Few things give me the heebie jeebies quite like descriptions of bugs crawling in and out of orifices. However, as gross as this book sometimes got—and believe me, as a body horror it definitely went there—I just could not put it down.
As someone who has suffered loss and never really “got over it,” as they say, I understand the depictions and manifestations that A Mask of Flies presents. How grief can be a selfish presence, haunting you and destroying all manner of peace and comfort you may find. To have that then given fictional flesh and present as a live monster within the narrative itself, only to hunt down and force the protagonist, Anne, to confront the trauma of her past feels both symbolic and cruel—but at the same time cathartic. A Mask of Flies is not a story you will relate to. You will not find yourself in the morally grey characters, or feel any sense of achievement at solving the mystery before the conclusion resolves. Yet, the sense of determination and spite it invokes in the face of death definitely feels universal. And as unlikeable as Anne sometimes is, you will be cheering for her by book’s end.
Personally, as a horror I really loved how visceral and dirty this story was. The plot didn’t feel methodic, and the haphazard way in which it was structured perfectly reflected the frenzied mood of the characters. This added to the ambience of the overall narrative in a really interesting way I found particularly effective. As such, I think A Mask of Flies has definitely slotted itself in amongst my favourite horror novels I have ever read. Five stars, and one hundred percent a recommended read in my opinion.

A non-sensical plot, a rather stupid main character and too many pages does not equal a good book for me. Matthew Lyons tends to rewrite the same plot over and over, peppering in new subplots. Sadly, each new version of the story doesn't improve the plot.

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

At turns brutal and poignant, A Mask of Flies is one of the best horror books I've read this year. It's an exploration of monsters, both human and otherwise, that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.

Anne Heller has never known peace, not since the night of her mother's death when she was 6 years old. Now, she's on the run with a cop as her hostage, after a bank robbery gone very wrong. But the police are not the only ones in pursuit, and danger is lurking around every corner.

There's a little something for every reader in this book. It's an in-depth look at the way grief can shape you, but it never feels like a slog. It's got plenty of guts and it's seriously spooky. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the review copy.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

This book felt like it dragged for me. A lot of extra content that seemed added on, it almost became a slog. Wordy and often left with questions. Characters had weird actions they did sometimes that didn’t make sense and I feel like I was left with a lot of plot holes. This book didn’t keep my attention too well.

Matthew Lyons has written a tight, terrifying horror/thriller (holler? I’ll workshop it).

A botched robbery forces career criminal Anne Heller and companions to flee, and the only place she can think of to go is her childhood home – which she and her mother fled one night with tragic conse-quences. This choice leads her and her companions to dig into just why she and her mother had to flee and what her mother was running from.

I loved this book. The horror and thriller aspects are perfectly balanced and the plot moves at break-neck speed. (Although I think I need to stop reading horror set in rural areas, now that I’ve moved back to a rural area.)

Absolutely recommend this to older teens and up.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

In a contest of "who writes violence the best," Matthew Lyons might have the greatest chance at winning. A Mask of Flies is an incredibly violent book, beautifully written and punctuated with graphic prose. It's a total gorefest.

But Lyons doesn't write just with an effort to disturb. Far from it, many of his characters feel indelibly human (except for the ones that very much aren't), with full lives and aspirations and nuances to their depictions--which makes all the violence hit that much harder. There are a couple of beats in this story that truly took my breath away, a testament to Lyons' ability to keep me invested in the story. Saying more would spoil the experience, I think, so all I'll say is that the book never really feels safe.

While the book's violence may be its most salient feature, it isn't the only thing the book has to say. There's also an overarching contemplation on power, both systemic and social, about how corruptive power can become and how destructive even one selfish person can be. The book is about the source of real kindness in opposition to performative niceness, about how kindness and hope remain interrelated in spite of the seeming opposite.

All in all, A Mask of Flies was a nailbiter from start to finish, all gas and few brakes. It's a highly entertaining read that delivers as many kicks to the head as it does punches to the gut. Can't wait to see what Lyons does next.

A huge thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the eARC!

Establishing an exciting tempo from page one, A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyon is a genre blend of the darker sides of life defined by pain, violence, and grief. Anne is a felon, one who has taken part in a bank robbery gone sideways. In an effort to lay low, she flees to her dead mother’s cabin, a place best remembered by the violent demise Anne witnessed there. With one cop taken hostage and a friend she’s trying to save in her party, Anne unearths more than she could fathom in this cabin in the woods. The result is a boldly bloody venture into criminal enterprises, repressed family memories, and the struggle to see another day.

A Mask of Flies is a horror crime novel that’s best thought of as a marathon rather than a sprint. At 448 pages long, Lyons proves that this is an endurance exercise, showcasing gnarly body horror, unthinkable gore that leaves you wincing, and vivid imagery of pain, both emotional and physical. The breakneck pace established at the novel’s outset is hard to maintain, and rightfully so. It’s hard to top the adrenaline of a high-stakes bank heist gone wrong that results in unwanted hostages and festering gunshot wounds. This intensity ebbs and flows, resulting in mixed speeds of pacing but delivering intense bouts of action and sheer horror.

Lyon’s “monster” bares its sharp teeth repeatedly with an insatiable hunger for Anne, feeling rather symbolic of her forgotten childhood. Of course, the air of mystery surrounding this being and its unrelenting warpath of violence works quite well to build suspense. Yes, there are cops and felons abound in this story, but the matter that deserves investigation is Anne herself. We meet a slew of characters along the way that help to shed light on the fog of her past. Yet, each newcomer provides the opportunity for more death and more bloodshed as this thing carves its way through the shambles of Anne’s life. This novel reads like a Tarantino movie mixed with a healthy dose of The Evil Dead and maybe a guest star appearance by Jim Jones?

With this many moving parts, there is more than enough room for this story to lose its way. And while some parts read much faster than others, Anne’s grit and tenacity keep things grounded enough to ensure our investment. Remember this being a marathon and not a sprint? Lyons balances the propulsive nature of violence and action to explore the wounds of Anne’s past, accelerating her character growth and development. You can’t help but root for this beaten and battered felon who refuses to stay down in the midst of all this mess.

A Mask of Flies combines the gritty compulsiveness of a crime thriller with the chilling, horrifying imaginings of horror to deliver an entertaining, expansive tale. Anne’s character complexities keep this wild novel from spinning too far out of control in the mix of multiple conflicts and plot lines. It’s a busy novel that Matthew Lyons writes with a great emphasis on gory detail and violence displaying visceral terrors. This is a solid novel, through and through, one that just may leave you breathless.

4.5 stars.

Oof, this one started off with a bang. It gave me Terminator and The Thing vibes, and would have made a kick ass movie. It was thrilling, gory and gritty, nonstop action with a high body count. Full of blood, guts, and body parts, like Kill Bill and Ready or Not. It had a motley crew of dynamic characters. Especially STRONG, badass, female characters. It had me rooting for the criminal. It ended up being a little long winded, but it was an enthralling mix of Crime Thriller and Eldritch Horror, with twists and turns galore. And, there was a cat. 😻

Thank you Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for the e-arc!

🪰𝑨 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 🪰 by Matthew Lyons
Genre: Horror
Pub date: August 6, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book has:
* Shapeshifter
* Cult
* True crime/ bank heist
* Forest/ mountains setting

The first 50% of the book started super strong and I absolutely loved mixed of true crime genre and paranormal activities and creepy monsters. This story has great writing and a strong plot which carries through the whole book. But for some reason, I liked the first half of the book more than a second 👀. Anne, the main character, has amazingly strong stamina, she keeps her cool throughout all story!!

Overall it’s a solid horror read and perfect for people who also love bank heist stories.

Thank you so much @tornightfire for the gifted copy!! #tornightfire #tornightfirebooks #amaskofflies #horrorbooks

I was kind of iffy on this book when I first started reading it and then I couldn't put it down. I am so grateful to have gotten this ARC. I also have heard so many good things about this. Thank you Netgalley

This book has pretty much everything I love: OTT gore, creepy supernatural beings, crime and badass female leads! Oh, and I can’t forget the cute cat! The book immediately jumps into the action with the protagonist Annie as a young girl being woken up in the middle of the night by her frantic mother - they need to escape their secluded cabin immediately. As they are leaving, Annie sees what looks like a shadow figure with long black hair following them…

This book contained so many thrilling elements and the plot was well thought out. Not only does it have supernatural horror, it’s also about members of a gang and has exciting shootout scenes. If you love gore, this is definitely a book I would recommend as blood isn’t shed only by guns, but also by the hands of the supernatural shapeshifter, an entity that haunts Annie and wears people’s faces as a masks.

Thank you to netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! ✨

This should definitely be made into a movie— it's equal parts creepy and action-packed! This was a unique story and I loved the main character, Anne! It does get gory at times, just a heads up to anyone that's sensitive to that.

I feel like, in horror, male authors often struggle to write women who feel authentic. A Mask of Flies was delightful proof that some authors truly do understand we're humans, just as wonderful and terrible and complicated as all the rest. From the opening page we're drawn into the story, hearts racing as Anne Heller and her mother escape a mysterious threat in the night. Some of the horror elements seem a little rote and by the book, but all in all the tight action sequences and strong character choices make for a satisfying read.

Thank you so much to Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire | NetGalley for this ARC of A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons. All opinions are my own.
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This book started off really great for me, but then about 40% in it started feeling convoluted and scattered. The plot was very unique, and there is a fantastic classic car involved (I love old cars) but I just couldn't connect to or care about any of the characters. I felt like this could of been a novella? The story seemed to ramp up, then climax at 40% - but then the author took us back in time to experience other parts of the main protagonist's life, then onto a whole new plotline.
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The story starts off with a bank robbery gone bad - and our main character Anne takes a cop named Dutch hostage. Somehow along the way Dutch decides that he's going to help Anne instead of go back to being a cop (because now that he's been taken by the bad people, the cops think he's a bad person too). He just felt like he didn't need to be in the story. Or maybe he needed to be developed more? I dunno.
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Overall I think the story was super unique, it just wasn't executed well. I'd like to read more of Matthew Lyons work to see if maybe this book is a one-off for me or if maybe I just have a hard time with his writing style? I'm curious because I've seen so many 5 star reviews of this book, it just didn't work for me.

3.5 rounded down to 3.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advanced copy of A Mask of Flies.

When a bank robbery goes wrong, Anne finds herself kidnapping a police officer and escaping to a cabin she lived in briefly as a child, before her mother's tragic demise. What she finds there is even more sinister than the usual situations she finds herself in, and she doesn't know if she will make it out alive.

I initially enjoyed this book. It was very fast-paced throughout, and there were some truly gnarly scenes of graphic body horror that were gross and terrifying. The supernatural elements were a fun touch, as well as the cult. Anne was a strong, morally gray character who I was rooting for and I really enjoyed her character arc. I also really enjoyed how she developed a friendship with Dutch over the course of the story.

However, at around 500 pages this was a bit much to get through. It felt like there was almost too much going on, and after awhile the action scenes felt repetitive. Anne and company are being chased, they get injured, tend their wounds, rinse and repeat. Other than Anne and her friendship with Dutch, most of the characters and their connections to Anne felt lacking. The romantic relationship between Gemma and Anne felt pointless to me. Gemma was cold and I honestly did not feel any type of romance or trust between her and Anne. It felt kind of forced and I just didn't care about them as a couple, or even friends. Maybe if Gemma had more of a backstory to explain her personality better, it could have worked more for me. Same with the cult aspect - I thought it was super interesting, but then everything was more about the action and less about building up that part of the story. Personally, if this was a duology I think the plot and character development could have been executed better. The ending was also kind of predictable and anti-climactic for me.

Overall it was entertaining, with some crazy body horror. Anne was a badass and honestly, I feel like this would make a fun action/horror film, based on the amount of violence and supernatural moments.

I am so grateful to have received A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons as an ARC via NetGalley.

The book kicks off right in the middle of a bank robbery gone wrong. Anne, who has had a troubled past, gets away with her injured partner and takes a cop hostage. With nowhere left to go, she returns to a place she never thought she'd visit again. A place that holds bad memories and dark secrets: her mother's cabin. Anne was young when she was there last, and her last memory of the place is fleeing in the middle of the night with her mother and getting in a deadly car accident.

But going back was a mistake. Something inhuman begins stalking Anne. And it will do everything in its power to get what it wants.

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the movie The Thing! Also if you're a fan of bank heists and crime fiction this book is right up your alley.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I loved Anne's character.
Even though she didn't make the best life choices, I liked her.
She felt real and fleshed out.

I also really enjoyed the plot. After the cabin I wasn't sure where this book was going to go, so l was definitely surprised by the direction it went. My biggest complaint with this book is it felt too long. By the halfway point the scare of the monster began to lose its effect. I kept expecting it to show up at any given time.

It almost felt like this book was trying to tackle too much at times.

But I will say when the monster first comes into play it was
CREEPY. I would not want to see that thing in a dark alley. I do not know how Anne kept her cool.

This book comes out August 6th and is published by Tor Nightfire. Be sure to check this one out!

I don't have any major complaints; the writing is great, the characters are well-developed, even the ones not on page much, and there are a ton of interesting elements. That may be where I started to fall off the caring wagon. By 50% so much has happened and none of it seems to be connected more than just being a plot stepping stone. The Jeesup arc was underwhelming, the cop’s attitude change felt convenient, and Gem just gets thrown in. Also, why are we negotiating with the enemy when they have no clue where you are?

Maybe that's my issue: everything just felt super convenient to move the story forward 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was so hooked the first half. And then the second half lost me. It dragged on and on and on. Not gonna lie I skimmed the last few chapters. It could have been a lot shorter. I’m rating higher though because the first half was so good!

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.

Anne Heller is on the run. Everything about the day has gone anything but according to plan. Her latest bank heist has left her partner badly wounded and not only that she now has a police officer as a hostage. With options running out she can only think of one place to go, her families secluded cabin. The cabin isn’t your typical warm and cozy place, no this cabin is filled with secrets and bad memories. Memories like the untimely death of her mother. The longer Anne spends in the old shack the more unnerving things become as strange relics are unearthed. For now the cops aren’t the only ones chasing her so to are the secrets and monsters of her past.

A Mask of Flies was a perfect book for the start of spooky summer reading. The blend of action with the bank heist and the hauntingly eerie location of the cabin had me fully invested in this supernatural story. This book really needs to be read on a summer night with the windows open. The pacing consistently maintained its fast pace which had me jumping as I turned page after page. The author does a wonderful job of making you feel like you are in the characters shoes which really addd to the scare factor for me. Speaking of the characters Anne as a MC was very compelling and resourceful. While she definitely would be someone I consider morally grey she still manages to be a very relatable individual with layers, she may do bad things but that doesn’t mean that she likes doing them. Her motivations are based in survival as she has lived her whole life in a constant fight or flight state which started at a very young age. Fair warning this book does have some gore but it also does have some heartfelt moments as well.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and recommend it if you are looking for a read that has action, hidden religious cults, a badass FMC, supernatural monsters, and horror all while still having the elements of a crime thriller.

A Mask of Flies comes out August 6th, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, wow. A Mask of Flies far exceeded my expectations. It was so good! Captivating from beginning to end and impressively flew by for a horror book that’s almost 450 pages. It’s actually crazy how much I came to love our villainous bank-robbing lead, Anne Heller. This book took so many twists and turns (I foolishly went into this one thinking what would end up being just part one was the entire book’s plot). Extremely action-packed, think supernatural crime caper. And it’s so brutal! Lots of gruesome kill scenes and a really creative book with strong King vibes. This book is the very definition of anxiety inducing because I spent the entire time on the edge of my seat and I loved every second of it.

Overall, highly recommend to all my fellow horror lovers! This is sure to be a treat for anyone who loves bad ass heroines who are more bad than good, LBGTQIA+ characters, animal companion done right, and childhood trauma coming back to haunt you.