Ebook/Horror: I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of this book in lieu of an honest review.
I really wanted to love this book, but it didn't work for me. I love Preston & Child books and this one is similar with science meets monster.

I knew I was in trouble when I opened this book up after two weeks of holidays and not only found I couldn't remember what was going on when I stopped on Christmas Eve with an hour left in the book, but I couldn't remember the plot, characters, or setting. After a few minutes, I remembered the morgue, movie star, and the metaphysical amulet. The last hour of reading was a struggle, so I'm giving it two stars since I could finish it.

If you need something to kill a few hours on a plane or the beach and you like horror, then this is a good choice. It's not a great book -- "The Desecrated" brings about as much depth to the table as a dinner plate -- but if you have a soft spot for un-serious tacky '80s horror with lots of schlock and characters that don't even pretend to be "real-life", this should be right up your alley. I thought it sagged a bit around the half-way mark (yes, we get it, Jennifer is hung up about small spaces and her dad; Trevor's a moron; Ulysses it so, so wise; and the morgue people are basically imbeciles with about one working brain cell between them), but all in all it was fun. To me, it read like an early aughts Preston/Child foray into horror territory.

Twenty year old Sabrina Shelby is still mourning her father.’s death. She works the night shift at theNew York City Mortuary Services. She works the night shift. When an English actor Trevor Purcell is arrested he is given community work to work with Sabrina. Sabrina likes working by herself so when Trevor starts working with her, she isn’t happy about it. Besides Trevor distracts her and unusual occurrences at the morgue and cemetery. Cadavers seem to move, ghosts appear, and eerie sounds recur. When more weir occurrences happened, Sabrina goes to her homeless friend Ulysses for support. Ulysses drops a mysterious amulet into a drain at the morgue. Is the amulet suppose to protect Sabrina or cause her harm?

The author has written a colorful cast of characters and the amulet’s effects are intriguing which I enjoyed reading. Trevor is a handsome movie star whose only interests are drinking and sex. It’s a compelling horror novel. It is a mix of horror and the supernatural. The story is fast-paced and full of action. The novel was unpredictable and unexpected. It is a well written novel with a surprise ending.

A dark thriller with goosebump moments.

Jennifer was a great character. Honest, caring, grieving, and suspecting she’s losing her mind; the perfect character for a dark thriller such as this. Trevor, a superstar, was a perfect foil to Jennifer with his oozing charm and his ability to never take anything seriously. Detective Marty Bell was a good cop who always tried to do the right thing. The rest of the characters were written well and helped to move the story along in a creepy kind of way.

What started out to be a scary story evolved into so much more. I loved how the author kept the reader on the hook as he leaned towards the supernatural and then back to a normal explanation as to what was happening. This book is for anyone who likes their thrillers with a hint of the supernatural and full of evil darkness that any human is capable of.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

The Desecrated
by John Gray
Horror

Once again a blurb is making the book more interesting than it really is.
Hauntings, maybe. Disappearing corpses, yes. A terrifying curse, not so much.

But Jennifer does work the graveyard shift at the NYC Morgue, for over a year, and she gets the quiet place to regroup after dropping out of college, medical school, which is why she gets the job. Oh, and there's something special about her......

But things start to go crazy after Trevor Pryce, a movie star, is ordered to serve his community service for drunk driving at the morgue, during the graveyard shift.

Jennifer, a nice girl, trying to get by after the death of her father, enjoys her quiet job at the morgue until Trevor arrives, then she starts to SEE things, and then she starts to SEE them in other places.

I was in the need of something different, something creepy and scary to read. This wasn't it.
This story seemed to be the typical creepy morgue dead bodies, and it tries to be, but just doesn't pull it off. And the 'monster', it wasn't monstrous enough. But there is a lot of gory graphic stuff so don't let anyone under sixteen read this.

Don't get me wrong, this was an ok story. Some of the characters were good, though a lot of them were left to the imagination, as was some of the other characters' backstory, though a couple of backstories were suddenly slammed into your face.

The ending was kind of brushed over, but there was a 'goody-goody' vibe.

2 Stars

The Descrated
by John Gray

Easy reading. Pretty creepy and filled with some gruesome scenes. I liked this book, slightly juvenile but still a fun and scary read.

This debut novel is a fantastic blend of the supernatural, personal demons, and dark humour. There's enough bloody scenes to satisfy the gorehounds yet it's most frightening moments are those that use the shadows, allowing our imaginations to run wild giving us the chills along the way. These are scattered throughout this book and makes for a tension filled read.

The interactions between characters is also a highlight. The back and forth between Jennifer and Trevor adds a certain levity in between the horrific moments and each one rings true to their different personalities. We also have Ulysses and Martin, both of whom play important roles as events unfold and secrets are revealed.

This book will have you reading well into the night and you'll be happily scared that you did once you've read the wild, fast paced, bloody end. I highly recommend this book!

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