Thursday 3 March 2016

SEAN COSTELLO - SQUALL (2015)


Synopsis/blurb…

MAYHEM. MURDER. RETRIBUTION. (THIS BOOK is RATED-R FOR LANGUAGE by the publisher.)

Bush pilot and family man Tom Stokes is about to face the worst day of his life. On a clear winter morning, he sets out in his Cessna 180 to do some repairs on a remote hunt camp, leaving his five-year-old son and very pregnant wife snug in their beds.

On the return trip, a squall forces him into an emergency landing and he winds up—quite literally—in the lap of petty criminal Dale Knight. Dale, now a fugitive from the law—and worse, from a merciless drug lord who just happens to be his brother—draws Tom into a web of mayhem and treachery that puts not only his life at risk, but the lives of his wife, son . . . and unborn child.

SQUALL is a fast-paced, darkly-comic tale of murder and gang-style retribution that grabs the reader on page one and simply does not let go.

PRAISE FOR COSTELLO’S PREVIOUS NOVELS:

HERE AFTER

“Costello…keeps the action moving and the suspense ratcheted up tight.”
—Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

EDEN’S EYES

“The best horror novel I’ve read since Stephen King’s own Pet Sematary. …Costello knows how to tantalize his readers, priming them for the horrors to come…”
—Rave Reviews

“A fast-paced, darkly comic tale of murder and gang-style retribution” – my kind of book then.

Dale is an unwitting accomplice when his ambitious and crazy girlfriend, Ronnie spoils a drug deal by shooting dead the buyers and stealing both drugs and cash. The pair flee from Dale’s brother with a couple of psychopathic Indians; henchmen of his brother soon on their trail.  

Pilot and family man Tom is flying in the area. Anxious to check on his cabin, and get back home safely to his heavily pregnant wife and celebrate both his own and his young son’s birthday. A squall forces him into a crash landing and straight into the heart of Dale Knight’s nightmare.

I turned to this when I was struggling with a slow-ish read that I wasn’t warming to and after a fantastic opening when the rip-off went down, stuck with it – finishing the following day.

Great characters, great action, an interesting plot with more than a few twists and a resolution that was maybe a little bit too schmaltzy for my liking – just a wee stretch too far, but not enough to mar my enjoyment.

4.5 from 5

Squall was a Freebie I downloaded during February after a Riffle books e-mail alert. A lot of the recommendations I receive twice weekly, I typically resist but was happy to succumb to this one.

Sean Costello seems to have mastered the art of cross-genre writing with a fair few horror books to his name. New-to-me this month, I’ll be reading more from him in the future, especially as Last Call was offered as a freebie on his website as a sign-up incentive.

Costello is a Canadian author and you can check out his books at his website here.

An Amazon download.



18 comments:

  1. This definitely sounds like your kind of book, Col. And it's an interesting premise, too. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. Margot, definitely a great read and it came along at the right time for me, as I was hitting a wall with my reading.

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  2. Col, I too downloaded this (actually Tracy did for me) on your recommendation because of the "rotten weather" setting. Good that you enjoyed it and I hope to try it soon. I need a quick read (just finishing up a long - 440 pages - non-fiction volume).

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    1. Glen, I really enjoyed it. Best book ever? Now but it was entertaining and got me kick-started again. I hope you enjoy it yourself.

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  3. Col, the plot sounds good, no doubt. I'm certainly tempted to pick it up.

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    1. I think it is still free on Amazon at the minute. 160-odd pages long so not too much of an investment time-wise.

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  4. Fabulous cover. I could be tempted by this, you bet.

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    1. It is a fantastic cover isn't it. The book's not too shabby either - free on Amazon!

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  5. Free on Smashwords, too, coz I just got it there.

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    1. Happy days! I hope you enjoy it, I found the ending maybe a little bit too Hollywood for my liking, but other than that an excellent read!

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  6. I love the cover! But bad weather / tough terrain stories don't appeal so much. Good write-up though.

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  7. Col – This sounds like my kind of book, too. Thanks.

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    1. Elgin, I hope you enjoy it if you get the chance to read it.

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  8. Col! Thanks for this and the great Goodreads review! Glad you enjoyed Squall.
    Sean

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    1. Sean, you're more than welcome and thanks for stopping by. I look forward to reading LAST CALL!

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  9. I will let Glen try this first, and see what he says. It appears to be ebook only here and I have lots of other ebooks ahead of it.

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    1. Tracy, ok. I really enjoyed it myself and it was just the right book to give my reading a nudge.

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