Review of String Them Up by William Sterling
A.E. Jackson Review Score: 3 / 5 Ravens
How was this review scored?
William Sterling’s premise that “darkness is the shield which protects us from madness” proves itself out in String Them Up. The simple, straightforward language makes the story easy to follow and relax into enjoying.
The first quarter of the novel is a quick tour of small town families and other characters located around the story world. Then a kid shows up out of no where, covered in blood, right in front of the town’s sheriff. What happened to Barker Davis, and how that incident unravels a town wrapped tight in secrets, is the catalyst that sets Sinclair Redman on a course he cannot escape.
Gruesome killings plague the quiet town of Hollow Hills, but they aren’t the handiwork of a human. Something far more sinister and malevolent is tearing the sleepy town to shreds.
The arrest of a retired toymaker uncovers a tangle of questions rather than any concrete answers. As the bloodshed continues in this horror mystery, the town teeters on the brink of madness.
Sinclair Redman must unspool the string of lies to unearth the chilling secrets hidden within Hollow Hills. Only by unlocking these grim mysteries can he hope to put an end to the rising body count that threatens to spiral out of control.
William Sterling drops readers into the head of main character Sinclair Redman through strong use of deep point of view. The thoughts and interpretation of everything around Sinclair form the reader’s first experiences with this world. The main character’s voice is clear and authentic.
But that effect begins to slip into omniscient narrator and more exposition than some readers will allow. Much of the tale is conveyed through this detached telling. The novel would have been a more satisfying experience had the author stuck with the tone in which he opened the novel. Soon, readers are able to know what most characters in a scene are thinking and doing without much left to wonder and suspense.
This slip into narration doesn’t diminish the powerful punch delivered by the narrative. This book is an engrossing horror whose terrors will stay tied to the reader’s thoughts even after they step away from its pages.
The satisfying and cathartic ending was unforeseen, and delivered with speed and deftness of a skilled storyteller. Sinclair learns to avoid the toy maker’s deadly path. But that’s all I’ll reveal…
The fast-paced small-town horror novel will be sure to satisfy fans of popular horror flicks like Annabelle and Child’s Play. The nightmarish world, constructed by Sterling, will keep readers on the edge of their seats. If you enjoy the chilling tales of Grady Hendrix, Josh Malerman, Jonathan Janz, or Todd Keisling - then you’ll find just what you’re looking for in String Them Up.
William Sterling is an independent novelist who hails from OTP Georgia. He is especially into horror, suspense, and science fiction, with a particular soft spot for unexpected endings.
Currently, Sterling has a few self-published novels out in the wild, and a couple of short stories included in various places.
Killer Mediums, the horror podcast hosted by author William Sterling, which examines how horror tropes manifest across different mediums of entertainment. You can listen on Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/killer-mediums/id1652339087
Read more from William Sterling at https://thewilliamsterling.wixsite.com/main/ and find him on social media at Twitter(@spooky_sterling).