Note: this review reflects my view on the book, and not the defunct publishing company (I feel horrible for all the authors who had to work with this company and fully realize that the gross views of the publishing company are not those of the authors).

With that, this book was not for me. It felt a bit like 'men writing women' and didn't work. Maybe I read it at the wrong time, since it has so many positive reviews. The ending, which was fantastic, almost salvaged the first half.

I was surprised in how short the book was but it worked for the plot. I loved every second of it and I thought it was a great horror novella to add to the collection

A modern gothic horror tale at its very best. Beginning with a very weird chance encounter , Janet decides to go back and confront her past, and things begin to unwind rapidly, is she insane, or does she uncover it? Like an onion the story peels and peels away and nothing is what it seems. Top rate horror thriller that engages and entertains, and is very enjoyable. Received by NetGalley.

this was a great horror novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the storyline going on through this book.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what happened. It is fast paced and enjoyable. I really enjoyed Janet's character. It will give you some creepy feelings but good. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is in stores now for $10.99 (USD).

3 STARS

12 YEARS AGO
Janet Martlee’s infant son died under mysterious circumstances.
Consumed with grief and anger, she ran away to start again...

YESTERDAY
A 12-year old boy with dead eyes appeared in her classroom,
begging for help. But Janet doesn’t believe in ghosts...

TODAY
Her psychiatrist tells her she must return home to confront
her past and uncover the mystery of what happened...

.
.
.

COFFIN SHADOWS is a short novella that was 100% a cover buy (and #netgalley request!) I read it in one sitting (it wasn't hard, this book is tiny.) There wasn't a lot of character development, however it didn't detract from the story as it was more about this small town's best kept secret: a cult. (Umm..yes please!)

COFFIN SHADOWS was not at all what I expected but I enjoyed this slightly spooky, entertaining read none the less. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC! COFFIN SHADOWS is out now.

What can I say, Silver Shamrock Publishing has done it again. When I started this book on my kindle I didn’t know what it was about or what the back cover said. The way I go about my reviews I have found that works best for me. And damn. Did this little novella pick a punch. ​

Janet sees a child in and around her classroom that raises her suspicions. When she meets with her therapist she is advised that in order to move forward with her life she needs to address her rocky past. With this, Janet decides to go back to where it all started to her parents farm to find out more about her lost son. ​

This novella was written in a way that captivated us as readers. We move backward in time in order to find out what really happened with Janet, and we get acquainted with her, her future, and her past. ​

This was a fun, fast read by an author I love - Glen Krisch, an author I've come to look forword to - Mark Steensland. Together they wrote a novella that made it near to impossible to tell where one stopped writing and the other started. That's hard to do.

The story was a compelling one. It made for a great evening's entertainment. It's an occult story that takes place in a small northern California town. My only only complaint was that it ended too soon. It could easily have been about 50 pages longer. Still, it was well worth reading and I hpoe you pick up a copy.

In the very beginning we’re introduced to Janet and her boyfriend Brian. He tells her that he has a surprise for her, which she’s not too thrilled about since she hates surprises.
The surprise turns out to be a baby crib, which elicits a strange response from Janet. Instead of happiness, she seems...upset. We now know that Janet is newly pregnant, but why was her reaction to the crib so strange?
The reason for her distress is that she had been previously pregnant, but had lost the baby.
Then, Janet starts seeing a 12 year old boy, who doesn’t seem to be alive, but he’s asking for her help.
Her therapist says she needs to go home and confront her past and get closure that she desperately needs to move on.

I really liked this one! I liked the mystery surrounding Janet and her baby, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was going on.
I had many ideas that were floating around in my head, some were immediately dismissed as I starting getting more information.
This held my attention the entire time, I didn’t find myself checking to see how much I had left, I was just in the moment and having lots of fun while enjoying the story.
I will say that I did sort of predict some of it. Like I said, I had many ideas running around my head while reading, but I did start figuring out things a little sooner than I would’ve liked to.
My biggest “issue” with this story and the reason I knocked off a whole star, is the length. Novellas are tricky, length seems to always be the downfall for them and that’s the issue here. I felt like it was rushed at the end, just as everything was coming to a climax, it was over. I wanted more, if it has just been a little itty bit longer, I think the ending wouldn’t have felt so abrupt. That tension that I love so dearly, didn’t get to it’s full potential and I think it could’ve been drawn out slightly for me to have been really wowed by it all.
I also think some added length would’ve helped me to emotionally attach to Janet and other characters. Since this is a fairly short story, I didn’t get to know the characters that well, which results in not much of a bonding experience.
In saying all that, I did like the ending. Even in the abruptness, I still got some closure and some answers that I was happy to see.
Overall, I had a lot of fun reading it and I enjoyed the whole premise! I will definitely be checking more out from these authors.

After Janet becomes pregnant, she starts seeing a dead boy in a red hoodie. Is it the ghost of the baby she had when she was seventeen, conjured by her hormones going crazy? Or is it a reminder of a forgotten past she left behind when she fled her family after the tragic death of her baby and her own accident? To find the truth, and thus some sort of closure, Janet travels back home, only to find her father in hospital. When she and her mother start preparing the family estate for sale, Janet discovers an old family secret which also triggers the recurrence of some long buried very dark memories. Soon, the shocking truth puts her in deadly danger. Will she be able to flee from home once again?

What began as a ghost story soon turned into a much darker nightmare I never would have expected. It's hard to describe, but to me this gripping novella felt like a full-blown novel, with a very elaborate plot and well-drawn characters. Recently, I've come across a couple of author collaboration projects, and this story is another successful result of the combined imaginative forces of two great voices in horror.

Thank you to Net Galley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for a review copy.

Janet Martlee doesn’t believe in ghosts. When she starts seeing a dead boy in a red hoodie around town she starts to get scared. Who is he and what is he trying to tell her?

Janet Marltee is pregnant. Her long-term boyfriend is thrilled, but Janet isn’t sure if she wants to keep the child.

Janet Martlee has a secret. She’s been a mother before: her child is dead, and she doesn’t know what happened.

Janet Martlee is going home. But what is she going to find?

This little cinematic novella packs a punch. A really fun addition to the satanic panic genre, that I couldn’t put down. Seriously, I read it in one sitting.

My only qualm is that some of the action that would’ve been fun to read gets skimmed over, but I do appreciate a bite-sized story every once and awhile.

COFFIN SHADOWS - by Glen Krisch & Mark Steensland
Released - September 1, 2020

When a second-grade teacher, Janet Martlee, starts to see visions of a twelve-year-old boy with dead eyes, she begins to question her sanity and must return to the past to uncover the mystery that haunts her.

‘And some answers hide in the shadows...In the COFFIN SHADOWS.’

I’m not going to venture down Spoilerville Lane as this book is a short read. However, I will say...

If you are a fan of Occult Horror, I Highly Recommend—My Heart!

Thank you, NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing, for loaning me an eBook of COFFIN SHADOWS in the request of an honest review.

Another fantastic novella from Silver Shamrock. This publisher is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Janet is a teacher. She and her fiancé are expecting a child and everything seems to be normal until Janet starts seeing a ghostly boy who needs her help. Is she losing her mind? Her therapist thinks she needs to return to her childhood home for answers, and so, reluctantly, she goes back for the first time in nearly two decades, and hi-jinx ensue. If you, like me, enjoy the “horror in a small town” trope, then this for you.

I really enjoyed this one: it’s great story with a lot of tension, tightly plotted with some good surprises. My only quibble would be that, after spending a comfortable amount of time setting up the premise and getting to Janet’s hometown and figuring out exactly what was going on, the ending felt a little rushed. That’s a small thing, however, and didn’t affect my overall rating.

————————-

I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is it!

————————-

Janet, a pregnant teacher with a dark past that still haunts her is trying to decide how to move on in life.

The new pregnancy takes her back to her parents house, when she was 17 and pregnant. She lost that baby and has not been the same ever since.

Hallucinations and breakdowns are putting her job and new relationship in jeopardy.

In order to find peace and be able to finally move on and put the past behind her, her therapist recommends her to go back home to her parents to fight her demons and find out what really happened to her.

When she goes back, things have changed but there is still something off about that town, those people and some things about her past just don't add up.

A dark tale in which we get to discover a darker and more disturbing truth than expected. The short chapters and the fast pace make this a great novella to binge in one sitting and that will keep you guessing what really happened to Janet as you get to uncover the mysteries surrounding her childhood.

Coffin Shadows is a quick read which I finished in two days which makes this a real good page turner but this does come at a small price.

The plot is fast and quick and hooks the reader from the very first sentence. We are lead through the eyes of the main character, Janet as she sees a boy who looks dead who appears at the most inopportune times. She has difficulty in her commitment and decides that going home is the best place to put the pieces together to help solve the reasoning why she is seeing this embodiment of the boy. The plot is interesting and moves extremely fast. It is tightly wound that sometimes we tend to get lost in character development which would enhanced the story even further.

The characters outside of Janet are slightly one dimensional and although they are interesting you don’t spend a lot of time caring. Even when we have the fate of a couple of characters not making it to the end, we don’t really care that much and for a story that is as interesting as this could have slowed down just a little for some character development.

Overall, I really did like this book a lot and as stated if we had some more character development I would have been emotionally involved but this does not make this a good or bad read just makes it more surface than deeply involved. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good little page turner.

This is an fast paced read that hooked me from the beginning. I could not put this book down. I wouldn't classify it as horror though.

Coffin Shadows
by Glen Krisch & Mark Steensland
This is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is all my own opinion.
This book had me hooked right away! Janet is a teacher and a few weeks pregnant. She is seeing a dead boy everywhere. It's effecting her life and messing with her job and health. She goes to her mental health doctor to discuss this. Janet had lost a baby 12 years prior but can't remember what happened. She had blocked off those memories and has no clue how the baby died or how she ended up in the hospital without a scratch. The doctor believes her seeing a 12 year old boy and her son died 12 years ago that she needs to go home and find answers. (She had left home from the hospital and never has been back.)
She doesn't want to lost touch with reality so she goes home. Memories start returning. Clues start emerging. She soon finds out more than what's good for her health.
This is a real nail biter! Lots of tension, suspense, and terrifying scenes, not with any paranormal activity but with human evil activities! Great plot, well developed characters, and great build up to the end! I could not stop reading! Loved it! Terrifyingly good!

Coffin Shadows was a quick, fun read. We have our main character, Janet, who has lost a son due to mysterious circumstances. She runs away from her family and town because it would just be too much to stay. Flash forward to the future where Janet is seeing a boy who by all appearances is dead. This starts to affect her job and personal life so she returns home to gain some clarity as to what may have happened.

This story was so much fun to me! Some of the plot was questionable or not entirely fleshed out, but it doesn’t change the fact that you just need to know what happens next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for the opportunity to read and rate this title.

Really enjoyed this book. It was well written and what you think you know isn't always the case. Only reason I did not give it 5 stars was it is classified as horror and I didn't find it to be scary, which is what I expect from a horror book. I would recommend this book to anyone who like mysteries and maybe wants to delve into some easy horror.

This is a really quick, fast paced read. A supernatural mystery/suspense which read like a movie. Set in small town America where the locals are not always what they seem.