Over the course of 2018 and now into 2019 two things have become abundantly clear.  Indie horror releases have upped the level of quality and Flame Tree Press releases are stellar.  Now while the two statements at face value would appear to be completely unrelated, I can guarantee you, they are one and the same.
There is nothing wrong with commercial literature.  Many of the best horror novels of all time are considered commercial literature.  But sometimes, and lately that has been happening a lot, commercial literature has a ‘happy ending’ or a ‘neatly wrapped up finale.’  Meanwhile, indie authors and indie horror strive to tell the tale they want to tell.  No commercial editing, the release is designed to engage and enrage, not move to the #1 spot on the Bestsellers list.
Enter Flame Tree Press.  They are fast becoming one of the go-to publishing imprints for top-notch releases.  Why?  Well personally I think it’s because their authors are not commercial authors at heart.  They write tales designed to engage and enrage.
Which brings us to Will Haunt You.
This is my first Brian Kirk read, but it sure won’t be my last. 
I came across the release of this book through the unique promotion Kirk and Flame Tree Press had on Twitter, where the prologue Obsideo was told.  While the prologue itself was well done, the various puzzle pieces where Kirk utilized different bloggers was fantastic and it was great to see such an ‘outside the box’ marketing piece pulled off so well.  I found some of the posts a touch cheesy (specifically the ‘I came inside and my books moved’ posts) but it definitely built some great momentum and word of mouth for Will Haunt You. 
As I stated on Twitter when I started reading this; Brian Kirk’s use of prose is phenomenal.  It’s like your favourite band.  All you need to hear is the rhythm, not even the actual song, and you know who it is.  I was sucked in immediately and found the author’s voice to be one I enjoyed.  This story can best be described as a mash up of three movies; The Game starring Michael Douglas, The Cell starring Jennifer Lopez and 31 from Rob Zombie.  
We follow the main character, Jesse, a former rock star-now jingle writer.  The story picks up on the night of his band playing a one-off reunion show.  Jesse longs for the glory days - young women, lots of booze and big arenas.  Now he’s a recovering alcoholic and married with a special needs child.  
Then he read a book recommended to him by a bandmate.  Now he’s in over his head and Kirk puts the pedal to the metal.  Things quickly spiral out of control and nothing is what it seems.  Surveillance, the young-old character Malia, and a deepening mystery.
Will Haunt You is the ideal indie horror novel.  Kirk takes the road less travelled, and in fact while it is written in first person POV, he breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the reader a number of times.  It works so satisfyingly well that it made me keep pushing deeper and deeper into the novel.
I don’t want to go too far into details, as I fear it will create spoilers.  But here’s a Cole’s notes on what you can expect;
-	Professor O.
-	Hidden Labs
-	Weird Beasts
-	Abandoned cabins
-	Heartbreak
If you read that list and still don’t find yourself interested, I’m so sorry.  Because for me this book was the ultimate horror read.  This will easily be on my best of 2019 list at the end of the year and look forward to checking out Brian’s other works!

This review will be posted on Kendall Reviews, Goodreads at publication date.

WILL HAUNT YOU is a chilling ride into the realms of your worst nightmare. In this case, it follows an ex-guitarist from a forgotten metal band, who decides to read a book one of his former bandmates recommended to him. Unbeknownst to him, the book is haunted and possessed by some unseen Evil. From that point on, the book (and the horrors behind it's creation) turn his reality inside out, making him question his own sanity and every bad decision that led him to this point in his life. 

Brian Kirk writes the novel as a precautionary tale for his readers, warning them that the book in their hands is indeed a version of the same haunted tome that plagues his character. Overall, this setup works, and though it has similarities to the Ring franchise and John Carpenter's In The Mouth of Madness, the story deliveries enough chills and twists to keep the reader engaged. 

***4 out of 5 stars***

(Thank you to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for the ARC, offered in exchange for an honest opinion.)
#Amazon

Will Haunt You is a novel about a disturbing book that, if read, a mysterious figure will subject you to a world of personalized terror.

And the chances are, that on reading this, it will happen to you too.

Sounds like the dream, right?

The synopsis for this book sounded so intriguing, and it held a lot of potential for me until chapter 9 (about 20% of the way through the book). And then things started to get a little crazy for me.

The book follows Jesse, former guitarist for band, The Rising Dead, and since a tragic accident befell his son, Jesse is now sober and resentful. After reading the book, he is kidnapped, subject to some crazy shit and forced to fall off the wagon that he never really wanted to get on in the first place.

I'm not sure if it was the intention of this book or not, but from chapter 11 it felt like I'd been sober for a time and had myself fallen off the wagon. We had gone from a nice slow introduction to Jesse and his background, to then what felt like a short blackout before entering a new scene, that was over before you knew it, to a new scene that then forced you to slow down a bit, lots of random and quite crazy drama.. and for a lot of the rest of the book I thought, hang on?? What is happening here?! I was seriously confused.

The ending kind of picked up, but for me I was still a bit bewildered to what was going on and had gone on previously. I still don't really get much of why these things happened.

I highlighted this quote that I liked "What wars we'd fought together. Strength forged by the fires of our own friction" and the book is written pretty well. It's just a bit jumpy in places.

I think this one is probably a case of it's not me it's you. I give it 2.5 stars, and if you read it.. Beware, it might be safer if you don't.

Really interesting read, well written and something different.

Not my typical read but definitely worth a shot

Book Review 📖
Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk 📚
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‘WARNING’
I read a book much like the one you’re holding now. Please, put it down. Or better yet, throw it away. This is your last warning ⚠️ Turn the page, and you’re on your own. Actually, that’s not true. Then the page and he’ll be there, watching you.
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When scrolling through @netgalley I came across this book, and it sounded extremely dark and freaky!
The story follows Jesse who is part of a metal band called The Rising Dead, who get together every once in a while to perform again 🤟🏻
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We find out that one of Jesses friends/band mates gave him a book to read that creates an absolute nightmare for Jesse.
As the story develops will learn about all the mistakes Jesse has made in his life, troubling our character with the past that he has tried ever so hard to keep a secret!
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Will Haunt You - started extremely strong, I was even on the point of freaking out a little, and then came the middle of the book - where i actually said what the hell is actually going on!!! It really confused me, to the point where the book lost its haunting capability!
(But please don’t let this put you off, if you like the sound of it, you should go for it)
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The ending picked the haunting back up and I am thankful for that!!! I really enjoyed the ending, but just wished the horror would have knocked it up a notch in the middle!
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I would like to thank @netgalley and @flametreepress for the advanced reading copy...
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3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 from me 👏🏼

The beginning of this book was really creepy. I love Jesse’s warning to the reader about reading the book. The science or lab part of the story was confusing and weird. I had no idea where the story was going. It had a dream like quality to it. Even when I was confused, I had to keep reading to find out what happened to Jesse and his family. There’s a twist that was a surprise but I’m not sure I understood the ending. It kept me reading so it’s a 3.5 out of 5 for me which means I recommend it if you’re willing to read through weird.

I was very excited to read this book at first. It seemed like a really creepy book and the storyline seemed really good. However the first page had me frowning when it gives the reader a warning to not read the book. It is very reminiscent of Clive Barker's "Mister B. Gone". That was the first eye roll.
The beginning of the book starts off well. A band is coming together for a reunion show. The beginning of the book I would not say is well written but is written to the point where it's easy to follow. Then after the accident things go downhill... fast.
The writing turns choppy and the author doesn't seem to like full sentences. I read a review that suggested its likeness to "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski, and I would have to concur. It is very much like that type of writing.  It's like. The sentences. They just aren't. Written in full. I'm not joking there are actually sentences like that in this book! 🙄
Although this book had a good story in the beginning I have to say that the writing was very poorly executed throughout the rest of the book. I'm sure that the author is trying to convey some sort of feeling of creepiness or possibly urgency with this type of writing. and that may work on some but unfortunately it did the absolute opposite for me.
On top of all that after the accident portion of the book the story becomes so complex that it's literally chaos. There is just so much going on and it is extremely hard to follow.
I'm sure there is an audience for this book somewhere but I have to say that I would not recommend this book to anyone I know.

Will Haunt You is an unusual novel about a former rocker named Jesse Wheeler.  He's lived a hard life, and he's doing his best to live up to who he wants to be, and to move beyond who he has been.  One night after a reunion with his old band mates, he finds himself in the middle of a nightmarish situation that dredges up the past he's trying to leave behind and brings fresh terror to his life.

If you've read House of Leaves, you may appreciate the staccato and disjointed writing style of Brian Kirk.  I struggled through House of Leaves, and found Will Haunt You even more frustrating.  I want to ask what Kirk has against sentences -- you know, actual sentences.  The majority of the book is written in this annoying (intended as atmospheric?) style of awkward fragments, which is beyond distracting, I couldn't concentrate on what was supposed to be happening. 

If the writing is supposed to add unnerving icing on the terror cake, then it certainly worked, but not in an enjoyable way.  I love horror novels, but this was an awful experience.

Here are a few examples, but be aware the book is chock full of nothing but examples of short, amateurish fragments instead of rich writing:

"The dude I was just on the phone with, Solomon. Our drummer. Was our drummer, I mean. For the Rising Dead. "

"The dress was Victorian, but of a steampunk variety. Crimson with black lining. A form-fitting buttoned top with a billowing skirt, frilled at the bottom. High-heeled boots with black ribbons running up the open sides. Her eyes were unchanged. That sparkling jade."

"My words dying the instant they existed my mouth. Muffled like there's no air. A candle snuffed in space. Which made it hard to breathe. The thought of that."

I hate to say it, but I wouldn't recommend this book, as is, to anyone. It was torturous to read, but sadly not because it was scary.

Now I was actually put off by the reviews on this book. Mainly because I loved the blurb and just had to request it. I LOVE horror books and this impressed me. 

No, it's no Stephen King level however, it is eerie, spooky and I'm still not entirely sure what I have just read. 

This was a great read and certainly an author I will be looking out for in the shops.

WTF did I just read? 

No, seriously.

I just turned the last page on Will Haunt You, and I'm confident that I have no idea what just happened. Sometimes in horror, that's a feeling to relish. In this current circumstance, I'm still not positive.

Will Haunt You starts very strongly. Jessie Wheeler is a recovering alcoholic and possesses a dark secret from his blackout drinking days. Immediately, I was drawn into the story when we pick up in Jessie's life; middle-aged, struggling to stay sober and trying to hold on an inkling of what he and his bandmates felt during their glory days. 

Then it got weird. 

We definitely followed Alice down the rabbit hole...and by "followed", I mean were flung head first. Jessie is dumped unceremoniously into a world of the truly bizarre. He becomes a mounted head on a wall in a trophy room from hell. He relives the worst night of his life, but with a twist or two. Right smack dab in the middle, there's a whole science experiment on perfecting homunculi. (A homunculus for those who don't know is essentially a humanoid creature created through alchemy.) We also get some mystic life lessons along the way, such as: "The more you resist, the worse you will suffer. You've already died. Now be reborn." and "Sacrifice for the greater self." Throw in an Ouija board, a laboratory hidden under an abandoned town, and some animal men and you've got yourself a full ride on the acid trip merry go round! 

I didn't really feel like I got what the blurb promised; a story centered around a book that will haunt you. I was expecting something more like the box in The Possession, or Annabelle in The Conjuring. Instead, the book was almost an afterthought, mentioned early on and spattered throughout with ominous warnings to "put the book down" and of some unknown "he" that will be there watching. I feel like the book in the blurb took a backseat to the paranoia and weirdness that ensued. Don't get me wrong. There are some creepy moments that were highly enjoyable and the weirdness has a certain flavor to it that is unmistakably charming.

Apparently, the author released a prequel of sorts piecemealed on various blogs about a neighbor that found a book in their new house. It's out there for you to read it. That's more of what I expected from Will Haunt You, not the train ride to crazy town I received.  

In spite of all the weirdness, or maybe because of it, I finished the book. 

Odd? Yes. 

Intriguing? Yes. 

Should you read it? Not if you listen to the warnings.

I got 20% into this book and could not get any further. I found the narrator incredibly sexist, which unfortunately meant I didn’t care enough about the fate of the character to continue reading. What stuck me initially as a psychological horror with an interesting premise was in fact the same old misogynistic, unimaginatively violent blandness that unfathomably still exists in the world of horror. Not for me, but it may be for someone else.

Not for me. I persevered but really struggled with it. I gave up half way through. It's definitely a horror book but just not gripping to me. Very confusing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advancer reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 
This story had real promise for me - the premise sounded scary and interesting. A haunted book, vague warnings to the reader breaking the fourth wall, a protagonist who needs redeeming and  has something to prove... 
However, once past the first couple of chapters this one fell flat for me. I didn't feel any connection to the characters and I found the plot to be confusing at some parts and tedious at others. 
The twist ending was a pleasant surprise, but I don't think this is a novel I will be re-reading.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish this book.  I am a fan of the horror genre—with one major exception—slasher/torture porn stories.  Movies like Friday the Thirteenth, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Saw are just not my choice of entertainment.  I don’t ever remember anything equivalent in written form, until I read this book.  It took me three days to get through the first third(?) of the book, because the tone reminded me of one of those movies, and I would think about picking the book up to read more, and would choose to watch TV instead because I simply couldn’t bring myself to face reading any more.  I finally picked the book back up on a Saturday, because I wanted to give it another chance before deciding not to finish it, and to my relief discovered that the tone of the story moved away from this gory start—and was able to finish the book in a single day.

I think there was an interesting story buried in this book—a riff on Sartre’s belief that hell is experienced through our interactions with other people.  In this book, hell is something that we bring on ourselves through our own behavior.  I just think the humanity of this concept was lost amidst the trappings of a gross and unbelievable horror setup.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy.

3.5 

Reading this book is like having a vivid hallucination with some drawn out, confusing things in between. Don't get me wrong, I like horror as much as the next person, but this book was pretty out there. There were times when I thought even the author might have become confused about which way he was going with his story. 

There were parts of this book that were intense and made me sit on the edge of my seat as I read them, but then they were followed by parts that I just found silly. You have to have a strong stomach to get through certain portions of this book, but if you are a dedicated lover of horror, then this shouldn't be a problem. 

Overall, this was an interesting book, but one that I think will certainly not appeal to everyone. I know a few people that I would certainly buy it for, but I guess what I'm saying, is, it takes a certain type to appreciate the dark humour and the imagery this book creates. I was grateful for the opportunity to read it, either way. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this through netgalley and Flametree Press. The review is my own.
  I had some trouble getting through the first chapter of this book, but then it picked up.
  Very surreal and a bit creepy. I never got a proper understanding of what "The Book" actually was.

Not a bad book but not my cup of tea.
I appreciated the creepiness and found that the plot was quite engaging and entertaining.
Unfortunately I think that the style of writing was a bit confused.
I think there's a lot of potential but some more editing would help.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

***3.5 STARS***

Brian Kirk's prose is like real rock-'n'-roll. It's hypnotic. I'll read whatever he puts out because his ability to craft a sentence hits like a punch. (Did I just say I like getting punched?) What I mean to say is every sentence hits the mark and has a tangible effect.

So why just 3.5 stars?

While the first 45% of this novel was dynamite, it sort of lost it's flow somewhere close to the middle. Again, the actual writing was spot-on. I just thought the story lost something along the way. 

Maybe it was 40-pages too long?

Really?? I’m honestly confused as to why this book is in the horror/thriller genre. I can kind of see what the author was trying to portray but sadly it just flopped for me. Very much over the top. A true lesson of less is more. Had the warnings been a little less in your face they’d of been more believable hence much creepier. I hate leaving bad reviews on someone’s work but this one just left me disappointed.

My thanks, once again to Flame Tree Press, the author and Netgalley. I wasn't in much of a hurry to start this book after all the dreadful reviews I'd read, But, I had heard good things about the author's other stories. I liked the beginning of the book. The band getting back together for one last show. They sucked before, and they sucked again! My ex-husband was a drummer and co-lead singer in a band when we met. If you knew me now, "boring Lisa" as compared to ....you'd realize how outrageous that is! So, I had fun with this story. It quickly became eye rollingly stupid. But sometimes my 👀 did stop rolling, and became glued to the pages. So, I stuck with it. Turns out it was just as ridiculous as I thought,.Yet I was really enjoying it, while being slightly weirded out. This is a book I think you should judge on your own. I had moment's when it was a definite 2 star book, and others where I was so skeeved out that it was 5 stars. I'm going to settle for 3 here. It was just damned odd at times. I'm also damned odd at times, so I'm calling it good! I'd give 3 1/2 stars of I could.