Tim Curran lives in Michigan and is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, The Devil Next Door, and Biohazard, as well as the novella The Corpse King. This book is available at the following links: Not one that I would recommend or pick up again. I have nothing against reading books with sexual scenes in them, this one just took it too far for my liking. I think this could’ve been a really good horror story if it had focused more on the fear and less on the sex.

Most of the time, I felt it was there for no reason other than for the shock factor. While the overall story isn’t bad, the sexual violence that is littered throughout the book really killed my enjoyment of it.

It’s very graphic and detailed in the description of not only the horrific events that happen to each of the characters, but also in the aftermath of it too. I almost put the book down, but by that point I was practically finished so I soldiered on. The sexual violence nearer the end was really disturbing. It’s really twisted and not something I found easy to read. Throughout the whole book there is a sexual undertone to it: the dolls are naked, they keep talking about wanting to please them, the characters all seem to be really perversely attracted to the idea of being dominated by the dolls. Something will come after them, and they hide, then they get discovered, then they hide again. They split into little groups of two or three and then they hide, basically. Then there’s the events that actually happen – or don’t, as the case may be. But then it slows right down and as it jumps from character to character with each chapter, it was a little confusing picking up the threads of what was happening at times. It starts off great, lots of creepy tension and the usual chaos that comes from the initial panic setting in. Don’t get me wrong, I can love that about a horror book sometimes, but this just was bad. It sounds like a great horror book, but there was a lot that bothered me about this. The premise grab me instantly: six friends are trapped in a town that doesn’t exist with creepy dolls that are trying to turn them into dolls too. I was so hoping for something more from this book than what was delivered. The Stokes they are in is a nightmare version of the former town, engineered by a deranged and undead mind, a supernatural machine of wrath that will destroy them one by one….unless they submit to its dominance and become living dolls. The actual town had burned to the ground more than fifty years ago. They discover they are trapped there, as Stokes does not really exist. Six friends are returning home from a night out when they end up in a town called Stokes. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Long Black Coffin by Tim Curran