3.75 ( )

I’m tearing myself apart trying to decide how to rate this latest installment of the Lake Witch Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones because, in the movies at least, the sequel rarely stands up to the first one. There are arguable exceptions, of course. Aliens over Alien tracks for me. The Empire Strikes Back, for many a Star Wars fan (although my #1 will always be A New Hope, and Rogue One comes out ahead of Empire for me…). The Godfather Two, apparently, although the one I remember best is the first. That second Lord of the Rings, I guess…

But I'm going down a rabbit hole, and siting examples that aren’t technically in the horror genre to boot. Except for the Alien franchise. I should site Jaws, because it’s relevant to this story, and there isn’t one Jaws sequel that compares to the original. And Predator, well…the recent prequel Prey is the only one to best it, imo—and it surpasses the original by far.

Anyway, back to this review. It's a fast paced, non-stop slasher fest, more so than the first one, because that's what sequels aspire to do; there's that need to top that previous installment with more explosions, more car chases—or in this case, more splashy ways to bring out the guts and gore.

And I envision Jones standing there before the challenge, much Iike his main character Jade, giving his audience a curt nod of the head that says, "Bring it on, man. Bring it." But don’t expect to dive into this book without reading the first one. It's easy to get lost even if you have read My Heart is a Chainsaw. In fact, I’d say it's mandatory reading. Regardless.

What I like about Don’t Fear The Reaper:

1) Dark Mill South. He's big. He's an admirable addition to the list of horror slasher icons, and his back story teaches us a little bit about that Native American history our U.S. education system likes to gloss over (or ignore). And the hook for a hand, well… any basic horror fan should know what that is a nod to. You don’t have to say his name, we know it.
2) Jones' strong suit is his ability to put us inside a character’s head—inside their skin, I guess. A suitable way to say it here, especially. It's not only Jade's eyes we're seeing through this time, and that can get tricky. But Jones is great at it. He's proven time and again, for me, that he knows how to give depth to his characters.
3) The creative, slashery ways people die is right on the mark, and the "rules" involving who dies and who doesn’t keep with the slasher tradition while playing with if there even should be rules, Scream style.
4) The beginning of this sequel gives clarity to the ending of My Heart is a Chainsaw, something I really needed. Also, the relationship Jade has with her mother—or lack of one, is addressed. Thank you! And the ending to this book is more satisfying, more complete for me

There is a lot going on in this book though. There's the slasher story, the revenge story, the ghost story, a spirit animal story. They all overlap, and it can get confusing. It’s that frenzy of making the sequel something bigger to outdo the first story, so be prepared. I feel like My Heart is a Chainsaw had more heart, it focusing on Jade and Jade alone. In Reaper, she no longer has that massive chip on her shoulder. She’s grown. What makes this story its own is the way the traumatic experience from Chainsaw has settled into the rest of the survivors, changing them forever in the wake of yet another slasher gone wild. Except this time, the slasher has a clear identity…or maybe not.

Yeah, it’s still a 5 star read…Maybe a 4.6. And Yes, I’m still looking forward to the final book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. ( )

This is both the middle book in a trilogy and a slasher novel, combining two things I don't usually like; series and horror. Which is to say, I liked the first book in this trilogy well enough to jump right into the second book. And *spoiler alert* I'm planning to read the third book when it is published. Because it is the second book in a horror trilogy, spoilers are unavoidable for the first book. Just letting you know.

A handful of years after the massacre, Jade returns to Proofrock along with an enormous snowstorm which has everyone hunkering down at home. She reunites with her friend Letha, still recovering from her injuries but also married and mother to a toddler. At the same time, a transport moving a serial killer disappears in that same storm. Is it a surprise when the serial killer, a man as well-versed in slasher lore as Jade, shows up in Proofrock?

What makes this book interesting are Jade and Letha and their relationship and knowledge that it's up to them, once again, to stop what's happening. They believe themselves too old to be the target of the killer, but they are certainly willing to take him out, at considerable risk to themselves. Jones manages to make the secondary characters interesting as he gives attention to both characters from the previous books, and a few new ones. Especially well done is the chapter about Jade's mother's life. This is a horror novel that absolutely respects the genre, but it's also a novel about people living in an isolated town in the Wyoming mountains. ( )

This thrilling slasher sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw is another educational, gory, beautiful ode to the rich world of slasher films and to the strength it takes to survive as a final girl—really, the strength it takes to survive as a girl, in any genre. I thought the story packed less of an emotional wallop this time around, with the catalysts for the new slasher cycle and secondary narration more removed from our primary heroine, but on the other hand it was more tightly and intricately plotted, the new and returning characters all fascinating, and the scares were truly scary. It was an interesting (though grisly) exercise to match up deaths to horror film inspirations, and after all was revealed at the end, to possible killers. ( )

Absolutely terrifying book! Stephen Graham Jones is the master at writing fear into every word. Don’t Fear The Reaper is part of a trilogy - best if read in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books to read this ARC. ( )