While October is the most popular time to read thrillers and horrors my absolute favourite time to read them is December. I LOVE Christmas and winter themed mysteries and horrors. You just can’t beat a creepy, eerie, stuck in a snowstorm type of vibe. When I read the synopsis for Snowball on Net Galley I immediately sent in an ARC request. The first half of the book was mostly an introduction of all the characters who were stuck in their cars, so I found it dragged just a little. The second half of the book is where things really pick up and quickly go off the rails. Almost every page ended with me audibly gasping “WTF”. You can’t let your guard down for one second with this book. Even the very end held some unpleasant surprises. There isn’t much to say about the specific plot without giving away any spoilers but I can say that the only way I could have enjoyed this book more is if I had of read it curled up in front of a fire during a snowstorm #readinggoals This book is amazing. If you are a fan of winter and/or Christmas horror, then this book needs to be on your TBR.

If ever there was a book to get you out of a reading funk, this is the book. I seriously feared I was losing my reading mojo as nothing has really piqued my interest for a while. So I have to say that it has been some time since I read outside of my commute to and from work, but I started Snowball and suddenly I had found a book I didn't want to put down.

A bunch of strangers, heading home on Christmas Eve via their various modes of transportation, become stranded on the motorway in one of the worst snow blizzards in living memory. Ahead of them, the snowplow has been eerily abandoned in the middle of the road. After a while, thinking it might be some time before they are rescued, they all take respite in an RV and start chatting. They share their personal stories of their "worst Christmas ever" and soon discover they are all vicariously linked to each other. It is then, in the second part of the book, that the real crazy stuff starts to happen. In a style that is reminiscent of Stephen King, with excellently developed characters, descriptive imagery to make you feel you are right there, terrified and freezing, we are introduced to the "undead", the "should be dead", and the "couldn't possibly be alive" and, of course, the one character controlling the entire situation...

I should also say that I absolutely loved the ending - I finished it 4 hours ago and I'm still thinking about it now.

Loved, loved, loved it. 5/5

Super scary horror tale of a diverse group of people seemingly trapped in a snowstorm when it transpires they all share a link. Blood and gore mount as the dark story becomes ever more disturbing, the shocks come thick and fast all building to a dizzying climax! Stephen King would be proud of this! Best read in a brightly lit room. Excellent!

This book encompasses many different issues but it is so darn interesting and definitely surpassed all of my expectations. The book is titled as a suspense and a horror novel. If you are a fan of horror and scary books this one is for you. As I was reading I was sure happy that my husband was home with me as I read. Overall this is a great book that you would not expect to read during Christmas but definitely a good book to give to friends for Christmas.

The book starts with a long-distance truck driver driving during a snow storm All of a sudden, the truck driver thinks he sees a buck and several other deer trying to cross the road and hit his breaks which got him stuck in the snow. While trying to get out of the snow he looks up and thinks he sees a single man walking toward him. However, the figure in the road is not a person it is a snowman. Not the kind of snowman that children build, no this snowman, had a long misshapen nose, a mouth with two rows of evil black teeth. At the time, other drivers start becoming stuck in the snow and ice. The fellow drivers start getting together and reliving horrible snow stories about each of them had during other years. This is where the horror parts really starts and will pull you in. This book is fast paced and kept my interest though out. If you know someone who reads and enjoys horror stories this book would be a great Christmas Present,

The characters are very strong with rich personalities. While there are parts of the story that scared me greatly the book is excellent and I look forward to reading more books from this author. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a great holiday horror read. A group of travelers caught in a Christmas Eve blizzard take shelter in a nearby RV as they wait for the storm to pass. Connections are made when they start sharing their "worst Christmas ever" stories and that's when this book takes a crazy turn and goes full-on horror. This was a real page-turner for me. Well-written and engaging.

Snowball will be available on January 30, 2020. Another winner from Flame Tree Press.

Well, where do I begin with this one? Started off ok, nothing unpredictable, seemed to get a bit bogged down towards the middle, and then just sank without trace in the latter half. Mr Bastianelli certainly knows how to hook and draw the reader in - but then seems to leave the reader swinging in mid air. No resolution really to the story and I was left with more questions than answers by the time the book drew to a close. I have no quibble with the writing, as such, as the author skillfully described setting, atmosphere and characters. It was the plot - especially the end - which I felt let it down. But it most assuredly won't deter me from reading any future books by this author..just this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Snowball is an exciting new entry in the sub-genre of winter-themed horror stories. It begins with several vehicles getting trapped on a snow-covered highway during a blizzard. Soon, snow has piled up waist-high and it becomes clear that help won’t be arriving soon. As the stranded travelers start sharing stories about other horrible winter situations, they begin seeing and hearing things that they can’t believe are real.

By the halfway point, readers will learn if this is all random or if something more sinister is afoot. Either way, they characters will have to struggle to survive against a series of nightmares.

The core moral of this story is about our actions and how even the tiniest thing can alter the course of our lives - and the lives of everyone else around us. Before the story ends, readers get introduced to several supernatural and mythical entities, which combine with the psychological aspects of the horror - and some gore - to create a compelling page turner.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

I loved the premise of the book; blizzard, people trapped on a highway, unseen terror lurking. It sounded full of suspense and promise. Unfortunately the book didn’t live up to my expectations, as it devolved into a creepy ghost story, which just isn’t my kind of book. Sorry, not for me. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I initially requested this book I hadn’t realised it was a horror story, as it’s not normally a genre that I read a great deal of. However, I started it. Gregory Bastianelli certainly knows how to write an atmospheric, chilling story. The first half or possibly a little further was great I absolutely loved it. But then it just seemed to go sort of strange for me, I don’t really want to say too much and give the story away. I just wasn’t keen on the direction the end of the book seemed to go. But I am sure horror readers will love it.

Christmas Eve, NH, a snow blizzard is hitting the roads hard, people are trying to get home for the holidays. But the weather is that bad that even a snow plough breaks down, but where did the driver go to? He seemed to just disappear! The cars behind the plough can’t go anywhere, they can’t exit the highway or overtake the plough. An eight car pile up doesn’t help. There is no way of leaving the highway until the following day, Christmas Day. Eleven people end up in an RV driven by a very odd old couple. These strangers are all stranded, but the RV has enough propane and food to make the night bearable.

As the strangers sit in the RV together they all start to tell stories from their past of their worst winter’s some sad, some strange, and some sadistic. Does something or someone link these strangers together? The writer gradually notches the tension up as these people are stuck in the RV. You would think how can this story work, people in an RV how can that be a story? But as each character tells their worst winter stories you get to learn things about them, the characters grow. But so does the tension. As you are reading you feel like you are in that RV with these people, you get goosebumps. Even the weather outside adds to way the story builds.

But then I found it a little disappointing, and in a way a bit comical. Mostly this is a good read and horror fans will probably love what happens, the ending just wasn’t for me personally.

I would like to thank #Netgalley and #FlameTreepress for an eARC in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

I wasn’t so keen on this book, I got a bit bored, the premise has been done and better. It was just ok.

It is a shame Snowball was not released in time for the Christmas market as it has a dark Jingle Bells festive centre to it, being set on Christmas Eve with a group of travellers heading home for the holiday in atrocious snowy conditions. In the opening sequence Toby Hodge is driving his snowplough over an almost completely blocked New Hampshire road, a job he has done for years, when he spots a reindeer blocking the route, or so he believes. Stopping and exiting his truck to investigate he stumbles upon something in the snow, and it is not Rudolf the red nosed reindeer. Terrified, he retreats shocked back into his safety of his cabin which is now stuck fast in the drifts and locks the doors whilst the blizzard blocks the vision from his windows. Whatever prowls outside lurches closer and surrounds his vehicle; water begins to seep into the front of the engine and poor Toby wishes he was at home with his wife drinking mulled wine. This first chapter is the only time we see Toby alive and is a chilly way to get the (snow)ball rolling!

This sets the scene for much of the rest of this snow-bound novel which is set over a solitary night. The storm continues to rage and the story focusses on eight vehicles which become stuck behind the snowplough and have no way of getting past. Initially the story jumps from car to car, with all the characters getting stressed and cabin-crazy in their vehicles praying that help will soon arrive and these scenes were skilfully handled. However, as the weather worsens, they buckle in, band together, and try to help each other out. The drama features a mixed bag of characters, ranging from young lovers, pensioners and stressed parents with kids. They have one thing in common; they realise they are well and truly stuck and are not going anywhere soon and might as well cancel their Christmas plans.

Ultimately the overarching plot of Snowball was just too simple: the stranded people band together, drink hot chocolate, and hunker down in an RV van and begin to tell each other scary stories. Their tales of woe centre around their worst winters and Christmas memories, and as events unfold the group slowly begin to realize they have tangential and tenuous connections to one another which leads to where the story, rather unconvincingly, heads in its final parts with an ending which failed to convince.

Much of this was fairly obvious and did not contain much originality, with Snowball going into a standard ‘story within a story’ format and we are presented with a series of gruesome tall-tales, ranging from a folklore Krampus childhood tale to a nasty one about a guy who gets his face skinned off in a skiing accident. Once these stories began to be trotted out much of the atmosphere built in the first half of the novel began to fizzle out as they were too much to swallow and take seriously. On the other hand, the scenes where some of the characters were battling against the elements in the biting weather carried more threat and menace than the horror within their tales. Likewise, the palpable fear of the travellers becoming edgier and more fearful carried more weight than the supernatural direction the story took.

I don’t know if any adult readers will be genuinely freaked out by killer snowmen, perhaps they should best be left within the realms of the Doctor Who TV show, because it really failed to hit the fear button here. Introducing this supernatural element, in the opening chapter, into the novel was probably too early, and even if it was vague, let the cat out of the bag way too soon. Doing battle with battle various monsters from myth and legend, coming across as a dark fairy tale, just did not hold enough suspense and the longer the book went on my interest began to dwindle.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read Snowball.

Bastianelli writes in a very visual and imaginative way that makes you feel the horrific events that take place on Christmas Eve. What starts as a minor snow storm turns into major nor'easter and very quickly you realize that something horrific is going on when the snowplow man mysteriously vanishes leaving 11 people stuck behind him on a highway with no way to pass or exit. Clark and Graham, two men stuck on the highway, decide it's best if everyone is in one location and rescues everyone from their cars to gather in an RV for company and the warmth. However, along their rescue route, they discover a young couple is already dead; carbon monoxide poisoning. This is when Clark and Graham know that waiting on this storm to pass is not going to be as simple as they thought.

Little does the group know that they are all stuck in this storm for a reason with a link to their pasts. Horrific memories and stories told throughout the group begin coming to life and threatening the lives of the group. Just like a game, only the strong and smart can survive a way out. The question is, is there a way out?

Recommend! Would love to see this turn into a Netflix movie!

Gregory Bastianelli delivers a bone chilling Christmas horror story in the vein of Stephen King with the excellent new novel Snowball.
A page turner that thrills from the first sentence to the very last, it's a cracking Christmas Eve tale of a group of strangers who find themselves hunted by a strange Krampus like creature after becoming stranded on a back highway during a snowstorm.
But there's much more going on than first appears, as Bastianelli slowly unthreads a sprawling mystery that connects the seemingly random bunch.
Like King, Bastianelli introduces us to the myriad of characters before introducing an element of supernatural menace.
This novel is an absolute blast, unfurling as a tense and claustrophobic chiller before a balls to the wall last act that throws in all kinds of yuletide killers.
Highly recommended.

Snowball is an intriguing mix of horror and thriller that works exceptionally well in some ways but loses its way slightly in others. The various elements are knitted together well and there is a definite creepy edge all the way through the novel, with the real horror edges kicking in later on. A group of travellers stuck in a snow storm doesn't sound like a plot premise that is going to hook you, but despite the characters going nowhere for vast chunks of the novel, Bastianelli draws you in well. He mixes the present with the past as each tell stories of their own past, or in the case of some refuse to tell but you as the reader get special access.

This is definitely a slow burner of a book for the vast majority of the tale. This ragtag group of individuals all just trying to sit out the cold, with the bulk of them huddled in an RV for warmth and shelter. It's both realistic and supernatural at the same time and the layers within it keep you guessing throughout. Bastianelli cleverly leaves you guessing as to what the connection might be between this seemingly very different cast of characters and whilst I had several ideas as I went through, none of them proved completely correct. The forays into each characters past is also a clever device to allow you some insight into each character as there would otherwise potentially be limited chances for character development. It means that the characters are actually rich in history and emotional depth, the tenuous relationships building between very different people interesting and realistic as they all try to survive the storm.

The writing here is wonderful as well; there is a real sense of poetic description throughout and Bastianelli certainly knows how to turn a phrase. It is almost as if you are there along with the characters rather than merely sitting on the sidelines. The various elements of the tale all have a character of their own, even including the weather itself. There is a sense of deep menace throughout the novel which is carefully crafted and built by an excellent story teller.

Where I felt this novel fell down slightly was in the latter parts of the novel where Bastianelli seems to abandon his careful building up of an unmistakable tension in favour of going full throttle with blood, gore and horror. From such a careful and subtle build up, this seemed huge overkill to me and distinctly out of place. The use of some of the foretelling from the individual tales told by the stuck group was clever, but it didn't quite counter the blunt force trauma that Bastianelli hits you around the face with. It's a shame because it undoes much of the intricate build up by just being so in your face.

So, certainly a recommended read. It's just a pity that the ending dissolved into a frenzy of blood and violence as I think it would have been far more powerful if some of the tension and subtlety had been kept instead.

Bastianelli’s new novel Snowball works like a Seirut painting which up close it looks like a lot of insignificant dots of information but once you stand back it creates a magnificent picture that is full of depth and intelligence.

Snowfall is an interesting novel that it starts out as strangers stranded on a highway with each of them have a story to tell which at first all seem unconnected. When the story takes a bloody turn forcing our cast of characters to group together, Basianelli does a very interesting story twist and each character tells a horrific winter story from their past. This plays very well and is a nod to the Amicus horror films of the late 60’s/early 70’s and this plays out very well. The third act has its own story based conclusion that works mostly successfully but is slightly let down due the reasoning behind the congregation of these specific people.

The plot is excellent and plays very well. This is a slow burn and it does have reminiscent of King’s The Dome with a cast of characters stuck in one location and trying to survive. Where King had a community to play off of with uneven results, Bastianelli uses this to his advantage and plays his cards better. Each chapter jumps from one or two characters at a time as they are each entrenched in their own hellish nightmare which includes claustrophobia, loss, alienation and over all holiday family bitterness. This is exceptional in the first third of the book.

With the gathering of the characters to interject and share a space, we again have a unique perspective on how these characters interact outside of their comfort zones. We have a study that looks at how people have to come together to survive whilst carrying their own personal demons along with them. This makes a very interesting aspect that keeps the novel trucking along.

The last third is very well conceived although the reasoning behind the gathering is slightly weak and thought this could have been thought through better to match the rest of the book. Some of the reasons are a bit too shallow for the main nemesis in the last third but saying this, it doesn’t take away from a near perfect book.

The characters are all very strong and hold their weight. Basianelli has written three dimensional characters in a novel that most authors would have cardboard cut outs. Basianelli’s characters are rich in personality, drive and emotional depth. Even some characters that are dispatch in the first twenty pages still leave a shadow in your mind long after you finish. This is a document to the richness of the author’s writing capabilities and can’t wait to read more from this author.

Overall, this is a great book that lends itself to the Victorian Christmas ideal of reading a horror story for Christmas to share with your friends. This fits this nicely where some of the greatest horror novels got their start from The Masque of the Red Death, Turning of the Screw, A Christmas Carol – meant to be read aloud with your family at Christmas whilst the fire is burning and people are cuddling to keep warm. The book did remind me of my upbringing in Upstate NY and the Blizzard of 77 which will stay with me until I depart this dear earth.

This is an excellent read that captures the environment, human relationships, cold hard decisions and the author never once despatches anyone without realistic reasons. The atmosphere is ripe with angst and the freezing temperatures chill off the pages into your bones. Even the weather is a main character and inanimate objects have their own ghoulish dreaded presence. This all around winner is a must read for the holiday season and through the long nights and small days of winter. Hell, I would read this during a hot summer day because these pages could keep you cool just with the weather elements alone. Basianelli is an author to look forward to and fans of any genre, would be missing out on a gem to ignore Snowball.

What if Spielberg had directed a Stephen King movie in the 80s? It would probably be as fun as this one. An original setup, why aren't there more books about being stranded on a highway in a blizzard; that's scary enough. Toss in hidden pasts and some mysterious creatures and you have one of the best books of the year. I really enjoyed this one, tense yet fun.

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I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Thank you for letting me read this book. I enjoyed the details on what the book was about and expected alot better but....The other reviews are being kind.

On a snowy highway on Christmas Eve the unfortunate driver of a snowplough comes face to face with a killer snowman. Hours later a line of vehicles becomes stuck behind the snowplough and due to the extreme nature of the blizzard, has no way of moving forward or back.
As the group gathered in an RV and briefly trade stories it appears it is more than just a coincidence this group of people has come together in this impossible winter storm. Add the Krampus and killer snowmen to the story and you have a fantastically gruesome Christmas tale.

Didn’t enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. I found that I had a very hard time actually getting into it and then once I was about half way finished it didn’t hold my interest.

Christmas Eve in New Hampshire, 2018. A wet, rapidly falling,swirling heavy snow would soon produce wipeout conditions unbeknownst to travelers getting a late start enroute to their Christmas destinations. The snowplow driver, seemingly visualizing a deer and several bucks out in the storm, slammed on his brakes and got stuck in snow reaching to the top of his plow blade. Attempting to shovel his way out, he noticed a tall, motionless figure in the road. It was a snowman. "Beneath the coal-black eyes and long crooked carrot nose was a black mouth grinning with two rows of sharp teeth." The wind screeched and howled. An old legend of The Banshee came to mind. The Banshee was "a mythical messenger of death...the entity came every year to warn of someone's impending demise with her ominous wailing." When, "swirling snow camouflages the snowplow", the next vehicle jackknifed creating an eight car pile up whose occupants would not make it home on Christmas Eve.

Who are these travelers? Graham Sawyer picked up Clark Brooks, a childhood friend, at the airport. Kirk Britton and his girlfriend Sonya were college students. Dean Hagen was a consultant whose job entailed eliminating "expendable employees". Consistent bickering occurred between parole officer Mason Drake and wife, Joy. Shelby, stuck in her minivan with two children, told herself to "keep it together and be strong" for the sake of the kids. Lewis Felker, dressed in Salvation Army attire warned, "I wouldn't go out there [in the storm] if I were you." The majority of the travelers elect to gather in the RV of elderly Mr. and Mrs. Volkmann. The RV had enough propane to keep everyone warm and sufficient food to keep them fed until help came. Tucker Jenks decided to stay in his tractor-trailer.

It started with a snowball! This scary, horror novel is perfectly spooky for Halloween as well as being an excellent seasonal Christmas read. The travelers, drinking hot cocoa in the RV, exchanged stories of their "worst winter ever" while waiting for the storm to pass. "The outline of a figure taking shape in the distance...It was a man, he was almost sure...The man wore a black coat and had a red shirt underneath...he realized something odd about the figure...[he] carried a large pair of [something] metal..." The wailing wind was disquieting. Perhaps these travelers had been "forgotten" while rescue efforts were underway. Graham and Clark noticed a dim light on the other side of the woods. In snowdrifts, at times, almost up to their waists, they followed the light and journeyed to a solitary house with the hope of requesting help. An unputdownable read!

Thank you Flame Tree Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Snowball" by Gregory Bastianelli.