The Summer I Died by Ryan C. Thomas

3 Stars

 

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, RUN AWAY FROM THIS REVIEW AND NEVER LOOK BACK!

"I would wake up soon.  I knew I would because this stuff only happened in dreams."

If you’re like me and your idea of a great date movie is something like this . . .



over something like this . . .



Okay, that’s kind of a lie. There’s always room in my bed life for some more Ryan Gosling. For the most part, though, I’m down for a slasher movie over a “chick flick” any day of the week. If you can’t ever seem to meet your annual quota of gore, The Summer I Died is probably the book for you.

The story begins like so many other horror stories. Two friends reunite for the summer after one has gone away for his first year of college. They have planned out a couple of months of (fairly tame) debauchery, beginning with a little road trip to the sticks where they can shoot some beer cans. Y’all know what happens when you go to the boonies, right????



followed by . . .



Well, yeah. Sometimes that happens too. This time, however?



When the boys hear a woman screaming, their conscience won’t let them ignore it and walk away. Instead, they find themselves walking directly into harm’s way . . .



The remainder of the story is . . . well, it’s enough to induce a complete and total barf-o-rama . . .



If you’re a fan of the Saw and Wrong Turn franchises, this one is almost sure to be a winner.

I’m kind of at a loss as to what to rate this one. If I’m judging strictly on how many times I got asked “WTF are you reading that has you making those faces constantly????” this would get a 5. However, the plot is pretty much along the lines of the typical horror movie where the shock and awe factors far outweigh any character/plot development, which brings the rating down. Buuuuuuut, since I’m intrigued enough to see where the second book in the series plans on going I’m settling on 3 Stars. I don’t generally give a rip about book #2 – especially when #1 works so well as a stand-alone.