My favorite reads from 2021, not including rereads.
1. Billy Summers by Stephen King. The story of a hit man with a conscious who takes one final job to fund his retirement. Things don’t go as planned. With every new King novel I always wonder if he has one more great book in him. With Billy Summers, in my opinion, yes.
2. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Flynn’s first novel, and in my opinion much better than the more highly touted Girl Gone.
3. Other People by CJ Tudor. I’ve liked each of Tudor’s novels a little more than the preceding one. Other People, her third, is her best so far.
4. Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay. A teenage boy sneaks out one night with his friends & goes missing. An engrossing back story & heart breaking finale ensues.
5. Sunblind by Michael McBride. McBride’s take on an under used horror trope. Intricately plotted & fast paced, one of his best.
6. Blacktop Wasteland by SA Crosby. A former heist driver, now a father, husband, & legitimate businessman, is lured back into one more heist by a shady character from his past.
What could go wrong??
7. Mutation by Michael McBride. The third book in the Unit 51 trilogy is the best, though the entire trilogy of a potential alien incursion is great.
8. Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman. Buehlman’s first novel is a slow burn southern gothic tale on a standard horror trope. Surprised I‘ve never heard of this one before.
9. The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste. A woman returns to her home town, where 20 years before teenage girls started to turn to rust. Sounds ridiculous, not Kiste turns it into a thoroughly engrossing tale.
10. The Tindalos Asset by Caitlin Kieran (novella). The third novella in this Lovecraftian tinged trilogy, is the best.
11. Widow’s Peak by Richard & Billy Chizmar (novella). Haunted lighthouse fun. If King’s 1408 had a love child with Hautala’s The Nephews, it would be Widow’s Peak.
Collections
Two Worlds & In Between: The Best Short Fiction of Caitlin R. Kieran. The title says it all.
Full Throttle by Joe Hill. As good, if not better, than 20th Century Ghosts.
Anthology
The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories: Vol. 1
1. Billy Summers by Stephen King. The story of a hit man with a conscious who takes one final job to fund his retirement. Things don’t go as planned. With every new King novel I always wonder if he has one more great book in him. With Billy Summers, in my opinion, yes.
2. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Flynn’s first novel, and in my opinion much better than the more highly touted Girl Gone.
3. Other People by CJ Tudor. I’ve liked each of Tudor’s novels a little more than the preceding one. Other People, her third, is her best so far.
4. Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay. A teenage boy sneaks out one night with his friends & goes missing. An engrossing back story & heart breaking finale ensues.
5. Sunblind by Michael McBride. McBride’s take on an under used horror trope. Intricately plotted & fast paced, one of his best.
6. Blacktop Wasteland by SA Crosby. A former heist driver, now a father, husband, & legitimate businessman, is lured back into one more heist by a shady character from his past.
What could go wrong??
7. Mutation by Michael McBride. The third book in the Unit 51 trilogy is the best, though the entire trilogy of a potential alien incursion is great.
8. Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman. Buehlman’s first novel is a slow burn southern gothic tale on a standard horror trope. Surprised I‘ve never heard of this one before.
9. The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste. A woman returns to her home town, where 20 years before teenage girls started to turn to rust. Sounds ridiculous, not Kiste turns it into a thoroughly engrossing tale.
10. The Tindalos Asset by Caitlin Kieran (novella). The third novella in this Lovecraftian tinged trilogy, is the best.
11. Widow’s Peak by Richard & Billy Chizmar (novella). Haunted lighthouse fun. If King’s 1408 had a love child with Hautala’s The Nephews, it would be Widow’s Peak.
Collections
Two Worlds & In Between: The Best Short Fiction of Caitlin R. Kieran. The title says it all.
Full Throttle by Joe Hill. As good, if not better, than 20th Century Ghosts.
Anthology
The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories: Vol. 1