This hit me at a time I truly needed it. I live in a city that's rapidly gentrifying, and with the pandemic numbers constantly going up, hoo buddy. Have I also felt like grabbing a harpoon.

This book is dark. Like, exceptionally so. I want Ronan to make better choices, but he doesn't. And I still love him in spite of that. He's so deeply flawed, and is aware of his flaws.

It's like reading a horrible prank war story, but with some eldritch nightmare fuel mixed in. I just wish they would call Dom what he is: "bisexual"! Whyyyyy can't we have an explicitly bi main character?! He's the soft sweet Black man who feels everything far too deeply.

I adored Attalah. She had a heart of gold, and still managed to be corrupted, proving that even the best are the worst.

f you're also looking for a rather dark book with rather fucked up characters, I'd highly recommend this one. I give The Blade Between 3.5 out of 5 whale masks. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for providing a copy in exchange for review.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy horror eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

I really enjoyed blackfish city and was excited when I saw that Miller had a new book coming out and it had something to do with whales.  I was looking forward to seeing what the mind that came up with the “orcamancer” would give us next.

This story follows a gay photographer, Ronan, who fled small town Hudson, New York to go to the big city and never wants to go back.  Ronan is thus surprised to find himself on a train headed there.  Ronan is a complicated character.  He is selfish, damaged, and filled with hate.  Being recently sober, he doesn't know why he is headed to Hudson.

The reasons for this are complicated and ultimately don't make much sense.  There are mystical dead whales or gods or something.  I really did enjoy the set up for the novel and Ronan meeting up with his old high school friends.  I did not however, really care for the way the gentrification plot was handled even though the subject is an important one.  The side characters were intriguing and complicated but there were so many of them that none were explored satisfactorily. 

This really was a novel of big ideas that didn't cohesively gel.  The ideas included commentary on gentrification, homophobia, open marriages, drug abuse, bullying, obfuscation of history, embracing history, suicide, health problems, police brutality, corruption, social change, online manipulation, race, poverty, anger, social services, and the complicated love/hate relationship of hometowns and family.  Add in the other elements like magical realism, cosmic horror, weird dreams, ghosts, and gods who suck.

It was just too much.  I didn't connect to most of the characters and found the "horror" elements to be lame.  Also the pace starts out well, declines steadily throughout most of the novel, and then has an abrupt, poorly explained ending.  Though what happens to Ronan wasn't a surprise. There are also loose ends in many of the side plots.  I did however like the use of harpoons even if the whales in this story could have been removed.  Were they just there so there could be harpoons?

Overall a disappointing read that had a strong beginning and premise that failed to deliver.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Ecco Press!

Side note:  I always heard about whaling in Nantucket and not Hudson.  Also I never knew that Hudson was infamous for brothels in the 1920s and 1930s.  And a lot of this story seems partially inspired by the author's life as described in his author bio on his website.

I went out on a limb with this book, and though it didn't resonate with me, I think there is certainly an audience for whom it will. The writing itself is lyrical and haunting, but the beauty of the words wasn't enough to engage me. The plot struggled in places, there are many ideas that just weren't as well explored as I would've liked. I feel that the idea of dangerous gentrification on its own was worth reading the book for, but I still was bogged down most of the way.
2.5 stars

I was provided a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins.

My genres of choice are LGBTQ+ and horror and this checks both of my boxes. I consider myself fairly well-read in both genres. There's a lot for me left to read, of course, but I think I'm comfortable saying what feels original. Sam J. Miller, in my opinion, has crafted a completely original ghost/monster story that is directly tied to a man's gay experiences in both a literal and metaphorical way. Miller beautifully crafts the pervasiveness of hate, fear, anger, pain, and sorrow and explains how these emotions can feel like physical manifestations. Miller also masterfully shows how easily this culture of hate gains momentum and spreads like wildfire in angry people but also in those are get caught up in the whirlwind.

On top of all of this, there is also stellar imagery. The whale imagery, the "ghosts" however you want to describe them, the palpable emotions of the characters, both the decay and revitalization of Hudson...all it is is A+ in my book. It was incredibly dark at times, but the thin undercurrent of hope (and at times that undercurrent was almost too slim to see) kept me coming back repeatedly to see what was going to happen.

Content warnings for the book: there are discussions and depictions of suicide, very briefly of rape/sexual assault, and general violence both towards people and animals (specifically whales and rats). In my personal opinion, nothing seemed too heavy-handed for what was being discussed. That might not be true for others, so tread lightly--especially in regards to the violence.

This is definitely a case of my low rating not being a good reflection of the book - but of me.
This is actually a very well written, interesting, lyrical book - and it's the reason I'm giving it 3 stars. I think a lot of people will find this book interesting and that it makes an interesting statement and leaves you thinking well after you are done.

But it felt very much like Magic realism (or maybe sci-fi realism? Is that a thing?). And I'm not a fan - trying to understand how someone scheduling photo shoots with someone they can't possibly be or the salt water in the mouth and the flooding in houses. Getting on board with the overarching them definitely involved suspending some disbelief and somehow, I just never got there. I wish I'd loved it more, I thought so many pieces were interesting on their own, but with the magic realism mixed in, I just couldn't make the full leap.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Themes of gentrification, police involvement, the effects of bullying and homophobia, how a community can effect individuals, and how social media can be destructive.

You may be saying to yourself, wow this sounds interesting! And it is! For about 50 pages or so until it starts wearing out its welcome. All of these themes are done in a clumsy manner with as much subtlety as a car crash. It honestly pulls from the story and the feeling sets in that the author had too much to say with not enough story to cover it.

Let's cover the characters in brief. Ronan is highly unlikeable (using Grindr as a weapon). Dom is too passive throughout. Attalah is a flip-flop (mostly during the 3rd act).

The supernatural/fantasy element feels completely unnecessary and doesn't really add much to the plot. And when you get an explanation of it all in the last few pages it's extremely unsatisfying.

The last act is so rushed that once you hit the last chapter you wonder what the big deal was building up to this event.

Pretty disappointed in this one and not entirely sure if I would read more from this author.

One last thing...

"...blade sticking between my ribs." This will haunt me for days.

The Blade Between tried to do a lot of things. Too many things. It seemed to jump around but never finish anything it started out to do. There is the sadness of changes to somewhere you use to know. The anger of gentrification. The pain of relationships. And then there is the supernatural. All of it was promising. None of it seemed to be fully fleshed out or to deliver what it promised in the end. I think this could have been a longer and more developed story.

THE BLADE BETWEEN - SAM J. MILLER

This is a story about the harm gentrification of in a small town in New York. And how it harms and pains those being pushed out of their homes. I struggled with this book a lot mainly because the execution is flawed. But first, the good, the pain around the gentrification and the disgust and rage against the gentrifiers is very well described, especially in a small post-industrial town. I think the relationships between the characters are also believable, especially the side characters. The author is good at dropping in a variety of characters POVs to move the plot.

However, there were many things that just didn't work for me. But my main issue was that the supernatural element driving this story is not fleshed out. It's not clearly described and it doesn't make much sense to me. I didn't feel any of the dread from the build up from the supernatural, either. As a result, all the driving energy for the plot and the main character doesn't have clear motivation. I could speculate as to maybe what the author was going for, which has a lot of potential, but for me it fell short.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @Ecco for the e-copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Well, that was quite a ride. I thought the premise was incredibly unique and was eager to see how the whales would tie into everything. While there were the brief flashes of whale hunting and how the town made it's living off of that industry, I felt that connection needed to be much more fleshed out than it was. I was drawn in by Ronan and his relationship with Dom, but I could not understand why Ronan was so hellbent on saving the town when it was repeatedly stressed how much he hated living there. I felt like that plotline came out of nowhere and again, for me, the attempt at that connection to propel the story forward failed. It just wasn't believable. The other thing I didn't buy was how Ronan created a gay character to intimidate and bully others to get information when multiple times throughout the story he reflected on how painful and traumatic it had been for him to be bullied for being gay when he was growing up.

I will say that I thought the author did an excellent job of exploring gentrification and showing how that unfolded. Everything else just didn't quite fit for me.

Many thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for providing an ecopy in exchange for my review.

Trigger warnings: Arson, stabbing, suicide, eviction, drug addiction, sexual assault (implied)

The city of Hudson, New York is rich in a history that’s about to be erased by the gears of gentrification and corporate interests. The community fights back, but it isn’t until the whale gods and ghosts of Hudson’s past join the fray, feasting on hate and unleashing violence upon this already-tense community.

It’d be ridiculous to say that every new Sam J. Miller book is my new favorite Sam J. Miller book because they all hit the same highs for me as a reader in their own unique ways.

But holy heck, did I enjoy this one.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off the unfolding horrors and thoughtfully-crafted exploration of gentrification, drug addiction, surviving homophobia, lost love, sordid history, ghosts, and community organizing blended so seamlessly. The precise language that’s consistent throughout all his works is present here, and there is no stone left unturned.

I found Ronan’s arc so painfully compelling. He skipped town to pursue a photography career in New York and decided years later to return to a place that’s foreign to him. In terms of trying to save his father’s butcher shop, which feels like the last vestige of Hudson before the corporate invasion, he makes such an attempt. And then forces beyond his control imprint on that attempt, which involves catfishing on Grindr (an element I enjoyed far too much).

I could not keep myself together as the terror unfolded. There’s more pedestrian terror of him trying to mentor a gay high schooler who isn’t out to his pastor mom, and then the supernatural horror of an entity he accidentally summons. You simply can’t look away from how badly and unintentionally this man fucks up. It all goes about as well as you’d expect, but I found the ending particularly cathartic.

His relationship with Dom, Attalah, and Dom and Attalah hurt in the ways of “what could have been” and “none of us are really the people we were in high school, except we sort of are.” The way their love is both tough and tender depending on the scene, and sometimes in the same moment. The complexity here is such a thing to behold because it felt so realistic. What I found most interesting is that, with the exception of a few, none of the characters fell strictly into a camp of “good” or “bad.” They’re all trying to survive in the best and only ways they know how.

An absolute treat for those who loved Hex and want something a little more thoughtful with a specific perspective on how gentrification is wreaking a terror we know on small town communities with a layer of supernatural fear which makes it all viscerally unsettling.

A vivid and powerful unpacking of themes including home and connection within the framework of broader mysteries and ghosts (and ghost whales!).

THE BLADE BETWEEN by Sam J. Miller is a unique novel about a man, Ronan, returning to his hometown to deal with his past, city developments and the supernatural. Right at the end of Part One I was intrigued. However getting further into the book while the plot was interesting the writing didn’t wow me. The part I loved the most was all the characters names. I read most of this book in one day as I was curious to know how it would all end but I wouldn’t read this book again.

A small town’s abrupt change by losing the spots of local stores to the new hipster owners, floating whales, increasing pressure and blowing hateful energy ! What a complex, creative but also a little confusing story! The author’s profound love to the whales made him use them as important spiritual addition to this story as he did at his previous work.

I loved so many unique, inventive, different things about this book which waltzes between different genres including horror, mystery, thriller, dysfunctional family drama, thought provoking approach to the small town’s bullying, narrow minded people’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ community and of course the hero’s main motivation that feeds him to take action to the newcomers was deep hate growing inside of him for years and years.

But one thing still confuses me: the MC Ronan, 40 years old, NYC photographer specialized on erotism on his work. He is gay and he never gets approval of the people of his small town Hudson. He got abused by his school friends. Even his father never understood him, refusing to visit him for 20 years. And now he is sick. He needs to be taken care of.

So Ronan goes to his old town to look after his death but the place is extremely changed after being invaded by new artsy community. This place was once upon a time whaling town , corrupted by crime, gambling and prostitution but as new comers start to build a new community and social circle, they opened antique shops, trendy restaurants, galleries. Eventually the local store owners start to lose their shops including Ronan’s father who has to close his butcher shop.

So Ronan teams up with his old crush / police officer Dom and his wife Attalah to get their town’s back.

I had hard time to understand Ronan who acts hateful against this new community so much as we consider his own people never approve his sexuality and acted so mean, abusive. And his way of creating a fake gay male account to get more information from gay community via online dating service was also quite hateful move!

This logic didn’t work with me but the action packed parts when the hell breaks loose were so entertaining! Second part of the book was more likable for my taste even though the whales’ invasion parts are a little exaggerated, I had so much fun.

I cut my points because of the MC’s confusing manners and exaggerated hateful thinking against the people. The creative ideas, world building, big fight between new comers and locals, fantasy elements are the strengths of the novel I truly enjoyed.

I’m giving 3.25 stars to differentiate this book from my regular Switzerland, mediocre reads! It’s still good, smart, unique, filled of clever imaginative ideas. I couldn’t resonate with hero and his motives. That’s why I gave a little lower point.

But hands down, the author is brilliant and I’m looking forward to read more works of him sooner.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers / Ecco for sharing this reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

No soy una lectora habitual de novelas de terror, no me gusta pasar miedo innecesariamente. Sin embargo, cuando vi que la siguiente obra de Sam J. Miller, un autor que cada vez me gusta más, se encuadraba dentro de este género, tuve que vencer mis reticencias para ponerme a leer.


Quizá sea debido a esta falta de costumbre por mi parte, pero me pareció que la novela iba adentrándose en el terreno de lo desconocido y lo espiritual de una manera tan gradual que al principio parecía totalmente realista. Es cierto que algunos detalles ya daban idea de que algo especial estaba pasando en Hudson, como las canciones de la radio que van cambiando según quién las vaya escuchando, pero como digo al principio solo asistimos a la vuelta al «hogar» de Ronan, un joven fotógrafo que huyó el pueblo hostigado por los homófobos.

Tras leer algunas de sus obras, comienzo a distinguir un patrón en la forma de escribir del autor. Una de las obsesiones de Sam J. Miller es la fotografía, como ya pudimos ver en Destroy All Monsters y aquí somos de nuevo testigos de la transformación de la realidad cuando se ve a través de una lente, aunque de una forma muchísimo más sutil y me atrevería a decir que elegante. También aquí vuelven a aparecer las ballenas que tuvieron cierta relevancia en la estupenda Blackfish City, aunque en este caso sea en un terreno mucho más espiritual.

La prosa fluye de una forma estupenda y la caracterización de personajes es simplemente maravillosa, con un elenco que en ningún momento quita protagonismo a Ronan, pero que lo complementa de una forma muy acertada.

Sin embargo, el libro no acaba de cohesionar. Entiendo la crítica que Miller hace contra la gentrificación, la homofobia y el racismo y como la violencia y el miedo va in crescendo provocado por los propios habitantes de la ciudad, pero me parece que el libro cojea quizá donde debería residir su principal fortaleza, en la propia historia «mágica» del lugar. El uso de las nuevas tecnologías para extraer los trapos sucios de los lugareños en una campaña contra el próximo alcalde, a través de Grinder y Tinder es impecablemente actual, pero que las fuerzas sobrenaturales implicadas en la trama no sepan como controlar su poder… es un poco traído por los pelos. La resolución final parecía bastante evidente una vez expuestas todas las piezas pero al menos deja la historia cerrada.

The Blade Between es una novela que no me arrepiento de haber leído, pero de la que esperaba más.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me read this unpublished ebook. Well, I’ll start by saying that at least I liked this story better than The Arrest or The Pumpkin Farmer, which are two of the last three books I’ve read. Ronan is a young, gay man who is an up and coming photographer in NYC. He wakes up on a train and realizes he's back in his hometown of Hudson, NY, an old seafaring city. Ronan has a few problems. He also feels a lot of hate toward the people - “outsiders,” who have been buying up all the real estate and driving the long-time residents out. Here in Maine, we call them “Summer People.” Lucky for Ronan that his best friend from high school, Dom, is still in town and is now a police officer married to another high school friend, Attalah, and the three of them quickly become reacquainted. There’s a lot of stuff going on, everybody seems to have a plot and secrets and there’s lots of hate floating around. Ronan doesn't realize it at first, but he can see dead people and one of them is telling him that he has to spread the hate around in order for the outsiders to leave. He has visions of whales floating through the sky and they’re speaking to him through his dead friend, Katch. There is definitely a story here and the writing and characters were likeable enough for me to continue reading until the end, but sometimes there was too much of a story – so many different characters doing so many different things – that it could be confusing trying to keep track of who was who. Also, the whole idea of slaughtered whales from hundreds of years ago becoming mystical and people running around the city killing each other with harpoons, while wearing whale head coverings, was just too far-fetched for me. Contains gay sex and lots of violence. Definitely not for kids.

I felt a bit indecisive about this book, I loved the setting, the whales, the conflict between old/new residents but I wasn't very interested in the main characters and I disliked a lot of their dialogue. So all in all I can't say I liked or disliked the book or the style of writing.

DNF - 30%. I tried but I’m out. The truth is this book isn’t for me. I can’t give it just 1 star because it does have some great complex characterization (Ronan - protagonist) that I enjoyed, but here’s why I’m out. Ronan hates, HATES Hudson, a homophobic hellhole he endured and left. Now he’s returned because he’s doing a photo shoot for a guy who.... uh is actually dead. And now Hudson is a gay Mecca of sorts! That part, cool as heck, but then he starts a love affair with his married ex, and there’s this whole thing with this revolving around whales... like the dead whales of the past are up to all this? Ehhh that’s some mysticism and I’m just NOT feeling it. I think if it was better described, better billed as a nature/mysticism type of book either id have passed or read it expecting that, and wasn’t fond of what I found.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC of this book.

*DNF* The premise of this book is certainly interesting (I mean, who doesn't like reading about dystopian themes in a literal pandemic), so I thought it would be right up my lane! Even more, it featured a variety of characters from different backgrounds. Sadly, despite offering a wide range of characters I found these characters relied more on generalizations and common stereotypes instead of being focused on constructing engaging characters. I felt the dialogue tried so hard to be edgy that any grasp on the narrative was forgotten.

I requested this on a whim because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.

This was a little too much out of my comfort zone.

I understand that the narrator is supposed to be unlikeable, one of my favorite books is Lolita so I understand and I liked the book until about page 150 when I realized that I wasn’t even halfway through the book.

I felt depressed reading it and I struggled towards the end because I was trying to find a ways to not read the book but I knew that I needed to finish.

The supernatural stuff was almost a homage to Joe Hill and Stephen King which didn’t bother me but the darkness surrounding the supernatural stuff effected me too much.

And whale ghosts, that got weird for me.

Sam Miller does it again! Ronan Szepessy has avoided visiting his home town of Hudson for years. He was taunted and misunderstood and a child, and now he can't face his father's failing health. But when he finds himself back in Hudson even though he can't remember why he boarded the train, he quickly becomes enmeshed in town politics as locals try to push back against the New Yorkers who are taking over their small town. Ronan learns first hand that you can't go home again, but you can't ever really leave either. A strange and timely book.