I loved this book so much and it was such a meta experience reading it in Door County. It reminded me a lot of Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines series, but in the best possible way. Great writing and great atmosphere and I even loved a little bit of gore!

In the vein of Stranger Things, the book combines horror and nostalgia, this time of the mid-90s. However, it is not set in the mid-90s. The characters choose to live in that flashback for reasons that are made clear about 3/4 of the way through. The book was well-written, but the basic premise was.really hard for me to accept, and there was way to much explanation needed to establish that far-fetched premise at that point in the book. It wasn't weird, eerie behavior like usually happens in horror. It was just odd. That's probably my biggest issue. The book just wasn't scary to me. This could have been more fun as an ironic, half comic, half horror fest. The pastor's and islander's behavior could have been funny in the right light.
Something that would have helped were dates in the chapter headers because many of the characters existed in multiples timelines and you had to figure it out as you read the chapter.

Urban legends, mysterious disappearances, and unexplained deaths are the backdrop for this creepy book.

After the death of her son, Willow Stone is set adrift. Nothing in her life makes sense anymore, until the day she finds the words "Clifford Island" scratched into her son's bedroom floor. Suddenly, Willow has a purpose again; to find out all she can about this enigmatic island and how her son came to know about it. Clifford Island itself seems quaint and cozy, but bizarrely resistant to progress. And the Islanders definitely don't like Willow asking too many questions, so she has to tread carefully. But just five weeks after she arrived on Clifford Island, Willow vanishes without a trace. Her estranged brother Harper only knows that Willow was living on Clifford, and so he goes to the island himself to investigate and try to find her. Only Harper may find more than he bargained for on Clifford Island.

I really enjoyed Dead Eleven, and it kept me guessing the entire time. Dripping with atmosphere and menace, Clifford Island is the creepiest vacation destination I've ever visited. The book is fairly fast paced and not overly gruesome. It's got a little something for every fan of horror and thrillers, though. Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Books for the chance to review this advance copy. Dead Eleven publishes 6/27/23.

Captivating read from the first chapter to the last. Such a riveting story of loss, mystery and why is the OJ Simpson car chase on every channel?? Sorry getting ahead of myself. Willow is a grieving mother who lost her child to a horrible accident. Strangely one night she finds two words written under his toy chest, Clifford Island. It’s one of several islands that were in existence but slowly the islands are disappearing. The story is from the brothers point of view, sister disappears after a tragic death, the husband takes off and she goes to the Island to see what it might have to do with her son. Her side of the story is relayed by unsent letters to her husband. It’s such an extreme read that you just can’t put it down and what I love is you are kept guessing to the end. I read where this is Mr. Juliano first novel and if we are very lucky it won’t be his last. Enjoyed to the last page.

"On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death - but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules...

Clifford Island. When Willow Stone finds these words written on the floor of her deceased son's bedroom, she's perplexed. She's never heard of it before, but soon learns it's a tiny island off Wisconsin's Door County peninsula, 200 miles from Willow's home. Why would her son write this on his floor? Determined to find answers, Willow sets out for the island.

After a few days on Clifford, Willow realizes: This place is not normal. Everyone seems to be stuck in a particular day in 1994: They wear outdated clothing, avoid modern technology, and, perhaps most mystifyingly, watch the OJ Simpson car chase every evening. When she asks questions, people are evasive, but she learns one thing: Close your curtains at night.

High schooler Lily Becker has lived on Clifford her entire life, and she is sick of the island's twisted mythology and adhering to the rules. She's been to the mainland, and everyone is normal there, so why is Clifford so weird? Lily is determined to prove that the islanders' beliefs are a sham. But are they?

Five weeks after Willow arrives on the island, she disappears. Willow's brother, Harper, comes to Clifford searching for his sister, and when he learns the truth - that this island is far more sinister than anyone could have imagined - he is determined to blow the whole thing open.

If he can get out alive...."

I spent every summer in Door County as a kid, my brother loves to talk about our trips, so for him, where is this island and when can he visit?

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “Dead Eleven” prior to publication. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

That 90s VHS c9ver is just amazing!

After Harper loses her husband and son, she goes off to Clifford Island to find some answers. But it does take long for her to go missing and its up to her brother to find her in this mysterious island.

I def recommend and it was an easy page turner.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC for a review..

Promising, but maybe better as a podcast or in some other format? DNF @ 28%.

I liked the premise of this a lot (shout out to northeastern Wisconsin haha), and the writing was decent, but the suspense is just building too slowly to keep my interest.

Longform horror writing can be difficult because you have to figure out how to consistently build suspense over a longer timeframe. If you’re writing a short story, or a podcast episode, (or a post on r/NoSleep, which is where this author apparently first found success,) you set the “normal” scene, build the suspense, hit the shocking twist, and then you’re pretty much done. In novels, on the other hand, I don’t think you can just build up to one shocking twist at the very end - if that’s what you’re doing, the audience just gets so bored by the scene-setting. Instead, the author typically needs to build in mini-scares or mini-twists throughout in order to keep the reader interested… and this author just didn’t pull this off imo.

I think the found-documents style may have been a poor choice as well, since every time to the story shifted I had to re-remember why I was invested in whoever in the current protagonist was, while the cliffhangers were never exciting enough that I wanted to keep reading the new found document/perspective so that I could find out what happened at the end of the last one.

I honestly wonder whether this wouldn’t be better in some other format, like a podcast. Frankly horror podcasts (Black Tapes/Tanis/Rabbits, Lore, Blackwood, The White Vault, VAST Horizon - just to name a few) can get a lot of mileage out of middle-of-the-road writing through sound design/sound effects and the episodic structure. (And here I will note that apparently this book is already in development at A+E Studios so maybe someone else had this same take about the episodic structure being better for this particular story haha.)

I could not put this book down. I read it in a weekend. It was very good and so mysterious. It was not a usual genre for me to read but I couldn't stop thinking about the characters, even after I was finished.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!
I saw someone else say this book gave off midnight mass vibes and I have to agree; I also really liked midnight mass so I naturally ended up really liking this book! I will agree that some parts moved a little slow for me but overall this was a really fun, creepy read! Love the cover too ☺️

Thank you to the Author, Netgalley, and the Dutton Publishing for this ARC of this book. I throughly enjoyed this book. An Isolated island with light cultly vibes... Count me in. It was fun to see that the island is stuck in the 90's, because honestly, Same. It was a fun ride and one, I'll most likely read again.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. An island where all of the inhabitants have to live like it is 1994...sign me up! I finished the book wanting to know what Clifford Island had in store next.

Thank you so much Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.
I requested this one based on the cover and just knew I’d love it. Such a good read!!

This weird and spooky story gives off Midnight Mass vibes! Something is going on on Clifford Island and one woman is trying to figure it out while she grieves her dead son. Then she disappears. Is it a ghost story, an x-file, a murder mystery? Yes.

I love reading r/nosleep stories; My bf and I read them to each other in the hopes of actually and hopefully scaring the other. One particular subgenre? trope? we enjoy are the stories that have rules that need to be followed lest something terrible should happen. I had absolutely no idea Dead Eleven was written by an aforementioned NoSleep writer, or that this book would be a much beloved "rules horror" story 🥰

I requested this book based almost entirely on that incredible cover. I'm a collector of horror VHS, and it was obviously quite fitting to the story - which I was also intrigued by.

I absolutely loved this book! It was honestly everything I look for in a book, and double that sentiment regarding horror. I loved the characters, especially Lily and Willow. I loved every 90's reference. I loved the creepy, sussy, isolated setting of Clifford Island. I've read so many books recently with multiple POV and time lines, to the point I was worried I was burnt out on the concept, but it was well-done here and easy to follow.

I vacillated between a 4 or 5 for this one, but ultimately decided on a 4 due to the (maybe) spoilery reasons listed below.

**Spoilers?**

If asked, my complaint would be the pacing of the story, it felt a bit slow at times because we're seeing the same days from several points of view. While I was enjoying the story, immensely, I found myself wishing it would move along. Now that could be entirely my fault for being impatient in wanting to know what happened to Willow. So perhaps my main complaint is that the ending felt far fetched in a silly way. The whole idea that they're this large network of people recruiting and surveilling, and with this far reaching power to keep tabs on people and have information scrubbed from the internet was a bit much. I really feel that detracted from the story. I love the idea that the Dead aren't the only monsters on that island, but Pastor Rita having that level of power felt cheesy imo. That being said, I've already recommended this book and would happily read another book from Jimmy Juliano.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly this book was a DNF for me. I just couldn’t get into the story at all. The pacing just felt so slow and just kept repeating the same information over and over. It wasn’t at all creepy to me. By the time I DNFed, I didn’t really care what was going to happen anymore. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

Willow is grieving the loss of her young son and when she finds the words Clifford Island written on her son's floor, she feels compelled to visit to see if there is a connection to her son. On the island, she notices everyone seems to be stuck in the mid 90's - fashion, technology, music and tv shows are all stuck there. As Willow meets people, she tries to find the connection to her son. 5 weeks after her arrival she disappears. Her brother Harper finds out where she went from her old neighbor and he too visits the island and is able to piece together the strange happenings quickly. The mystery of why the town lives in the 90's along with a few creepy sightings around the island made this an entertaining book.

I never connected with Dead Eleven. When reading the premise and the opening, I felt that Jimmy Juliana would hook me throughout with an offbeat, humorous but scary story of someone searching for a loved one and another trying to escape a cult like almost Stepford Wives scenario but that wasn’t the case.

Throughout, I never felt that the story capitalized on the setting, characters or setup to the best it could and Juliana, while crafting an interesting world, never is able to make it feel real or even dynamic. Many things I saw fell flat with such a great idea but Dead Eleven just never made it.

I measure the success of a horror novel in two ways, if I have to turn on the light at night or stop reading until it’s morning. Both for this novel. Truly spooky horror and not always the monster we see but the implied threats, the what could happens, the fear of the townspeople all combine to make this a first rate horror. The author knows how to build a scene, taking you up the roller coaster ride until you plummet down without a seat belt.
After the death of her son, Willow is drawn to the strange and secretive place of Clifford Island where she thinks she’ll find answers. She befriends local teen Lily who only wants to escape her island home, where everyone is stuck in a time loop of 94. I mean every house watches the OJ Simpson chase over and over, there is no internet or cell phones. But Willow disappears after five weeks leaving her brother Harper to try and find her.
Deliciously chilling and spooky.

OMG OMG OMG OMG!

I know it's just the start of the year, but I can easily say that this is one of my reads... and I'm going to go ahead and make that prediction now for the end of the year that this feeling will stay true, even then.

Okay, so, like, I am so thankful towards Jimmy Juliano, Dutton, and NetGalley for granting me early access to this 90s horror masterpiece... like yall, I don't re-read books. Still, I could SOOOOO see myself picking this one back up during spooky season for the vibes. A+++++++ on this one.

Willow has gone missing following the loss of her son and the estrangement of her husband. After these losses, she fled her hometown to start a blank slate on Clifford Island off the coast of Wisconsin. This simple, picturesque town is anything but ordinary, for all of its townsfolk seem to be stuck in the nineties. From their fashion sense to their taste in music, and oh forget about modern technology being a thing, Willow learns she's a long way from home and has a sense of normalcy.

Outside of the Cliffordites' odd behaviors, she begins to catch the sense that she's being watched and perhaps not just by a human presence, for one evening, she stumbles upon her dead son -- leading her to believe that she was led to this remote island for a reason. A wild sequence of events pops off going forward, that ultimately leads to her disappearance.

In the present day, Harper, Willow's older brother, has arrived on the island to search for his missing sister and slowly understands the mayhem that Clifford Island experiences daily. A town stuck in the nineties with virtually no explanation must guard some secrets and likely knows more than they're putting out about Willow's sudden departure.

Dead Eleven scratched all of my horror movie itches and is packed full of twist after twist, with unreliable characters and paranormal guests!