Review copy

The opening to A Strange and Savage Garden sets the stage nicely for what follows...

"Welcome home. Forever.

Lauren left her hometown of Trinity Falls years ago, with no intention of ever going back. Something bad happened to her in the woods there, so bad that she erased it from her memory--mostly. But now she's returning for her father's funeral. Returning to a place where robed men and women circle the town in an endless loop, tirelessly chanting, and where a primeval beast watches from behind the trees, hungering for more than flesh. Hungering for her.

In Trinity Falls Lauren's grandmother Madelyn reigns supreme. Lauren escaped her once, but Madelyn won't let her get away again. This time Madelyn intends to see it through to the bitter, bloody end. No matter what."

Waggoner certainly knows how to set the mood and does so with his usual aplomb in this creepy story where nothing is as it seems. Slowly revealing the truth and letting the reader sort out what's real and what's not, the writer manages to make the unbelievable seem plausible .

A Strange and Savage Garden is yet another enjoyable read from Tim Waggoner and is available as an e-book from Samhain Publishing and Amazon.com.

Recommended. ( )