You get a fair idea of what to expect within the first chapter or so. Okay that’s a lie, Janz loves to spring the unexpected on his readers and his poor characters.

I like the idea of the odd codependent relationship between Ben and Eddie. The whole deal with the devil to achieve ultimate success and wealth. The way Eddie is willing to go to such extreme measures to get Ben motivated or rather to get his creative juices flowing, well it borders on negligence. What he perceives to be amusing others would consider to be reckless and dangerous. Not exactly what I would call a great friend.

I’m not sure the group really understands the stress and pain Chris is going through. Life as he knows it is in tatters, and having to deal with a vindictive ex-wife who is alienating their young son from him, is destroying him physically and mentally. It makes Chris a liability and someone who is willing to take a big risk, Not exactly unusual for a gambler, which is how and why he ends up letting the risk craving group enter Castle Blackwood.

If you have read anything by Janz then you will probably be aware that he has a talent for the darkest depths of hell and horror. The Sorrows represents the beginning of his journey, and also shows much he has honed his craft since then.

Low level male chauvinism and misogyny is alive and well in the men, and the women are objectified. Well, except for evil ex-wife perhaps. The sexual escapades seem more like gratuitous fillers and the horror is on the other end of the extreme.

Saying all that, the talent doesn’t go unnoticed and is clearly evident in this first novel. What I really liked, especially at the beginning of the book, was the way Ben and Eddie reacted to each other and the events. It was almost as if Janz wrote each part without either character knowing what the other was going to do, and that surprise comes through bold as brass.

Janz has a penchant for the unpredictable and the macabre. A perfect combination for a connoisseur and writer of horror.

This is a great book 🤩 It was filled with suspence and the imagination of the story was awesome!!
I literally couldn't stop reading, I had to know what was going to happen next and before I knew it the sun had come up and my alarm went off that it was time to get the kids up and ready for school. 🤭 I couldn't get them dressed and ready to go fast enough so I could finish reading it. 😊
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers, suspence and horror books. There is some adult content. 😉
I definitely give it a five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WoW!,

This is a book where nightmares are born. A graphic horror story that is certainly not for the feint hearted or sensitive about extreme violence, profanity (not too much), lewd and crude sexual behavior, bizarre supernatural happenings and other situations that are down-right nasty. What a terrific and sick (in a great way) this book is, so read at your own risk to become delighted or remorseful!

The storyline revolves around two men and two women who travel to a secluded island named The Sorrows that has a reputation and long history
of several mysterious deaths and being possibly haunted.
The foursome are going to the island with hopes of stimulating Ben in composing a music score for a horror movie named "The House Of Skin" which he has a contract to fulfill in less than a few months. Ben has been suffering from writer's block due to may personal problems with his ex-wife and the custody of his son. His best friend, Eddie is the arranger of Ben's music as well the one responsible for arranging this month long stay on the island.
Then there is Christine who wants to intern with the duo and gorgeous Eva who is the director's (Lee Stanley) assistant.
They are staying in a renovated old castle which really sets the mood for this non-stop action and intense story.

..I enjoyed this story tremendously even though it was quite unsettling. I experienced chills and shivers, as well as some nauseous moments, yet I had to continue reading this adventure into hell to find out why and how this book would finally end.
I would have read this story.in one sitting if time would have allowed me, that is how well-written this book was to read.


I highly recommend this intensely creepy book to anyone who loves
great horror and have given a rating of 4 1/2 intense 🌟🌟🌟🌟✴


I want to thank the author Jonathan Janz and Flame Tree Press and Netgally for allowing me to read this book based on my honest and unbiasd opinion!!

A big thank you to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz in exchange for an honest review!

Gosh, I have been meaning to pick up a Jonathan Janz novel for the past couple of months; especially with all the hype that came with The Siren and the Specter (which, yes — this will definitely be my next Jonathan Janz read). So, I’m extremely thankful that I was given the opportunity to read & review the recently re-published The Sorrows. The Sorrows is Jonathan Janz’s first book & was originally published in 2012, but as of December 4th, it’s been re-published with Flame Tree Press.

Ben Shadeland and Eddie Blaze, have been given the job of a lifetime — Lee Stanley wants them to score his upcoming big-budget horror film. Unfortunately, Ben is feeling very uninspired after his divorce and custody battle that he hasn’t written a note of music. Maybe a month spent in Castle Blackwood, a property resting on the Sorrows, will trigger some inspiration. What they run into though is a lot scarier than any horror film they’ve seen.

Before we begin, I would like to place a disclaimer here that states that I don’t frighten very easy. I practically eat horror for breakfast, lunch & dinner — & it’s been like that for as long as I could remember. So, when entering a horror novel or film, I can’t rate it on the fear factor alone. However, if you are looking for a scream — I have heard from others (& very trusted friends) that The Sorrows is actually quite terrifying.

I, on the other hand, am looking more at the disturbing factor; which, yes, Jonathan Janz nails it in The Sorrows. & this is definitely not an insult, but instead very high praise coming from me. One thing I love about good horror is that it stays with you for days, sometimes even weeks or years. I know that for a fact, there are some scenes in The Sorrows that I’m going to keep thinking about & for that I say, good job Jonathan Janz.

There are some issues that I had with The Sorrows; I didn’t quite enjoy the journal entries/flashback scenes, but towards the end of the book, these scenes are very much needed to tell the story. Also, why were all the men complete pieces-of-shit?! I guess I’m not throwing this shade at Ben (get it? Shade.. Shadeland, okay bye), but more so at every other man that arrives on the scene. Specifically, I have so much hate & anger towards Eddie. But, alas, this was also needed to add to the story. & because of that, I again salute Jonathan Janz — because even the parts that left a vile taste in my mouth turned out really well.

On top of my opinion on the men in The Sorrows, we truly get to know all of the characters in this book; especially during the beginning. Although I can’t say this was my favorite portion (give me violence! give me action!), it did not feel as if it dragged at all, and before the conflict reared its ugly head, I felt as if I knew all of the characters personally.

In the final act of The Sorrows, there is so much occurring & so many antagonists come out to play. This is probably the last 40% of the novel, and quite easily, my favorite part of the read. When you think everything is fine & dandy, another issue arises from the corners & it just keeps going. During this time, you also see Claire grow in strength. When originally meeting her, she appears to suffer from low self-esteem, shyness, etc. etc. But, by the end, she a bad bitch & I absolutely love her.

— & to sum everything up, wow, I didn’t realize how passionate I was about The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz until writing this review. I strongly recommend this read for anyone who loves horror & being hella disturbed.

Film composers Ben and Eddie along with a couple of their female friends go to stay a month in Castle Blackwood, which has been uninhabited since a series of gruesome murders in 1925. Eddie is trying to inspire Ben's creativity when his personal problems with an ex-wife and son are distracting him. However, a malevolent being has been trapped for nearly a century in the castle and he’s ready to feed.

The first chapter was very well written and the personalities of Ben and Eddie were coming out strongly from the start. The one issue was that very different things were happening in the first few chapters so it took a while to get hold of a storyline without referring back to the description to remember what the story was supposed to be about, but a few chapters in, it all pulls together and we're off to the island.

It also got a little overblown on sex. Whenever an author's description of a woman includes "perky breasts" I get an impression of a creepy guy who objectifies women. Female authors just don't describe women that way, even if they prefer women themselves. I'm not a prude but I felt the sexual content was invasive rather than beneficial to the story.

The scares in this one didn't really deliver. The set-ups were there and could have been horrific, but the obsession with sexual dynamics distracted from any intensity and made the story drag. By the time I got to the end all I could feel was that I didn't like any of these characters. I know this author has written some good stuff but this one just fell flat for me.

Two film composers and their girlfriends encounter an agent evil on a remote island in a castle with a murderous past. What could go wrong? You name it! In this first novel by Jonathan Janz, grueling horror waits at every turn as evil is once again unleashed. I thought this book was well written despite a few moments of casual sexism that may annoy certain readers. It didn’t bother me, but I did notice it. Overall, however, the book is a creepy read with a few startling twists that caught me by surprise – and that’s not so easy to do. Recommended for fans of classic horror.

The Sorrows is a horror story about a group of people who travel to a castle on an isolated island with a gruesome, disturbing past to get inspiration to compose a score for a horror movie. The story is told from both the present and past points of view. The past points of view are provided through journal entries from a servant who witnessed the past events. The castle itself has all the makings of a great setting for a horror story, to include hidden passages, a creepy tower, and an evil demonic presence that has been trapped for years. The author even threw in the real life horrors that the folks on the island experienced during their day to day lives before coming together on the island. Sounds like a great setup for a horror story. There were definitely aspects of a good, gory horror story. Unfortunately, I was taken a bit aback by the sexual violence and the campy approach taken to the fact that the folks on the island consisted of two men and two women. It was a bit overdone and didn't help to balance the story.

What a creepy, scary read. I enjoyed every page of it. A very entertaining read that I could hardly put down. I hope to find other books by this author.

Jonathan Janz has fast become my favourite horror author, another book by him that I couldn't put down! Story was well developed and written, can't wait to add the book to my collection.

Thanks to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for the advanced copy

A castle on a remote island...with its own live-in monster

Ben and Eddie are composers tasked to write the score of a famous Hollywood director, known for his horror movies.

Ben has writer's block (his ex-wife got custody of their three year-old son and is making Ben's life h*ll) and so the two head to a remote island off the coast of northern California with two female acquaintances in the hopes of inspiration from the island's past gruesome history.

This book is a gore fest with plenty of scenes I wish I could unread. But if you're looking for down and dirty horror, try this book out.

This book is a reprint originally published in 2011.

I received this book from Flame Tree Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Once again, I’ve found myself lured by a synopsis which failed to deliver. That said, The Sorrows is not a bad book, just a mishmash of bad characters that fails to decide if it’s a gothic horror or something else completely. Apparently this is the authors first novel and his books published since have much improved, so I will give his other books a try. This one wasn’t really for me unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Review of THE SORROWS by Jonathan Janz

Accomplished horror author Jonathan Janz not only brings his characters to life, not only delineates them, but strips his characters (and readers) right to the bone. Reading THE SORROWS (in this case, rereading its new publication after several years) is like a kind of emotional skinning: the reader discovers all unwittingly all sorts of secrets contained in our lives and genes, of which we have been blissfully unaware. The author's X-ray vision exposes to us his characters, and in so doing, exposes ourselves to our unflinching witness, as well.

THE SORROWS is not just a title, but the appellation of an incredible former residence, a castle, on a wildly isolated island some distance off the California coast, and also the title of a musical composition (allegedly penned by the original owner, a traumatizing individual who was the son of a famous composer and in his megalomania determined that he would be every bit as excellent, if not more so). Please note I wrote “traumatizing,” not “traumatized.” There is dysfunction and then there is this character. Incredibly evil. Then there is THE SORROWS itself, and the island on which it stands. If a genius loci can be said to magnify what is in a person's soul, then THE SORROWS and its island do exactly that, and maximally.

THE SORROWS is not a book you walk away from. Once you commence reading, it owns you.
Forever.

This story is seriously messed up.

I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean that in a creeptastic horror story way.

Totally. Messed. Up.

After reading a couple of Jonathan Janz's books, I realize this is his normal MO. Awesome!

With a deadline to produce a music score for a horror movie quickly approaching, Composers Eddie and Ben decide to spend some time at an island estate off the coast of California. Castle Blackwood is nicknamed The Sorrows because of all the twisted, horrible things that have happened there. In 1925, there were several murders on the island. A group that stayed there in the 1970s to research the murders met a similar fate. Now the two composers and two female companions head to The Sorrows hoping to revive their musical muse.

Not a good idea. Very, very bad idea.

Hallucinations. Dark Thoughts. Violence. Ancient Evil.

The Sorrows has plans for all of them.

I'm not going to reveal much about the plot because it needs to catch readers by surprise. There were some parts I really liked....others that felt a bit B-movie....and some were just completely out there. But, all in all, as I finished up this story I felt like it all worked.

What I will say is this --- prepare to dislike every character in this story. They are all pretty reprehensible people for one reason or another. And travelling to a cursed/evil island with a group of folks like that is never, ever a good idea for those involved. Luckily, a reader does not have to like the characters in a horror story to enjoy the creepiness. To be completely honest, I found myself rooting for the ancient evil. Go evil! Eat the awful people! :)

The Sorrows is actually a re-release. First published in 2012, The Sorrows was Janz's first book. There is a sequel, Castle of Sorrows. Definitely adding this second book to my TBR list!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

THE SORROWS is Jonathan Janz's debut novel. It's a helluva way to start a writing career. Flame Tree Press is set to re-release THE SORROWS on December 1st. You'll want to grab a copy of this one. THE SORROWS doesn't read like a typical debut. The entire book is strong; there are no weaknesses. Jonathan Janz's delivery is spot on. The foreboding is incredible. There is so much to love about THE SORROWS. Most authors try to find their voice with their first book, but Janz figured it out on his first try. Janz's unique style is on full display in THE SORROWS.

Ben Shadeland and Eddie Blaze are the hottest young music composers in Hollywood. They are coming off an Oscar nomination and they've been selected to score a big-budget horror film for Lee Stanley, the most prominent director in film. Ben's been put through the wringer and his music has suffered. Eddie knows just the place to get Ben's creative juices flowing once again. Chris Blackwood is the heir to Blackwood estate and he needs money, so he lets Ben, Eddie, Claire Harden (an inspiring composer), and Eva Rosales (Lee Stanley's gorgeous assistant) stay a month in Castle Blackwood. Castle Blackwood is located on the Sorrows, an island off the coast of northern California. The island and its castle have been uninhabited since a series of gruesome, unexplained murders in 1925. Are you game yet?

Jonathan Janz doesn't use the tired, old haunted house tropes as a crutch. THE SORROWS transcends the haunted house genre. On one hand, there's the haunted castle, and on the other, there are haunted people. How cool is that? Janz turns it up a notch. The scenes are arresting and vivid. You can't unsee them. Some of the scenes will make you shake and shiver. There is one scene that I had to stop reading and close the book because it completely unnerved me. I finished reading the scene the following morning.

The way Janz intertwines the history of the castle with the present is stunning. I also like how he builds his characters–he does it with a swiftness. The dialogue is spot on. The story flows well and it is layered perfectly. THE SORROWS is like a chocolate layered cake; it's so delicious you'll want to devour it in one sitting. From start to finish, THE SORROWS is engrossing. THE SORROWS You won't see any of it coming. Janz knocks this one out of the park.

If you dig THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or HELL HOUSE, then THE SORROWS is the book for you. I still can't believe this is Janz's debut. THE SORROWS reads like a seasoned pro wrote it. I can't wait for the rest of Janz's backlist to drop next year at Flame Tree Press. Give 'em to me now, please.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I'm sorry to say that this wasn't a good fit for me. It started out great with shades of Richard Matheson. However it seemed to run out of steam halfway though. The characters seemed like the stereotypical 70s horror staples I.e the good looking one , the .male chauvinist, etc. I felt like I'd read it before. It is well written but also well trodden. I mean no disrespect to the author but it just wasn't the right fit for me

Quite honestly, this was some major screwy book! I'm just glad that I stuck around for the ride! When I started this book I kept thinking w.t.h? Sure that any moment I was just going to d.n.f. the damn thing. But, this story was so messed up and I thought just a few more chapters. Is it a ghost story? Satyr? Crazy dead folk? Crazy living folk? Um, yes....Man, I'll tell ya' what, I dont care how far offshore that island was, I'd have been swimming from day 2. I think I love Janz' books! Funny thing is that I have 6 or 7 of his books on my kindle, yet I've never read them. Samhain, before they shut down would have a sale, and I'd buy it. Didn't matter if I knew the author or not. I just always enjoyed the book's they published. My thanks, to Flame Tree Press, and Netgalley. I'm quite enjoying their offerings!

Crazy and creepy. Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. I still went along for the ride and am glad I did! The characters are good (though horrible) and the setting is chilling. The mix of the old horror and current was handled well and gave the story more bite. There were moments where things seemed too convenient or highly unlikely but that was part of the fun for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Flame Tree Press for a copy in exchange for a review.

This is a haunted house story steeped in all the best parts of the genre. Janz wanders through all the best tropes with a self aware zeal. Think about the best haunted house pulp horror of the 1970s and 80s and bring it writhing and pulsating into the modern day. This book is raw and gruesome and fun. It is bloody, and disgusting and riveting (probably with actual rivets). Janz has certainly proven himself a voice in modern horror. The Sorrows is everything Horror aficionados could want.

Originally released in 2012, Jonathan Janz's debut novel is a Haunting of Hill House inspired supernatural horror about a musician and his team who spend time at a secluded island mansion looking for inspiration for a film score.
With a fun b-movie vibe, an interesting mythology and a creepy devil-like creature it's a book that starts with a lot of promise but never lives up to its potential.
The multi POV narrative can be a little jarring while the highly sexualised nature of a lot of the material overshadows any attempt at character development.
A lot of the scenes hinge around sex and sexuality, rape and domination and while it's not the first novel to be provocative in these areas, most don't seem to drive the plot and come across as poorly constructed attempts at titillation.
Janz has since produced a lot better.

The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz is the definition of a mess.

The premise it’s old but it’s a favourite to horror readers including myself. A group of people go to a mansion with a dark past that have left marks and a tenebrous influence on the present.

A lot of characters, if not all, are terribly flawed and unlikable but that it’s perfectly normal. It’s a horror book after all and you shouldn’t get too attached to people that are clearly there to have a rough time and probably get killed in a gore fest.

There are also some good moments lost in between all the jumble of erratic plot points, meaningless exposure, unrequested back stories and strange apparitions. There is just too much happening at once and several books could have been done with the material that was forced on these one.

The parts the book was divided made no sense, the way the story was propelled forward was inefficient in caring the momentum from one important scene to another and over all it was just poorly planned out.

Personally I did enjoyed the idea of knowing what was happening on the island in the present and in the past, but the diary passages that related the former events were to sparse and didn’t make a good job of setting the atmosphere on the mansion nor introduce the characters that lived there.

Overall I cannot recommend this book unless you are a very, very dedicated horror fan.