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    The Nightmare Girl
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    The Nightmare Girl
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    The Nightmare Girl
    Ebook355 pages5 hours

    The Nightmare Girl

    By Jonathan Janz

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    "With tinges of Rosemary’s Baby as well as a touches here and there of the Robin Hardy-directed film, The Wicker Man, this is a tense as well as intense tale of ancient religious fervor directed against someone accidentally coming between a cult and its end purpose." - New York Journal of Books


    When family man Joe Crawford confronts a young mother abusing her toddler, he has no idea of the chain reaction he’s setting in motion. How could he suspect the young mother is part of an ancient fire cult, a sinister group of killers that will destroy anyone who threatens one of its members? When the little boy is placed in a foster home, the fanatics begin their mission of terror. 


    Soon the cult leaders will summon their deadliest hunters—and a ferocious supernatural evil—to make Joe pay for what he’s done. They want Joe’s blood and the blood of his family. And they want their child back.

     

    FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFLAME TREE PRESS
    Release dateFeb 14, 2019
    ISBN9781787581326
    Author

    Jonathan Janz

    Jonathan Janz is the author of more that fifteen novels and numerous shorter works. Since debuting in 2012, Jonathan’s work has been lauded by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, The Library Journal, and many others. He lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, which explains everything. Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows “the best horror novel of 2012.”

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    Reviews for The Nightmare Girl

    4/5

    9 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This novel started off differently than I thought it would. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking. Maybe something more mystical or supernatural. Something like a dream lover who turns bad and becomes a nightmare girl. Instead the first third, or maybe half, of the novel, the "nightmare girl" comes across with more of a "Fatal Attraction" vibe. Stalking and terrorizing is scary enough though. I had my own experiences with an ex-girlfriend who went more than a little off-her-rocker once we broke up. Anyway, I'm digressing; let's get back to the novel.Joe Crawford has a wife, a daughter, and his own business. Life is good for him. One day though he witnesses a young mother abusing her toddler son. Joe does the right thing by stepping in to stop her and then calling the cops. The ripple effects of his actions grow as the mother blames Joe for her son being taken away from her. Joe soon discovers that the mother was part of a cult that killed people and was planning to kill more.As I mentioned, the supernatural elements really didn't come into play until the second half of the book. The first half still provided enough creepy moments, especially when the young mother and her own mother started showing how crazy they were. Janz really got their logic and dialogue and crazy down accurately. They would be sweet and cajoling one moment and then scream and blaming Joe the next. Again, experience has shown me exactly how that goes and Janz nailed it. There were a couple moments in the story that didn't seem quite right: for example, when Joe expressed interest in possibly fostering the abused boy. I live in a big city and I can't imagine that happening. But then again, maybe it is normal especially in smaller cities with fewer people. Overall though nothing in the novel was strange enough to pull me out and turn me off. It was entertaining and I look forward to reading more Janz novels.
    • 5/5
      4.5Jonathan Janz has another winner with his book, "The Nightmare Girl". I've known about Janz' skill for quite a while and can say that he seems to be improving with each succeeding book. His maturity as a writer continues to develop. His characters are strong and believable. Plots are tightly woven with numerous twists throughout. In this novel, Janz has created a world that mixes reality with the supernatural. Reminiscent of some of the best Dean Koontz novels, "The Nightmare Girl" will keep you reading long into the night.
    • 4/5
      This crazy cult story was a lot of fun! This was my first Jonathan Janz book, but it will not be my last.

      This was a fast paced tale about Joe and his family, (wife Michelle and daughter Lily). I became a big fan of Joe throughout this story. Mostly because all of his problems started due to one good deed: stopping a woman from abusing her toddler at a gas station. Once he stops her and the police arrive, his whole life goes to hell.

      I enjoy stories about cults and satanic worship and all that good stuff. (Rosemary's Baby still gives me the creeps!) Mr. Janz put alI the elements together here in a perfect way. I LOVED how this story was told and there was one scene that freaked me the hell out, and it happened well before the denouement. I like that there were scary portions like this all throughout the story.

      Speaking of the denouement though, I did feel that the story went a bit over the top towards the end, and as a result, lost some of its believability. Other than that, I have no complaints about this tale.

      Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of his book! I will not be waiting very long to check out more of Jonathan's work.

      Highly recommended for fans of stories about cults and satanic worship!

      I was provided a free eARC of this story by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This is it!
    • 5/5
      This is a real nightmare ride. Tension and menace build slowly but surely throughout the book, making it harder and harder to put down. Increasingly horrific events interspersed with rising suspense make this a gem of a horror novel. Real world fears (worry for loved ones, etc) are mixed masterfully with occult/supernatural fears, bringing a healthy dose of relatability to the characters and events.Another great book from this author. Something I appreciate is that the books of his books that I've read have all been great, but have all been different.Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for the ARC.