in book 2.

The pace was good and the story seemed to flow effortlessly. The ending was also good...could have been a bit more elaborate with Peter' struggle with the whisper or Mr Tell... Eagerly waiting for the next in the Messy man series

There are some effective set pieces and there is an intriguing spin on the typical protagonist. I found it a little too focused on the kitchen sink drama in places but it's a quick read even if a tad forgettable.

Richly-drawn main characters with complex and tragic backgrounds. I can’t imagine staying in the home past the first scary incident. There are still questions to be answered, so I’m glad to see that this is only book one.

Absolutely loved this! A real page-turner which I didn't take long to get through. The characters were relatable and poignant, as was a lot of the background story. Some horror cliches, I suppose, but ones that work really well. Tension is built effectively and there are really well-conceived links and motifs throughout the story. If you're in the market for a decent ghost/horror story, you could do a lot worse than The Nightmare Room.

I love it when a novel hooks me enough to devour it in only a couple of days, and this one was no exception. The opening scenes grab you instantly and string you along into further chapters as the story unfolds in a cleverly written plot featuring strong characters. I loved the protagonist’s wife, Hannah, and even minor characters such as the nasty mother Myrna got under my skin very quickly. Either I’m getting numb or it just takes a lot to frighten me, but for me personally the plot stood out more than the scare factor. Also some things, such as this mysterious ability of Peter’s mother to somehow conjure a dark “shadow”, felt just a bit thrown in there and could maybe have done with a little more background and/or explanation. However this was well worth the read, not least for an absolutely shocking twist towards the end which I didn’t see coming and took me completely by surprise! The finale also ties things together very well. I’ve purchased its sequel, ‘The Hungry Ones’, and look forward to devouring that too!