Thank you to Canelo & Netgalley for granting me access to this arc.

“Those woods are haunted by the devil himself…A man walks in there, he stands a chance of being touched by the devil. And that man, he goes sour. His mind rots”

What a ride. My second read from Ronald Malfi . Having ‘Come with Me’ as one of my all-time favourites, I had high expectations. I was not let down.
I won’t rehash the plot as the synopsis explains it all. I will say though, I felt unsettled the entire time. Imagine being on a dark street with only the cracks of stars for lighting, the chill of a winters night, and the layers of silence that echo along with the song of your heart beating in your ears. You keep moving forward but all the while, you can’t escape the nagging dread that something sinister lurks where you can’t see, and it’s all a matter of time. It doesn’t matter how long you hold your breath or how many times you glance over your shoulder, the terror remains rooted. That is exactly how my reading experience of this one went. There wasn’t a second when I felt safe within these pages.
This story had many elements that I have seen used in other stories, but I have never seen them crafted with such perfection: an isolated and cold town set on the edge of earth, dark shadowy forests bordered with standing crosses, a withdrawn community that exists on secrets and deceit, a blurring of reality, a journey for redemption, with a dash of religion.
This may sound familiar, but trust me, when seasoned with Malfi’s writing, nothing comes close. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but the scene is set up perfectly. A simmering unease and just when you think you know where you are, you find yourself lost. Just like our protagonist, you quickly learn that you can’t trust anyone. Not even yourself.

The way this book was written was full of suspense. It had all the winter's themes, it was creepy and just very well written. My issues with this book is that I feel like many things weren’t cleared up and towards the end it did feel quite rushed. I didn’t get many of the answers I was hoping for, but overall, it was decent. Not the best but it was good

This is my third book by Ronald Malfi and I think it's fair to say that my experience has been mixed. The first book, Black Mouth was amazing. A tense slice of coming-of-age Americana with gorgeous writing - perfect descriptions and compelling characters with a great plot. Then I read December Park which was a plodding, overwritten slow burn of a book that just fizzled out at the end.
Bone White sits somewhere between those two. The writing is exceptional. I love his descriptions. The man has a talent for drawing vivid pictures in my mind. He's like a more concise Stephen King.
But the pacing of this is absolutely glacial. I have to admit that I almost gave up around the 75% Mark because nothing really had happened at all. Lots of the main character wandering around in a creepy town, trying and failing to get answers from surly locals. The setting was great. The atmosphere building was good. But at some point, something needs to happen.
And,.to be fair, the last act does step things up, and shit does infact go down. It felt a little rushed, if I'm honest, and the ending had been pretty thoroughly telegraphed from around a third of the way through, but it was satisfying enough. Maybe I was just relieved that we got an actual proper ending.
So, I continue to have a mixed relationship with Ronald Malfi's books. I am in awe of his writing ability. His storytelling style, however, is another matter entirely.

The cold and isolated setting is very well conveyed as the creeping dread of the story builds. Resolution is not quick to come, however, so I began to feel a bit of the frustration of the main character waiting for answers. I did find the story satisfying in the end, though, and was never tempted to give up on it.

<I>Paul's twin brother last checked in from Dread's Hand, Alaska. His rental car was found but there's been no sight of him for over a year. Now, a local man has confessed to eight murders and leads the police to their graves.

Convinced his brother must be one of the victims, Paul travels to the remote town to get some closure. What he finds instead are recalcitrant locals, bleak landscapes, and more questions than answers.

The devil prowls in the surrounding wilderness, so they say, and, with Dread's Hand's history of disappearances and troubles, it just might be true.</i>
<b>ARC Review from Canelo</b>

I keep hearing about Ronald Malfi, so when the opportunity came to read ‘Bone White’ I leaped at it.
I’m a big fan of horror, but perhaps a bit too exacting.
I’m from the school of thought that ‘what you can’t see is way more terrifying than the obvious’. So I’m not a fan of horror that is too spelled out for its readers. Let’s go for unease and dread rather than the whole devil incarnate schtick!

Bone White has a great deal going for it, in my eyes, from the get-go.
A near-abandoned old mining settlement in the wilds of Alaska. Identical Twins with an uncanny psychic connection. Loner from the woods on an apparently random serial-killing spree. Small town creepy inhabitants who won’t talk to outsiders. Detective from a slightly bigger town working with the one-man local ‘Safety Officer’. And of course - the forest where the locals refuse to set foot in which has been the setting for the murders as well as decades of creepy folklore and strange tales.
So far so good! So, PLEASE, don’t tip the scales and turn into a full-blown demonic farce …

Obviously there is much mention of dark and evil forces, of changelings and madness. And the actual Devil. Hmmm…
BUT, although Ronald Malfi goes ‘there’, I was happy and relieved in that he took a more meandering path to ‘there’, so I wasn’t left rolling my eyes and feeling cheated.
Scary? Not terrifyingly so. But creepy and clever, so I’ll take that.

Joe Mallory walks into a diner & informs the patrons he has killed a number of people & they’re to call the local law. Paul Gallo hears about the arrest & bodies on the news, spurring him to Dread’s Hand in hopes of finding his missing twin brother.

This is a tense & wonderfully atmospheric horror, The overwhelming tension of small town life & the encroaching woods in the stark Alaskan winter pull you into a story that is disturbing & beautiful. I really enjoyed this & will be picking up more by this author for sure.

4.5 stars rounded up

“Something wicked this way comes” Macbeth

“Local Man admits to murder of Unknown Victims in a remote Alaskan town” screams the US TV headlines. A dishevelled Joe Mallory wearing a suspiciously dark stained coat walks into Tabby White’s luncheonette which is astonishing in itself, as he hasn’t been seen for several years. Tabby is shaken to her core by what he tells all in the diner. Jill Ryerson of Major Crimes is duly summoned to the old mining town of Dread’s Hand and the search for bodies begins. Is one of the victims Paul Gallo’s twin brother, Danny? Paul travels to Alaska hoping for closure but finds himself embroiled in the mystery. Brace yourselves folks, buckle up and strap yourself in as this is Ronald Malfi at his horrifying best.

I think it’s fair to describe this author as the master of the creepy. The Alaskan location in and around Dread’s Hand is inspired, I mean, that name alone is enough to give you the heebies. Let’s add in folktales, legends and superstitions such as Bone-Walkers and if you are described as ‘white’ or ‘bone white’, the devil is inside you and evil personified. The location has an air that probably exists in ghost mining towns and this one gives Jill and Paul a real sense of claustrophobia, it feels disconcerting from the start, it’s cold, it’s winter, it’s dark and that matches the dark presences. This affects both of them although in different ways, exuding an atmosphere that enhances the horrifying, gruesome, hellish discoveries. It becomes beyond chilling, creepy and spooky and is deeply disturbing with locals that seem to fit right in, well, you’d skedaddle otherwise, wouldn’t you??

It’s extremely well written with dark imagery that springs up before your eyes and it’s tightly plotted so you just go with the evil flow. There’s a clever hallucinatory quality to the writing and so like Paul, you have no clue what’s real. It builds with a rising sense of dread and becomes one of those reads where you want to check under the bed, then hide under the covers and definitely leave the light on to illuminate those dark shadowy corners.

This is not just bone white, it’s bone chilling. I wonder what it says about me that I love it! It’s a really good dark, cold, January read in the UK. If you are a fan of horror then this book is one for you.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Canelo for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Dread’s Hand is a godforsaken place. A small town, set in the wilds of Alaska, the townsfolk are full of superstition and myths, with a total mistrust of all outsiders. When one of their own, Joe Mallory, walks into the local diner and confesses to the killing and burying of eight travellers, the town has no idea what the consequences will be.

Another first class story of horror and the supernatural from Malfi, who never disappoints. The suspense and characterisation are excellent and the story unfolds naturally and with great skill.

A great book, a definite recommendation.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo.

Ronald does it again. Another gripping read.i thoroughly enjoyed this one. He very rarely disappoints. Gradually little by little he's becoming my favourite author. I would heartily recommend him.