Perfect for those fans of the good old slasher films! I'm the type more likely to binge Friday the 13th than Christmas movies, so this was right up my alley! Scary, violent, gory, suspenseful. Absolutely everything a good campy horror should be. A thrilling ride, one that had me biting at my nails and staying up past my bedtime. I can't wait to read more from this author!

I read this ages ago now and thought I'd reviewed it (anyone noticing a theme here?).

Darren and Vanis are a married couple who are having a few problems, to solve that, they decide to fuck everything and go somewhere for a break to reconnect and be at one with each other.

They travel to a cabin in the woods and settle in for some good old fashioned relaxation.

Now, obviously, because it's a cabin in the woods, it's creepy as hell outside but given that they're grown ups and there's sexy times to be had they don't nope the fuck out of there, they stay as weird stuff starts to happen more and more.

Hunter, the Sheriff of Paradise, is not pleasant, he gives not a jot about Darren and Vanis or their issues and turns a blind eye to everything that's going on.

Something lives in the woods, he knows it, the town knows it and we know it, D and V, however, don't know until suddenly they know.

It all goes to hell in a hand basket and there's blood and violence and all that good stuff.

There is a very good base here, a nice layer of story but I can't put my finger on why I don't like it as much as I thought I would, I'm a huge fan of Hunter Shea and I get vibes of his energy in this so I know I want to read more by this author.

One of my favourite parts, in the copy I had anyway, was 'Zebulun Ayers set down his Buck Johnson rifle, wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, and swatted at the fog of MINGES around his head'. I assume the word was supposed to be Midges as we can all imagine a fog of those, a fog of minges, however, is a WHOLE different thing where I'm from and I dont' know if we can get a fog of them.

*Huge thanks to Jackson R. Thomas, Alien Agenda Publishing and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

Oh, man -- Glenn Rolfe is a double-threat in the publishing industry as both an author, and a publisher who can really pick some amazing talent, such as Jackson R. Thomas! This novella comes with a warning at the beginning, making sure the reader is equipped with full information that this WILL BE a splatterpunk story, and then off you go on this gory roller coaster ride! It scratches that Ketchum/Laymon itch many horror readers have, and the very same readers will look forward to more JRT work in the future. Enjoy!

This sounded like a perfect B-movie backwoods slasher/splatter/gore whatever, and I was not disappointed, mostly. Still, it seems that I've grown tired of the same old, as I had a constant nagging of déjà vu in the back of my head while vacationing in Paradise, Maine. The first half of the book seemed a bit stereotypical, but then I was glad to see that the author threw in some new ideas as well and wrapped it all up in a satisfying gore-fest ending. High entertainment value.

Hmmmm, this one promised big, but in my opinion, didn't deliver big. Overly violent, graphic, I found it a challenging read...The Watcher is a little hard to take, along with the townspeople providing it with blankets. Suspenseful, and would probably make a good movie, just not for me.

Seriously bloody splatterpunk novel which will put you off holidaying in Maine for life

Although it has a rather innocuous cover you will be well advised to heed the author’s ‘Fair Warning’ before the start of the novel; “For mature audiences only. This is a splatterpunk novel…” It is a very violent read; expect cannibalism, rape, torture and a high body count all squeezed into 155 brutal pages. If you’re a fan of very nasty fast paced horror then there is a very good chance you will enjoy “Paradise, Maine” but should you be more inclined towards the literary end of the horror genre then check out “The Migration” which was the last title I reviewed on HorrorDNA.Com and is a million miles from this savage little read.

Horror legend Jack Ketchum is one of several authors thanked in the acknowledgements and “Paradise, Maine” is surely inspired by his controversial cult-classic “Off Season” which has a similar plot and is also set in Maine. In the Ketchum novel a group of off-season tourists are hunted by a cannibal family. In this book the unfortunate tourists are stalked by a deformed, but deadly hillman, known locally as the ‘Watcher’. However, do not let the similarities put you off “Paradise, Maine” it’s certainly inspired by Ketchum, but has more than enough going for it to stand on its own two feet. Subtlety might not be its strong point, but it was an intense rollercoaster or a read.

Darren and Vanis have been married for a few years, but after she catches him watching a live sexcam their marriage hit the rocks and in trying to paper over the cracks he stumbles upon an amazing opportunity to stay in a cabin in Paradise, Maine. After arrival everything looks perfect until Vanis swears she sees someone lucking in the shadows watching them. And from that moment on you know exactly what territory this brutal novel is heading into.

At a brief 155 pages “Paradise, Maine” covers a lot of ground and moves at breakneck speed, it’s so fast you’ll hardly have time to catch your breath. The characters are sketchily but skilfully drawn, and one of the strengths of the novel is the fact that it is seen from multiple points of view. Darren and Vanis are key players, but there are other travellers, police, locals and a little girl called Mary. And let us not forget the star of the show, the Watcher himself, who has a decent sized part and is one nasty piece of work. The sequences when Vanis and the Watcher go head to head were a particular highlight, he might be on home turf, but the girl has game.

A further angle which piqued my interest was the wider conspiracy of silence that surrounds the ironically named town of Paradise. Nobody is innocent and everybody turns a blind-eye and this plotline develops nicely with the progression of the plot into a wild finale. The ending was brutal and will be too much for some readers, however, I thought it was balanced with what went before and considering the subject matter was not overtly gratuitous. By way of comparison, Ketchum’s “Off Season” probably still tops it (just).

“Paradise, Maine” will not be for all tastes although it treads familiar ground, the unrelenting pace, great set pieces and terrific forest set action sequences make it a terrific treat for horror fans who like their fiction to have a serious mean streak.

Darren and Vanis have hit a rocky patch in their marriage and hope that a romantic getaway to the coast of Maine might help get their relationship back on track. What they don't know is that the locals have a secret, and by the time they find out what it is, it may already be too late.
There's something living in the wild. More beast than man, the locals call it The Watcher. They don't bother it and it doesn't bother them, but there is a price to pay.
"Once every few months, they had to ignore the screams from the mountain behind their shops and homes"
This was a fast paced read with lots of guts and gore that reminded me a bit of Edward Lee (and yes that is meant as a compliment.)

I was first introduced to the twisted world of Jackson R. Thomas last year, with his stellar release The Beast of Brenton Woods. I love werewolf tales and that story lived up to my lofty expectations.
Now Thomas has returned with Paradise, Maine – but don’t let the title or the cover fool you, this is splatter-riffic.
The plot is straight-forward and pulled from my dream horror VHS tapes that I used to rent. A small, quaint town on the coast hides a secret. The Watcher. A figure shrouded in mystery who lives in the hills above them. The townspeople do their part to keep quiet and not interfere. In order to keep The Watcher satiated a mysterious corporation working with the local Sheriff randomly select people to come as sacrifice. They win an all-expenses paid trip to the scenic Paradise, Maine, unaware of their fate.
From here out Thomas takes us on a sprint through the small town, the cabin that the winner’s get to stay in and the hills above. The foot is fully pressed on the gas pedal as things continue to take terrible turn after terrible turn. I love bleak, dark horror and this is done majestically while infused with some obscene gore, done in the best way possible. Even though I knew no good was to come, I still rooted for the folks trying to survive The Watcher.
I had one small gripe with the story overall – some of the characters names. With this being a pre-release ARC and not knowing Jackson personally, it might be that some of the characters were named after friends or family members, but as is, I found some of them to be annoying and I’m usually fine with that. Oh well, that’s on me!
I enjoyed the characters throughout, and several of them had really enjoyable resolves to live, which sometimes can be lacking in a tale like this. I’m not a fan of characters that survive but don’t appear to try hard enough to survive, if that makes sense. Doesn’t happen here!
So if you’re looking for a fun, fast, slaughter house of a story – look no further. Jackson R. Thomas brings the goods and packs them into bite size zip-lock freezer bags making sure to keep the horror fresh on every page! A must read for fans of ‘Brenton’ but also a must read for fans of books and movies that keep the death counts high!
Alien Agenda Publishing continues to release top notch horror for fans and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!
(Side note – the version I received was a poorly edited pre-release version. I was assured by another reviewer that they received an updated ARC and the spots were fixed. I declined a new version by AAP and didn’t attribute any of the mistakes towards affecting my review! Thanks to Net Galley, Jackson R. Thomas and Glenn with Aliena Agena Publishing for the pre-release ARC!)

The review will be featured on Kendall Reviews shortly and Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon will be updated accordingly!

I dug Jackson R. Thomas’s debut effort, the fun coming-of-age werewolf affair The Beast of Brenton Woods. Taking an extreme horror-fueled trip into the woods for Paradise, Maine for his sophomore story was pretty well a no-brainer.

Almost immediately, you can feel the ghost of Jack Ketchum in these pages, and it’s clear right from the outset that works like Off Season were a huge inspiration in Thomas’s writing. Paradise, Maine follows a similar conceit as Off Season with its cannibal in the woods, although here it’s a disfigured lone wolf, rather than a family of man-eaters terrorizing the vacationers hoping to escape their problems.

Darren and his wife, Vanis, were hoping to patch over some rough spots in their marriage. Vanis is incapable of getting pregnant and during a depression-driven dry spell in their intimacy, she caught Darren watching internet porn, which has opened a sizable rift between them. A trip to a secluded cabin where they can reunite and rediscover each other seems like exactly the kind of vacation they need, and Darren impulsively books the trip. Unfortunately, their dream vacation soon becomes a nightmare and their attempt at renewing their marriage just so happens to coincide with the hunting season of a third-party, known as the Watcher, seeking to sate his own carnal appetites.

Thomas doesn’t pull any punches, and scenes of violence are frequent and visceral. While we get to know Darren and Vanis, waiting for them to get caught in the deformed killer’s path, the Watcher tortures and brutalizes a kidnapped hunter and several of Paradise’s local get in on the action, unwittingly and otherwise.

While Paradise, Maine is a pretty fun read overall, particularly if you’re a thirsty gore-hound, getting to know some of these characters isn’t exactly the thrill of meeting new and interesting acquaintances. Thomas refuses to give us anybody to root for, and even Darren, our main point-of-view into these proceedings, can only obliquely be considered our central protagonist. Darren, unfortunately, is a shallow little slimeball and I never got the impression that his marriage to Vanis was built on something other than sex, and that his affection for her was predicated on anything other than her attractiveness. Through Darren’s eyes, we learn that Vanis is either ultra-hot or simply a bitch, depending on his mood swings, and his interest in his wife seems entirely dependent on how willing she is to let him slip Tab A into Slot B. Vanis herself doesn’t have much in the way of agency until very late in the proceedings, but up to that point we never really get to know her beyond being a receptacle for Darren’s penis. It’s truly unfortunate that the only prominent central female character in this book is sidelined and reduced to little more than a sex object for the majority of Paradise’s page count.

Despite his pretty weak central characters Thomas delivers a brisk slasher read, for the most part. Some of the writing can get bogged down with unnecessary details, passages consisting of an unholy number of clauses, and confusing, wildly swinging point-of-view shifts. In one segment late in the book, I wasn’t sure if we were witnessing an assault through the eyes of Vanis or Mary, a child Vanis comes to protect and likely the only innocent in the whole damn town.

Much of Paradise is comprised of locals and visitors that exist solely to get butchered in various demeaning and inhuman ways. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though, if all you’re looking for is a truly violent and vindictive bit of weekend escapism. You can feel the inspiration Ketchum had on the author, and even if Thomas doesn’t quite yet have the same knack for characterization he’s certainly no slouch when it comes to unflinching brutality. Paradise, Main is a brisk and entertaining bit of bloody mayhem, and Thomas delivers to us yet one more freaking excuse to never, ever go camping…or hiking…or even just leaving the house, really.

Having spent part my childhood in Maine that's what first attracted me to this book I enjoyed it moderately some good parts to it it was a struggle to finish just for me personally though

Well, I'm certainly glad that I wasn't reading this while I was off camping all by myself in the middle of nowhere. I've got a couple of months to forget this book before camping season starts, but then I'll probably think back on it during my first hike when I hear that strange animal cry or that stick break in the dark woods.

A young couple wins a week at an insolated cabin in Paradise, Maine. The timing is perfect for them as they need this time to reconnect and it works like magic. They make love, they have fun, they laugh and the get things off their chest. They're not alone though. The "Watcher" is there too and he's enjoying them, the windows without curtains. The Watcher is looking forward to "meeting" them.

This book is a page turner. I really cared about this couple and two more characters that join in later in the story.
I suggest you read it.........from your hotel in the city.
#Netgalley #Paradise,Maine

I expected an exciting horror novel. There was quite a plethora of violence, sex, and some characters who should not even walk the Earth. I am not certain whether the premise on which this novel is based occurred because of greed or of a "mad scientist" type of research. Truly, it could be either, and certainly a lot of money was routinely paid to maintain silence. In some ways I thought of Nazi Germany and how citizens "turned their heads" and ignored the cattle trains, the smoke, and the smell. In this novel, a tiny community in the forest of coastal Maine hosts a "Watcher," who lives in the woods and is provided blankets and food by the Sheriff. Whenever tourists are brought to the cabins, the Watcher has his excitement, and it ain't pretty.

Rated 18+ due to extreme violence, sex, language.