Joshua G. J. Insole

Book Review: ‘Coffin Moon’ by Keith Rosson

27th Oct 2026Leave a comment

‘Coffin Moon’ by Keith Rosson has one of the coolest titles ever, and its cover begs you to pick it up.

Man, I’m glad I did.

The story follows Duane Minor, a man who recently returned from Vietnam and is working at his in-laws’ bar. His life consists of his wonderful wife, Heidi, and their troubled niece. Alcoholism and nightmares haunt him, but he has his life together. That is, until a motorcycle gang begins dealing heroin out of the bar, right under his nose. Compelled to deal with this blight, Minor sets off a chain of events that tear across the page.

The characters feel fully realised, and you truly feel as if you are inside their minds. The only other author who does this for me is Stephen King, so that is high praise indeed. Early in the book, before the carnage begins, Duane tries to connect to his niece. He thinks of taking her shooting, but realises that a shooting is why he’s now her guardian. Cursing himself, he takes her for pancakes instead. Pushing her luck, she asks to try coffee, and he lets her. It’s a small scene, but it warmed my heart and terrified me for the horror to come. It shows how Duane often fails, but always tries to do the right thing. Rosson makes you care about these people, which makes their traumas difficult to read.

The violence makes you feel that Duane and co are seconds from death at any moment. But the gore never detracts from the story, as it sometimes does in other horror stories. And the vampiric villain is as interesting as he is brutal. It was fascinating to see who he was before he became a vampire and who turned him. Understanding his want for a father figure added such complexity to the character.

The story takes many twists and turns, several of which I did not expect. There are moments when characters make decisions that make your eyes widen. Unexpected, but never out of character. Several times I closed the book and whispered, ‘Oh my God.’

If I had one small wish, it’d be to get some chapters from Johan, the lover/thrall of the vampire. He matched the vampire’s brutality even as a human, and I wanted more. If you like horror, vampires, or stories that tug at the heartstrings, give it a go. Even if those aren’t your cup of tea, I still think you should try it. It’s that good.

Best book I’ve read all year.

★★★★★

Book Review: ‘Killer on the Road’ by Stephen Graham Jones

27th Aug 2026Leave a comment

I picked up Stephen Graham Jones’s ‘Killer on the Road’ because I’d heard good things about him.

Also, the cover gave off eighties vibes, and I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.

Jones’s novella opens with a prologue. A trucker attacks a hitchhiker and eats a part of him, all while talking about a man who can take others’ forms. Yes, it’s grim and gory. From there, we enter the story proper, following Harper, a teenager who’s running away from home. She catches up with her friends, and they begin a road trip together, with her little sister tagging along.

You can guess who they eventually run into.

I almost suggested this to my book club group, and I’m so glad I didn’t. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s gory as hell. It’s certainly not the sort of thing I’d recommend to non-horror aficionados.

The story takes place in one night, and you can feel that frantic energy as the hours tick by. The novella’s length works in its favour; there is little breathing room, and the deaths hit hard and fast. It’s an adrenaline shot of a story that I could envision: Jones has a cinematic way of telling a story.

On the flip side, the length also hurts the story. Some of the characters’ reactions to what happens fall a little flat. I know they’re teenagers and still lack fully developed prefrontal cortices. But still, I’d expect more freaking out and panicking than the calmness Jones presents us with. Something about it didn’t read true to me. I know that by avoiding emotional meltdowns, Jones kept up the pace. But the protagonists often feel psychopathic in their detachment.

The villain himself was quite cool. Eating human parts to become a copycat, trying to fit in with the rest of the world. Storing jars of eyes and fingers along the highway. It was all rather unsettling. I liked the idea behind it all, even if the ending felt rushed and anticlimactic.

Even so, I’m curious to check out Jones’s other works, particularly his full novels. ‘The Only Good Indians’ and ‘The Buffalo Hunter’ kind of call to me, so I’ll pick those up in the future.

If you want something that feels like a gory eighties B-movie, ‘Killer on the Road’ takes a bloody good stab at it.

★★★☆☆

Book Review: ‘Murder Your Employer’ by Rupert Holmes

18th Aug 2026Leave a comment

Murder Your Employer is a novel I wanted to read based on the title alone.

The story begins following Cliff Iverson. He’s on his way to – you guessed it – murder his employer. His employer caused the suicide of the woman he liked, and the murder of his best friend, all of whom worked for the same company. And he got fired in the process. But he fails in his “deletion”. And two mysterious folks are hot on his trail, but they don’t want to arrest him. Instead, Cliff Iverson ends up at an academy for wannabe murderers, with his tuition fees paid for by a mysterious benefactor. Think of it kind of like Hogwarts for adults instead of children, and for wannabe murderers instead of magic users.

Once we get into it, we begin following two characters we meet along the way. They each have people they want to off, and their own reasons for wanting to do so. One is a nurse, Gemma, being blackmailed by her boss. The other is an actress, Dulcie, being blacklisted by hers. Each of the characters we meet are unique and likeable – even the bad ones. The plot is full of twists and turns, and you’ll be begging to know who survives the academy, and then who succeeds in the titular instruction. The writing is witty and clever, chock full of puns and plays on words. There are so many that many fly under the radar and go unnoticed. But they never become annoying or get in the way. The book is humorous already, but these additions elevate Holmes’s writing.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, the Rupert Holmes (fitting surname) who wrote this is the same Rupert Holmes of Escape (The Piña Colada Song) fame. So you can make a playlist for your reading sessions.

I’m not a massive murder mystery fan (although this feels more like a ‘will they murder mystery’). Yet, I couldn’t resist this book’s charms. It pulled me in right away and kept my attention all the way through.

If you like dark humour, give this book a go; if you have similar tastes to me, you’ll find it delightful.

★★★★☆

Book Review: ‘The Monster Club’ by R. Chetwynd-Hayes

3rd Jun 2026Leave a comment

The cover alone of ‘The Monster Club’ by R. Chetwynd-Hayes told me I would love it: vampires, goblins, and ghouls.

The book is a collection of short stories, tied together with another framing story. It begins when Donald finds a starving man on the street and takes him home to feed him. Offering him some food, Donald soon discovers that the man is, in fact, a vampire. After supping on Donald, the vampire decides to thank him by taking him to a club. There, they encounter several characters, each with their own story to tell.

Throughout ‘The Monster Club’, Chetwynd-Hayes weaves dark comedy and horror with skill. Some stories lean harder into horror than others, but none disappoint. We learn about vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and the strange hybrids born from interbreeding. There’s even a monster family tree: werevamps, shadmocks, fly-by-nights, and more. The atmosphere is as goofy as the best B-movies. My favourite story follows a man trapped in a village populated by ghouls and a single humgoo – a human/ghoul. It’s tragic, it’s creepy, and there’s always a thread of humour humming beneath.

The book’s short length works in its favour – it reads fast and never overstays its welcome. The experience feels a bit like watching the ‘Creepshow’ anthology movies. Its old-fashioned style is delightful, like a late-night Hammer Horror marathon. If, like me, you adore those movies, this book is for you. It’s rare to find a horror collection that makes you grin as much as shudder.

I only wish the club were real; I’d like to visit.

★★★★☆

Book Review: ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osman

3rd Apr 2026Leave a comment

I’ve always liked Richard Osman as a presenter/comedian, so I’ve been eager to read ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ for a while.

The story follows a cast of retirees in a retirement village who solve old murder cases for fun. The novel opens with Joyce, an ex-nurse, receiving an invitation into the inner circle. All seems fine and peaceful until the man who owns the place makes plans to dig up the graveyard of a local church. And then someone dies. And there are many who could’ve done it.

I adored Osman’s novel. It’s warm and cosy, yet still a page-turner, with several touching moments. Osman fills the story with gentle jokes and a playful attitude. The main four never seem in any real danger, but that’s the genre. I didn’t guess the ending, but I enjoyed discovering the truth behind all the questions. My only criticism is that Joyce’s diary entries tend to overstay their welcome. Still, that’s minor.

If you want a heartfelt murder mystery with subtle humour, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ might be for you.

★★★★☆ (4/5)

Book Review: ‘The Family Upstairs’ by Lisa Jewell

31st Mar 2026Leave a comment

Although horror is my favourite genre, I sometimes pick up a thriller.

Lisa Jewell’s ‘The Family Upstairs’ intrigued me so much that when my book club chose it, I was eager to start. Stories with cults, troubled childhoods, or domestic horror always draw me in. So, this novel was a perfect fit.

Jewell’s book begins with Libby, a woman adopted as a child, learning that she has inherited the family home. This house saw strange events: police discovered her there alongside three bodies. It was an apparent cult suicide. Rumours of others living in the house circulated for years, but nobody’s heard from them since. From there, the story jumps back and forth in time, shifting POV among three characters.

I had a great time with ‘The Family Upstairs’. The book is fast and easy to read, and contains many twists and turns. You’re never quite sure who to trust, even at the story’s conclusion. The past sections captured how the children trapped in the cult-like household felt. It was claustrophobic, unsettling, and often edged into horror. The modern sections were fun, but there was never any real threat; it was all in the past sections.

I’d recommend ‘The Family Upstairs’ to anyone looking for a fast and somewhat dark thriller.

It has a sense of danger that’s often imbalanced, but it’s always entertaining and will linger in your mind.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Book Review: ‘The Deep’ by Nick Cutter

28th Feb 2026Leave a comment

I loved ‘The Troop’ by Nick Cutter, and the ocean depths have always awed me, so my heart was racing as I dove into ‘The Deep’.

The book follows Luke Nelson during a plague of forgetfulness. People walk into walls, forgetting what they’re doing. Eventually, they forget to breathe. But there’s hope: a substance discovered on the seabed may be a cure. Luke’s genius brother is at the bottom of the ocean researching it. When contact between the surface and the deep is lost, the last message asks Luke to join them, despite this not being his field. Things soon take a turn for the weird and horrific.

Some have described this as ‘The Shining’ meets ‘The Abyss’. That’s an excellent comparison. It’s claustrophobic and packed with psychological terror, with the crushing pressure of miles of ocean bearing down. Once I started, I raced through it. I had to know what the mystery was and how it would end.

This is not an easy read. It’s bleak and deeply disturbing, and several scenes made me squirm. The story carries a heavy sadness that lingers. I finished it feeling hollow, but in the best possible way. I read to feel the way Stephen King’s books made me feel as a teenager. Few things hit me as hard as a frightening, heartbreaking novel.

If that’s your kind of horror, don’t sleep on ‘The Deep’.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review: ‘The Evil Dead: 40th Anniversary Edition’ by Mark Verheiden and John Bolton

22nd Jan 2026Leave a comment

I’ve loved Evil Dead for decades, so when my wife bought me ‘The Evil Dead: 40th Anniversary Edition’, I was ecstatic.

Written by Mark Verheiden, this graphic novel covers the first movie. In case you’ve lived under a chained-up basement trapdoor all your life, here’s a summary of the movie. A group of friends drive up to a secluded cabin in the woods for a fun weekend away. They expect peace, solitude, and a place to relax. In the basement of the creepy place, they find a wrinkled book and a tape player. Upon listening, something awakens in the woods: something that hungers to take them, one by one. It has fewer comedic moments than later entries and sticks to horror, though it still has a few gags. Sam Raimi also made the movie with this childish playfulness, which makes the whole thing so much fun.

Verheiden sticks close to the original script but explores some unanswered questions. For example, what happened between Scotty running out and returning ripped to pieces? What happened to Cheryl after they locked her in the basement? He also makes some tiny changes, such as Cheryl no longer being Ash’s sister. I’m not clear why Verheiden made this latter change, but it doesn’t harm the story. I liked that he played with the ideas a bit, to make his own thing, without deviating too much.

John Bolton’s illustrations are somewhat dreamy and nightmarish, which fits the content well. The deadites (zombies) in particular shine on these pages in all their gory glory. Bolton leaned into the nastiness of the first film, which used practical effects. The full-page illustrations in particular were fantastic.

I had a blast reading ‘The Evil Dead: 40th Anniversary’. Of course, I’m biased, because I love all things Evil Dead. Reading it reminded me of how much I love the movie while offering an alternate-reality Evil Dead. I read the graphic novel in two days; it’s not super long, and it’s easy to read if you can stomach the gore.

If you like Evil Dead, zombies, horror, or graphic novels, I’d recommend picking this up.

It’s a delightful retelling of a classic cult horror movie, and you can breeze through it in an evening.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review: ‘All Hallows’ by Christopher Golden

18th Jan 2026Leave a comment

Christopher Golden’s ‘All Hallows’ is my first read of 2026!

I started it in October 2025, but life got in the way of my usual reading habits. I managed to get back into it shortly after NYE, and then I tore through Golden’s eighties throwback novel.

And man, what a novel it was.

‘All Hallows’ follows a host of characters living along Parmenter Road, Massachusetts. The story takes place on Halloween, 1984. The evening starts with some domestic issues, which begin to escalate. And then the spooky bits sneak in while folks fight with adultery and other matters. From there, Golden takes us on a joyful 80s thrillride, with a few twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

‘All Hallows’ felt like classic Stephen King in some ways, but not in a way that I’d call it a ripoff of style or anything. Golden writes with his own flair. The multicharacter, 80s vibe was reminiscent of King. Oh, and Golden’s willingness to kill off characters without a second’s warning. It felt dangerous, like any character we cared about could bite the bullet next.

If you enjoy ‘Stranger Things’ or King’s writing, I can 100% recommend ‘All Hallows’ by Golden.

I would love to read more from him; I’m excited to have discovered his writing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review: ‘A Thousand Ships’ by Natalie Haynes

12th Oct 2025Leave a comment

Greek mythology has never been my thing; every time I approached it, I ended up bored to death.

The books felt dry and longer than the Great Wall of China, like eating dust while hoping for a tasty morsel that never materialised. The same goes for any movie. If I had to choose between watching a film on this topic or not watching one at all, I know what I’d pick.

Enter Natalie Haynes. For my company book club’s Greek mythology evening, we chose one of Haynes’s books. ‘A Thousand Ships’ is a retelling of the Trojan War from the women’s perspective. I was apprehensive, to say the least. But the whole point of a book club is talking to others and reading books you wouldn’t have otherwise picked up. So, I dove in.

‘A Thousand Ships’ begins with a woman waking up to Troy falling, with everything on fire. It’s an explosive start that immediately hooked me. From there, Haynes hops forward and backwards in time, exploring the lives of women connected to the war. We see both Trojans and Greeks, each aching with loss and longing.

The book doesn’t follow one woman; it follows a whole cast. It feels less like a single novel and more like a collection of interlinked stories that form a complete whole. That’s why I enjoyed it a lot more than I otherwise would have. This format kept it fresh and fast-paced, ensuring it never dragged. The pages burn away. And each character is sympathetic, regardless of which side they stand on.

The best compliment I can give Haynes is that this is the first time I’ve ever taken an interest in Greek mythology. Her writing is crisp and fast-paced; it’s never a slog to get through. She always makes it easy to understand. And even with the array of characters, she makes it clear who we’re talking about and how the others relate to them. Some of those well-versed in mythology disliked aspects; for a newbie such as myself, it was great.

If, like me, this topic has never hooked you, don’t skip over Haynes’s book.

While I’m not going to devour more Greek books, I am interested in trying more of Haynes’s Greek retellings.

She does it well.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐