Anne Heller is a woman on the run. Currently, she is running from the scene of a botched bank robbery with all the money her crew managed to steal before everything went south. Along for the ride is a cop she tied up and stuffed in her trunk, a badly wounded friend bleeding out on the back seat, and a whole lot of anger at the debacle she's found herself in. While Anne expects to be running from the police and most of the remaining members of her heist crew (who she thinks have definitely betrayed her), what she couldn't have expected was to also be running from a living nightmare from her half-remembered past. As an unspeakable thing begins its own pursuit of Anne, she is forced to try and survive, uncover the mysteries of her own past, and dodge the consequences of her actions in the present in a violent and horror filled roller coaster of a story.

A near-perfect horror/thriller that delivers on scares, characters, and story. Not to be missed!

**2.5-stars rounded up**

After a failed bank heist, Anne Hiller is forced to go on the run, along with her wounded partner, Jessup, and the policeman she has taken hostage. Anne goes to the closest place she can think of where they can safely take refuge, her family's abandoned cabin. This place should hold a lot of memories for Anne, but her entire childhood is hazy at best. She does remember that the cabin was the site of her mother's untimely death though.

As she waits for help from other members of her crew, Anne ends up discovering some old relics of her mother's. Could these items help her piece together the missing bits of her past. She'd love some closure. Her mission to delve into the past is interrupted when the injured Jessup goes missing. They end up finding his dead body. They decide to bury him, thinking that'll be the end, but when the dead man returns, knocking at the door in the night, they realize, this is only the beginning.

A Mask of Flies is the third book that I've read from Matthew Lyons. On paper, this should have worked really well for me. A Horror-Crime Thriller blend with people returning from the dead and a woman on the run for her life. What's not to love about that?

Sadly, this didn't end up being a good fit for me. I've enjoyed both of the other novels I've read from this author, but this ended up being a miss for me. I never became fully invested. Anne was very meh, as were the characters surrounding her. The only person who ever really interested me was Dutch, just because of the circumstances he found himself in, but it still wasn't enough for me to actually feel truly engaged with his plight.

With this being said, it's not all negative. The writing is great and the ideas are solid. It just failed to capture my attention. That doesn't mean it won't work for others, however, including you, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt. I did read this directly after reading Blood Like Mine, another new release Crime Horror novel that I absolutely loved. Perhaps reading them back-to-back was detrimental to my experience with this one. It disappointed in comparison.

I will also say, Lyons creates his landscapes really well. I've noticed this throughout his work that I've read. I can always picture these beautifully-stark landscapes the characters travel through. This one, as with A Black and Endless Sky, gave me slight Desperation mixed with Revival vibes, which I even mentioned in my review for that previous novel. There's something very Fundamentalist Religious group meets Tak about all this. IYKYK. At the end of the day, even though this wasn't the most fun experience for me, I still believe Matthew Lyons is one heck of a writer. He takes risks and is creative with his storylines. I'm definitely planning to pick up whatever he writes next.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. There's a book for every Reader and a Reader for every book. Just because this wasn't great for me personally, doesn't mean it won't be amazing for you.

Tor Nightfire provided an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anne is a career criminal, executing perfect heists with her small group of accomplices. Until a bank job gone bad changes everything.

"A Mask of Flies" is a unique gore-horror meets crime-thriller that's perfect for any reader willing to dip their toes into an action-packed, bloody thrilling journey. Anne must make a break for it after a sideways heist and learns that things very much are not what they seem, and that her past has come to haunt her whether she remembers or not. Supernatural horror elements unfold as the story progresses that leave the reader wondering what could possibly come next. Lyon's writes "A Mask Of Flies" with such a strong sense of place, that the reader is immersed in the valley of Colorado in all it's beauty and horror. Each character is written with a depth that comes without too much exposition, which allows the reader to focus on the action (and gore, lots and lots of gore) while still getting to know the characters.

The clear distinction between crime-thriller elements and horror story beats sometimes felt disjointed in such a way that it felt like reading two separate stories .Only in the end did the two marry into any sort of harmony that didn't leave the reader with whiplash. At times, it felt like Lyons was doing too much with the plot - crime group on the run, supernatural elements, and a cult. Take away one of these things and it would have greatly contributed to the likelihood of the other two here. While the action never felt too "Mission Impossible" style unrealistic,, but this story did require some suspension of disbelief that they wouldn't have been leading the cops right to them at every turn.

Ultimately, this book is a 3.5 for me . A solid action packed adventure with an immersive and atmospheric setting, and elements of supernatural horror that make me shudder long after I closed the book.

Mask of Flies is definitely one of the Horrors of the year. It has an excellent back story and thrilling action scenes. Anne, a career criminal, is caught up in a bank heist gone south. Throughout the story she is running from her fellow criminals, the cops, and a mysterious desert monster that inhabit the bodies of the deceased around her and it comes to attack her wherever she goes. The Mask of Flies leaves you tormented with the thought of there being no where to go and nowhere to hide. I felt anxiety from beginning to end.

This is a thrilling and non-stop action novel that reads like a fast paced screenplay. The characters are complex and multi layered. The plot is original and gory in the best way. I could not put it down.

A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

Release Date: Available Now
Genre: Crime-Horror

Content Warnings: body horror, extreme violence

Themes: LGBTQIA+, Death Cults, Crimes, Supernatural, Cosmic Horror

My Thoughts: An EPIC fast-paced crime horror that I could not put down! There were so many different elements to this story but they all worked so well together. I love a good bank heist AND CULTS!! I have not read such an action packed horror novel before and I was legitimately terrified of the cosmic monster. Lyons attention to detail really made this story feel cinematic. I fell in love with the protagonist who has so much depth to her character, she felt real and relatable in her thoughts. I think this book has something for everyone that enjoys horror.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Net Galley and Tor Nightfire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was insane in the best way! Lyons has crafted a tale that is bloody and visceral and creepy-crawly. I really loved it!

To start I REALLY liked the audio for this. This narrator is fantastic and her cadence and tone are perfect for this type of book. I was hooked right away. The first 20-25% was an ultimate banger.

My only criticism of this book is that it felt there were a LOT of plots - and sometimes it took the focus away from the main storyline. You've got a heist/bank robbery, running and hiding from the cops, a... cult? Flies? Dead people coming back? I think maybe cutting out some of the side stories would have kept me more engaged. This is a very long book for what it is, so I think some of that could have been chopped.

There were a few extra creepy and ick moments perfect for horror lovers, but this is more of a suspense book than horror. I loved the writing style and definitely will read more by this author, because I think this is a one-off for me.

This is a horror story that just didn't work for me. It was action packed with a busy narrative. I have liked another book by this author, but this one didn't work as well for me. I feel like the execution was lacking resulting in a narrative that did come together in a satisfying way.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Unfortunately this book just did not work for me. It took a weird turn around 30% and honestly lost my interest. It was a DNF a little over halfway. Just a bit too much going on.

A failed bank heist, shapeshifters, cults, and monsters from our past all come together in this story about a woman who must confront her dark family secrets and the demons of her past. After a failed bank heist career criminal Anne finds herself retreating to her family's cabin... also known as the place where her mother died. Along with her are Jessup, Anne's wounded parter and Dutch, the police offier she's taken hostage. Things begin to unravel as Anne finds her mother's items and Jessup goes missing.... only to return at the end of the night... but he isn't exactly himself... he's something hungrier. This started off really fun but lost me in the middle. I genuinely love horror books but I found myself getting a bit disassociated while reading and losing interest as the story went on. I really didn't care all that much for the characters and felt like the story was dragging on and on. Honestly it was a miss for me. I could see this book being for someone else but it just missed the mark for me.

Release Date: August 6,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

First off, the main character was one badass female…. I’m in!

You should hold on tight as you are thrown right in from the start, there’s no easing you into this

It starts of with Anne as a child, woken during the night to a scary/horrible sound and her mother frantically getting her out of their cabin to leave, then things go terribly wrong. Fast forward to present day and Anne is involved in a bank robbery gone wrong and she retreats to her mothers abandoned cabin with her injured friend and hostage policeman and this is where all hell breaks loose, in the form of an u ready type shapeshifting forefeet of a thing

This was a delightful mix of crime thriller with supernatural horror and a sprinkling of body horror for good measure. Theres crazy cults and a touch of romance….. and we can’t ignore the cat Murph. Its constant, it literally feels like there is no break with the constant pace

I was feeling The Outsider by Stephen King vibes with this!

This was a long book , and with that, our undeady thing wasn’t as scary to me towards the end but I LOVED everything about this book!

I feel like this was two different books. The first half was fast paced, full of action, and had an.allurung supernatural hook, but once all the reveals were made the book continued to plod on for another few hundred pages. Anne is definitely hitting those morally gray protagonist check boxes, and it's great that she realizes she is often impulsive and prone to reacting emotionally but the sheer number of mind numbingly stupid decisions she makes eventually became a major sticking point for me. This is clearly plot rather than character driven, and we simply throw any logic out the window in favor of advancing a plot. I won't even discuss the police apologist aspects.

A Mask of Flies is a slow burn at first, but the action scenes that follow are relentless, plunging the characters into a pool of torment. Fans of It and Evil Dead will revel in Lyons’ gory prose and epic adventure.

Lyons’ character development stands out for its straightforward yet profound. A Mask of Flies presents characters barely clinging to hope, only to be mercilessly struck down when they seem most vulnerable. From the very beginning, we learn of Anne’s traumatic childhood—confused, scared, and alone—which sets her up for a fairly lonely adulthood where she trusts few and loves even fewer. However, she soon learns that she doesn’t have to face life alone, nor does she need to be scared alone. I loved how Lyons’ characters grow on one another despite their dark circumstances, making it easy to root for them. Even the novel’s minor characters left a lasting impression on me, and I felt that they each added to the ambitious narrative.

However, while I did find the fight scenes and visceral gore were thoroughly satisfying, the transition from crime to cult felt just a little sudden. The cult-horror elements were undeniably fascinating (and as a fan of cult-horror, I relished these parts), but an earlier introduction to the cult would have woven the threads more tightly together. Despite this, A Mask of Flies presents a gritty blend of crime and cult themes that injected a dark, unpredictable twist which kept the story brutally engaging.

Overall, A Mask of Flies is an epic journey not for the faint-hearted, truly living up to its blurb—”the past has teeth”—quite literally. This novel keeps you on edge from the first page, with unabated tension and bone-crunching twists. I can’t wait to see what spine-chilling work Lyons’ will put out next! Thank you to Tor Nightfire for sending over a review copy.

A Mask of Flies is fast-paced, gritty, and gory, and refuses to stick to one genre. It's an enjoyable read, but does run a little long.

This was a gruesome, very detailed, very descriptive story in the beginning. It leveled off in the middle. The second half was a lot slower. I wasn’t a fan of the paranormal, but is well written for someone who is.

Here is my review for mask of files by Matthew lyons thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review

Have you ever read a book that felt like it blew all its best material in the first half of the book?

Honestly, that’s what reading A Mask of Flies felt like for me. The first half of this book was an amazing thrill ride for me, full of smash, crash, bash, and slash; however, slightly after the halfway mark, the book slowed down so much it felt like the transmission had stalled and it started resemble a game of “Hurry Up and Wait” until the inevitable showdown, which was beyond predictable by the time it happened.

The beginning of this book is incredibly engaging, with a compelling hook and an intriguing protagonist. Anne Heller is an enigma to us, and she’s a badass. Everything’s gone south for her and she needs to lay low until she can regroup and figure a way out of it.

Of course things go south anyway. This is a horror novel.

The first half of this novel has tension, fast pacing, lots of action, great dialogue, a lot of terrific inner narrative, and some great story revelations that help to move the plot along. This is definitely more of a plot-forward book than character-forward. There’s a great amount of violence and even more body horror. Anne is not a nice person. Is she good? That’s a moral subjective. But she’s certainly not nice, and I love how so much of that comes through in her characterization in the first half of the book.

If all of that could’ve been carried through the back half of the book then this book would’ve been fantastic. Sadly, the momentum falters and never comes back, the vast majority of the revelations have already come and gone, and even the body horror seems rather tame by the end. I was ready for it to end well before it actually did. That’s never a good sign.

I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews three stars or under will not appear on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Body Horror/Cosmic Horror/Cult Horror/Horror/LGBTQ Horror/LGBTQ Fiction/Sapphic Romance

The book starts with a botched bank robbery. Anne Heller is driving towards the isolated cabin she once fled with her mother, an injured friend bleeding in the passenger seat of the Oldsmobile, a police officer in the trunk. She never wanted to return to that place, but in that moment it's the only option she can think of. The story is fast paced and full of violence...until it suddenly isn't. Things really slow down once Anne confronts the nightmares of her childhood and I found myself losing interest.

With the way this one started off, I knew I wouldn’t be getting any sleep. I couldn’t pull myself away from it. Straight from the start, there was so much action, blood, conflicts and then this creepy thing in the woods that wanted our main character. For me, A Mask of Flies was a quick read, I didn’t find any parts of it to lag or slow down and the blood and guts just kept coming. I was here for it. I don’t like the woods, day or night, so it definitely had the creep factor for me. I will say that I love a good heartbreak in my story, but one character made me really sad and I was mad about it. 😂 if you enjoy cult stories and things that creep in the woods, you need this one on your TBR. Thanks to Tor Nightfire for my eARC. A Mask of Flies is available today and is perfect to kick off spooky season with!