Holy Ghost Road had several things about it that I liked, with some great suspenseful moments, an intriguing premise, and a main character I was routing for the whole time. However, the pacing at times was off for me, and there were some plot holes that I felt could have been handled better.

This story follows a teenager, Forest, who is trying to escape from her stepfather, who just so happens to worship the devil. The story is only told through Forest's point of view, and it would have been nice at times to perhaps get another POV. Overall though, I enjoyed this one and it certainly had some great creepy moments.

Religious Folk Horror With Heaps Of Heart!

When 15 year old Forest witnesses Pastor Nesmith praying to a horned demon in the family barn, she knows that she is in danger. She sets off on foot trying to cross 40 miles of wilderness to reach her grandmother, the only person with the power to help her. Alone, without money, a phone, or a car, she must learn to trust herself if she hopes to survive.

I loved this book. The characters are well developed, the back story is strong to support ongoing action, and the pacing keeps the story moving forward as Forest works to reach her grandmother. My chief complaint is the circuitous route that Forest takes as she works towards her goal. There are a couple of false starts and restarts that she makes, that perhaps could have been plotted out differently. But what secures this book is the heart that it contains.

The growth of Forest as she journeys, her relationships with those that she encounters along the way, and deep truths about life, faith, and magic that John incorporates into the climax and conclusion of this book are so well written. This is a book that teaches us a lot about the world that we live in. Highly recommended.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really was pleasantly surprised by this little horror book. It was fast paced, creepy, and the characters were well rounded and enjoyable. I was able to submerge myself completely in the story and it swept me away.

Wow, this was a really great tale about believing in yourself and the power of nature....loved the characters, the growth, and the plot. Steady pace and suspenseful.

A delightful Southern Gothic coming-of-age story with folky horror, demons and religion. It was beautifully written, a pleasure to read! Loved the characters and the story development.

An utterly delightful story that weaves magic, fantasy, and the poignant journey to adulthood of a young girl from the South.

With its enchanting Southern Gothic ambience, this book takes you on a thrilling rollercoaster of a read, ensured I remained perched at the very edge of my seat.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, that was quite a trip. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Well-paced and written thriller/horror story packed with action. I would say even coming of age in a way. Told entirely from one person’s perspective – mind, dreams and reality intertwine to a point where you start questioning what is what. There are interesting twists and turns and a great dark, chilling atmosphere throughout the book. A great quick read for the dark and rainy autumn evenings.

On the surface of things this is the story of a girl named Forest who is in very real danger from her stepfather, the kind of evil man who wears the mask of a religious leader to do his harm. Forest saw something that set her off running when she witnessed it in the barn near her house, she isn't quite sure what it was or what it means, but she knows it is imperative that she reaches the safety of her granny and the safety of her genuine spiritual strength to face it. There is, of course, a great deal more going on here than that, and it is the journey as much as the destination and it's ultimate confrontation that are the point.

I think there's something you'll need to understand about Appalachian storytelling and granny magic to grasp just how satisfying this book is, and not everyone is going to have that sense of things in their nature. I grew up with both things and I cant quite put into words how very personal and homey that feel is in a good story that gets it right like Holy Ghost Road genuinely does. It is a story, a good one, but it's also a way to teach and acknowledge a thing you already know but haven't accepted or maybe just don't see clearly until it comes into focus in your mind. I absolutely loved this one and intend to look into Mantooth's other works on the basis of it, I hope many others will too.

I finished reading this a week or so ago. It's stayed with me.

This has a wonderfully Southern Gothic feel to it. The author definitely placed me very firmly in his world and, dark and eerie as it was, I didn't want to leave.

I loved Forest and was so worried for her on her journey!

An excellent read that simply didn't let me come up for air

Read this if you like: Southern Gothic, rich, beautiful prose, coming-of-age with a demonic twist
Horror, religion, and folklore all meet on the Holy Ghost Road. Lingers long after the final page.

When she discovers Pastor Nesmith praying to a demonic entity in her family’s barn, Forest knows she must run. Enraged at the possibility of having his true allegiance exposed, Nesmith pursues Forest as she flees on foot, hoping to reach the one person who will believe her—her grandmother. Unfortunately, Granny is forty miles away, and Forest has no car, no phone, and no friends. To reach her, Forest will have to learn to see the world true, even as the demonic and the sacred wage war for her soul.”

Pretty good read! If you're a horror lover I'd definitely recommend!

The storyline was very interesting, it sucked me in and had me glued to my Kindle! Definitely don't miss out on this one! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

This was definitely a book, that I couldn't put down because so many things didn't make sense. My brain needed to know more before trying to unravel the mystery throughout this book.

I'm still at a loss as to how I feel about it. I wish there could have been more definitive answers about some things.

But in the end the book was somewhat satisfying to finish. But now I feel like I have way more questions than I started with.

A southern-fried good versus evil tale that is exciting and terrifying from the first page. Forest can dream walk. Some call it sleepwalking but she and her Granny know better. She is in the space between awake and dreaming. A place you can find the Holy Ghost or yourself if you know how and where to look. Forest is a character that you just don't root for. You walk beside her, you feel her fear, her desperation, her hope, and all you can do is cheer her on and pray she finds inside herself what she knows she knows.
Definitely one to read this year. recommended.
Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read the eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I received an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
For horror junkies, I would definitely recommend this book. My first read from John Mantooth and I will definitely be visiting more of his novels.

Publisher’s Description from Netgalley:
“Some roads are haunted by the past. Some by ghosts. Some are even haunted by demons. The one Forest must travel is haunted by all three.

When she discovers Pastor Nesmith praying to a demonic entity in her family’s barn, Forest knows she must run. Enraged at the possibility of having his true allegiance exposed, Nesmith pursues Forest as she flees on foot, hoping to reach the one person who will believe her—her grandmother. Unfortunately, Granny is forty miles away, and Forest has no car, no phone, and no friends. To reach her, Forest will have to learn to see the world true, even as the demonic and the sacred wage war for her soul.”

Genre(s):
General Fiction (Adults)
Horror
Mystery & Thrillers

The thing about this book is, well…several things.

1. I never got the feeling of this being a book for adults. The voice and tone scream “teen” or “new adult” and while that’s no means a set-back for the story or the characters, it grated on me. (I don’t review NA, teen, YA, etc. for that particular reason.)

2. I wanted to know a few things about Nesmith and his plans. Where did he come from? How does he lure in new followers? Is there no other church nearby that would provide an alternative to his near-to-Black-Mass? What exactly would he have done if he defeated Forest?

3. Similarly, was there something neurotypical about Elijah? I was getting vibes off his character that felt like he was on the spectrum (which is fine, but it felt unclear to me and I’d rather have solid representation).

4. DID Ben die in the Middle East? Or is that figurative speech, meaning the trauma began killing him out there?

My Favorites:

• This is an excellent portrayal of PTSD:
“He made it nine months. Nine months before getting shot and shipped back to us with a healed body, but a mind that couldn’t seem to start itself anymore. The ADD had somehow gotten worse. He lived in another world, a space world that didn’t coincide with the material one too often. He’d spend an hour or more in the morning trying to make it from his bed to bathroom, and afterward he’d wind up on the couch, just sitting and staring at the television. Half the time it wasn’t even turned on.  Months of this, and we only had one real talk. He told me something had finally grabbed his attention. It was something no book or test had ever been able to do.  “I keep seeing it,” he said.  “Seeing what?” I was scared to ask the question, but I was scared not to ask it too. “There was a bomb,” he said. “And these children.” He turned and his eyes focused on me for the first time in ages. “The children there are so sweet. Sometimes I would look at them and wonder how people could go from that to where I was, and then I’d wondered how I’d made that damn transition too. It’s like that’s what life is. Making the transition from something wonderful to something horrible. Some people can do it with dignity, but I don’t think I can.”

• The prose is often so beautiful, almost purple, but never crossing that line:
“Goddamn sky looks bare too, like some planet-eating monster scraped a great claw across it, took out the stars and the treetops, knocked the moon asunder, spun the world crooked.”

“Proof makes the world look different. The road, the trees, the smoke, and its signature in the sky. All of it takes on a stark, ghost-like quality, like an illusion, but illusions can hurt just as much as anything else.”

“A hand fell on my shoulder and something dark and wild ran across my body like fingers, with minds of their own.”

• The setting is perfectly realized. I know this town. I know this awful men. I know Forest’s family. But Mantooth builds it fresh again.

• Dealing directly with Christianity without imposing it upon you, like in this brief encounter with a man:
“It’s too dark to see him very well now. He’s just a shadow on the road, and for a moment I’m pretty sure he’s not real at all, but instead, he’s a messenger from God, or maybe he’s the Holy Ghost himself.”

• “He loved that thing –that gift she gave him– more than he loved her, and in the seconds before he pulls out her still beating heart, in the last seconds of her miserable life, I feel bad for her. That too, I realize, is the Holy Ghost, the most sacred magic there is in the world, the magic of empathy, even for those people who you understand the least…I’ve forgotten I’ve even been holding it. I open my palm just in time to see the tiny mouth of a swallow opening up to the dark sky of the barn. And just for a second, I understand. I see. No, I don’t just see, I see true. This is also the Holy Ghost. This birth, this sacred life in the face of so much profanity.”

There is an entirely realized sense of place and time here. Holy Ghost Road doesn’t lather on description, but shows snippets of the woods, the lake, barns (all the way down), and the people—those under Nesmith’s spell, those monsters like him, the trashy family Forest has on the island, and the dichotomy of those who help and those who hurt.

It’s not a unique town besides the magic within it, but it’s a very specific place that doesn’t feel like it’s one of four backdrops for school picture day.

Star deductions for:
• (Mostly) the feeling that I wasn’t reading a book for my age group.
• My lingering questions don’t feel like they should have gone unanswered.

Final Thoughts?
Still, I enjoyed it. It’s a page turner about fighting the evil without and within, and realizing that the stuff inside may be the hardest foe to grapple with. I’m not as enthusiastic as the authors who blurbed Holy Ghost Road, but it’s a solid, easy read that never wants to be put down.

Holy Ghost Road | John Mantooth
4 ⭐️

Pastor Nesmith is respected and worshiped by his whole town, but he hides a dark secret. When Forest discovers that her step father has ties with a demonic goat, she flees her home in an attempt to reach her Grandmothers house and reveal the dark truth of Nesmith’s power. The road is long and and the pastor will stop at nothing to silence Forest.

I absolutely loved the mood of this story. It has a southern gothic feel and great descriptions that allow you to immerse yourself into the magical and superstitious setting. It is a chase style thriller, and although it’s categorized as horror, the horror is mostly implied and not as present as you would expect.

The pace of the story was fine, and probably intentional so that you can relate to the characters as they attempt their slow and tedious journey.
The magic and scenarios can be unbelievable at times and I found some actions/choices repetitive or without explanation. I wish the ending was a little more climactic and not so abrupt, but still liked how it wrapped up.

I recommend this book if you like:
- Small Town, Southern settings
- Religious / Cult based plots
- Coming of age stories

Pub Date: December 20, 2022

Wow. This book was great. First time reading John Mantooth, but will definitely be watching out for him in the future. Can only give five stars, but this one was definitely was at least that. Great characters, great pacing, great story. #HolyGhostRoad #NetGalley

Unfortunately this story just wasn't for me. I picked it up several times over a period of several weeks. The story wasn't what I had anticipated it to be - I felt like it was running on the spot, narrative running on but the actual story was just running on the spot. Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This is a fun to read, scary coming of age horror story. Forrest sees the preacher convening with a demon and goes on the run to get to her grandmother. This story feels like a gothic read although there is a religious and cult like storyline. Great read. It's not your normal 'slap you in the face' horror. It's slow and tense. I enjoyed this a lot. It will definitely get a re-read in the future.