Mini Book Review: A Mask Of Flies by Matthew Lyons

Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for the arc copy. #amaskofflies

Format: Kindle
Genre: Horror
Length: 448 Pages

Thoughts: A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons is a crime/horror novel that definitely takes body horror to new levels. I enjoyed the slow rollout of information throughout the storyline. It added a great deal of suspense and tension. I enjoyed the characters for the most part, but I did find myself slightly at odds with Dutch's character. I never understood his motivations for the decisions he was making. I thought the entire circumstances surrounding his character was a little too self-serving for the plot line. But the rest of the characters were extremely interesting, I really liked the monster and supernatural aspect of the novel. However, it really did lose the creepiness factor once the cult was introduced and became more about religious fundamentalism than it did about horror. So unfortunately for me, the book was not as scary towards the middle and end as it was in the beginning. Overall, a solid horror novel that I would recommend to people maybe who are getting interested in horror and are looking for a beginners entryway.

Easily one of my favorite horrors that I know I won't stop thinking about for a LONG time. The vibes here consisted of Reservoir Dogs + Jim Jones + The Thing. This creepy, gross, action packed read kept me at the edge of my seat the entire way through. The cult vibes were simply irresistible and I keep thinking about all of the weird phenomenons in this world. I also very much loved how this was equally character and plot driven and I didn't feel that it was lacking at all. While this one was a big more chonky, there was never a point where I thought the story could have been cut down. I truly enjoyed this read from start to finish.
Thank you Tor Nightfire for my gifted ARC. This was fantastic!

Dammmmmmmnnnn… that was one hell of a ride!

This book has it all! A botched bank robbery, a kidnapping, lots of murder, a super creepy human impersonator thing, a cult, lots of double crossing, a cute cat, and even just a very tiny little bit of romance!

It was awesome!!! I loved the writing style, the short chapters, the characters (both good and evil), and the wild adventure!

I felt like I went on an incredible journey through several states (and possibly other worlds/dimensions?) and man, it was smart, exciting, and suspenseful.

There is SO MUCH action in this book. There is just never a dull moment. Bank robberies, shoot-outs, fight scenes, fires, the hideous impersonator, and breaking and entering. It’s just one thing after another, after another. It was really hard to put this book down, because I always wanted to see what would happen next.

I don’t think there is one thing I would change about this book. It was absolutely perfect!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy. A Mask of Flies is a super creepy horror book. Don't read it at night. The attempted bank robbery is just the beginning. The fun begins when they return to the cabin in the woods. The death of Dutch begins the scary haunting and the story unravels from there. Many twists and turns keeps the reader guessing. 4 solid stars

Thank you Tor Nightfire for the gifted digital ARC!

This one started off sooo strong for me, I absolutely could not put it down. Something like 50% in though it became a totally different book than I was expecting and I admittedly kind of stopped enjoying it. I also really did not care for the female main character. Ultimately I was too far into it to not finish, but I found I wasn't totally satisfied with the last 40% of the book.

A Mask of Flies pub date is August 6.

When I first started reading A Mask of Flies by Mathew Lyons, I was expecting a supernatural element just from the summary alone. However, the book exceeded my expectations in every way possible.

The novel seamlessly weaves together supernatural creatures, action-packed bank robberies, a crazy hidden cult in the woods, and a badass female main character. These elements alone would make for a gripping read, but Lyons goes a step further by incorporating a sapphic love interest that adds depth and emotional resonance to the story.

Each of the 500 pages was worth it. Lyons’ ability to maintain a fast-paced narrative while developing complex characters and an intricate plot is commendable. The supernatural elements are both eerie and fascinating, enhancing the sense of danger and intrigue throughout the book.

The action scenes, particularly the jail scene, are gory and vividly described, making you feel as if you are right in the middle of the chaos. The protagonist is a force to be reckoned with – strong, resourceful, and unapologetically herself. Anne’s journey is compelling, and her relationship adds a touching and unexpected dimension to the story.

A Mask of Flies is an engaging and multifaceted read that masterfully blends supernatural horror with action and heartfelt moments. It’s a must-read for fans of who also enjoyed Fever House and The Troop

A bank robbery gone sideways, a friend who's hanging on for his life, and a kidnapped cop turns Anne's world upside down. On the run and knowing they've been betrayed from the inside, she goes on the run to a cabin. The same cabin where her mother died when she was six.

Despite being wanted and despite her betrayers chasing her down looking for the money, something much more horrific awaits her. Something supernatural, hungry, and something that smells her blood anywhere she goes.

This is an awesome high octane, action filled, and bloody novel. The author mixes crime with horror and the narrative leaves you breathless. There are twists, turns, and even more terrors around every corner as the body count rises and the body parts fly.

Anne, despite being an almost life long criminal, is a sympathetic and deep character. You can't help but to feel her pain as events from the past which she can't remember come full force into the present, further complicating an already harrowing situation.

I was completely into the narrative and read it in two sittings because I had to know what was really going on. This is a novel I highly recommend.

A Mask Of Flies
By: Matthew Lyons
Pub Date- Aug.6, 2024 TorNightFire
This Book! What an absolutely insane, gritty, violent, & visceral story. Part Crime Horror, part isolation cult. The past has teeth and Anne Heller is about to find out how sharp the past can bite. A devious bank heist gone wrong thrusts us into the utter chaos that is Anne Hellers life in the aftermath….crew members dead and missing, a buried past that comes back with a vengeance and a doomsday isolation cult that has been waiting in the shadows. This was a crazy, intense and bloody read that I could have never guessed what was coming next! I absolutely could not put this book down and devoured it! The Past Has Teeth and Anne Heller is the Dentist!

This was spectacular! I definitely lost some sleep just devouring this new find! I had never heard of or read anything by this author before, so im excited to add another to my list!

This horror book is really good, I had really a good time reading it ,It has a good plot, if you like horror, crime and cult this is definitely a must read.

A Mask of Flies was one of my most anticipated books for 2024 but when I eagerly began to read the novel I immediately could tell where it was going. One could easily tell this book was written with the current political climate strongly in mind within the first chapter and it left me with a horrible taste in my mouth and lets just say as a white person who is tired of the consistent political vilification I nearly set the book aside. But I went on. A Mask of Flies is about a woman named Anne Heller who escapes a bank robbery gone bad and is forced to return to her old family cabin which she hasn't been to since the passing of her mother. So, with a wounded friend and a kidnapped police officer Anne is forced to confront the monster of her past once again even as police hunt her, former friends and a cult. Nearly every character in a Mask of Flies was deeply unbearable and unlikeable, the action scenes flowed poorly and that monster I mentioned earlier? It feels more like an afterthought and after the reveal of what it really is I was left with a deep feeling of being cheated out of a good story. The cult seemed more like a shoehorned idea then a fully thought out plot, I would point to Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert for a lesson on how to write a compelling, scary and intelligent cult. The scenes with the monster could have been so much better then what they were, even after the lacklustre first chapter I had hopes, especially when one of Anne's friends is killed brutally, I began to believe the story was going to take a more serious turn and give me what it promised to be. Another aspect was the ending which felt like a fever dream without the awe factor or something truly unique. The characters decisions in the novel made little to no sense as did the forced way in which the characters held conversations. There was also the terrible forced tough guy talk from nearly everybody which was not tough at all but cringe on every level. A Mask of Flies could have been one of the big titles of 2024 but instead we received a poorly written monster/cult novel with vile political nonsense. This is what nobody wants in their novels.

"A Mask of Flies is intense, gripping, creepy, and action packed. This is a story that readers will not want to put down." ~nerdywordyreviews

Anne has grown up with no real discipline or family other than her grandmother, so she has created her own, her heist family. The ones she works with regularly to keep food on the table and money flow coming in. When a bank heist goes wrong, Anne takes a young cop hostage while rescuing her badly injured partner, Jessup. Unsure where to flee, she takes the long road back to her past. A place she remembers very little of, except the fatal night she lost her mother. With no other place to hide, she retreats to the vacant cabin in the woods.
Anne quickly treats Jessup as best as she can and hopes that he regains consciousness. Meanwhile, she handcuffs the cop, Butch, to the bed. A scream awakened her throughout the night, one that had Butch shaking and pale in the bedroom. Anne sees blood along the floor leading to the open door of the cabin and Jessup is gone. Taking Butch with her, Anne finds Jessups' mangled and destroyed body, gruesomely murdered and strung up. Together, they bring him back to the cabin and give him the proper burial. A short while later, there was a knock at the door. Anne is in shock. She isn't hallucinating, but something is standing at her door wearing Jessup's face. But it isn't Jessup. The past comes back to haunt Anne's memories as more situations arise and truths revealed. Will Anne and Butch make it back safely?

Matthew Lyons wrote an excellent crime thriller. The detail and fast flowing action scenes right from the start amazed me. As a reader, I did not know how the story would all play out.
A Mask of Flies intertwined and weaved between the storylines, embedding different ideas into the reader's mind. Very well executed at every corner.
The book is full of high-action scenes, gore, suspense, thrills and creepy turns of events. The scenes played into each other so well and lined up nicely, never slowing the story down. A very engaging read.
The details are descriptive enough to picture the story as it unfolds, and the storyline infuses the realisation that humans are not all good, psychologically speaking.
If you love crime horror/thriller books, something that will make you think and send creepy crawlies under your skin, then this is a highly recommended read for you. It releases August 6, 2024 by TOR Nightfire.

Whew. This book is a ride, y'all. Bank heist? Check. Monster? Check. Cult? Check check check. This kept me guessing from start to finish, I never knew whether I was about to encounter a shootout or a bloodthirsty attack.

This novel was brutal, beautiful, horrifying and touching, sometimes all on the same page. This was one of those reads that kept me engrossed, sometimes I forgot that I was reading and it was like watching a movie play out in my head. From Anne to Travis to Darlene, every character jumped off the page. And don't even get me started on Murph, what a badass little feline.

I loved this book, it was a true portrait of grief and healing and tackling demons from the past. There are two reasons I've taken it down half a star. First, sometimes the whiplash of going from crime to supernatural was a bit overwhelming. Second (and I know how stupid this is), multiple times I wondered "where is the cats litter box? Where is he pooping?" And maybe that's just the cat lady in me, but every time I thought about it, it bothered me.

This book was fantastic. Do yourself a favor and go pick it up, you won't regret it. By the end, you too will be saying "All hail Anne Heller, our Lady of Perpetual Destruction!''

This review was rounded up from 4.5 to 5 stars for NetGalley.

"A Mask of Flies" was my first foray into Lyons' work. The author's prose is brutal and relentless, as it is stubbornly tender and forgiving. I immediately settled into the fast-paced action of Anne's life of crime and her ambiguous moral compass and held on for the ride. I'm always looking for books that lean unapologetically into the seedy underside of crime and darkness, where good people can also be bad people but don't rely on their self-sacrificing ways as a sort of crutch or freedom from prosecution. I truly enjoyed the ambiance of this book and the stunning descriptions of the San Luis Valley—from a secluded shack to the gut-wrenching terror of a blood-soaked jail cell. The mystery of Anne's childhood and her cult-like upbringing mingles with elements of crime and the paranormal, turning this story into a perfect blend of cosmic horror.

So I was very excited for this book because it seemed like it was going to be more of a haunted cabin in the woods with her friend coming back to life but it was so much more and a little to much in my opinion. I thought the writing style was good and I did like the characters but the monster was annoying. I wish the monster would have kept one face or tried to trick her more. I think the other thing I didn't like was that my favorite character died. I didn't really find that character believable but I couldn't help loving them.

I enjoy crime thrillers that have strong supernatural horror elements and this was a perfect blend of both of those, equally plot and character driven this was reminiscent of Kings The Outsider, the realistic crime drama element adds a touch of realism to the cosmic horror, a visceral read with plenty of graphic violence and body horror, fans of the spooky and eldritch will rejoice in this story that felt like it was straight from a 80s horror movie

i was really craving a good spooky book and man, did this deliver. i was pleasantly surprised. the body horror was excellent especially that jail cell scene (that was fucking crazy). the element of eldritch horror in it was actually brilliant.

i grew invested in anna’s character and was more interested in her family dynamics rather than her brushes with the law. will say i did notice some of the writing at times starting ringing similar, a choice of using the same description words to evoke the scene.

parts of read like an old school stephen king novel which is like the biggest compliment i can give this book.

many thanks to the publishers for supplying me with an early reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

When a routine bank robbery goes wrong, Anne ends up at her childhood home with a wounded cop and a friend. After one dies, Anne is left dealing with putting together pieces of a traumatic childhood as well as the return of a dead person.

While the premise is interesting and the writing is excellent, this felt more like a character study of Anne’s past rather than a horror novel. I’m not sure the plot direction or genre was clear, so it ended up not being what I expected.

That said, I do believe it will have an audience and I would try other books by this author as the writing style was wonderful!

Thanks for the opportunity to read in advance!

Leaving five stars --- I’m not well-read in the genre (very new in my horror reading journey) and am unable to contextualize the expected audience reaction.

The cover is disturbing (in a good way), the premise is awesome, but I didn’t find myself personally engaged in the writing style. It was surprisingly flowery for a thriller, but I realize Lovecraft (which is like pinnacle of horror?) is also extremely flowery in writing, so I think it’s leaning that way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons.

First, thank you to Tor Nightfire and the author for the netgalley e-arc to review!

I didnt like this one, unfortunately. Maybe I went into it thinking that the monster and the whole vibe was going to be something different, but even so, I just hated almost every character.

So this is about Anne Heller, a criminal bank robber who takes a cop hostage after the robbery goes really bad. She takes her wounded friend and the cop to her childhood home, a secluded cabin where her mother died when Anne was young. As she starts to get hints about what happened when she was young, her friend goes missing. She finds him dead and buries him. But then he shows back up, only its not her friend...it's just wearing his face.

That sounds so good. But it turned out to be more focused on Anne and her criminal partners, and not much on the monster. The writing was good, but the characters and story were not doing it for me.