Post by angelac on Sept 7, 2016 9:29:35 GMT -6
From the Description
It began as a vacation to the Cook Islands. But when seven friends are lost in the South Pacific after their boat goes down in a storm, they must survive at sea for several days in a small raft. Blown miles off course from their original position, and deep into open waters, they eventually encounter a small uncharted island.
Grateful to be alive, they begin their quest for survival, hopeful they’ll be rescued sooner than later. But the island is not the paradise it appears to be. Instead, it is a place of horror, death, torture and evil, of terrible secrets thought long buried and forgotten.
And they are not alone.
Something guards those horrible secrets, something evil and relentlessly violent, an ancient horror born of rage and vengeance, a blood-crazed predator that lives to kill and will stop at nothing to protect the island from those intruding upon its dark legacy.
The savage is loose, and there is no escape.
SAVAGES, the new novel from Greg F. Gifune
Publication Date: September 15, 2016
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Publication Length: 168 pages
I received an ARC of this novella in exchange for an honest review. This is in no way reflected in my opinion of this book.
Savages is a nasty bit of work that drags you kicking and screaming down a dark jungle path into terror. This novella just worked for me on so many levels that I think Greg Gifune must have been rooting around in my nightmares. First off you have a group of people who have been shipwrecked on a deserted island that have to try to survive. The group is mostly friends but with a few personality differences that create a potential for problems. The characters were believable although not always likable. I thought that the way the group began fracturing is realistically written. Second is the island, almost a character itself. The secrets that the island hides are truly horrific and terrifying. You'll have to read this fantastic book for yourself to find out what they are. The action is bloody, violent and intense leading to an explosive ending that is totally satisfying. This is some of the best survival horror I've read in a long time. I highly recommend this gripping 5 star read.
About the Author
Greg F. Gifune is a best-selling, internationally-published author of several acclaimed novels, novellas, and two short story collections.
Called, “The best writer of horror and supernatural thrillers at work today” by New York Times best-selling author Christopher Rice, “One of the best writers of his generation” by both The Roswell Literary Review and author Brian Keene, and “Among the finest dark suspense writers of our time” by legendary best-selling author Ed Gorman, Greg’s work has been published all over the world, translated into several languages, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus and others, is consistently praised by readers and critics alike, and has garnered attention from Hollywood.
His novel The Bleeding Season, originally published in 2003, has been hailed as a classic in the genre and is considered to be one of the best horror/thriller novels of the decade. In 2016 his short story "Hoax" was adapted to film and is now available on Amazon. His story “Plant Life” is also under development for film.
Also an editor with years of experience in the field in a variety of positions, Greg is presently on hiatus from his position as Senior Editor at DarkFuse, and at work on several projects.
He resides in Massachusetts with his wife Carol, a bevy of cats, and two dogs, Dozer and Bella.
He can be reached online at gfgauthor@verizon.net or on Facebook , Twitter and GoodReads.
Praise for Greg Gifune
"A masterful tale of love, loss, friendship, pain and suffering... a tale that will eviscerate you emotionally." - Peter Schwotzer, Famous Monsters of Filmland on House of Rain
"Another masterpiece of a tale of love and loss as Gifune delves to the heart of a topic that he seems to know so well." - Josef Hernandez, Examiner on House of Rain
“Equally comfortable with suggestive, quiet terror and the pleasures of graphic exaggeration, Gifune has assembled a sensitive and entertaining collection, merging the pleasures of a good surface read with themes startling in intellectual scope...In Gifune's world, nothing is safe...and even the best intentions are a weak defense against shadows.” – Cemetery Dance on Heretics
“This quietly powerful short novel should bring much deserved attention to Gifune, who succeeds in imbuing what could have been a clichéd and formulaic noir premise with haunting emotional depth.” – Publisher’s Weekly on Saying Uncle