Title: Downpour
Author: Christopher Hawkins
Genre: Horror

"𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕪."

A single dark cloud appears over a remote farmhouse in rural Illinois, like an entity with a mind of its own, roiling and swirling and bringing in a fierce and implacable rain.

Everything it touches starts to change. Metal turns to rust, people become violent. As the rain seeps into the cracks of his childhood home and leaks begin to form, a father must race against time to protect his family.

'Downpour' is a horror that takes its time, building a sense of unease and dread slowly and deliberately, like steady drops of rain. As the threat of danger moves closer and the family home begins to crumble, the already isolated setting grows smaller and smaller.

One thing I consistently love about Christopher Hawkins' writing is that it feels like CLASSIC horror. Foreboding, dismal, tragic... but real. Much like the short stories featured in his anthology 'Suburban Monsters' (which I absolutely loved), 'Downpour' is set in a rural town and sheds light on the horrors lurking within suburbia. The last half had me in so much suspense and I was STRESSED! The ending... just wow. My heart. If 'suburban horror' is a sub-genre, Hawkins is the king.

I'm so thankful to Coronis Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC and to Christopher Hawkins for sending me a physical copy. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this debut novel and absolutely loved it! I definitely recommend reading this on a rainy night or with some rain sound effects going.

Some of my favorite horror movies and novels begin in a similar fashion to Downpour; the characters going about their daily routines and then something quite innocuous becomes horrific and ultimately threatening.

Scott, his wife Dana, their children Jacob and Tallie and their dog Wilbur live in a dilapidated farmhouse in Illinois. Inherited from Scott’s father-along with the incredible amount of personal trauma he inflicted upon his son-their home and a few small remaining acres of land are all that remain of a once larger property.

Scott and Dana are struggling both with themselves and with each other, as her recent marital infidelity has upturned their relationship and only added to Scott’s feelings of failure and anger.

But on a seemingly normal day, all their lives are changed with the appearance of an unusual cloud that makes Scott uneasy. Once the rain begins and things start to change, he realizes the precarious situation his family is in and does the best that he can to protect them. But with rain falling all around them, mutating animals and humans alike and swiftly destroying their home, is a safe location even a real possibility?

The unease and tension created by Downpour is gripping and uncomfortable. From details relating to the plot and the increasing danger that comes from the rain to the characters reacting to their situation and their personal fears and uncertainties, the feeling of dread throughout the novel is almost constant.

Scott tries to do what he can, but he is ill-equipped to deal with an already outlandish situation and his frustration and despair as things become more and more insurmountable are relatable. Once the book hit its conclusion, I felt as though I had been hit by a ton of bricks. The ending was not wholly unexpected, yet I still was-perhaps foolishly-hoping for a different resolution.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Christopher Hawkins for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Have you ever gotten a splinter from a rotten old bench or fence post? That's what this book is like, in the best possible way. Downpour tells the story of Scott, a man who was trapped in a rotting farmhouse with his family even before the rain started eating away at the shingles and boards or changing the living things unlucky enough to be caught outside in it. I read this one straight though. It's a relentless slow burn that I didn't want to put down.

The concept of this book kind of made me think of an A24 film and so I was incredibly excited. The execution wasn't bad, but I felt as if quite a few things were repeated and some moments and characters fell flat for me.

This started quite boring, progressed boring, and ended boring tbh. The premise was nice, and while I was waiting for something eyciting to happen.. it was very meh in my opinion.

DNF @ 50%
I was really looking forward to reading this book, the premise sounded very intresting. and seemed like something I would end up enjoying. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The story started off good within the first 20% or so, but I quickly got very bored. It was really slow moving and wasn't progressing much at all. at the 50% mark the story felt like it was still in its beginning stage. Nothing had happened that made me want to keep reading, I wasn't invested in the story. This just wasn't it for me personally.

This was my first book from this author, the writing itself was good so I'm intresting to read something else from this author in the future.

Thanks to netgalley for sharing a digital copy for me to read and review, as always, opinions are my own 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻

This was a short, dark, and well done piece of horror. Set during an insidious storm, we get a snapshot of one imperfect family battling their demons, one another, and a toxic weather event.

I despised the wife, hoped bad things would happen to her, but she certainly wasn't written to be a sympathetic character. So, that's not a criticism.

While dark, the book doesn't entirely extinguish hope, but it takes you to mostly bleak places. TW: Animal Harm.

i'm so, so sorry. i really wanted to love this one. read an anthology by hawkins and really enjoyed it, was great, fresh, and the author had his own voice and a great capability to twist the plot and surprise you.

here... i found none of that. this is a short story that got stretched not by adding snything new but by repeating itself countless times, senteces, paragraphs repetead that did nothing to the pacing of the story. instead it reveleaded the authors incapacity to tell something.
read every singleplot point in king's book (the mist, cujo, cell), and i can forgive that but there are things that are just a copy (the cut paragraphs with a single word that is a thought, for example: that's a KING thing. he does that in every novel. why would you do the exact same? in the same manner and grammar and everything?).

i could have been a good short story. nothing new, but nothing bad. now it's just a copy, stretched, and with some serious need of editing. sorry. SORRY I REALLY WANTED TO LOVE THIS ONE.

Thank you to NetGalley and Christopher Hawkins for this ARC!

4 out of 5 Stars.

I'm only taking a star off because for about 30 minutes I was just as confused as everyone else in the book.

This was a proper slow burn horror, though it did start off with some coy horror moments there at the beginning, it still was pretty slow to get into things. I found myself too focused on why the main couple were fighting and what she'd done to deserve to be treated like he was treating her.

I almost forgot what I was reading. Almost.

Downpour kept me so rivetted that I forgot I was supposed to cook dinner.

I read this from cover to end in a single sitting, yes, dinner waited.

I've always loved a good biological horror, chemicals and toxic substances the rain always makes for a good realistic horror story, especially with Global Warming and Earth's ecology in a constant statis of change. How can we not be afraid for possible polutants to change our once habitable planet into something inhabitable for us.

This came off as those clouds being some sort for extra terrestrial planet maker, aka a machine to change our planet into something better for alien life. We talk about Terraforming as if it's something that won;t happen. Maybe we won't create it, but there's someone out there that will.

I highly recommend this, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

The book itself is easy to read and I didn't find any noticable plotholes which is lovely.

Worth the read.

This book is so eerie. Storylines like this tend to make me uneasy and I love it. I pretty much finished the book in a day.

My only hangups were that I wish the characters had more depth and their interactions (particularly the married couple) hadn't been so redundant.

Other than that, this is a solid read that kept me hooked from start to finish.

3.5/5 stars

I dare you to read this on a cold, rainy fall day.

Downpour takes place in rural Illinois, during what seems to be a regular rainstorm. Or is it?

My number 1 question throughout this book never got answered: What is up with the rain and why is it turning people and animals? I wish it did get answered, but for a short horror novel, it still gave me the Chills.

It feels like this book took place over a much longer time frame, but in actuality, the whole book is 4 or 5 something hours in their world.

I enjoyed reading this book. At times it did feel a bit repetitive but it does feel like the narrator is unreliable. Hence the repetitiveness. Overall, this was a good read for that chilly, rainy day that keeps you inside this fall.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Downpour by Christopher Hawkins is a multi-layered horror novel that deftly weaves elements of a number of sub-genres into a story that REALLY gave me the creeps.

It's difficult to review this one, as I believe different readers will take different things away from the experience. It's the kind of story that you really want to talk about but don't want to risk inadvertently spoiling, if that makes sense.

I will say that Downpour had me glued from the get-go. There are some shocking scenes that may disturb some readers, but the overall sense of dread and paranoia in these pages draws one in. And, personally, I found the ending absolutely terrifying and perfect. I'm STILL thinking about it, days later. ☺

***Thanks to Christopher Hawkins and NetGalley for the digital arc.

This has a bit of a slow start but eventually picked up. I found it oppressive and bleak but that was the point of this horror/dystopian/thriller read. Scott was a god main character and I really felt desperate for him and his struggles! Fast paced towards an interesting ending.

Rain that changes people, turning them violent, is not something new. This book tweaks the cliche by setting the book in a single house with one family, as they try to survive as best they can. They're isolated, they don't have much information to help, and the author adds another twist about the rain that makes staying indoors not necessarily a permanent option.

All these factors are great ingredients for a suspenseful story. Except, I found the suspense the author attempted to build up from outside source information lacking. It wasn't that well described and it didn't have the character reaction I was hoping for. There was no sense of dread with the information, though it did shape the behaviour of Scott, the main character and narrator. Also, I get that the author wanted to keep details about the rain at a minimum, maybe to drive discussion between readers, but I think this story needed a bit more detail. At the very least, theories would have been nice. The unknown can be terrifying, but I didn't feel terrified by this unknown. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's because while in the house, it all felt too safe for our characters. Danger from the outside was minimal, and there was no sense of urgency from the characters to act.

What I did like is the character development, albeit some parts felt repetitive. The characters were mostly spot on. I thought the reactions and snap acceptance from the 4 year old girl, Tallie, sometimes felt too forced. Scott, as a narrator, is interesting because his thoughts and actions make you wonder if he's acting in the best interests of his family or himself. He's haunted by his past. To be honest, he often felt more haunted by his past than the situation before him. Another reason why the book lacked gripping atmosphere.

What I thought was questionable in the book is Scott gets rain on himself and on a cut on his hand, but he seems okay. That didn't gel with me, especially when the book is all about not allowing one drop of rain to get on your skin. The second is one of the plot twists at the end. For one, I'm not a big fan of stacking multiple twists at the end of a story. Secondly, I wonder if the twist could have been moved earlier into the story somehow, so something could have been developed in the story more. It's a shocking revelation, but felt quite pointless considering it then has no impact on the story.

There is a charm to this book, and the writing style worked for me. It is atmospheric to a point. I think it needed something more to really drive home the atmosphere. Maybe a sense of urgency for Scott and his family would have helped.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley from providing a free copy of this book for an honest review. All comments are my own.

Downpour was a 3 star read for me and felt like it was depressing overall but I did think it was a decent read. The author did a good job writing this and was a fast paced read but I do feel like there should have been a trigger warning for the animal harm/death. This book also had an interesting ending as well and the author did a good job keeping the book suspenseful. I would still suggest this book to horror fans as the author did a great job with the horror aspect of this book. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC read in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my god! This book reminds me of why I read Horror. The atmosphere and the tension is what I miss most in my recent Horror reads.

The style of this book, the slow building of tension, the consequences of actions, the fear and the edge of your seat moments is what I love about this book. The way it meshes different horror sub genres - cosmic, post apocalyptic, sci fi is incredible.

Massive Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Remember in The Mist when....everything just started to fall apart and you just didn't know how things would end?

Yeah, it's kind of like that.

Scott lives in his childhood home, with his wife and two children. The home is falling apart, he's sold all of the land surrounding it to a neighbor, and he's struggling to make a living. His wife has recently betrayed him and he's stuck. Stuck by the memories of his life in that house, stuck by the pressure of having a family.

One day, the gray cloud appears and starts to spread. With it comes a strange rain, one that eats away at surfaces and turns animals and people into monsters. Scott must save his family from this rain and from the outside before it's too late.

MY GOD. The end. THE END. I don't think I blinked for the last two chapters. Christopher Hawkins knows how to pull at the heartstrings and bring a sense of dread and horror all at the same time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately this was one I couldn’t finish but my review is based on what I did read.

Fun premise (killer rain!) that caught my attention at a time when I was looking for rainy books. Characters were a typical 2.4 American family, and it had that small town feel I’ve liked in my recent reading.

I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to truly enjoy it though. It wasn’t terribly written and the plot is interesting but I found some of the progression of the main characters to happen too quickly - conflicts being resolved over a chapter or two and odd descriptions (a beloved family pet rapidly becomes “a beast”). This put me off and I decided to leave it for now. I may come back to it at another point as like I say, the concept is interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The story was very quick to read and atmospheric. The horror is very well crafted throughout the story and I spent an enjoyable time reading it. Overall, a good story with solid plot.

Once I started Downpour, I couldn't put it down. The pacing was great and the challenges the main character, Scott, had to face in order to protect his family from the horrifying changes occurring outside his home were anxiety-inducing, to say the least. I also found the subtext of the story about the power of childhood trauma to shape one's entire life, and how frightening it can be to let go of that trauma in order to move forward when the future is uncertain, to be very moving. All around, this is a fantastic, quick read that I enjoyed very much. Thank you, NetGalley, Coronis Publishing, and Christopher Hawkins for the opportunity to read and review the advanced reader copy of this book.