It's always refreshing when I find stories that center flawed characters with less-than-perfect backgrounds. So much of horror rests on perfect families and perfect people with perfect lives as a contrast to the horrors they face in the book, but The Lower Power departs from that template and forges a new path. Ms. Miller does an excellent job of presenting imperfect but multifaceted characters who must rely on one another as well as their inner resilience to withdstand the temptation of backsliding into old vices and destruction.

I also have a profound appreciation for Ms. Miller's sympathetic of the early-90s drug epidemic. As someone who remembers the biased, wall-to-wall media coverage during those days, there wasn't much understanding or patience for people struggling with drug addiction, so reading this healed a small part of my younger self who never understood why no one was helping these people with their problems.

This was very well-written, and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Miller.

if this book doesn't put addicts off drugs then nothing will, scary with a hint of witchcraft. couldn't put it down wondering who would die next, really good book

An intriguing and gripping story, I loved the characters and can't wait to read more by this author.

I think I stumbled across this one after lamenting I wanted a really scary story to read, and Miller offered her upcoming take on the 90s hardcore drug culture in the US, with a bit of the supernatural thrown in the mix.

I must admit, I’m very vanilla when it comes to drug culture, and this one was a real eye opener for me as you follow a series of characters all affected by drugs - some in recovery and holding steady, and others not so. The main voice you have is Raven, who’s trying to go into law and I really liked her determination to achieve a better life for her, but there’s always that pull, the struggle of a former addict.

This one had serious ‘The Stand’ vibes for me, particularly with BG and his godlike status amongst his junkies, and supernatural powers - very Randall Flagg-esque. It was really unsettling as our characters all zero in on BG’s base of operations and the effect it has on them.

Parts of this aren’t easy to read - Miller doesn’t hold back with the detail of the trauma that addicts have endured to get them at this point, and society’s treatment of them. It’s graphic, it’s grim and down right nasty. I would have liked more detail on the characters that we follow - there’s a lot so it was hard to connect with them.

5 stars, absolutely outstanding!
You know how for several years, every book with a woman in it was touted as "the next Gone Girl!!!" but it turned out the books were totally unrelated and usually not even good?
This book is the next "The Stand" and it totally, totally is. And The Stand is one of my very favorite books in the whole world.

I was worried about reading this book - I had seen the author on Threads, asking people to review her book. I didn't know the author, and I don't read much horror these days, but something made me request it from NetGalley. In the past, when random unknown authors ask for a review, it almost never goes well. This one was different. 5 stars, no doubt about it.

This is The Stand rewritten with a new drug in New York instead of the flu, and an evil presence who could be Randall Flagg reborn. There is a large group of random characters and you learn to really care about all of them. There are very strong female characters. The story moves along at a nice pace (I flew through this in 24 hours, I didn't want to put it down), the dialogue is real and with only a couple moments of exposition. The locations and action are vividly written and read like an action packed thriller/horror film. You are brought into dreams you will wish you never shared. Characters you care about will die. When a new character is revealed at the very end, it brought tears to my eyes.

Is it as good as The Stand? Well, I dunno, The Stand is a pretty high bar and also the original. But The Lower Power knows what it is talking about and it also moves along at a constant fast pace, instead of the long slow sections that plague The Stand. To be clear, it is also not a copy of The Stand, it stands as its own original book with just strong Stand vibes. If Randall Flagg was rebirthed in 1992, this would be his next story.

I loved it.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I honestly loved this and am now super excited about my TBR list for 2024.

2.5 stars rounded to 3. Intrigued by the synopsis for this book, I went ahead and asked for an ARC. It seemed to have everything: sci-fi elements, supernatural horrors, all told in style set in an older version of New York City. I did finish the book, but I hadn't realized how hard it would be to deal with the issues of the drug epidemic; I found it a bit too much, all points of view (and there are a lot!) always coming back to it, to the point that nothing else seemed to matter as much. I slowly realized that the author wanted to make a point about the treatment of addicts today rather than tell a story; once the point's made (and it is made, lots of times!), the story felt repetitive and simplistic.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for this amazing book. I am blown away at how good this book was and how much I liked it. As someone who knows New York so well I loved how I could really imagine being there and how accurate locations and routes were. I have never read a book like this before so it was a little out of my comfort zone but I am so impressed with how this book pulled me in from the start. Kind of like the characters in the book. This book was so descriptive to the point it was playing out like a movie in my head. What an amazing book to end my year on. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this author and what else she releases. As dark and gritty as this book was, she did dark and gritty to perfection.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This eerie crime thriller follows Raven and others in her support group in a time where addiction has taken over New York.

Raven has been clean for a while, but lately she has been having vivid dreams of a creepy and mysterious man trying to bring her back to a place she no longer wishes to be.

Soon, she is not alone and the pull to a notorious street is becoming stronger, but with the police even turning a blind eye the group wonder how they will beat their struggles.

Who is this mysterious man? Does he have the power of control?

This eerie crime thriller is different and does keep you guessing whether there is a supernatural element to the mysterious man, which leaves you with a creepy feeling.

There are a few gruesome moments, but this adds to the tension and the fear of all the characters.

Overall, an eerie crime thriller where New York is being controlled by a mysterious power.

The Lower Power by Michele W. Miller was a phenomenal horror story.
I thoroughly enjoyed and was hooked for the entirety of this story and can only commend the author on writing an excellent book.
A riveting, fast-paced thriller. Miller hooks you from the start, taking you on a dark and twisted journey.

Thank You NetGalley and HOW Club Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I read this book in two sittings. Once I started I didn't want to stop. The book moves fast, very fast. I wanted to know what going to happen next, but didn't want it end.

The pages pulsated with both anguish and recovery. Ms. Miller is aptly able to describe the horrible grip of addiction but also the hope of living towards and within recovery.
I look forward to her next novel.

I requested The Lower Power as I loved how gritty the blurb sounded – a sci-fi style epic set in New York City and centring around the drug epidemic.

Although I seem to be in the minority with my review, I really couldn’t get into The Lower Power and found myself struggling to keep engaged with it. I even put it down completely to pick up a different book at one point. I persisted but I’m not really sure it was worth getting to the end. Part of my problem with this book was the vast amount of points of view that we switched between for chapters. Some characters only had one chapter and it just made the book confusing. It was hard to remember who was who, and it also stopped you from properly engaging with the main characters and the people who were most important to the plot.

The story was interesting and I felt that it had a lot to say about how we treat addicts as a society, but it felt like it dragged a lot in places. The plot is quite simplistic if you list it out and I felt like there was too much filler and a lot of it felt repetitive. I didn’t really feel like the ending actually addressed anything and it wrapped up a little too easily with no real explanation. The cliff-hanger ending felt cliched and disappointing.

Overall, The Lower Power was not for me, with an unnecessary amount of narrators and a simplistic plot. Thank you to NetGalley & Victory Editing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was absolutely blown away by this book. The best horror book I've read this year! Weaving addiction, which is its own kind of horror, into a horror story was brilliant. I can't wait to read more by Michele Miller!

This book is a tough read, but in the best way. It deals with a nihilistic, cynical and drug-fuelled world, where hope is a distant light on an unreachable horizon, and nobody can be trusted.

I felt myself being dragged down to sit with the characters - and then run with them as the story ramped up and the fears became less real-world (which were bad enough) and more otherworldly. Or perhaps just another level of madness?

Intense and engrossing.

The Lower Power by Michele W Miller Book Review

Set primarily in early 1990s New York City, The Lower Power – a brilliantly evocative contribution to the horror genre – casts a group of recovering addicts and their allies against a vile and terrifying yet awesomely compelling crack dealer whose powers extend into the supernatural realm. The novel capably embraces the era, touching on the Reagan administration’s glib “Just Say No” to drugs advocacy, and giving presidential candidate Bill Clinton a mention.

As if the horrors of crack or heroin addiction are not harrowing enough, the novel's antagonist, BG, can manipulate both those dependent on his drugs as well as the reformed addicts eager to stay clean, through their dreamscapes and various hallucinatory experiences – whether drug-induced trips or even more alarming fully sober delusions.

While showcasing some excellent horror, the work is also a subtle social and societal critique. The novel conveys how key figures in law enforcement can choose to keep crack dens open or to shut them down. With various characters embedded within the courts and public service systems – either professionally or because of their criminality – there is a sense that in order for people to be given a fair chance at redemption and, indeed, for justice to be meted out to those who warrant it, the conventional methods must sometimes be bypassed. Particularly true in a milieu where drug addicts are front-and-center, what makes this novel more engaging still is its supernatural aspect, played out against an at-times corrupt and at-times incredulous professional class. Main character Raven, for one, is both frustrated by the dismissive nature of a psychiatrist when it comes to the dreams she experiences and becomes a target of murderous police officers keen to do BG’s bidding.

The Lower Power by Michele W Miller is a brilliant, informed, and tensely realistic work of horror fiction. Get it today!

Oooh this chilled me deep down to the bones. An excellent social horror set during the crack epidemic in NYC. Great characters, I wish we had more reasoning behind the main villains choices but hey. Still really enjoyed this one. It would make a great film.

This book was fast paced and tense! It kept me hooked and gave me shivers which not a lot of books do!

From the first sentence you're pulled into an icy dark world of suspense thrumming with terror. Miller flings her unsuspecting characters through shock and panic until they come to realize they are battling a mysterious force that has the ultimate power to destroy them. It scared the heck out of me but I couldn't put it down! Loved it!

A powerhouse of a thriller that entertains, while at the same time digging deep into the horrors of drug addiction and compassionately illuminating the hope that can fight it. Miller personifies the disease of addiction in a man of unimaginable evil, who can possess his victims though sheer will and their disease, even those in recovery, who he seems to enjoy targeting the most. He returns them to the days when they were their own worst enemy. Days of despair and degradation. But he underestimates the power of their fellowship and their unconditional love for one another. The book is hard to put down, and when you do, you are immediately compelled to pick it up again. But not only is it a great thriller, it also informs on a deeper level about the scourge of addiction and what we can do to fight it. I highly recommend this novel that will make you think twice before you dismiss out of hand the the next addict you see in the street.

I could not put this book down-- read it cover to cover, ignored all my responsibilities for the day! It is fabulous, terrifying, CRINGEWORTHY, BINGEWORTHY!!!! OMG!

A group of recovering addicts an an intrepid reporter get caught up in a supernatural onslaught when an otherworldly force besieges 1992 New York with a new drug.
This is a well written and fast paced thrill ride that’s too much fun. Highly recommended!!