Riverwatch [Paperback]

Expect to groan a great deal. Expect to groan more often than you flip pages as the story goes on. Expect to know the outcome of the action very quickly. Expect to know the full backstory before you read it. Don't expect outstanding writing skills, as writing takes an absolute backseat to simple action narrative.

Least of all, don't expect any maturity over time in the characters, don't expect any intelligence in them, and don't expect to relate to more than their hobbies. As a matter of fact, you might not even be able to tell one from another based on personality, as they say the same things. The only real difference is the backstory.

Do yourself a favor, track down a copy of Michael Talbot's The Bog, from the 80s. The story is almost exactly the same, only the care given to the changes in the characters sets it far above this novel.

Sam Travers writes role-playing games and works nights at the local nursing home, where he has befriended a resident named Gabriel. During Sam's long graveyard shifts, Gabriel entertains him by telling him stories of times long since past. Stories of "the Age of Creation," before primitive hominids had evolved into humans, and when two ancient races known as the Elders and the Na' Karat, or Nightshades, ruled the Earth.

Katelynn Riley is a graduate student working to complete her thesis for her sociology degree and is thus delving deep into the town's past. A past that she discovers has more to it than meets the eye. Furthermore, Kate wears around her neck a red stone that was given to her by Jake. A stone that he found deep within the underground passage at Stonemoor. Ever since she has worn the stone she has experienced terrible nightmares in which she can see through the eyes of a ravenous beast, as though she is indeed the beast herself.

Is there more substance to what Gabriel has been telling Sam than mere amusing fictional tales? Is there more to Gabriel himself? How does Kate's stone provide some unseen link between herself and the unleashed creature? Will these three friends be able to combine their knowledge and willpower to defeat the awakened Nightshade, Moloch, before they lose their own lives and the lives of others? Will they even be able to overcome the doubts their more rational mind inflicts upon them?

This is an outstanding debut novel! Joseph Nasisse does a great job of combining a little bit of fantasy with all the cliched elements of horror that fans of the genre know and love, and he adds some twists and turns so that the reader doesn't get bored along the way. The characters are very well developed, and the plot is spellbinding and cohesive. I loved how all of the characters were flawed in some way, making them innately human and three-dimensional.

Though this book didn't keep me up at night, scared to turn out the lights, it did have some intense moments that were somewhat frightening. There is some gore, but that is kept to a minimum. My biggest complaint is that the story line surrounding the Blake family was underdeveloped. Furthermore, expect a few editing errors sprinkled throughout the novel. However, neither detracts from the plot.

This should be a must-read for horror fans! Joseph Nasisse is a welcomed new voice in the horror genre, and I definitely look forward to picking up whatever novels he produces in the future, as his talent and skills should only be fine-tuned from here.