Not my usual sort of read but this genre crossing horror/mystery/thriller is so well written and well plotted that I kept flipping pages. The Alaska setting- complete with the dark and cold-was a bonus to me (love anything set in Alaska). The atmosphere is creepy, the people are creepier. I liked Paul, who was nothing if not persistent. This is one that's a bit hard to review because of spoilers but give it a chance and you'll be rewarded with a good yarn. Thanks to net galley for the ARC.

This is my second experience into the wonderful imagination of Ronald Malfi, and I have come to the conclusion that he is not human. Ronald Malfi is some kind of demonic artist of words. He can reach deep inside of you, grab hold of your soul and twist it to shreds. He writes a pretty good book too!

I was completely sucked into this world of Malfi’s creation; the way he writes separated me from my own reality.

“You didn’t arrive in Dread’s Hand, he realized, but rather Dread’s Hand came at you piecemeal, a bit of itself at a time, like someone reluctant to make your acquaintance. Even the peeling wooden sign hammered into a mound of dirt welcoming travelers to the town seemed more like an admonition than a salutation. The r in “Dread” was missing, which made him think of all those crosses along the road on the drive in.”

I was no longer on my comfortable sofa with the A/C running in the background to cut through the summer humidity; I was bundled up, driving along a desolate road to the ass-end of the earth. Oh yeah, Ronald Malfi has teleportation powers too.

I appreciate that Bone White steered clear of your typical horror monsters. Vampires in Alaska have been done already. Instead, Malfi plays with your mind, who is the real monster? Can folklore be more than just folklore? Who is watching the evil lurking in my back yard?

I’ve had two incredible new releases from Ronald Malfi in the past two years; good-sized, full-length books; no series, just full, complete stories. My only hope is that he can keep up this pace…I know that I’ll keep reading them.

*5 Stars

It usually takes a lot for a book to scare me and this book was able to do that. I always love a good book that does this to me. It was terrifying and so very creepy. The whole town was creepy, even the children were creepy. If you want a book to creep you out, and scare you this is one that definitely will creep you out. Nothing really scares me but this one did.

A journey that is so unsettling, into the outer reaches of Alaskan civilisation, it’s a story of small town superstition, malevolent forces and one man’s journey to unlock the mysterious disappearance of his twin brother. Malfi has created an engaging and suspenseful story that will creep you out. The setting is in an Alaskan mining town of Dread’s Hand in search of a missing man. It’s a town where locals will look on any stranger with distrust. Where children wear masks made of animal fur and stare at you through the masks’ ragged eye holes. And a town where death might be the only escape. Out of the blue a reclusive town local, Joe Mallory, hands himself into the police claiming to have murdered eight people. The police don’t believe him, but dig anyway, after the discovery of the bodies the story becomes international news. The last text that Paul Gallo received from his brother was that he was in Dread’s Hand, the area where the bodies were found. He is determined to find out if his brother Danny is one of the victims. He goes to Alaska to meet with the officer in charge, Jill Ryerson. He also meets a journalist who tells him stories of the strange goings-on in the area. Is there something or someone evil there?
And why do a lot of people seem to fear Paul when he shows pictures of his twin brother asking them if they have seen him and tells them that he looks exactly like him and why one lady actually calls him a monster?

I will definitely be reading more books by Ralph Malfi. I love to find a book that scares me and this one just did that. This town is so creepy and spooky.

I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Ralph Malfi for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

No, sir. Not lost,’ he says, still grinning like a wooden puppet. ‘In fact, I’m perfectly found.’

For some reason, I seem to forget just how much I enjoy Ronald Malfi's writing in between books. He is one author whose writing definitely gives me the heebie jeebies.

And he and I have a strange affinity for the horror of the frozen realm. I've read his books SNOW, THE ASCENT, and now BONE WHITE and all are superb horror tales with snow, ice and freezing cold at their core.

College professor Paul Gallo has always had a "connection" to his twin brother, Danny. Danny has always been the wild child so when he took off a year ago for Alaska, Paul didn't think much about it. Danny kept in touch with him by postcard and selfies - until suddenly he didn't.

Paul goes through proper channels trying to track Danny down, even getting Alaska State Troopers involved but no trace is found of him. The last place he was seen was Dread's Hand, Alaska - an inbred dark little town ruled by its suspicions.

When a serial killer turns himself in and he's from Dread's Hand, Paul heads from Annapolis, Maryland to Alaska with hopes of at least getting closure on his brother's circumstances.

This is a dark, creepy tale of brother's love and mysterious happenings. It definitely did not disappoint this reader. I need to make more of a dedicated effort to read more of Malfi's work - soon.

I received this book from Kensington Books through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Loved this from start to finish. Feels a bit like a murder mystery with some supernatural thrown in, but it saunters along at its own pace and becomes more and more eerie as we read it.

In a diner in a small little town called Dreads Hand in Alaska, a man walks in unwashed, unshaven and looking very unkept. Sits down and orders a hot chocolate. The locals recognise the man as Joe Mallory. A local man who hasn't been seen in a long time. While drinking his hot chocolate he asks the owner to call the authorities and meet him outside the local church. He says he has murdered eight people and buried them up in the woods. He wants to confess and show them where the bodies are buried.

When Paul Gallo hears the news of the mass murder in the far off state of Alaska he thinks he may finally have closure to what happened to and the whereabouts of his twin brother who has been missing for over a year, the last photo he sent to Paul was from the remote village of Dreads Hand.

When Paul arrives in Dreads Hand none of the locals seem to want to help when he shows them the photo of his twin brother. There's an eerie feel about the whole town, from the wooden crosses lining the only road on the way in, to the locals going out of their way to not help Paul in any way. Stories of Devils and the woods, what exactly is going on in this tiny but very unsettling little town?

I'm just going to come straight out and say I loved this book. Could be described as a slow burner by some but I just found it totally engrossing. There's an undercurrent of unease from the start about it and it's maintained throughout, turned up half a notch every so often. Like all the best horror stories, what's hinted and insinuated,has a bigger impact on the readers imagination than having it spelled out for them. The sense of foreboding throughout is fantastic.

The story itself at the core is nothing new but it's the way it's told and presented here that is the masterstroke. From those opening pages you are in the story. The tone is set. The book gets to you, not just with the story but with the atmosphere. A rare feat in today's horror fiction.

The writing and telling of the story is excellent. Some excellent and clever use of language to set the scenes, you get a very vivid image in your head of the little town in the middle of nowhere that is Dreads Head. The pacing is slow and steady throughout, perfect for creating that sense of unease about the town. Only in the final acts does it up it a notch on a consistent basis. I found this perfect for the book. I keep calling this a horror story but to be honest it has more in common with a good old fashioned creepy ghost story than horror. There's few if any real gory scenes but it's the power of suggestion that gets you and that sense of unease.

This is my first read of a novel by Ronald Malfi and I have to say that I am a fan. I just loved this one from start to finish. Creepy, claustrophobic and atmospheric, do yourself a favour, get yourself a copy, settle down and get drawn into the world of that creepy little town in Alaska called Dreads Hand and enjoy the experience. An easy five star review for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Ronald Malfi has created the perfect blend of horror and mystery with his new novel Bone White. An unsettling journey into the outer reaches of Alaskan civilization, it’s a story of small town superstition, malevolent forces and one man’s journey to unlock the mysterious disappearance of his twin brother. Malfi has created an engaging and suspenseful story that ticks over beautifully.
But it’s also a tale full of sharp turns, with the author not afraid to pull the rug out from under you every once in a while to keep you on edge until the final pages. Moody, atmospheric and deeply unnerving, this is a story that seeps into your subconscious slowly and firmly plants its roots. Highly recommended.

An entertaining scary story, with all the right (and, as it happens with almost all horror nowadays, after so many stories already told) and some predictable elements.

For me a horror story to be good doesn't have to be super innovative/original, specially because that is almost impossible--practically everything has already been written if we think about it--but it has to be well written and, in that scenario, to make sense. It has to make me believe in the possibility of that happening and, also, hopefully make me scared. It happened here, so it's good horror for me.

Malfi's style is clean and solid. He wastes no time with unnecessary elements and puts you right in the story, telling you just what you need to know, when you need to know. Good character development too.

So, to sum it up, the tale might be old but this telling is worth the reading.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

In the remote little town of Dreads Hand, Alaska a man walks into the local diner covered in blood and obviously not having bathed in weeks or months even. One of the locals recognizes the man as old Joe Mallory who hasn’t been seen for quite a while in the small town. Joe shocks the others claiming he needs the local law called as he has killed people.

Seeing the story of old Joe Mallory turning himself in on the news and the police finding numerous unidentified bodies Paul Gallo knows he needs to travel to Dreads Hand and see if he can get news on his twin brother who he hasn’t heard from. When Paul arrives in the strange little town he can’t seem to get the answers he needs with everyone seeming to be covering something up.

Picking up Bone White by Ronald Malfi I knew that one thing I could expect and would be rewarded with is the creepiness he’s known for. The story did not disappoint in that regard as he brought this weird little remote town to life with some sketchy residents and creepy town stories.

I did however find this a bit slow paced for my taste as really the entire book is the lead up to finally finding out what sort of strangeness had been haunting the pages. I also preferred Paul’s point of view a bit more than when it switched at times in the story. I suppose that is because Paul seemed like the normal person in the creepy little town though. As usual though with this author I did enjoy the book when all was said and done.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I dozed off while reading this on a camp out and found myself in a nightmare ! Great, incredibly creepy read. Lots of creepy old tales believed by some backwoods locals that can cause some hysteria, or possibly some truth people need to flea from without worrying about understanding. Just RUN dummy, don't worry about understanding. Haul tail in the other direction and understand you are still alive, or hang around and let curiosity kill your fool tail.

Utterly creep-out-Ville.

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A landscape of frozen darkness punctuated by grim, gray days.
The feeling like a buzz in your teeth.
The scrape of bone on bone. . .

Paul Gallo (a college professor) watches a news report of a mass murderer in Dread's Hand, Alaska. Joe Mallory decapitates eight people and buries their bodies. He confesses to the murders and tells the police where to find the bodies. Dread's Hand is an old mining town that is cut off from the world. Paul's twin brother, Danny, went missing around Dread's Hand a year ago. Paul heads to Dread's Hand to get closure.

The townsfolk think there is something in the woods, but they don't talk about it. Is it a local legend, or is there something more sinister at play? There is more to Dread's Hand than meets the eye.

The citizens of Dread's Hand stay to themselves. Paul is an outsider, and they don't take too kindly to outsiders. Paul persists. Paul will stop at nothing to find his twin brother. I will stop there because I don't want to give anything away.

Bone White starts off with a bang! The story unfolds smoothly and the ending is superb! As I read this book I got that uncanny feeling like I was being watched. Bone White creeped me out. Make sure you read this one with the lights on!

I highly recommend this book to fans of horror!

5/5 shivers!

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

Set in Alaskan wilderness, you have the winter cold, dark and dreary woods,
You have the buried bodies; you have the smell that you can imagine of a deep cellar,
You have a realistic situation of a twin brother missing in a wild area of Alaska.
It’s been a while since I have read an edge of your seat/page turner like this!
The suspense mounts and it’s scary!! You will never want to go by yourself
again into a strange area alone...
I have read all of Ronald Malfi’s books and so very thrilled to get picked to read this new one!!
I don’t want to give away too much of the book like some reviews do! You have to read this!!
If you like his books try his books Snow and my favorite The Ascent. I highly recommend!!

Ronald Malfi – Bone White

A brother’s desperate search for his missing twin leads him to a remote Alaskan town

Ronald Malfi’s latest novel “Bone White” is an absolute beauty and grips intensely from the first page until the chilling conclusion. Indeed, reading this tremendous odyssey into the frozen heart of Alaska keeps the reader on tenterhooks as the tale gets progressively darker. My kindle hit 97% and 98% and I still wasn’t entirely sure how it was going to end, with the author cleverly shrouding what horror lurked around the next corner. Like the main character Paul Gallo you’re going to lose something here, frostbite claims a couple of his toes, instead you’re going to have your nerves frazzled. I couldn’t take my eyes off the page and I love that level of intensity in a book.

Having said that, this is not a fast paced book. Some readers may even call it slow. If you know this author’s work you’ll already be aware that he specialises in strong plot-driven horror thrillers with very well drawn and believable characters, so “Bone White” has this and much more. If you’re new to Malfi, give this novel time, allow yourself to get into the head of Paul Gallo and follow him on his dangerous and desperate journey to Dread’s Hand. Join him on his guilt ridden search to find his wayward twin brother Danny who has not been seen or heard of for over a year. Except in his dreams and nightmares…..

The one-horse (and road) town of Dread’s Hand is a brilliant creation and location. Even the kids are freaky. It’s the remnants of a small mining town that has been down on its luck since the early twentieth century. Out of the blue a reclusive town local, Joe Mallory, hands himself into the police claiming to have murdered eight people. The police don’t believe him, but dig anyway, after the discovery of the bodies the story becomes international news. Elsewhere in America a mild mannered English literature teacher recognises the name ‘Dread’s Hand’ from the last communication he had with his brother and fears the worse. Because of the severe decomposition of the discovered bodies Paul travels to the Alaskan backwater seeking answers in a town that prefers to keep silent and its secrets close….

Do twins have deep psychic connections? This is one of the recurring themes explored in the back story of Paul and Danny, with Paul having guilt over some events in Danny’s past which still bother him. If there is a deeper connection with twins then surely Paul would know whether Danny really was dead? Although there aren’t that many characters in this novel Malfi plays it out very slowly, deliberately, throwing the reader tip bits here and there, ultimately leading to the real strength of the novel: genuine suspense over whether the supernatural is at work, or not…. It’s really expertly done as the author reveals the local meaning of ‘Bone White’.

The signs aren’t good for Paul… We find out quickly that Dread’s Hand has a troubled history and resides in a remote part of Alaska which is akin to the Bermuda Triangle, folks disappear all the time and are never found, or perhaps they just don’t want to be found? It has one hotel, which only has one room, it has one diner and superstitious kids who run wild in fur-skinned animal masks. Dread’s Hand does not have its own police force, but local policewoman Jill Ryerson, who interviews the serial killer Joe Mallory also begins to dig and begins to uncover other secrets and connections previously missed. All of which combines into a very well crafted horror novel which was a highly satisfying read where Paul’s and Jill’s investigations collide.

Surprise, surprise Dread’s Hand barely appears on any road maps (never mind tourist listings) and the novel really moves up the gears when Paul arrives in a town that looks at him like he’s a ghost. Books rarely come more atmospheric than this, it broods, it whispers and it has some pretty unsettling scenes without ever being graphic. It’s psychological, it plays with local mythology, and for those of you who like slow-burning and atmospheric horror novels it is an absolute gem. Highly recommended.

Rating 5/5

Tony Jones

"What you got all over them clothes?"
"Is that blood on your clothes Joe?"

In the tiny frozen mining village of Dread's Hand Alaska, where an unusual amount of people go missing, a killer steps forward to lead the authorities to 8 bodies he's buried.
When Paul Gallo sees this on the news, he drops everything to rush there, where he hopes at last to find closure in the search for his missing brother Danny. Paul has always tried to watch out for Danny, what with being the oldest of the two by a good seven minutes. He will not rest until he finds out what happened to him. Nobody seems to want Paul there, strangers are not welcome and the locals have some odd superstitions, especially about what goes on in those woods. But are they only local legend or is there really something supernatural going on? The 8 unearthed bodies are not the first murders associated with this little village.

This is my second time venturing in to a world created by Ronald Malfi. I believe that I said after having read "The Night Parade" that I would definitely be on the look out for any of his future releases. Now after having read "Bone White" I think I also need to search out everything he has ever written in the past and make it my mission to find time to read it all.

Bone White is an impressive literary horror.

I’ve always enjoyed Ronald Malfi’s books, but it’s with Bone White that I finally realize how good a writer he really is.

Bone White is incredibly creepy. Malfi takes us to the old Alaskan mining town of Dread’s Hand in search of a missing man. It’s a town where locals will look on any stranger with distrust. Where children wear masks made of animal fur and stare at you through the masks’ ragged eye holes. And a town where death might be the only escape.

While violent and, at times, gory, the real power in Malfi’s writing is in the horrible unease – the eeriness that has you looking over your shoulder as you read.

I don’t think there’s a single misstep in the book. The storytelling transports you to an incredibly dark and twisted world – a world that stays with you long after The End.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Joseph Mallory walks into a small restaurant and tells people that he has murdered eight people and buried them in the woods. The locals wouldn’t take him too seriously except he seems to be covered in blood and is acting more than a little odd.

Taking the police to Dread’s Hand which is the site about ninety miles northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, it is then discovered that indeed, there are bodies buried up there in the snow and ice. Among other things, there is a dirt basement beneath Mallory’s house. In the basement, there is a distressing sight in a trunk.

Paul Gallo is a professor whose twin brother disappeared a year earlier. His last text to his brother was that he was in Dread’s Hand, the area where the bodies were found. He is determined to find out if his brother Danny is one of the victims. He goes to Alaska to meet with the officer in charge, Jill Ryerson. He also meets a journalist who tells him stories of the strange goings-on in the area. Might the area be haunted? Is there something or someone evil there?

Paul’s presence seems to scare some people terribly. He has no idea why. After leaving Ryerson’s office he decides to travel to Dread’s Hand to check out the place since it was the last place he knows Danny was.

He meets some decidedly unfriendly people. They won’t talk to him and those few that do seem to be lying. He is asked to leave town. He pretends to do so but doubles back and goes back into the woods. Here he gets confused and semi-lost. He begins to see and experience things that are not possible.

Meanwhile Ryerson goes to interview Gwen Ryerson who is the survivor of a horrific murder-suicide some ten years earlier. Gwen tells Jill a chilling tale.

This is a well written and plotted book. It flows easily and keeps the reader entranced and speeding ahead to find out what happens to Paul. The characters are interesting, albeit weird, but it is a horror novel. I wanted to yell at Paul to get out of there; what the heck was he doing trudging out in the snow? This is my first Ronald Malfi novel. I don’t know how I missed him before. I’m going to definitely look into his other books.

I want to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for forwarding to me a copy of this good book to read.

Dread’s Hand, Alaska. It sounds awful, and it is. But Paul Gallo is on his way to this little township in search of answers. His twin brother disappeared there a year ago, and now a serial killer is leading police there to reveal his victims final resting places. But Dread’s Hand isn’t just about a serial killer, it’s about fearful locals who whisper about the evil and who plant crosses to keep something in the forest from entering the town. Malfi never disappoints, I know when I open one of his books I will find a well crafted, literate, scary as hell story