Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Connect...Or Else!



Author:  David Jacob Knight
Publisher:  DJK


* Note: Reader copy provided by the authors for impartial review.

Steve's life isn't what it used to be.  His wife died from cancer and his relationship with his kids seems to be dying along with it.  When the phone company comes to town, giving everyone in town a new phone called a Tether, it seems like a godsend. 

Students thrive as information is at their fingertips.  The local police can get an instant background check (and lie detector and breathalyzer) immediately.  Instant popularity apps? Check!  An X-ray feature so that you can see if students in school have weapons?  Check!  Track your children anywhere?  Check!

But it turns out the connection may be from a very darker place as everyone Steve knows seems to descend into some sort of horrific madness.

The Phone Company mixes the surreal social conscious horror of Bentley Little, with the epic, in depth eeriness of Stephen King.   While certainly ratcheted up a level or two, the things The Phone Company's Tether can do in this book are scarily plausible.  In fact, the social commentary on our current world - a world where 'likes' matter more than actual opinion and where your entire social life is based on online 'friends' - is biting, timely, and all too accurate.

Now, I used the word epic before and that's not hyperbole.  This is one of those great big reads that leaves you feeling like you've entered another world for a while.  It's a little gruesome in parts, while not being splatter-filled, and should even please those folks who are new to modern horror.

An excellent read and highly recommended!


2 comments:

  1. No, the authors provided a copy for review. In fact, this book took me away from my Vine reading and because of it, I'm at my deadline on another book!

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