Member Reviews
I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.
This was a well written coming of age horror that spanned several life times. The characters were well developed allowing the reader to get invested in the outcome! Definitely a slower read, and a trope seen many times before but very well done.
I dnf-ed this one quite early at 11%. The writing style wasn't working for me, it was like I was reading someone telling me a story that was like Leave it to Beaver or the Andy Griffith Show, but with more not great/offensive language. Including the N-word which is a no for me. I wasn't jelling with it anyways, seemed more like a coming of age story, but maybe it gets spookier as you go along.
1930s Maine: in a rural town there isn’t much to keep young teenage boys entertained over the summer. Except for The Crusher: a rock quarry on the edge of town overlooking a pool of water. But sometimes people who swim there don’t come back.
Where do you go when you aren’t in Heaven, Hell or Purgatory, but somewhere else?
I’m not sure that question is fully answered by this book. It is very much a coming of age period tale rather than a horror or thriller book. It is beautifully written, and if you are anything like me the voice narrating in your head will be either Morgan Freeman or Tom Hanks.
I got very classic American literature vibes from this book: the Mark Twain and Harper Lee vibes were strong. It felt a little long winded in places and is a very slow burn novel, but if you are looking for a classic American coming of age tale with some dark fantasy elements this may be for you.
I don’t think it was for me personally, I was constantly waiting for action to start and it just never did, but it cannot be denied that it is a great book for anyone that wants to read it. But be prepared to feel very uncomfortable about 1930s society…
Trigger warnings:
-racism including use of the ‘N’ word and references to slavery
-abduction/missing children
-Homophobia
Note: I received a free unpublished proof of this book, for a limited time, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.
Similar to Sins of the Father by Gareth J. Rees, a book I reviewed some months ago, this one very clearly felt like a first novel. As per usual, I’m not writing a synopsis of the whole thing but I will discuss the book’s main ideas and themes, what I thought worked, and what didn’t work so well.
As with many of the horror titles I review, this book contains a great deal of NSFW and violent content and is hence only appropriate for adult readers (18+). The book contains death, violence, injury, murder, blood, drowning, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, physical and sexual abuse of children, racism, racial slurs, and frequent mentions of sexual topics.
I wanted to enjoy this book, as the initial concept of a haunted rock quarry-turned-swimming hole was intriguing. I love any sort of deep-water horror books, if only because I am absolutely terrified of the deep ocean, and I have even coined the sub-genre “disturbing submarine books” to describe the sort of thing I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, there were no submarines in this book and it was not all that disturbing.
My biggest problem with the book is that the author attempts to take on some serious issues, such as the sexual abuse of children and intimate partner violence, but doesn’t handle them particularly well. I have not experienced either of these traumatic events so I can’t speak for anyone who has experienced them, but from the outside the way that Labbe deals with these topics is, at the very least, very insensitive with regards to tone and how they are framed in the narrative. The book also contains a number of racial slurs and stereotypical dialects, which are only really there for the shock value, as if to say “look how racist people used to be” or “remember when things weren’t so politically correct?” without actually exploring the issue. I think there are more sensitive and insightful ways for us as white authors to portray racism without using this language.
Beyond the general insensitivity, the tone and subject matter of the book are all over the place. The book starts out as a book about a haunted swimming hole, yet most of the book is overwhelmingly about small-town life, childhood, and friendship. In between, there are massive chunks where a side character is set up as a possible villain (which only sort of pans out), another side character seems to have some sort of interesting knowledge/past which is never explored, and the latter third/half of the book or so seem to be about a haunted scarecrow, which ends up being slightly important but almost entirely disconnected from the swimming hole. While there are many authors who can successfully merge many different themes and characters in one book, the narrative doesn’t really unify them in a satisfying way. They feel more like tangents than interwoven pieces. Even books that step aside and give us some backstory (like books written in multiple time periods or with multiple narrators/point-of-view characters) usually manage to achieve a roughly equal amount of “screen time” goes by in each segment that doesn’t make the book feel unbalanced unless there’s a reason for it.
While the swimming hole keeps being brought up throughout the book, it doesn’t feel very scary after a while because there is always a tone shift back to a topic like pumpkins, school, or silly childhood antics. Furthermore, the more “real-world” violence in the second half of the book makes the swimming hole feel sort of irrelevant. There might be some way these topics could have been integrated in a more meaningful and sensitive manner, but the book felt like it was constantly jumping from one thing to the next. The author’s use of a casual “rural” dialect throughout the book comes across as offensive at worst and tonally-off at best. Many of the attempts at humor are at odds with the direction and themes of the book.
I think Labbe has some potential as an author, but I think he would benefit from a good editor and doing some research on how to write about topics outside of his own experience with sensitivity. Overall I don’t recommend this one; if you are looking for scary deep water stories I stand by the old classic, Sphere by Michael Crichton.
Silent, Dark and Deep was something I was looking forward to and I was neither disappointed nor was IO blown away by the read. It read as much as I expected it to which was not a bad thing but throughout I had been hoping that I was going to get a sort of surprise that I couldn't see coming. Silent, Dark and Deep was dark and disturbing and while I enjoyed it the novel could have used some extra polish.
Silent, Dark, and Deep: A Novel by Rod Labbe is quite literally, one of the best horror stories I've read in a very long time! This book book all the more scarier because it deals with children, and no one wants anything bad to happen to children. The writing is so detailed, you feel as if you are watching a movie play out before your eyes. I could easily see Mr. Labbe being being compared to the horror masters like Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and his son Jonah Hill if he keeps up the horror aspect of his writing like he did for this book.
Sadly, this book wasn't for me. I love coming of age usually. The characters were not written to feel real to me. It especially shouldn't be labeled as horror. Paranormal aspects maybe. Not many.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This book is wonderfully written, and reads like a dream. I was so happy to meander my way through this - I barely noticed how many pages it was. The narrative voice is so distinct, and I feel like it was just written to be read, which is a delight in terms of a book that I haven't felt in a while!
It is not strictly horror, however, no matter which way you cut it. I didn't find that it held the scares that I was perhaps promised, and I think that it could have been a little more fleshed out in relation to the quarry and what it held.
It did have some fantastic twists and turns, however, and definitely kept me guessing - just when I thought I knew exactly what was going on and who was responsible for something, it pulled me back to the ground and told me I was wrong. I really enjoyed where this one took me, and it was definitely laden with nostalgia, for an era that I didn't live through but quite enjoyed reading about.
This book could have quite happily been redefined as a teen boy coming of age piece with different marketing - although I will say that I was quite pleased my constant horror reading led me to this little gem!
It was very well written and engaging. However, the book was a little slower paced than i enjoyed. Not as many paranormal happenings that i would have liked. A few spots i felt dragged on a bit. But, overall, it was an enjoyable read. it just needs some slight tweeking
A bit too long to keep the proper attention. I saw a few places it could have been wrapped up properly.
Parts trailed off and I lost interest.
This story is set in the 1920s and is about kids spending their summers at an old rock quarry known as "The Crusher." However, the book didn't engage me as much as I had hoped. It was quite lengthy and it was very slow paced. The writing style used didn't resonate with me. Additionally, while period appropriate, I had difficulty with the language and dialect. I anticipated a horror story exploring the boundary between life and death, but instead, it turned out to be more of a coming-of-age tale set in the Great Depression era, with a hint of horror. While the setting and dialect were well-crafted, the story didn't quite live up to my expectations. Although I may consider reading more from this author, coming-of-age stories are not my preferred genre.
This wasn't quite what I was expecting. Mostly a tale of boyhood and growing up with the faintest bit of paranormal. It's certainly not a horror story. It's slow and very long--could have been cut down by about 20 percent. The writing--the voice, twang, point of view--was what made this story readable. That aspect was downright superb.
This is one of those books that with a little bit of tweaking would be a classic. The shade of Ray Bradbury lurks between the lines of every page. The story is just a little too predictable but with a little work (or a good editor) wouldn’t be a problem. But it is an enjoyable read with characters that are well developed. I’m waiting for his next one.
Thank you to Wicked House Publishing and Rod Labbe for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this title.
This book was so immersive! The narration really puts you in the main character's shoes, though it might take a bit of getting used to at first. Once you've adjusted, however, it's hard to step away from the story. The characters are loveable and authentic. And the story is very much reminiscent of the era in which it takes place.
Overall, this is a highly entertaining coming-of-age horror novel and Labbe's writing talents are very apparent. I greatly look forward to what the author has in store for us next.
After reading this book, I looked back on my own childhood days. I, like Jerry, had a horrible home life yet no one around our small town had any idea. I was able to relate in so many ways with this book. Small towns are notorious for bad things happening with no one putting to much time into looking into rumors. The author wove such an incredible story. I had a friend like Billy that had my back no matter what. I spent many a night at her house trying to keep away from my mother. As long as I was out of sight, nothing I did could make her mad. We did not have a quarry but we did have a forest where we were told to stay out of. Did we? No way! We went there as much as possible. We had forts, a campfire and a stream to get water. I had many a great summer there in those woods. I liked how the author used the grammar of the locals. The fact that Jerry had so much knowledge than Billy was so sad. He was learning things he should not have at such a young age. The loss of so many people in Billy’s life definitely had an impact on him, right up until death. A very emotional book.
Silent, Dark, and Deep: was good a little slow and hard to get into because of that...just wish it was more fast pasted
“Silent, Dark, and Deep” is a wildly entertaining coming-of-age tale, filled either the musings of a young man coming into adulthood in a time of desperation and change. I found this to be an extremely well-written story, with detailed and layered characters, which felt like you were reading a memoir, rather than a horror novel. This is a highly atmospheric read, which would fit into anyone’s October to-read list. It’s a slow-burning novel, but has a payoff that I think is worth the effort.
This book was took me a couple chapters to get into but once it did, it sucked me in just like the lake. I could not stop reading this.
The story is about two twelve yrs old boys and their coming of age story about being somewhere they most definitely should not be.
I've been recommending this book to anyone who will listen lol
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC to me.
It was a spooky, slow burn with tiny bits of paranormal and historical fiction. However, I feel like it is more of a coming-of-age paranormal ghost story than horror.
The setting and characters were great. The story was well-written and had that smooth flow which kept me invested till the end.
Overall, it was disturbing and sad - and I enjoyed it. Rod’s writing style is great and I’m excited to see what his next book would be like.
Thank you so much Wicked House Publishing, Netgalley and Rod Labbe for this ARC copy!