Mister Lullaby by J.H. Markert
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Mister Lullaby is the 2nd-novel that I have read from Horror author, J.H. Markert and honestly, after my experience with this, I’m starting to second guess my feelings on The Nightmare Man, which I thought I had fun with.
This story just did not work for me at all.
In this one, which is almost completely lost from my mind, we’re in the small town of Harrod’s Reach. Most of the action centers around an old railway tunnel and the fantastical, horrifying properties it may hold.
We follow a whole host of people as they deal with the repercussions of the nature of the tunnel. There’s quite a few individuals in comas, there’s a lot of characters in general and every once in a while there was a bit of a coherent storyline that I was actually intrigued by.
I know this is coming off as all sorts of salty, and I apologize for that, but these are the general feelings I walked away with; confusion and disappointment.
In fact, I was confused by this right from the start. I found it muddled and hard to track, and definitely not an easy narrative to settle into. I’m not trying to work too hard here. I read for fun and escape. I don’t want to be taking notes in order to follow a cast of characters.
Don’t get me wrong, there were glimmers of interest, things I wanted to learn more about, but those portions never lasted long enough to really hook me.
There were a lot of moving parts, and many of those parts were things I had seen before. It felt like a Hodge-podge of Joe Hill and Stephen King ideas rolled into a ball and thrown in a casserole dish, trying to make something delicious, but it burned in the oven.
And that’s how I walk away. Burned.
With all of my venting out of the way, I am sure this review helps you not at all, because I am also going to say, if you are interested in this book, PICK IT UP!!! At the end of the day, I know nothing. This is simply my opinion based upon my own personal reading experience.
Everyone’s taste is different and everyone enjoys different things. I have read quite a few reviews and I know a lot of Readers are enjoying this. You could be one. I would never tell someone not to read a book and I’m not going to here.
There’s a book for every Reader and a Reader for every book. The fact that I didn’t enjoy this means absolutely nothing.
Regardless of my experience, I want to thank the publisher, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I am 1 – 1 with this author now and do plan to pick up whatever he releases next. I am hoping this particular story is just a one-off for me and that I will love the next one!