Review: October Boys

Title: October Boys

Author: Adam Millard

Publisher: Bloodshot Books (2019)

I love coming-of-age horror. It, Boy's Life, Something Wicked this Way Comes, and Summer of Night being some of the most well-known among the genre. Because I've been reading a lot in this particular sub-genre lately, I feel there is cause to talk about comparisons. Of all the above mentioned, this book has the most in common with King's It.

There is a force of evil that targets children and only comes out every X number of years.

The monster takes the form of something most people would consider harmless.

The monster has supernatural abilities.

The monster is able to manipulate reality and haunt past victims as adults.

Cons:

Women - The women in this book were all (with the exception of the children) portrayed in a very negative light, sometimes in an unconvincing way. We are told the wives don't believe this tragedy happened to their husbands. None of it. Not even the (view spoiler) which could have been proved by, I don't know, looking at a newspaper article. I didn't find these women believable in the slightest, but luckily they were pretty minor characters in the story.

The ending - As other reviewers have mentioned, the ending seems rushed.

The men - They all had pretty similar personalities, besides Marcus. Luke and Tom were pretty interchangeable to me.

Typos - I read the kindle version of this book and there were a few continuity errors, some typos, and some formatting issues. The book could've used another round of proofing.

Pros:

Millard's writing is crisp, and a pleasure to read. I felt pulled into the story, and despite the cons above, I did want to press on and see it through to the end. I'd be open to reading more by this author. Recommended if you like coming-of-age horror, and you'd like to read something new in that category.