Another edge of your seat read from Hunter Shea! This book started out by grabbing me and didn't let go. A must read.

Holy cow! or should I say Unholy moly! This is a gut wrenching story that swept me away from the start. A man of the cloth with a dark past is nervously navigating his way home in a rain storm. He's always been uneasy driving in the rain but this downpour is worse than usual. He calls his wife, hoping that it will help calm his nerves. Hearing her voice, and his children in the background is just what he needs. Suddenly the playful voices of his children turn to shrieks of terror. He is utterly helpless to do anything but listen to the brutal murders of his family. Their loss and his grief turn him into a shell of his former self and he locks himself away from anyone wanting to offer sympathy or help.
This is a step away from Hunter Shea's usual light hearted creature feature horror. although he has done it before with the equally serious novel Creature which I highly recommended to you a while back. Raul's grief is palpable and my heart was heavy with his pain. Felix, the former best friend with the criminal past and fierce loyal streak helped propel the story towards it's shocking climax. As the murders go unsolved by the police, Felix sets out to bring the killers to his own brand of justice, but what he uncovers is more horrifying than I could have imagined.

Even if I'm not enjoying a book at the beginning, I always read on because books often get better part way in. This is how it was reading Faithless. Father Raul's drinking and drug taking seems to go on and on. I understand why he does it, it just seems to go on and on. When his friend, Felix, shows up, the story really begins to hop. Until Felix showed up, it was drinking, pill-popping, and hearing voices page after page. Felix makes the action happen. Bruiser, the cat, was a good addition, too.

There's movement once Felix arrives. He zooms his Harley to dive bars, seedy motels, fights, trades barbs with racist bikers and bartenders, visits the victim's neighbors and relatives, gets help, finds out the truth about the victim. Meanwhile, Raul drinks, hears things, and occasionally remembers to feed the cat. The middle of the story was exciting because there's action. A lot of times novels have a mushy middle, but this middle was great. The sidekick outshines the protagonist.

Then, we get to the climax. It should have been exciting because there was gruesome violence, torture, shootings, stabbings, fires. But here's the thing--it went on and on and on just like the drinking and pill-popping did. Page after page of every kind of gory ick until I got tired of reading it. It seems like there should be a quick and exciting climax and get it over with, instead of brutalizing the protagonist page after page. The end of the ending was a deus ex machina and that's often disappointing.

Middle of the book-great. Beginning and ending went on too long. Here's a book I'd read: Felix and a cat (he only tolerates cats) drive around the country on his Harley hunting demons! That would be a fun read and an exciting book. Go Felix! Go cat!

What an opening. The novel starts with a bang which, literally, made me hold my breath. The scenes were written so well it almost felt like I was in the novel - well done to Hunter Shea for such visceral writing! This novel is staying with me and, whilst I enjoyed the twists, the characters were well written, the ending felt a little flat - but all is forgiven as this is still a brilliant read. I've read a few Hunter Shea novels and i'll definitely be coming back for more!

First, let me thank NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I’ve been a fan of Hunter Shea for a while now – and was happy to finally meet him in person this year at Scares That Care in Williamsburg, VA. He’s as nice in person as he is online; and I finally have a personalized, signed copy of JERSEY DEVIL. But I digress; we’re here to talk about FAITHLESS.

I actually finished the book a week ago, but It's taken me this long to process what I read. Those who have even the slightest knowledge of Hunter know that he’s mostly know for writing books with cryptozoology as the main subject. In FAITHLESS, he leaves that in the dark, and opts for a much more human monster – humanity itself.

We start with Father Raul who is on his way home and, while speaking to his wife on his cell in the middle of a massive downpour hears his entire family murdered. If you wanted to grab my attention, this is the way to do it. That first chapter starts what will become one of the wildest rides you’ll even have.

Hunter takes on loss, depression, alcohol/prescription drug abuse, isolation, faith loss, gaslighting, friendship, cults, and ultimately, redemption. While this sounds like a lot of stuff to throw in one story (and believe me, it is), Hunter does so flawlessly – and elicits all the feels in the reader. And, to paraphrase another reviewer, just when you think you figured it out, think again.

If you can finish this book, and immediately go about your regular life, you either wrote the story instead of Hunter, or you are a soul-less as the Devil himself.

Review sent to Cemetery Dance.
Full review will be pasted when it appears on the site.
However, in a nutshell, this book is fantastic and heartbreaking.
You need to read it.

It pains me to say I didn't dig the latest release from Hunter Shea. I've read more of his books than I can count, and dug the crap out of them. Hunter either scares the piss out of me, and/or gives me characters I love until the last page.
But, with Faithless, I couldn't manage to connect with the protagonist. Raul had suffered a tragic loss, but the feelings of loss and suffering didn't flow from the pages. The majority of the book was spent painting Raul as a man falling down the rabbit hole. It wasn't until the final third of the book that I became interested. This was were the storyteller in Hunter kicked in and we get some action. I raced through those last several chapters excited to see how it all ends. I didn't know what to expect, and I was surprised with what I read.

I’ve often thought about what it would be like to be on the phone with a loved one when they were murdered or died violently, and in the opening scenes of Faithless, Shea depicts such a scenario.
There was a lot about this book that I really liked. Raul’s grief is realistic and relatable. His friend, Felix, is entertaining. I loved the moments of mystery and the high octane scenes of horror when they arrived.
Unfortunately, the different strands of this story didn’t amount to a satisfying, cohesive whole. I was disappointed in the explorations of faith, or lack there of, and I didn’t like the ending.
A slower paced Shea than the other books of his I’ve read, it has moments of greatness.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

4.5 stars, rounding up for Goodreads and NetGalley.    Father Raul Figeuroa loses his family in a horrific act of violence.  His faith is shattered so he retreats to his aunt's abandoned house, hoping to fade away in a sea of alcohol and drugs.  Then strange things start to happen...

I can't say much more about the plot without giving away some big spoilers so I'll just say this:  Faithless is one helluva ride!   I was hooked from the beginning, constantly wondering what would be waiting around the next corner.  With memorable characters and some truly spooky moments, this has quickly become my favorite Hunter Shea novel to date.  Be sure to mark your calendars for its upcoming release date of October 19, 2021 (just in time for Halloween!).  Thanks to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the early ecopy.

The brutal murder of a young family causes a
priest to have a crisis of faith like no other

Since arriving on the scene around 2012 Hunter Shea has been seriously prolific with close to thirty releases. When it comes to fast-paced, over-the-top, often dumb, but always entertaining creature features Hunter is one of the best in the business and a decent percentage of his output falls into this category, with Fury of the Orca (2017), Antarctic Ice Beasts (2019) and Bigfoot in the Bronx (2021) being three recent examples. However, I am a much bigger fan of his recent run of more complex novels, all published by Flame Tree Press, which have considerably more depth than his b-movie style features. If you have never tried Shea previously, Creature (2018), Slash (2019) and Misfits (2020) are all high-quality horrors and are great places to start and have more ambition that those which feature Bigfoot or the many other monsters he frequently writes about.

Shea’s latest Faithless continues with the tradition of the afore mentioned three and was a terrific novel, riddled with tension, paranoia and a major change of direction in the second half, including a very cool twist I did not see coming. To avoid spoilers, I am going to be particularly vague about the direction of the plot, other than saying that is goes wildly over the top and you will eventually find yourself dropped in the middle of a scenario not too dissimilar from a cult seventies horror film. I’m not going to say which, as it would be too much of a spoiler for those of you who might have seen it.

Faithless opens fast (very fast) in true Hunter Shea style and then sensibly backpedals on the horror and skilfully sets the scene, building tension in a similar manner successfully achieved in other recent novels. After the brutal opening, Shea lulls the reader into a false sense of security and by 50% into the story I was totally on the hook for the direction the plot might take. Was it supernatural? Was the main character going mad? It was all deliberately obscure and considering much of the first half of the story was effectively a grieving father and his alcoholic head (there were few other characters) it was never dull and the lack of action was not a problem. Perhaps Shea fans who prefer the speedier action style of Rattus New Yorkus (2018) or The Devil’s Fingers (2018) might find it too slow, but I much prefer this version of Shea’s writing. His recent run of four books for Flame Tree are amongst the most mature he has written and he is improving all the time, with Faithless really backing that fact up. However, any fans of the style of Jurassic Florida (2018) haven’t got much to complain about, as when this book really goes through the gears, it goes crazy.

The action opens with Father Raul Figeuroa driving home, in atrocious weather, to his wife and two kids. The journey is delayed due to a car breakdown and whilst on the phone to his wife it becomes clear somebody has broken into his family’s house. This was terrific writing, with the Father being totally helpful as he hears his kids and wife screaming. Fearing the worst, he panics and runs the several miles home, only to discover a bloodbath. This was a seriously intense way of opening a novel and there was little surprise the author then calmed the story down, as there was no way this intensity could have been maintained.

There was a convincing element of mystery thrown into the action and the reader becomes genuinely invested in uncovering why this family were targeted in what looks like a premeditated murder? There are no easy answers and as a result Raul abandons the priesthood and retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, intending to drink himself to oblivion where most of Faithless is set. Obviously it would be difficult for anybody in recovering from such a horrific loss, but Raul barely tries and cuts himself off from his old friends and church community. For the most part the pacing was excellent, however, there came a point that I wished Raul pulled himself together, thankfully an old friend (Felix) turns up to help before he genuinely tested my patience.

When knocking around (and getting permanently drunk) in his new house the plot takes a fascinating direction, meantime the unsolved murders lurk in the background, Raul begins to hear voices which resemble his dead wife and children. Equally strange, objects disappear from the house, are seemingly moved and a very large cat appears. Combined, there was a lot going on in Faithless and it was one of those books which asked a lot of questions, cleverly held back or shrouded the answers, until the latter stages where Shea dishes out some of the gore regular readers would be accustomed to seeing in his fiction. Clues and suggestions are dropped here and there, all of which were skilfully handled, creating an overall atmosphere which played a big part in a highly enjoyable read.

In recent times Flame Tree Press have been on an excellent run of form and are deservedly seen as one of the market leaders in indie horror and Hunter Shea’s Faithless is a fine addition to their catalogue. It impressively ticks many horror boxes: a killer (literally) opening, followed by superb setting the scene and pacing, lots of mystery and goes out with a serious bang.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this as a digital ARC!

A man with a troubled youth becomes a priest, defying the odds and marrying a beautiful woman with whom he has 2 incredible children. One day when Raoul is on his way home and on the phone with his family, he is horrified to hear them all murdered as he helplessly tried to get home during a storm. What transpires after is a man giving up on his faith and spiraling into grief, alcoholism, and despondency. But when he begins to hear voices in his deceased aunt’s home (where he plans to die), are those voices his inner demons mad at him for not protecting his family or are they the ghosts of his family, murdered before their time? The tension ratchets up as Raoul’s childhood friend, Felix, begins to dig into the past and uncover sinister inklings of darkness many years before.

Was the murder random, or was it destined to always happen?

The ending of the book (including a few of the reveals) felt a bit rushed to me, as some of the motivations and past history are never fully explained. However this was a well paced, solid murder mystery with elements of creepiness.

I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Its my first book by Hunter Shea and in no way will it be my last!!
The brutal opening chapter left me breathless. This story was extremely well written, the characters were totally believable and I got quite attached to them.
The story itself was fast paced, brutal, heart breaking, creepy and I felt chilled throughout.
There was a great twist, which I was not expecting, and once revealed, the story ramped up even more!!
An awesome tale which I can't elaborate much more on without giving the game away!! 😉
I absolutely loved it! 🖤
5 out of 5 evil faces from me 😈😈😈😈😈

He Thought He Lost Everything. He'd Overlooked Something...

Hunter Shea is one of my favorite horror writers, so when I saw an opportunity to read an advance reader copy of his new book, I jumped at it! His treatment of this particular theme was new to me, but as usual, kept me up reading until the wee hours and left me needing all the lights on before I could sleep.

I liked his development of the characters' backstories: two friends from the street whose paths diverged; one going on to become an Episcopalian priest, while the other just got out of prison. That pairing isn't unique in fiction of course, but Shea endowed his characters with details that went beyond the familiar trope. Their histories and personalities felt authentic and original.

Faithless is part murder mystery, part ghost story, and part vendetta action thriller. I never saw the twist coming!

I got my copy via NetGalley, but I'm under no obligation to give a positive review. My honest opinion is that, like all of Hunter Shea's books, it's a great read!

What could test your faith as an Episcopal Priest more that the murders of your wife and two young children? Murders that happened while you were on the phone with your family. Murders with no clues left behind. After Father Raul Figeuroa’s neighbors pull him away from the dead, bloody bodies of Bella, Lizzy and Abel, he retreats into a cloud of grief and alcohol, sleeping on church pews. Then he drives upstate to a family cottage where he vacationed as a child. He plans to die there.

The strange happenings begin. Voices, laughter, visions and added noises that he tries to blame on the cat. He is questioning his faith but he is about to discover that evil is real…and not far away.

Faithless is creepy and disturbing on many levels. It shows how a seemingly normal life can totter on the edge of darkness. If you love to be scared, Faithless is for you! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press and Hunter Shea for this ARC.

I was eager to read 'Faithless' for two reasons: first, it was a new title by Hunter Shea (which would be reason alone to get my eyes on it), and second, it obviously was not a fun creature feature like I'm used to by this author. My curiosity was peaked! 'Faithless' is about faith or rather loss of faith (obvious), love, friendship...but of course there's also a very dark element involved, which I'd rather not give away here as a spoiler. The beginning is slow but builds a tight-knit atmosphere of spookiness and despair. Just when I was wondering what the author could have thought up to fill another half of the book, the whole story tipped into a whole new level of suspense, adding a new level of creepiness. The author perfectly described the despair and agony Raul felt over the loss of his family, and I was wondering how he could still hold up for so long. Felix, Raul's childhood friend, was my favorite character thought, maybe because he brought a first ray of positive light into Raul's dark world - and some serious action ;) Recommended!

I tend to have two reactions to Hunter Shea’s books.
1) Tears mixed with dread
2) Popcorn munching joy at the simple entertainment of it all

Warning – this isn’t the simple popcorn read!

In Faithless, Shea brings on the feels. There is just so much despair in Raul’s story. It’s clear from the beginning that this man and his family are going to go through the very worst things – and Shea puts the reader square in the middle of all the heartbreak. And after the heartbreak? The chills and dread and the feeling that, as bad as things have been? It’s just going to get worse.

Despite the heaviness, it’s still an entertaining horror read. It’s got shades of the golden age of horror (1970’s – 1980’s), yet still feels modern and new. And the ending may just have killed me a little.

I loved this. Read it.

*ARC via Net Galley

Father Raul Figeuroa, an Episcopalian priest, had it all. Bella, his loving wife. Abel, his son. Lizzy, his daughter. A happy life. Until his family are brutally murdered.

“It’s better you don’t go in there.”

Raul’s faith dies with his family. He gives up the priesthood, planning to live out his days in seclusion on his aunt’s farm. His only company will be the alcohol and pills which, if he does it right, will reunite him with his family soon.

Except Raul’s not alone on the farm.

This was a different book than what I was expecting. Hunter Shea has made an urban legend come to life. He’s shown me what New York rats are capable of. He’s even given me a final girl to hang out with. I thought I knew where this book was going. I was so wrong.

“Prayers would not be answered here.”

Much of this book highlights the way grief haunts you and some of the ways we self destruct in our attempts to numb pain, but because it’s a Hunter Shea book there’s more to the story than that.

I loved Raul’s childhood friend, Felix, and was ready to adopt Bruiser, the Maine Coon that scratched its way into my heart. I really enjoyed getting to know Raul and Felix and following them down some pretty dark paths.

I didn’t completely buy into the explanation for what was really going on and the ending raised some theological question marks in my brain but I was still hooked for the entire ride.

I can’t wait to find out what will be causing the bloodshed in the author’s next book.

“It was time to poke around the dark places.”

Content warnings include addiction, alcoholism, racial slurs and suicidal ideation.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Hunter Shea has once again crafted a great piece of fiction.
This dystopian tale is a bit different from the other books I've read from him, but was quite a page -turner.
I will be rereading this.

256 pages

5 stars

I had a little difficulty in determining how I wanted to talk about this book and what rating I wanted to give it. While basically, it is a horror novel, it also made me think a great deal: about how well we can ever know other people, the nature of religion and the supernatural experiences of ghosts and near death experiences.

Father Raul is an Episcopalian priest. He is on his way home in the driving rain when he calls his wife. They chat and then suddenly, sounds of violence are echoed over the phone. His car quits, so he exits the car and runs almost six miles home. The police are already there. With the aid of neighbors, he bullies his way into the house. His wife Bella and children Lizzy and Abel are dead. Horribly stabbed to death.

Raul is in a deep dive. He quits the priesthood and moves to an isolated cabin that was owned by his grandmother Ida. She bequeathed it to him in her will. He also develops a huge alcohol and pill problem.

A cat he names Bruiser adopts him and he/she (?) feels right at home.

Strange happenings start to occur. He hears Lizzie and Abel’s voices. He hears Bella’s voice. She seems angry at him. It makes him feel worse - even more guilty for not protecting them.

His childhood friend Felix drops in on his Harley. He and Raul commiserate, they argue and Felix witnesses the voices and strange happenings too. Felix decides that his mission is to track down the scum that murdered Raul’s family - and kill them.

Felix goes on a journey that finally results in astounding information. He and Raul’s friend Sampson head to the cabin to tell Raul what they found out.

This lead results in a dramatic and revealing confrontation with pure evil. While the story did not end as I had hoped, I believe it was appropriate.

This book is written and plotted with Mr. Shea’s usual competence. The transitions are wonderfully done and smooth. I really like Raul. I just wish he didn’t have a drinking problem. I really liked Felix. And Bruiser was a winner, too. I have read nearly all of Mr. Shea’s novels and I will continue to do so. He is a wonderful author.

I want to thank NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for forwarding to me the wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.