This was one creepy, intense read and I never would have been able to predict the twists and turns of this story. It begins with Detective Mills, who is a loner, drinks a bit too much and has a very flawed relationship with his daughter who also happens to be an officer. Some horrific murders are being committed in town. Very soon it becomes apparent that the murders mimic those from a book written by local horror author, Ben Bookman.
At one point, it seems like everyone is a suspect. Ben begins to learn more about his family and the neglected mansion and grounds he grew up one. A sinister force seems to be overtaking the forest on the property.
I would love to read more by this author. My only critic is that there was a lot going on and a few times it caused confusion with the plot, but it definitely did not take away the enjoyment and the creepiness of this book. I received a complimentary e-book for Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

The Nightmare Man is the first horror novel by J. H. Markert and I hope it won’t be the last! In this book, we follow Detective Mills as he investigates a gruesome crime scene. Upon further investigation, the scene looks eerily familiar to a book by a local author. Ben Bookman is a horror author who is about to release a new book. While at the signing, a tragedy happens that causes Ben to begin researching his family’s history which contains an asylum run by his grandfather and an eerie mansion with a forbidden room. As these two stories come together, more is discovered about the past that will mean doom for their futures if they don’t find a way to stop it.

This book has one of my favorite recent trends in horror/thriller book and that’s when there is a murder mystery that is mirroring a book within the book. There is something about an author having to use their book as a blueprint that really intrigues me. This book also has a lot of discussions on dreams and nightmares, which to be honest, creeped me out while reading this book at night. With a title like The Nightmare Man, I should have expected it. I suffer from sleep paralysis and my partner has bad night terrors so some of this book hit a little close to home but I loved it. It’s not often a book really creeps me out.

This book does remind me a lot of Stephen King. I think anyone who is a fan of King’s work, in particular his older novels would enjoy this book. Just the way Markert wasn’t afraid to really go there and write a book that is super crazy reminds me of King. Some of the imagery in this book was terrifying and I don’t think I will look at moths the same way for a long time.

My only real critique of this book is that it is trying to do too much. There were so many things happening. If it had been dialed back just a little, this probably would have been a really amazing read. But especially towards the end, there were just too many elements and it didn’t feel like it really wrapped up everything in a satisfying way.

Also, me reading a NetGalley arc of this and coming across an author character who references NetGalley as a way for people to read his book early was a little meta for me and I hope that part makes it to the final version of this book.

What a rollercoaster this book was. I did't expect it to be paranormal, so at first I didn't think I would like it. And, to be completely honest with you, some parts of the book made me think it will be a no go book form me. It could have been edited a little bit more, because some times this book was all over the place. There were a lot of unneceserry drama around the main events that was happening in the book. I wish author concentraded more on those events instead adding some family conflict in it.
BUT, don't get me wrong, I really loved the idea of this book, the book was deffinitelly thrilling and some times even made me uncomfortable in a way horror stories do, and I loved every second of it. It is now a long time, that I read a book that made me close my curtains.
I liked the characters of the book, they were very believable and somehow relatable.
The ending was unpredictable in a way, and kept me at the edge of my seat, althoug it still had a lot of loose ends.
None the less I hope there will be second book.

This was seriously an awesome book. So excited to have read it. Unique kills, creepy killer (s) and everyone seems to be a suspect in my mind. I liked how the author referenced NetGalley, references vomiting (a lot), and all the twists and turns. Very suspenseful, and the ending is fantastic. Didn’t see it coming. I so so recommend this story.

I love libraries, but the library in the center of this story would not be a good place to visit. The books have no words or stories; the pages are blank. Inside the books reside horrible ghosts and spirits. When the books are opened, the spirits and ghosts are released, and take over the bodies and minds of regular people, forcing them to commit horrible crimes. The library is housed in the private mansion of a psychiatrist who has built an asylum nearby, all near the small town of New Haven. Years ago, the citizens of this town started acting strangely, and crimes became rampant, including the continual disappearance of children. There are many, almost too many, characters to follow in this story, which is its only drawback. The action moves between a father and daughter police team, a best-selling horror writer and his family, and mysterious, creepy, shady people. This is quite a suspenseful story, with touches of horror and mysticism, and very well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. I do not, however, wish to visit that library! Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC.

I really enjoyed reading the nightmare man! I can honestly say this book kept me up at night because it creeped me out. It got me guessing at times especially when you didn’t know if Devon was alive or not. I will definitely read this book again. I had no idea how many people were affected by those awful nightmares. It surprised me when Ben wrote his books with the ideas his scary brother came up with. There was seriously something wrong with Devon. To be that sadistic at such a young age was just wow. And no one got help for him. He deserves to live in an asylum for the rest of his life but Ben killed him and more nightmares were released. I’m definitely looking forward in seeing what the author writes next.

Thank you netgalley and crooked lane books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this amazing book.

This book had so many interesting ideas going for it and I enjoyed it for the most part but it was a bit all over the place. I kept going back to see if I missed something. The horror was good and it had some really excellent scenes. There was just so much bouncing around and all the storylines didn't feel fleshed out.
I'm going to stick with the 4 stars because even with these issues I still wanted to keep going.

Crooked Tree is a town where the unexplainable occurs; a place where the supernatural is just as natural as, well, the natural. It is the typical, bucolic hamlet found in classic horror: a façade of quietude, with a sinister undercurrent; an infamous family of long standing; a house built on magical ground; inexplainable yet acceptable events; high profile people—usually a member of the police and/or clergy—who hold the fate of the town in their hands; a scapegoat; an asylum; a legend; known—and unknown—evil people; and an innocent child.

In the book, a nightmare man is a person who plants the seeds of nightmares in the hollow (place in brain) of children. It is also the nickname of Benjamin Bookman, an author of horror novels who lives in Crooked Tree with his pregnant wife Amanda, and daughter Bri. After the success of his book, The Nightmare Man, he is pressured to write a second book. Overcome with writer’s block, he returns to the Bookman family estate—Blackwood—to help get him started. It takes him only a few days to write the majority of The Scarecrow, a book which builds on what he started in The Nightmare Man. While there, he undergoes a transformation while also releasing something that affects the nightmares and lives of the town’s people. As a man tells Benjamin after reading his new book, “How’d you do it…You stole my nightmare, Ben Bookman.”

I’ll stop there: to say more just might give too much away. All I will say is, I found the book to be unbelievable believable. I readily accepted the concept of nightmares becoming real. The tone is consistently nightmarish with no respite from the ominously dreadful mood. The violence is not that visceral; however, the death toll is pretty high.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Press for the opportunity to read and review this horror treat.

Who doesn't love a scary book that sends chills down the spine??? The Nightmare Man was downright frightening. Probably one of only a handful of books that have kept me on the edge of my seat, terrified of what's coming next. It was a spinetingling thriller with many reveals that I didn't see coming and an intriguing plotline about nightmares.

The book used different character perspectives and two timelines (now and before) to take readers into the dark and twisted lives of Ben Bookman and Detective Mills. Ben is a famous author who writes horror stories. His latest book The Scarecrow has created a buzz because the plot is coming to life. There is a copycat out there murdering people the same as in his story. The strange thing is that the murders started before the book was released to the public...And to make things stranger, one day, while Ben is signing books, a man walks in and accuses Ben of stealing his nightmare, then shoots himself in the middle of the bookstore. Detective Blue recently lost his wife and is struggling more than ever with nightmares. He sleeps with hundreds of dreamcatchers in his bedroom using a plethora of drugs to fall asleep and stay awake. These two lives become entwined as the plot progresses and reality enmeshes with fiction.

I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one and absolutely recommend to folks looking for a horror crime thriller.

A gracious thank you to Crooked Lane Books and netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Finished this VERY fantastic Horror book! Believe me nightmares take on a whole new meaning after reading this book.I will never look at a moth the same.Constant twists and turns keep the plot suspenseful and surprising.
Characters are well shapen and tangible.This is J.H. MARKERTS horror book debut .He should be super proud of this horror/thriller!

I read an ARC review of The Nightmare Man from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a bit of a lovely, horror mess.

This book centers around three people. On one hand, we have an old cop who has spent his life tracking down and skirting (and possibly breaking) the law in order to clean up the streets of his small town. We have his daughter Blue who doesn't let him see his grandchildren but works with him on these bloody cases now as a cop herself. And we have the horror author who nicknamed himself the "The Nightmare Man" and whose books are starting to come to life. The story follows these three as the men's past start being revealed through dialogue, flashbacks, and reminiscing, and the grisly murders happen mostly offscreen except when it directly happens in front of one of our protagonists. They must come to grips with who they are, the supernatural gifts that have shaped them, and how they have allowed them to shape them.

Basically, this book throws a lot of things at the wall and hopes something will stick or horrify you. Honestly, I attached myself to the writer who has horrifying things from their books coming to life. Give me a "In the Mouth of Madness" vibe, and I'm there, vague allusions to horror and all, but there's also Dream Horror going on, serial killers that do things but we only see the last aftermath which undercuts their horror terribly.

Combine that with a lot of other various themes of old men being creepy, sexual desire, abuse, assault, tampering in the occult that appears to have little link to the above sexual interest except when he gets a juicy dream or two, interest in children nightmares, how nightmares evolve, culture around nightmares, and a few more things that seemed thrown in and just allowed to seep in there all at once. The story didn't seem so much like one whole cohesive piece, but a scattering of ideas that occupied a space.

Like it was trying so hard to scare me it tried to throw in every horror trope it could think of and so it ended up as more an entertaining if slightly sluggish at times story to read than anything.

That said, I liked the ideas in here. Nightmares caught in books is definitely a fun one that I wish had been more explored in detail instead of skirting around the issue for so long. Just the idea of it is truly captivating and everything that could entail. And you could really see the start of that in the book, I just don't think the landing was quite stuck.

First off, thank you so much to #Netgalley, the publisher and especially the author for this ARC!

This book was so fun to read, and it’s perfect for the spooky season!!! I enjoyed the relationship the two main characters had, and the monsters in this book had me reading with the light on… not to mention the atmosphere of the asylum and the woods was amazing. I went and ordered a copy for myself so I can re-read it next spooky season!

I love a good horror movie, not usually a novel. I was drawn to the cover of this book and the title ‘The Nightmare Man’ took me back to ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’!
The idea of a story within a story and characters becoming ‘real’ was exciting and intriguing.
The storyline is amazingly complex, there’s lots of angles and mystery to uncover. This fast paced story unfolds into darkness, the apprehension stays until the last page.
A good scary movie has frightening moments in abundance, this book almost has too many, there’s a lot to take in!
The suspense is cleverly woven into the violence with each revelation more haunting and, at times, overwhelming!
A thrilling read!

Sincere thanks to Crooked Lane Books, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

MY REVIEW: 4.5 Stars

I’m trying to find the words for this review. It’s a sad day as Queen Elizabeth has died so I’m going to keep this short.

I kept going back and forth between 4 and 4.5 stars. Some things I didn’t like for my own personal reasons. There were also many times I got confused with all of the different people of them being called by different names.

All of this aside, I felt this was a refreshing horror novel. I loved the different ways the deaths were portrayed. I loved certain other aspects I can’t mention as they would be major spoilers! There are twists and turns, gruesome scenes and crazy revelations. I did grow to love a few characters and some deaths in the book got to me.

I might have to get a physical copy of this one but definitely a finished kindle version

*Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for a digital copy of the book

Mel

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

This is a hard one to review. On one hand, I liked it because it gave me a lot of the older Stephen King vibes. I love older Stephen King. On the other hand, this book has a lot of issues that just piled up the longer I read it which ultimately took away a lot of the pleasure from reading and let the frustration set in.

From what I see, this is the author's first book and, unfortunately, it shows. There is a solid story somewhere in there. In fact, there are several solid stories that could have been several solid books. Unfortunately, the execution is a bit lacking.

As I mentioned, there is just too much stuff happening in this book. There are several serial killers and psychopaths running loose in this small town. There are nightmares galore. There is an old detective with his own secrets. There is a writer with his dark past and strange family history. There is a psychiatric asylum... It's like the author tried to throw everything on the wall and try to make it all stick. Well, it makes for a very dense story where not a single thread is given enough attention to matter. And because so much information is stuffed into the book, things happen very slowly, and we also don't have enough time to go deeper into each incident. As a result, I didn't particularly care for any of the mares running around the little town and killing off people, or about the writer's story, or really about the detective's either. There is just too much happening to concentrate on.

My other issue is that there is not action in this book. Which, I realize, contradicts my previous statement that there is too much happening. Yes, things are happening, people are being murdered in horrible ways... but it's all done "offscreen" so to say. Our protagonists either arrive at the crime scene after the fact or discuss it after the fact, or have flashbacks to some other plot point after the fact, etc. Do you see the trend there? Everything is given us through dialogues and flashbacks. In fact, I think the only time the characters are actually in the thick of the action is at the very end of the book when the mares come home. But even then, a lot of the action is told by the protagonists who arrive after the fact to discover the bloody aftermath and cooling bodies. Well, this might work for a little bit, but when the whole book is written in this manner, it just gets boring. There is not tension, no suspense, and there is no feeling that the characters are in clear and present danger... which is the whole point of a horror book, no? This story would have been a lot more impactful, if the author had cut out at least half of the flashbacks and put us into the action instead of having the characters retell that action to each other over a glass of bourbon afterwards. 

And finally, I'm not sure what the police procedures are in small towns, but I am positive that revealing the name of a suspect in a conversation with another suspect is illegal. Especially if that suspect is married to a reporter. Same with discussing the details of an ongoing investigation with a civilian which might or might not be tied to the killings. Yet the detectives in this story do it several times. And not only the detectives. In fact, it seems like doctor patient confidentiality, or the confidentiality of a confession are non-existent in this book as soon as it's convenient to the plot to break them.

And honestly, the least said about that ending, the better. It feels like the author tried to tie all the loose ends from all the different stories they started in this book, and didn't quite manage that. It was dense, jumbled, and quite unsatisfactory.

I would however say that the author has potential. I finished this book in three days, despite all my misgivings, after all. If they continue writing and honing their craft, I'm sure future books will be much better.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the premise of the book, a horror author whose books are literally the things of nightmares and come horrifyingly true. For the most part it was competently written and had some surprising shockers right from the start. Things were a bit on the fantastical side as people, including the police and a priest, quickly came to accept that what seemed like all too human perpetrators were committing violent acts were in fact more likely to be supernatural acts. Unfortunately, the longer the book went on, the more complicated the plot became, and while it all eventually tied together, it just became tedious to get through. The mysterious nature of the first half of the book was exceedingly better than the complex solutions in the second half.

The Nightmare Man is a creepy and scary little story set in the Blackwood Mansion.

Ben Bookman (!) is a bestselling writer and stayed the weekend in the mansion he inherited to finish his latest book, The Scarecrow. The whole experience was a blur to him and he is surprised to learn that events are happening that mirror his story. As murders continue, Ben becomes the prime suspect. He has no choice but to return to the mansion to recreate the weekend and try and discover what transpired. If you like SCARY and CREEPY, well written and original horror tales or just want to stay up all night in fear, The Nightmare Man is for you!
#Crookedlanebooks #TheNightmareMan #JHMarkert

THE NIGHTMARE MAN
by J.H. MARKERT

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book !


Excellent chiller !!

The Nightmare Man is a slick horror novel about a writer, Ben Bookman, whose tales of terror are coming true in his small town of New Haven. Neighbors quickly realize that much of Bookman's new novel are strongly connected to real life horror that took place in a now abandoned insane asylum owned by an ancestor of the Bookman family.

Great read, truly terrifying.

Although The Nightmare Man has a very original storyline, I just couldn't stay interested. The cheesy character names really put me off the storyline, I suspect had they been more realistic I'd have enjoyed it more. However, I think this will have an audience. I loved the creepiness overall. I'll be sharing the cover and release date in the Books of Horror reader group repeatedly and on my Bookstagram @AprilsBookishLife without my review, to try to get the book publicity. My actual review is available on Goodreads, in my "Reading Now" stories and after publication on Amazon. Thanks again.

This is the perfect story for those who want to be scared. Prepare to have nightmares after reading this chilling tale.