Horror is my go-to genre, and I’ve read so much that it’s hard to find a thing that hasn’t been done to death (pun-intended) or overcooked until it’s mushy and just tastes sub-par on the palate. Heather Herrman’s debut Consumption is chock full of gore and depravity on a scale that makes sense in a demon-spawned apocalypse novel, and I quite enjoyed the all out war between a ragtag group of strangers who try to fight off this newly reawakened evil that is creating zombie-like minions to spread it’s dominion throughout the world. But first they must conquer small town Cavus, Montana, and it’s land that has been protected over the years by Indian tribes, then a special few strong people who were able to fight off the evil lurker below the soil, just waiting to be awakened when blood is spilled violently.
A Quaint, Picturesque Town To Be Stranded In…
Consumption starts off like a lot of books in the horror genre, with a stalled car stranding a husband, wife, and their dog just outside of Cavus. They’re brought into town by the local police chief to stay the night, unable to get their car repaired or towed due to the town’s Black Squirrel Festival. While the couple takes in the quirky festival, the cop starts to investigate the disappearance of one of his former employees when a woman is found murdered at his home, and that’s just the beginning of the townsfolks’ strange behavior.
It’s Feed or Become Food…
Soon neighbors are tearing apart each other and feeding on their flesh. The infected seem to have a hive mind linked to the one who came from below, and he has a master plan that includes making as many children as possible and taking over the world. I really liked that you couldn’t really tell who was infected at first, and the author did a great job of making you really suspect and question who was acting weird and why–and totally surprising you with the reveal.
I give Consumption a 4.5 out of 5. The pacing and tension were perfect throughout, and I just kept turning the pages with this one. Written in third person point of view, you get a peek at quite a few people’s perspectives, but it wasn’t too confusing. I really enjoyed the look at the events in the early 1900s and the Pioneer days so you got an idea of what happened when the evil had awakened before. The level of gore and nastiness that comes from these creatures might not be for everyone, but the characters were well developed and you got a chance to really sympathize with them along the way. Consumption is definitely one of the better horror novels that I’ve read lately.
Check back here on Bewitched Bookworms next Monday (June 15) for a guest post by Heather Herrman on why women should read more horror. There will also be a giveaway opportunity for this Consumption TLC Book Tours tour stop!
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