House of Tongues is a thrill for the imagination. This book was written by the author of The Maze Runner…yes I said that correctly. chock full of serial killers, kidnappings, deep south traditions, and strong family bonds.

David is a widowed father of four just trying to keep his life going and keep his children happy and healthy. He has not only endured the loss of his beloved wife but has suffered so much trauma in his past that it’s a wonder he can get out of bed at all. Thirty years earlier as a teenager David and his best friend Andrea were tortured, kidnapped, and almost killed by an infamous now dead serial killer. Although he has worked through most of the events that happened he knows that something’s buried should always stay that way. When visiting his parents back in the small town where he grew up and all of his heinous memories occurred it seems that what was in the past has come back.

I really enjoyed this dual-time lined story, he has a way of developing these characters so well that I could imagine everything so perfectly. Each chapter jumping back and forth from his past horrors to the present ones. I loved the descriptions of the area where he lived as I have never visited the Carolina’s I was unfamiliar as to how swampy some areas actually were.

I will admit that it did take me a good while to get into the story, for some reason at the beginning I felt like it just jumped around so much I couldn’t tell what was always happening. Once things started to focus in and really get down to the business at hand I was hooked. I didn’t put it down from about 30% in until I had finished it. I love when stories are set up in a way that you just have to know what is going to happen to the characters. I can’t wait to recommend this book to my horror book fans and will definitely be quick to caution anyone on eating during the ending of this book :)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

It all began at the age of seven when David met a man with a shovel and a hearse. Then at sixteen David was followed by a serial killer after witnessing him in the woods. From that moment going forward the killer had a sick interest in David. There’s a serial killer loose who’s playing mind games with David, the sixteen year old witness. After thirty years, David and his four children are in harms way when he comes back to visit his parents.

This is a dark horror story. For some unknown reason I was in disbelief about the things David witnessed. For this reason the story didn’t live up to what James plotted.

I wanted to like this story, but I was confused trying to understand what James Dashner was trying to communicate to the readers. I think the idea of this book got the better of him because it read like it was difficult to describe what he was trying to convey to readers. Seems like the idea was too big to put into words. This was a wordy story with much to say, yet saying too much.
The story alternates between the sixteen year old David and the forty year old David. As each chapter is written and read the reader simultaneously is given pieces of the puzzle.

The story doesn’t necessarily follow the life of a serial killer nor does it follow a procedure of investigation. It’s simply not that type of story. It’s a grueling tale of darkness that involves David and Pee Wee. As quickly as the scare between David and Pee Wee started it also ended until thirty years later when his son starts where his father ended.

James Dashner set out to write a horror story about a serial killer who dumps bodies in Pudding Swamp. David was sixteen when he witnessed Pee Wee Gaskins severing the head of a man. As the story alternates between the sixteen year old David and the forty-six year old David the reader learns more about this man who worked at the mortuary and the impact of what David encountered as a young adult. Thirty years later David brings his four kids back to the place where his nightmares began. The horrors continue as David is once again faced with trauma in the swamps.

James conjured up dark words, yet when combined with other words they lost that scary grueling feeling. His words didn’t evoke any sense of fear in me. I read the dark grueling words just as I do any other word but it didn’t have the desired affect.

James set out to remind David of his memories one chapter at a time. As the memories came flooding back the reader gets to fit the puzzle pieces together. The darkness remained buried inside these characters for thirty long years until David’s oldest son turned sixteen. I didn’t buy into this grueling tale. I kept hoping it was all a ruse. Not to mention David wasn’t hindered by any of these nightmares as a teenager. He too carried on in life as if what he witnessed was some illusion. Fir this reason it just didn’t scare me.

James Dashner is the best selling author of The Maze Runner series. I for one read those books as well as watched the movies. While I enjoyed his writing voice in that series I didn’t find the same writing style in The House of Tongues.

As others have said, I am unable to download this book. Once the author has allowed me to access the book I am more than willing to review this book.

Although it seems as the book is put on netgalley for review they didn’t actually provide the book so can’t review. But as the author is James dashner I have high hopes for when I read the book .

*****Downloading and/or reviewing is currently not possible for this title. This could mean the publisher has not yet provided the final content, or the content has been removed.*****

was not able to download book, but would be happy to do so if it became available. was not able to download book, but would be happy to do so if it became available.