This was my first book by Gray, but I can safely say it won't be my last. I found Our Father's Burden to be a gripping, entertaining yet devastating read that I tore through over the course of two days.

The story concerns a group of childhood acquaintances, pushed together at the time by their father's friendship, and annual Thanksgiving camping & hunting trip in the Appalachians. After the last of their father's passes away, they honour their requests to get together as a group as adults and to go on that same traditional trip together again.

It's hard to say any more than that without spoiling anything, as the plot unfurls into different directions quickly, and it took me on a bit of a rollercoaster going in blind. If the synopsis appeals to you, I'd suggest you stop reading now and read the book with no preconceived notions - I truly don't think you'll regret it.

This novel deals with loftier ideas and themes than I maybe anticipated going in. Depression, dealing with a burden you can't properly process or handle, generational trauma, regret, self-loathing - all of these and more are implicitly or explicitly there, wrapped in a tense and creepy creature feature. I was thrilled when I realised where the story was going, and loved the monster descriptions throughout.

The aspect that really stood out to me on first read was the quality of the characterisation. Gray's writing gives them such depth and humanity, and despite a relatively large cast - the main group, all the fathers, law enforcement and others they meet on the way all have some level of focus put onto them - I always felt I knew who they were. There are likeable characters, flawed ones who you're rooting for to better themselves and turn their life around, and at least one I intensely disliked, yet no matter how I felt about them there was none that made me wish I could skip past them to the next chapter. It may be an obvious comparison, but it often felt King-esque in the way that I felt connected to a character during their childhood and as the adult they grew into, along with their family ties.

It's clear from the author's note at the end that there are a lot of things of great personal importance that have gone into the book, and I feel that he's more than done them justice. Our Father's Burden is available to pre-order now with a February 16th release date, and I strongly recommend you do so. Meanwhile, I'll be diving into Gray's other work as soon as possible.

Our father’s burden follows five men who set out on an annual camping trip after the recent passing of one of their fathers.

The deceased father left a note with instructions on where to go along with recorded tapes from the rest of the groups fathers that detail secrets that have been kept over many years. Unfortunately for them they don’t follow specific date instructions and set out a week later which is key to the plot and results in being a huge mistake.

What starts as a slow burn picks up pace when we are introduced to horror aspects including creepy creatures and deserted woodland settings.

There’s a lot of subtext to mental health related topics and the author definitely used a unique writing style. I feel some readers will eat this book up and others may dislike if for the same reason.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for an advanced copy!

A group of friends take their fathers’ annual camping trip after tragedy strikes.

Full of action and thrills, this is a great read for fans of creature horror. There was a lot in the background that built the story and led to a lot of guilt that the characters carry. I had a really hard time tracking who was who, and it was impossible for me to recall who was whose son. I would have done well with a character list, although in the end I guess it didn’t really matter.

“What secrets had his father kept? That all their fathers had kept.”

Our Fathers’ Burden comes out 2/16.

At first I wasn't sure this one was for me. Took a while to really start feeling it and wanting to continue. By the halfway point, I realized I couldn't stop reading it and I finished in one sitting. I would have loved to have a bit more depth on some of the characters but overall really liked the interactions and realizations as the night went on and the looks into how they grew and changed.

I really love the hook of this novel, five men going on the annual hunting trip after their fathers passing to learn more about the past is very intriguing. I also loved the creature in the woods aspect, this was the hook that held my attention and made me instantly want to read.

I had a hard time developing enough connect with the five men to care about their relationships with each other and some of their fathers. I think while some of these aspects could have enhanced the novel, for my preference this became a large hindrance to my enjoyment and detracted from the momentum and pacing of other parts. Parts of the personalities of the sons felt more of a tell than a show and for myself, some of the show moments didn't equate to what the characters thought about themselves or their actions.

Some of the choices in prose also were not to my taste, but I think that was more reader specific.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, William F. Gray and Wicked House Publishing for the eARC of Our Fathers’ Burden in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, William F. Gray and Wicked House Publishing for the eARC of Our Fathers’ Burden in exchange for an honest review.

Our Fathers Burden follows five men as they discover a secret their fathers kept for thirty years. In the wake of Harry’s father’s death, he finds a note with instructions for him and the sons of the other men to meet in the annual hunting grounds as a last request. Harry is also left tapes to open with the men all from their fathers explaining why they’ve kept the secret for so long. They’re told to go the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but they put it off until the Friday after, which ends up being the biggest mistake of their lives.

This book is an allegory for mental illness, while also being a spooky creature feature cabin in the woods setting, think Until Dawn but with a creature similar to Alien. This was a fast read, I flew straight through it.

I noted that other people have mentioned it’s hard to follow who’s who. Honestly I get it, five men and five fathers. I kept track in my notes however and it was easier for me to see the dynamics between them all that way. One thing I very much appreciate is how everything is written a certain way for a reason. It adds depth and the authors note really ties it all together.

Trigger warnings I gathered: depression, police violence, body horror, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, infidelity, suicide, dementia, child death


Our Fathers’ Burden comes out February 16,2024!

I couldn't put this book down. Great pacing, nice story turns, and engaging characters.

<I>Harry's father and his father's buddies have been going at a particular time to a particular place in the Appalachian mountains every year for decades. Each would bring their son along on the hunting trips but none of the boys kept up the tradition as they reached adulthood.

Now all the fathers have died within the same year and the notes they leave behind encourage their sons to reunite at the campsite one more time. Recorded messages have been left for each of them to listen to once they gather. Harry dreads what shameful secrets might be revealed by the audio tapes but he could never have expected the truth that comes to light.

Harry and his friends find themselves hunted by an unimaginable foe as each must face their own demons as they try to survive.</i>

<b>ARC review</b>

A little slow to start, it had enough intrigue with the tapes that I was curious about what may happen. The characters feel like real people, with real problems, and one ~generational~ problem that was a very unlucky thing to inherit. I'm glad I stuck with reading it despite the beginning, because (most) of the characters are ones you really start to feel attached to in the end and it DID make me cry to see what happened/what is happening for some of them.

I do love monster books and cabin in the woods books, so I recommend this to fellow horror lovers. There was plenty of action and gore to keep a reader engaged.
The problem I had was with the characters. There were lots of flashbacks to fill in their characters and I found it difficult to keep everyone straight, beyond some stereotypes. I also found the premise illogical overall. Still, I found the characters compelling enough that I cared about what happened to them, which is always a huge bonus in a horror novel.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Our Fathers' Burden is a terror in the woods type creature feature. If you like those you'll probably enjoy this one.
Five men who grew up taking part in an annual hunting trip with their fathers are reunited after the last living father kills himself and leaves behind a mysterious box of cassette tapes with a final wish that his son gather the other men together in the Appalachian Mountains to listen to them at their old hunting spot.

It's hard for me to review this without giving too much away so I will just say it touches on depression, grief, and deep dark secrets on top of the horror aspects. There's a lot going on and much to unpack in this book. Sometimes I lost track of who was who and which son belonged to which father or who was the most dysfunctional. The flashbacks didn't really help me get to know the fathers or sons any better. They seemed nearly interchangeable to the point that maybe one or two characters could have been eliminated from the story altogether.
All in all it is worth a read if you enjoy this type.

3 out of 5 stars

This was a very creepy novel that made me leave my light on. I enjoyed books by this author before, so I had high hopes for this one. Read if you enjoy spooky, small town narratives.

This horror book is one that plays mind tricks on you. Which in my opinion is ever scarier as your mind is a dangerous thing. Well, mine is anyways. Having read numerous books over many years, I have a very vivid imagination.

Harry, Dave, Bob, Lou, and Dennis's fathers all left them notes before they died that they should all travel back up the mountains for the annual trip and listen to the cassette tapes they left them.

I will tell you that the tapes were not played right away and that just added to my anticipation of what was on the tapes. I kept imagining all kinds of different confessions. Yet, I could never imagine the reality of the situation when it was revealed. I really enjoyed this book. It is worth the read.

Our Fathers’ Burden is about a group of men who continue the annual Thanksgiving hunting trip tradition after the sudden deaths of their fathers (most by suicide, the remaining from dementia a few months prior). We’re first introduced to Harry, whose father has left a note and a box of cassette tapes recorded by each father with explicit instructions to listen to only when they’ve arrived at the mountain and started the trip. What follows is a night of immediate chaos in the woods when the group of sons encounters a seemingly-unstoppable terrifying creature.

I have mixed feelings about the novel overall. I’ll start by saying the pacing was quick, which made for an easy read. The action started almost right away; we began with an introduction to Harry and some setup to why the sons were continuing their fathers’ hunting trip. We’re introduced to the additional characters after Harry gets up to the mountain: Dave, Bob, Lou, and Dennis - and the monster encounter is underway shortly after. My favorite was Bob, don’t ask me why; he reminded me of a handful of characters from horror movies who just do stupid shit but you root for them anyway.

What didn’t work for me was how “surface-level” the plot felt. Had this been a scary movie I could easily have been watching a group of guys fighting a monster and just been entertained; however, there was a lack of depth to the characters that made each one lack any real standout qualities. It definitely leaned more toward telling than showing; characteristics and past events were more of a laundry list instead of developed naturally through the plot.

In my opinion, other than showing up late in the beginning Lou and Dennis don’t feel necessary to the story - I would have loved to see more about Harry, Dave, and Bob, and the dynamic between those three. Also after having read the author’s note, I was surprised that he mentioned he was using the monster as a metaphor for depression, specifically for men/older men. Other than the beginning and perhaps a few moments sprinkled throughout, it never came across. I would definitely have loved to see that explored more as well - I love the idea of tying fictional monsters/demons to real ones and discussing how we do (or don’t) deal with them.

While this wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, it was entertaining overall and I can see others enjoying it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wicked House Publishing for the EArc in exchange for my honest review.

Wow what a ride and we jump deep into the crazy trip of camping like their fathers to see what they all were hiding from the sons. All 5 dads are dead and now want their sons to take on the burden they have dealt with year after year. The way the book bounced between present and past was a great way to connect the sons to the fathers and fill us in on the whys and hows.

The characters were well developed and the use of the monsters ability to use the humans fear to weaken them was a nice touch. The setting of the Appalachian was perfect because the mountains has many places where a creature could live and go unnoticed because of the lack of people in the area.

I didn’t like how the author used fuck in almost all of the dialogue between the men. Not because of the word it’s self but because there should have been a variety of words. Otherwise, it was well written and maybe he personally decided to do this to show that they were unhinged.

Thank you to NetGalley & Wicked House Publishing for the ARC in return for an honest review.

While this story had loads of potential I was overall unimpressed with the overall trajectory and outcome. I did very much enjoy the use of a cassette tape as a means of information/carrier of a secret though.

This book at the start reminded me a little of Blaine Daigle's The Broken Places however I feel that Blaine did it better.

I don't think that I will read more by this author.

"They'd known each other since they were kids. It's the kind of history you can't forget, no matter how far apart you might grow."

Gray has seriously impressed me with this story, and his previous book “The Devil Within Us All”.

This Appalachian horror story starts off strong and continues to thrill the reader till the very end. You’ll get more than enough blood and action, with desperate characters trying to survive a terrifying night in the wilderness.

The author does a great job explaining his thought process for creating the plot and characters at the end of the story- I appreciated this as I’m always curious about how aspects of the story came about.

All the characters were unique, some you loved, some you weren’t supposed to like, and some who were redeemed through their actions. My favourite actually ended up being Bob- he really seemed like he had true grit despite his life circumstances.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wicked House Publishing for a copy!

I received an ARC copy of our fathers burden by William f gray from netgalley !

I really enjoyed the premise of the book and how it started and ended .. but was not thrilled in the direction it went. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys a nice creature feature though.

Read in two sittings! It’s a real gripping tale that you don’t want to put down. The characters are rich and mostly empathetic (expect where they’re not really meant to be!), human—just real.

There was on issue that really didn’t have a satisfying answer, but it kind of doesn’t matter. Doesn’t really affect the book as a whole. Just leaves sort of a niggling “why though?” in the back of my head. You’ll have to read it to see if it bothers you, too!

I couldn’t stop reading this book. It was engaging and amazing. I loved the process.

We follow the story of men who go camping every year—but instead their sons have to live out their terrible legacy. Each son is left with a tape that explains the fathers’ secrets.

We have a lot of men to remember in this book. It got overwhelming at times, but the author made it work. Overall I didn’t get too confused. Gray has a gift for writing people, and I loved the character growth in this book. They each learned something by the end.

Some of my favorite chapters were of Sheriff Clark’s point of view. We got an insight into what happened, which heightened the thrill.

I don’t know about these fathers though. The author tried to explain it as best as he could, but my personality isn’t like these men. So their decisions didn’t make sense to me, but I’m all around a different person.

If you want a book that’s written well and makes you feel some of the terror and pain these characters felt, give it a try.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.

It all began in the summer of 1987…
A group of 5 fathers travel to the Appalachian Mountains every year around Thanksgiving. The mountains called and they go. As time goes on, each of the five fathers have sons around the same age. Eventually the sons grow tired of going & as life goes on, each of the fathers pass away from suicide, except one who passes away due to Alzheimer’s.
After Harry’s dad passes away, his mom gives him a box full of tapes for all of the boys. Five cassette tapes for five boys. Harry's father begs him to go to the Appalachians - before Thanksgiving, as tradition goes. Harry and his cop friend, Dave convince the others to go. As they all arrive & listen to the tapes, they realize the fathers kept a horrible secret from them. A flesh-eating monster that they’ve been feeding raw meat all of these years.
The theme that runs through this book is primarily about depression and anger. Depression of the sons whose dads died from suicide and anger at their inability to accept & forgive them as well as themselves. I definitely see a concept of the “Wendigo” in this tale, mixed with other monster-like characteristics. I enjoyed this a lot & am thankful for NetGalley and the author for letting me read and review this ARC.